With NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in town to recognize Soldier Field for becoming the first LEED Certified stadium in the NFL, the mayor floated a trial balloon to host the big game right here in the Windy City. more ›

Miss Deaf America was invited to perform the National Anthem and "America The Beautiful" in sign language, but she was never seen on television, and her performance did not appear on the Jumbotron. They didn't even invite her to stay for the game. more ›

Jay Cutler's fiance Kristin Cavallari, like, totally thinks Gisele Bundchen was right to criticize the Patriots receivers' Super Bowl performances the way she did. "Kind of loving how Gisele stuck up for her man," Cavallari said. more ›

Karl Rove, former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, says he was offended by Chrysler's "Halftime in America" Super Bowl ad starring Clint Eastwood, and he claims the ad is "Chicago-style politics." more ›

Chicago Public Library branches reopen Monday afternoons starting tomorrow, the man pulled from the Lake today has died, and other news. more ›

Still don't have Super Bowl plans? Check out the deals at these restaurants during the game. more ›

Even though the Bears were out of it long ago and the Super Bowl is technically dead to us, we guess we’ll still watch it. Here are some Super Bowl Sunday recipes from the Chicagoist staff. more ›

Don't want to slave over the stove during the Super Bowl? Get takeout from a local restaurant instead. more ›

It isn't about sex, or fart jokes, or making light of human suffering, but rather the anthropomorphization of chimps. more ›

Automobile news blog Jalopnik says it knows what Matthew Broderick's cryptic teaser video is really about, and it's not a sequel to Ferris Bueller's Day Off. more ›

Under pressure to grow profits, Groupon won't repeat last year's mistake of running expensive — and controversial — ads during this year's Super Bowl. more ›

Look, it is no secret around these parts that I'm not exactly "into" sports. But when big ol' sporting events roll around I can appreciate their impact on pop culture and I can really appreciate the parties that spring up around them! So it's lucky for me -- and all other non-sports fans trying to not stand out at a Super Bowl party as they wolf down free beer, pizza, fried chicken and chips while everyone else yells at the TV -- some of the kind folks over at WBEZ have put together a video to help people NOT stand out at a Super Bowl party. Thanks to Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag for putting this together! more ›

We're all familiar with gingerbread houses, those sugary sweet agglomerations of royal icing, jelly beans and inedible planks of dough. But this... this is genius. The obsessive compulsive (and we say that with deep admiration and awe) home cooks at Serious Eats have constructed an edible stadium for the super bowl, using only savory ingredients. It took them four and a half hours, and it's the cutest thing on the entire internet. Even better, they tell you how to do it yourself, and give you step-by-step photo instructions. If an untrained cook starts now, they might be done by Sunday. more ›

Been dying for a taste of the new Mac and Cheese truck from the folks at the Southern? The truck launches on February 3rd (follow it on Twitter) but if you want a more indoor version of their mac and cheese, how about a super bowl party? During the game, The Southern will be hosting a mac and cheese buffet. Four new flavors (all featured on the truck) will be served, and the cost will be $10. They will also have some great drink specials, like $3 shots of Bulleit bourbon. more ›

Now that he has the endorsements of Chicago policemen and firefighters who don't want to live in the city, and found a slogan he can beat Rahm Emanuel over the head with, Gery Chico's next stop in his late push for second place in next month's election is to pander to football fans. The Chico campaign responded to an article by the Tribune's David Haugh in which Haugh laid out the chances of Soldier Field hosting a future Super Bowl with a press release that said, if elected Mayor, Chico would work to bring a Super Bowl to the Windy City. more ›

Bring on the Packers! more ›

Groupon's next step in its quest for online discount shopping domination: Advertising during the Super Bowl. The local startup has quietly partnered with marketing agencies to promote the company with some old-fashioned advertising, including buying some spots for the Super Bowl pre-game next month. Ad spots for the game itself, which command prices of up to $3 million, sold out by October. more ›

Clear your calendar or set up your TiVo, because six short days from now Betty White is hosting Saturday Night Live. By now you probably know the backstory: after some hilarious TV appearances and a Super Bowl commercial that went viral, a Facebook campaign to draft White as host caught fire. And the powers that be at NBC actually went for it. more ›

