The Chicago Fire might’ve fallen backwards into the Historical Failures pile this last season - taking, perhaps, the place formerly occupied by that rounders club on Waverly and Sheffield - but the misty 2016 season was not without its mellow fruitfulness. Today, Major League Soccer declared Matt Lampson, Chicago Fire goalkeeper, MLS Humanitarian of the Year.
Lampson’s charity, which buoys people who (like Lampson) are stricken with early-onset cancers - has raised "more than $30,000" since 2014. Lampson himself has been cancer-free since 2007, but remembers well the terror associated with that word.
In league play, Lampson set a team-record shutout streak of 412 minutes, but was considered largely disappointing, albeit within the strictures of a team which absolutely did not succeed at any level (1-6-4 record, 18 goals in 11 appearances).