By Ridge Mahoney

He would like nothing better than to repeat the feats of his first year in MLS, yet Chicago defender C.J. Brown is quite aware of how difficult it will be to match the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup double the Fire pulled off as an expansion team in 1998.

“At the Fire, we’ve dedicated ourselves to winning all the championships possible,” says Brown, who celebrated mightily Sept. 27 after Chicago beat Los Angeles, 3-1, in the Open Cup final.

The path to another title begins when Chicago hosts New England Sunday in the first leg of their two-game playoff.

Brown’s 28 starts this season is his highest total since former Fire coach Bob Bradley took him with the No. 1 pick in the 1998 Supplemental Draft. Brown is second only to goalkeeper Zach Thornton as the all-time leader in games played (220) for the Fire.

“I think this has been C.J.’s best season since I’ve been here,” says Chicago head coach Dave Sarachan, who took over from Bradley prior to the 2003 season. “He’s had some problems the past one or two years with injuries – he had a hamstring problem last season – but I think this year he’s been real solid for us.”

Brown’s list of injuries includes the aforementioned hamstring, tendonitis in 2004, and Achilles’ tendon problems in 2003. Still, he’s played in at least 20 league games each season.

“I’ve been fortunate to play on good teams,” says Brown of the Fire squads that have won one league title (1998), played in two more MLS Cups (2000 and 2003), and captured the U.S. Open Cup four times (1998, 2000, 2003, and 2006). “I never look at it as, ‘Oh, no, another game.’

“You love the game when you can win the ball and put it to somebody’s feet who knows what they’re doing, so the ball isn’t coming right back down your throat every time.”

Sarachan moved Tony Sanneh into the middle of the Fire’s three-man back line when Jim Curtin suffered a broken foot, and Sanneh’s kept his place between Gonzalo Segares on the left and Brown on the right.

“Sometimes I look back and can’t believe I’ve played so many games,” says Brown. “I finally scored [Sept. 9 against Columbus] and they said, yeah, C.J. hasn’t scored in over 200-something games.”