The United States Soccer Federation selected two Chicago watering holes as finalists for the Best Soccer Bar in America as part of the 2006 Best of U.S. Soccer awards. The finalist will be decided by votes cast by soccer fans who visit USSoccer.com. Voting is open until Wednesday. Representing Chicago are Ginger's Ale House and The Globe Pub. Chicago is the only city to have two finalists for Best Soccer Bar. Chicagoist assumes that U.S.... more ›

The Chicago Fire carry a 1-0 lead into New England for the second leg of the aggregate goal Eastern Conference Semifinal Series. The Chicago Fire defeated the New England Revolution 1-0 in Chicago Sunday when Justin Mapp scored off a free kick in the 34th minute. The Fire can advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with a win or a tie in New England on Saturday night. The Fire have their work cut out for... more ›

There's a whole wide world out there, and here's the proof: DCist revels in The University of Maryland's basketball triumphs, marvels at Metro's security strategy, and applauds DC local Katie Couric's new gig. Phillyist is all about the Philadelphia Film Festival. OK, not about -- they still have time for loitering, underage sex, and random wacky news. LAist would have to send a camera around the world to get shots as bizarre as Katie's big 'ol bump and Kenny Rogers bad plastic surgery (in LAist Carolyn's words: "Kenny Rogers doesn't know when to fold 'em!" Ha!). Despite such bizarre sightings in LA, LAist interviewee Vanessa Grigoriadis chose to move there (to be with her fiancee, awww). Somebody ask Vanessa if they have record release parties as fun as the ones for LA based bands Languis and Spaceland in New York! Bostonist has the best local papers! While The Globe reports on a baby shower gone bad, the 'Herald coins a gruesome new term. They put down the paper long enough to comment on an election that has gone to the dogs, and, speaking of dogs -- check out this personal ad. Of course, it wouldn't be Boston without baseball, and, speaking of balls, here's why same-sex marriage can be outlawed for out-of-state couples. This chick we read about on Houstonist should talk to Phillyist's sexually active teen -- we think that they could find some interesting common ground. Or maybe not. A million dollars worth of pot would have us finding common ground with a lot of folks (and, hey, since we might get arrested for being drunk in a bar, weed's looking better and better to us), but maybe not Tom DeLay. Speaking of common ground, they also debated the need for a "record labels", and followed that up with an interview with the founder of Pandora Miamist reminds us not to wear a thong to our Dolphins cheerleader tryouts, but we're more worried about getting busted for driving with a suspended licence. Other crimes we won't be committing: bird theft, misspelled hate speech, and...well, if it's not a crime to do the "Gator Chomp" on the lawn of the White House, it should be. Torontoist warns us that downtown Toronto isn't that safe. First falling billboards, then self-immolations in donut shops and now falling bricks! Maybe you'd better escape to the safety of Montreal. We'd really be psyched if that train served dandelion salad, but we'll settle for Coke Blak. (We've had some and we LOVE IT.) SFist is one step closer to getting free citywide wireless, but until we get the internet ported straight into our brains we'll still have time for sex. Foodies seem to dig food-reality show Top Chef, and Barry Bonds probably wishes people had thrown food at him in San Diego instead of syringes. SFist also spoke to the producer of , a movie that's so good that our glibness escapes us. And it's back! You know what brought it back? Gothamist telling us about balls of heroin! Thank you Gothamist, for restoring us to our jerky glory. You know what else makes us feel jerky? The Times redesign. We'll say nothing jerky or glib about the reaction the trailer for is getting. Finally, Gothamist does their damndest to top DCist's rioting over women's basketball with a Hasidim protest. Is it riot week and no one told us? Chicagoist readers had a lot of time on their hands and thoughts in their heads about Wal-Mart, bicyclists, and dumb criminals. Chicagoist writers previewed Chicago's upcoming baseball season, made a tasty bowl of clam chowder and scratched their heads in wonder at the wrestler/public speaker/caveman known as The Warrior. Austinist gets all smug because they're third safest big city in America. Yeah, from crime, maybe, but what about the endorsed spread of disease or outbreaks of pillow fighting? But if you're a guy, thank goodness that now there's a place to deal with those outbreaks of the dermal variety. Fresh from an evening of fashion fun Shanghaiist rips Kristie Lu Stout a new one. Maybe someone needs to send her a copy of Dave Liang's "Shanghai Restoration Project"? For the more mainstream tastes, the Rolling Stones are coming to town, but it seems too too coincidental that they're also reporting on body parts that keep turning up in Gansu. The two news items are unrdelated, we're sure. more ›

The Chicago Australian Football Association (CAFA) is preparing for their 2006 season. The sport that is wildly popular down under, also known as Aussie Rules or Footy, has been growing in popularity and participation in Chicago and across the United States for more than 10 years. Aussie Rules is played on a gigantic oval that can be as long and as wide as two American football fields. It is a fast-paced, hard-hitting game that provides... more ›

Another reason to vote: Free food, special drinks, discounted books and more. We've tried to summarize specials that are going on around town, but of course, feel free to add any we've missed! more ›