Sunday's Super Bowl is fast approaching, but for most Chicago football fans the game will once again be mostly about the food, drink and commercials -- Super Bowl Shuffle reunion! -- as our Bears will also be watching the game from home. So how does one from these parts choose which team to cheer for -- the Indianapolis Colts or the New Orleans Saints? Some may choose to cheer against the Colts because the beat our Bears when the two teams met in Miami for Super Bowl XLI in 2006. Others may pick the Colts because they're our neighbor to the southeast. more ›

In lieu of our regular Wine Wednesday post, we found it much more fitting to focus on the colossal eating and drinking occasion that is the Super Bowl. Unfortunately for Chicago, we can't say 'we almost made it' or even whisper a word of smack talking to our buddies, but we will find a way to chest-bump and guzzle booze with the best of them. Here are some of the drinks and eats the Chicagoist Staff plan to indulge in...and some are just indulging in drinking (guess, Monday will be a slow one at Chicagoist). more ›

It's been nearly 25 year since the Bears won Super Bowl XX -- doesn't that make us feel old! -- but the Bears team that brought home the Lombardi Trophy has never received their customary visit to the White House. Back in 1986, the Challenger Space Shuttle tragedy resulted in their visit being postponed, and it was never rescheduled. more ›

• Joey "The Clown" Lombardo is the latest mobster sentenced in the Family Secrets trial: Joey received life.
• Uriel Soto-Castro, the man who hit three teens with his car on Friday, is facing aggravated drunken driving charges from the incident; none of the teens' injuries were considered life-threatening.
• The Sun-Times uncovered some rather disproportionately high salaries for some area educators.

As Sunday's Super Bowl approaches, it's a good time to look back and reflect on some of the football legends that have come before Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger. Specifically, it's not hard to think about Wheaton's pride and joy, "The Galloping Ghost" Red Grange. A star athlete at Wheaton High School, Grange then took his skills to the University of Illinois where he further flourished under legendary coach Bob Zuppke. From there, Red went on to a stellar NFL career with both the Chicago Bears and the New York Yankees, who were Grange's team of his start-up American Football League, his challenge to the NFL. Grange's shadow is still cast over football today: ESPN recently named him the greatest college football player of all time. Grange was considered one of the great sports legends of the early twentieth century, along with Babe Ruth, Bobby Jones, and Jack Dempsey. more ›

These days, the hype surround banned Super Bowl commercials is a big as the commercials that make it to air during the big games. This year is no different as PETA puts the "hump" in our Humpday Diversion courtesy of this racy ad that NBC has rejected because of, among other things, a woman "screwing herself with broccoli" and "asparagus on her lap appearing as if it is ready to be inserted into vagina." Read the NBC letter [PDF] and check out the video below. more ›

Could Chicago have become a routine host of the Super Bowl and the Final Four? Crain's Ed Sherman seems to think so, saying the city should have built a new stadium with a retractable roof rather than renovating Soldier Field.

Instead of building the Space Ship by the Lake, the city should have constructed a domed (preferably retractable) stadium. A Super Bowl and a few Final Fours would have helped pay for the extra expense. more ›

Perhaps the story of Super Bowl XLIII is the latest act for Kurt Warner, who's career has seen peaks and valleys unlike any player -- at least those who haven't harmed their own careers through crime or substance abuse. From the Arena Football League and stocking grocery store shelves; to league and Super Bowl MVP; to bench warming tutor for the next generation of quarterbacks; to Super Bowl starter once more. When the surprising NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals take the field on February 1, the unassuming Warner will be under center. more ›

href="http://torontoist.com/2008/02/phototo_snowbal.php">photographing a big, organized snowball fight.

While John McCain spent Super Bowl Sunday in Massachusetts, Mitt Romney made his pitch to the most reliably conservative county in Illinois. At a packed rally of several hundred people at the College of DuPage yesterday, he tried to convince voters here that he is the true conservative standard bearer. Romney vowed that as president he would "stand up for the principles of the Republican Party and to live in the house that Ronald Reagan built." more ›

With the race for the Democratic nomination showdown just days away, and polls showing Obama closing in on Clinton in key Super Duper Tuesday states, the Obama campaign made a huge ad buy during the Super Bowl in the Super Tuesday states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Washington, (but, alas, not Illinois) more ›

The Super Bowl is coming on Sunday, like it or not, and with it comes analysis of the action on the field, the commercials, and what's sitting on the plate in front of you. You could go the classy route and cook up a feast for your football-watching friends. Or you could join your fellow Americans in helping to make Feb. 3 the most popular pizza ordering day of the year. more ›