In a thrilling game that required overtime following the Jayhawks' nine-point rally during the final two minutes of regulation, Kansas defeated the Memphis Tigers 75-68 in San Antonio on Monday night to win the National Championship. With Kansas' victory, we now have a winner in the Chicagoist Tournament Challenge. Out of 90 entrants, l.meuller's el #1 entry took top prize! He compiled 1260 points, which placed him in the 97.9th percentile. Chicagoist is quite......

Don't forget to join Chicagoist's Tournament Challenge! Compete against Chicagoist readers and staff for glory and prizes. To enter, click this link to go directly to the group, or go to ESPN's Tournament Challenge, register or log in, and search for Chicagoist. The password is: chicagoist. One entry per person in the Chicagoist pool, please. For those who have already registered, make sure to lock in your picks before the first games tip off......

This was not a good season for Bruce Weber's Illini squad. In his previous four seasons at Illinois, his teams had won at least 23 game and made the NCAA Tournament. His 2004-2005 team went 32-1 during the regular season before losing in the NCAA championship game. But this season, Weber's team finished below .500 at 16-19 and looked to have no shot at receiving an NCAA Tournament bid. The Illini, however, were the surprise......

Halloween is approaching and for one lucky segment of the population, this means loads and loads of free candy. We speak here of those younger than 14, the lucky group whose costume descriptions don't usually start with "sexy" and whose only goal is to fill up their pumpkins as they trick-or-treat around the neighborhood. The Southtown created a highly-scientific NCAA-style tournament to determine the #1 best candy for this years' South Suburban trick-or-treaters. The testers?......

Four years ago, Rich Seng was a former seminary student making low-budget TV ads for local businesses when a friend took him to a hip hop open mic at Subterranean. One thing led to another that night, and before anyone knew what hit ‘em two renowned local emcees were freestyle battling each other. An idea was born, and Seng started organizing the first Rhyme Spitters rap battle tournament. He relied on word of mouth and......

The NBA's annual draft took place Thursday night, and the Bulls added three new faces to the roster. With the ninth pick--which the Bulls had via the Knicks due to the Eddy Curry trade--they selected Joakim Noah from Florida. If nothing else, he certainly made the biggest fashion statement of the night with his seersucker suit, bow tie and crazy hair. Picking Noah was certainly consistent with GM John Paxson's style of going after players......

The NFL held its annual draft this past weekend, and the Bears attempted to fill the holes on their roster in the hopes of building a team that can return to the Super Bowl next season. On Friday, we outlined what we felt were the biggest needs for the Bears. How'd they do in filling those areas? In the first round, with the 31st overall pick, the Bears filled their need for a tight end......

Monday night, the University of Florida Gators beat the Ohio St. Buckeyes 84-75 to capture their second consecutive NCAA men's basketball title. Florida also became the first school ever to win both the college football and basketball championships in the same school year. With Florida's win, thousands of lucky pool winners will be collecting their prizes. Chicagoist's own Tournament Challenge pool was won by D. Sandell's Word on the street entry. Congrats! Please email blipsman......

Although the clock was still hours from midnight, especially since they played on the west coast, the Southern Illinois Salukis' "Cinderella" run came up short last night, sending the last of our local teams home from the dance. While they hung with the first-seed Kansas Jayhawks most of the night, they just couldn't pull off the upset, losing 61-58. Having closed early 6- and 8-point deficits in the opening minutes of the game, SIU kept......

University of Illinois Athletic Director Ron Guenther will not be punished for his actions during the Illini NCAA Tournament loss to Virginia Tech. During the game, Ron Guenther was playing the role of frustrated fan rather than Athletic Director, as he was heard screaming advice at Coach Bruce Weber. It is reported he did not just stop there; he also berated players for poor performance, including calling forward Warren Cater an idiot. The Illini were......

The DePaul Blue Demons (20-13) are flying high after defeating Kansas State 70-65 last night in the second round of the NIT tournament. The Blue Demons were led by Wilson Chandler and Sammy Mejia, each netting 18 points en route to the victory. But the Blue Demons have their work cut out for them as they are being targeted by the number one seeded team in the West Region, the Air Force Falcons. Air Force......

Aviation enthusiasts like Chicagoist are giddy with jet-fueled joy today as we are exactly 2 hours from the arrival of the world's largest commercial airliner. That gives you just enough time to jump on the blue line to O’Hare (we kid — you know we love you, CTA). If you don’t follow aviation news (who doesn’t) you may not know that the Airbus A380 is huge — really huge. It has a wingspan of......

Before we start celebrating St. Patrick’s Day or get too far in the zone on the NCAA action, there are a few shows going on sale that we would like to talk about. Chris Cornell — the hottest damn man to ever strike the Jesus Christ Pose — is all solo again after shrugging off Audioslave. His latest solo album, Carry On, isn’t set to drop until June, so this show should have a lot......

The NCAA started a practice a few year back that, each year, screws over one unfortunate college basketball team. This year's victims are the Florida A&M Rattlers. While the Niagara Purple Eagles will be in Chicago this week to take on the Kansas Jayhawks at the United Center, FAMU goes home without actually getting to take in the same experiences the remaining 64 schools do — in spite of winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament.......

