Made in Chicago has been buried under snow and soot for a minute, but on a cold, wintry day such as this, we're digging it out with another homemade gem to share with all of you to help you finish out the week. 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 ›

The Chicago Fire used their recent acquisitions to propel themselves to a 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake. The Fire knew going into Saturday's game that it was important for them to earn 3 points for a victory against the league worst Real Salt Lake (2-10-6 12 pts.). After a less than impressive first 40, minutes Cuauhtémoc Blanco was in the right place at the right time to hit a cracker of a volley that... more ›

The Chicago Fire continued on a downward spiral last night losing to the New York Red Bulls, their fourth straight loss. Seventeen-year-old Red Bull, Jose Altidore, took a break from his busy high school life, he had prom last Saturday and graduates high school this Saturday, to score the eventual game winner against the Fire. His goal came just over one minute into the game. Juan Pablo Angel did not want to be outdone so... more ›

Chicagoist is starting to think we're bad luck for business. First Carson's folded, but only the location we frequented. Then CompUSA pulled their plug, not just in Chicago, but half of their locations in the U.S. Now we've discovered that the Virgin Megastore on Michigan — a store we just visited yesterday — is going bye-bye. Seriously, we feel like we need an exorcism here. more ›

A Civic Federation study released today makes recommendations that promise relief for major cultural institutions in fiscal decline since 2001 and overburdened property owners who have been whining for even longer. The study tracked a dozen major cultural organizations linked to Museums in the Park and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, including the Field Museum, the Shedd, the Brookfield Zoo, and the DuSable Museum, and discovered a major economic engine whose 2004 attendance was almost twice that of Chicago’s six major sports teams (note: the NHL was idle that year and debate persists whether the Blackhawks really matter anymore). But rising costs and declining attendance came as state and local subsidies were cut considerably. Between 2001-2004, the Museums in the Park saw subsidies from the Chicago Park District cut by more than 13% and from the State cut by 9%. more ›

The Chicago Fire earned another road point this weekend when they escaped Kansas City with a draw. The Fire were outshot 20-4 but managed to tie 1-1 thanks to some stellar goal keeping by Zach Thorton that included stopping an Eddie Johnson penalty kick. Kansas City remains Major League Soccer's top team (4-1-1) while the Fire are fifth in the East Division. The Fire are managing to stay within reach of the top half of... more ›

With the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics just a few days away we thought it would be fun to see who will represent the Chicagoland area in Torino, Italy. In all, there are nine hometown favorites to keep your eyes on. more ›

In what now seems to be a grim, depressing and all-too-frequent ritual, Chicagoist has the regrettable task of informing you about the deaths of two more residents of the Lincoln Park Zoo this morning. Our hearts are heavy yet again, this time for dearly departed lowland gorilla named Mumbali and, somewhat predictably, our dear pachyderm friend Wankie. more ›

What an awful year for the Lincoln Park Zoo. In their quest to spread free animal love throughout Chicagoland, they've become a target of animal rights activits and - at the end of the day - won't even have any elephants to show for it. more ›