We're excited to learn about the launch of the Chicago chapter of SkeeNation, which bills itself as "America's Premier Skeeball League." more ›

If there's one character populating the popular imagination of Chicagoland who would know what to do with a day off, it's Ferris Bueller. But how can one make the most of a day off work when snowed in by the impending blizzard? A Ferris Bueller's Day Off board game, obviously. Maxim Dalton, an illustrator based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, used a handsome retro-inspired design style to turn the plot of the movie into a conventional board game. We asked him about this project in advance of its premiere next Friday. more ›

Is it just us, or is this game kind of disturbing? more ›

If you are susceptible to addictive internet mini-games, and you have things to accomplish at work today, stop reading now. more ›

Late for the Sky, a Cincinnati-based board game company, is giving its Chicago-centric board game, "Chicago-in-a-box," a makeover and is rechristening the game the not-quite-trademark-infringing "Chicago-opoly." Company spokeswoman Carla Miller said, “We are actually in the process of revising the Chicago-In-A-Box game. It will now be called Chicago-opoly...Chicago-opoly was created with the help of Chicago natives,” she said. “We asked Chicagoans ‘What makes this place so great?’ While it’s impossible to include everything, Chicago-opoly hits the highlights.” more ›

213 W. Institute Place, October 26, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. more ›

Last week the English Premier League announced its intention to play some regular season matches abroad. In previous years, international club teams have found financial success by coming to the United States to play some pre- and post-season friendlies with other international powerhouse clubs or local Major League Soccer clubs. more ›

The Chicago 2016 Olympic "applicant file" is now available to the public and it's gosh-darn gorgeous. It's like getting your eyeballs massaged by angel feathers--visually, it's fabulous. Content-wise...well... what are you, new here? A few highlights: more ›

We are. Now what're you gonna do the rest of the day? You could.... more ›

But there's only so much Scrabulous one person can handle, right? Our current time-wasting obsession, other than the betting pool on Jamie Lynn's baby's name, is Chain Factor. Challenging, stylish, and profoundly addictive, Chain Factor has gobbled up way too many of our hours over the last day. more ›

One Adrian Peterson ran for 78 yards on 20 carries while scoring two touchdowns. The other Adrian Peterson ran for 26 on 9 carries. You can probably guess which AP belongs to the Bears. more ›

Tonight, as the Bears take the field against the Minnesota Vikings, we get to witness the beginning of the second reign of Kyle Orton as Bears starting quarterback. more ›

It seems like the press is finally catching on that Governor Blagojevich doesn't like to venture into the public eye very much (except for Blackhawks games), where reporters might have a chance to ask him some questions about the spate of federal investigations, the inaction of the state legislature, or the recent indictment of his former chief fundraiser. An Associated Press story from yesterday outlines several "feel good" photo ops that most politicians would flock to but that Blago readily avoids. more ›

No one drew the winning combination for the Mega Millions last night, so the jackpot has now grown to $163 million. Folks, that’s winning “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire” 163 times! Illinois is just one of twelve states where we can play the Mega Millions. Twenty-one second prizes were drawn last night, though, each person winning $250,000 for matching five of the winning numbers. Two of those tickets were sold in Illinois -- one in Niles, and the other in Park Forest. 83 people picked four of the numbers, each winning $10,000. Six sold in Illinois. more ›

Today we continue our series of letting you know about the New Year's Eve packages being offered by local restaurants so that you have enough information to make a decision and not wait until the last minute to grab a table. In case you missed yesterday's installment, we've linked to it here for your review. Vegetarians rejoice! Green Zebra will offer an all vegetarian, 5 course tasting menu priced at $75 per person, with an... more ›

Chicagoist demanded it, and Lovie listened. When the Bears face the Minnesota Vikings next Monday night, Kyle Orton -- our favorite drunky QB -- will once again line up under center. With a 5-8 record and three games to play, it's time for the Bears to start planning for the future. Rex Grossman's contract is set to expire, and he's done little to make the Bears want to commit to him for the long term.... more ›

Wow, it's been hours since Al Sharpton was in the news, so here we are today with a new round of Sharpton headlines. He held a press conference outside the Mayor's office this morning demanding that the City effectively treat its police brutality issues--or Sharpton will campaign against Chicago's Olympic bid. He also urged aldermen to reject Daley's nominee for police superintendent Jody Weis's because Daley selected Weis without input from the black community. Psst,... more ›

Uck. Grey crappy icy Sunday afternoon. No Bears game - just the memories of Thursday's injury plagued horror. If only it were 1940 - it was during this weekend of that year that the most lopsided NFL games ever played took place - and the Bears whooped the Redskins' ass 73-0. The below video from that game is titled The Greatest Block in NFL History - it might not be the absolute greatest of all... more ›

