Ready, aim… Fire!

Today is the first day of the rest of the season, and the Quakes will be looking to run the Chicago Fire’s losing streak to four games tonight at Toyota Park in Bridgeview (5:30 p.m., Comcast Sports Net Bay Area). The Fire will undoubtedly be thinking that a match against an expansion team will be just the thing to cure what ails them, but the Quakes will be motivated to avenge their 1-0 season opening loss and, with the potential return of Kei Kamara and Nick Garcia to the lineup, will be looking forward to their first match with their full first 11. (Well, minus the suspended James Riley, anyway.)
Here’s a wrap-up of the various pre-game stories available around the net:

- The Earthquakes’ web site offers a pre-game fact sheet as well as video from this week’s practice.

- The Mercury News has a nice profile of Earthquakes left midfielder Ivan Guerrero, who formerly played for the Fire.

- The AP and Goal.com have match previews, too.

- Finally, trade publication Ad Age looks at MLS and asks, “Can Advertising Boost U.S. Soccer?”