If you're anything like Chicagoist, you spent Sunday evening poring over the brackets for the NCAA Basketball Tournament. And if you're anything like Chicagoist, you'll repeat this ritual daily until your picks must be turned in for your office pool later this week. Sixty-five teams will fight for a trip to the Final Four. All have hopes and dreams, but only four teams will make it to Atlanta, and only one team will cut down......

Chicagoist had the pleasure of attending the Big Ten conference at United Center yesterday, an activity in which we normally don't get to take part. Amongst our colleagues, much was made of the fact that no alcohol is served during the events, not even in a Budweiser-sponsored skybox. We believe one such word to describe the practice was coined as "bullshit." However, the American Medical Association couldn't disagree more. They're sending out a newspaper ad......

The Big Ten Men's Basketball Conference Tournament rolls into town on Thursday for what will be the last one hosted in Chicago until at least 2012. On Thursday, the tournament will kick off its seventh run at the United Center. Our friends in Indianapolis, not satisfied with their Super Bowl trophy earned by beating the Chicago Bears, have also outbid Chicago to host the annual Big Ten tournament from 2008 through 2012. The tournament kicks......

In a week where Wisconsin earned its first ever #1 ranking for Men's Basketball and then quickly tossed it aside, losing to the Spartans of Michigan State, the next night it is the Illini who are getting all the press. The end of the 80+ year tradition of Chief Illiniwek has garnered a ton of local and national coverage this week. By retiring the Chief, the University of Illinois is likely to see an NCAA......

The latest salvo in the battle for the future of Chief Illiniwek was launched yesterday by the Oglala Sioux Tribe, when they presented the University of Illinois' board of trustees, the university president and the chancellor with a resolution demanding the university "cease use of this mascot." Welcomed by the American Indian Studies faculty and the staff at the Native American House at the university, the resolution charges that regalia given to the U of......

University of Illinois-Chicago basketball coach Jimmy Collins, who took a leave of absence from the team less than two weeks ago, is expected to undergo surgery this morning to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm. The surgery comes just a day after Collins was admitted to the hospital after results from tests performed last week identified the aneurysm. The surgery will be performed at the University of Illinois Medical Center. According to a release by UIC,......

Chicagoist works in an office full of men. Manly men. The kind who drink beer and eat meat and watch football ... lots and lots of football. Through this circumstance, we have come to know way more about college football than we would otherwise know. For example, that the Illini are having a pretty crappy season. 2-8? Good luck. They're going up against Purdue (6-4) in Champaign even as we type this. But thankfully, that's......

It looks like the University of Illinois' controversial mascot, Chief Illiniwek is about to dance his last dance. The university announced that he will perform at season opener in Champaign, and at home basketball game this winter before hanging up his head dress. The Chief's retirement follows last year's new NCAA policies against "hostile" and "abusive'' mascots. Illiniwek was among over two dozen school symbols put on notice. Sanctions for schools with these mascots included......

Cheetara(h)...

Each year Chicagoist reaches into our deep war chest and pulls out a wrinkly Thomas Jefferson two dollar bill and head to MudBug Off Track Betting on Weed St. for the Kentucky Derby. We admit that we probably have no place in a betting parlor with such a minimal understanding of the sport. The page in the newspaper dedicated to horse racing is Greek to us. What the heck is a quiniela anyway, and what......

Diann Burns is suing Chicago-based Metzler/Hull Development Corp., who helped design and build her $3 million Lincoln Park mansion, because they skimped on luxuries and did shoddy work. She says it's because she's black. 37Signals, FeedBurner, TicketsNow: Chicago technology upstarts are making a comeback. Amateur photographer and Chicago schoolteacher, Luba Markewycz, has 40 photographs on display at the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago as part of a larger exhibit on the Chernobyl disaster. Say......

The NCAA Tournament never turns out like we think it will, and this year's tournament had even more unepected twist and turns than a typical year. From the numerous upsets, to all the top seeds missing the Final Four, to George Mason making the Final Four, to the large margins of victory in the the Final Four and Championship games. Last night, Florida defeated UCLA 73-57 to claim the NCAA basketball title. With the conclusion......

Seattlest saw a house party get senselessly attacked with a shotgun and end in seven dead. A local senator is debated and their version of the big dig is investigated. To truly get to the bottom of it they interview the writer Jonathan Raban. Bostonist has its first birthday party and investigates how to attach more gambling dollars to the Red Sox. Benjamin Franklin is celebrated and Johnny Damon is not. Image by Ethan Bagley......

March Madness resumes tonight with half the Sweet 16 teams in action. The game that's likely to garner the most local attention pits the Bradley Braves against the Memphis Tigers. Can Bradley, a 13th seed, take on #1 seed Memphis and continue the unexpected run through the NCAA Tournament? Or will tonight end a magical run by a team few expected to win even one game in the tourney. At this point, there shouldn't be......

While the nation celebrated the frenzy of March Madness, basketball fans in Chicago felt more than a little March sadness as we learned that legendary DePaul coach Rey Meyer passed on Friday at 92. Meyer reigned over the basketball program at DePaul for 42 years, along the way developing George Mikan into the first true big man, and taking his program to the Final Four in 1979. A four-time coach of the year, Meyer retired......

We knew a week off would recharge our batteries for this feature, but who knew meeting our word count this week would be as easy as beating a Big Ten team in the NCAA tournament? And we're not even including the poor guy who cut off his own wang. Drumroll please... On Monday, a woman from suburban Island Lake was charged with drunk driving and child endangerment after she arrived to pick up her son......