The Chicago Blackhawks suffered only their second back-to back loss of the season on Wednesday and the first one in over a month. Something Blackhawks fans are not used to. The Blackhawks' 3-2 loss to the Canucks came in the first of a four-game home stand that continues tonight versus the Anaheim Ducks. Eight of the next ten Blackhawks games are at home, which is good news. They could use some home-ice advantage to help... more ›

Last week, that majority of football fans were unable to see what was perhaps the best NFC game of the year -- Chicagoist included. In the Thursday Night Football -- which airs on the NFL Network -- match-up of two one-loss teams, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Green Bay Packers 37-27. With the Bears playing in this week's Thursday Night prime time game however, the NFL Network's broadcasts will be carried locally. For those of... more ›

Chicagoist certainly doesn't envy White Sox GM Kenny Williams and the difficult task he has to rebuild a team that lost 90 games in 2007. On Tuesday, he once again was overmatched by the opposition and missed the ball on potential help for his club. Recent reports suggested that the Sox were close to landing third baseman Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins — a player that Ozzie Guillen referred to as his "fourth son."... more ›

Mark Cuban was in town on Monday when his Dallas Mavericks faced off against the Bulls at the United Center. Of course the local media's questions directed at him regarded another pro sport team. When asked about his pursuit of the Cubs, he reiterated his interest in buying the team and that he wasn't interested in owning any other baseball team. He has not filed his official paperwork, however — Cuban said he was "waiting... more ›

Chicagoist knew there'd be plenty of surprises during Sunday's college football Bowl Championship Series selections, given the losses by the two top-ranked team on Saturday and then general tumult among the top ranked teams all season long. Among the biggest surprises was the Rose Bowl's selection of the Fighting Illini to play against the USC Trojans on New Year's Day. The Illini did knock off Wisconsin when they were ranked fifth, and they handed Ohio... more ›

The Blackhawks benefited from the return of Martin Havlat on Wednesday night. Havlat, who had missed 22 games due to a shoulder injury, scored Jjust 43 seconds into his return to action on a backhander to the upper-left corner of the net to give the Hawks a 1-0 edge on the Tampa Bay Lightning. He would go on to score again in just 12 seconds into the second period, scoring off a shot from the... more ›

In a surprising move, John McDonough resigned as Cubs president on Tuesday to become president for the Blackhawks. Isn't that like if Da Mere were to resign so that he could fill a vacancy on the water reclamation district board of trustees? McDonough had spent nearly 25 years with the Cubs organization, working his way up the marketing org chart before landing atop the front office when Andy MacPhail resigned following the 2006 season. McDonough's... more ›

U.S. Soccer announced the selections for the 2007 Best of U.S. Soccer Awards and Chicago has several representatives in the competition. For Best Fan Atmosphere Chicago's Soldier Field gets two nods: one for this sSummer's Gold Cup Final in which the United States defeated Mexico and the other for the U.S. game versus Brazil in September. Chicagoist is voting for the Gold Cup game--it wasn't the most pro-U.S. crowd, but the fans filling Soldier field... more ›

In what's become an annual feature here at Chicagoist and a personal favorite, we canvassed the staff for some of their best recipes and put together a potluck of amazing proportions to fascinate your taste buds, amaze your family (even the ones entranced by the football games), and bring about peace on earth - or at least in your family - for a few hours through the miracle of tryptophan, simple starches, and sugar... more ›

For the first time in a long while, Chicago is seeing success from both the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) and the Chicago Wolves (AHL). The Wolves are off to a 13-1-1 start, giving them the best winning percentage in the league--which should come as no surprise to their faithful fans. On the other hand, it is a surprise that after a quarter of the season, the Blackhawks aren't breaking their fans' hearts. The Hawks have skated... more ›

I'm bringin' Rexy back That other boy threw just as many picks I think Rexy's special... he's my quarterback He can turn around our team or I'll take the flack So maybe Lovie Smith didn't perform a parody of Justin Timberlake's hit song, but the Bears' head coach did announce to the press on Wednesday that he was changing quarterbacks again and that Rex Grossman will start when the Bears face the Seattle Seahawks on... more ›

It only took them five games into the season, but the Bulls finally won a game on Thursday night. After dropping their first four to mediocre teams, they handed the previously undefeated Detroit Pistons their first loss of the season. Nice! Second-year player and new starting power forward Tyrus Thomas had his second monster game of the season, leading the team with 19 points while grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds. Luol Deng added 17 points,... more ›