Coming into the match, the Fire had just set the unenviable league record of 15 ties in a season. more ›

Because Toyota Park remains without power following yesterday's storm, today's Fire match will start at 5 p.m. Oh, and it's free admission, also. more ›

Well, that was sort of a bummer. Despite an amped crowd of 21,868 - the biggest in Toyota Park history - the Fire’s 0-0 tie against the New York Red Bulls last night failed to live up to its hype. Thanks to a combination of 90 degree heat, some rusty legs, and a lack of cohesion between new players and regulars, we didn’t get the explosion of quality we had hoped for. Still, there was a lot to learn from the game, both from a Fire and a MLS perspective. more ›

Say what you want, but this Sunday’s game between our Chicago Fire and the New York Red Bulls at Toyota Park (8 PM) is the most important game in Chicago Fire history. Yeah yeah, we’ve been in bigger games. The 1998 MLS Championship and runner-up showings in 2000 and 2003 come to mind, as do the 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2006 U.S. Open triumphs; then there are some of the more memorable friendlies (A.C. Milan visiting Soldier Field in 2005 especially). But Sunday night tops it all. more ›

We at Chicagoist have nothing but love for our hometown MLS squad, the Fire, so we were positively geeked when they asked us to participate in the team's annual media game at Toyota Park Wednesday. Chicago media personalities, including folks from The Trib, The Sun-Times, Univision, Fox Chicago and WBBM, played alongside Chicago Fire staff for the abbreviated 40-minute friendly, with the Red and White teams competing for a mini cup that Fire Technical Director Frank Klopas jokingly assured us was "solid gold." more ›

The Chicago Fire's Sister Cities International Cup starts tonight, and here's the deal: Tonight, the Fire play Paris Saint-Germain at Toyota Park at 7 PM, and Legia Warsaw play Red Star Belgrade right after. On Saturday, the two losers play at 6 PM at Toyota Park, and the winners play for the Cup right after. Bam. more ›

Playing in front of 20,276 fans - the largest ever Opening Night crowd - the Fire fell short of opening the home season on a winning note as the team fell 2-1 to the San Jose Earthquakes. The Fire had opportunities early, including a beautiful chance inside the box in the 11th minute when a slight hesitation on a pass from Patrick Nyarko threw off Collins John's timing just enough that he missed a wide open shot at the goal. Missed opportunities like that would haunt the Fire later. The teams played to a scoreless tie at the half but San Jose opened scoring in the second half in the 49th minute when Fire goalie Andrew Dykstra collided with defender Tim Ward as both tried to defend the ball, leaving Arturo Alvarez to chip the ball into and open goal. more ›

Set your alarm clocks, Phans, because tickets for Phish's August 11 show at Toyota Park go on sale tomorrow at noon. more ›

The Chicago Fire lit up the Revolution in the Fire home opener on last night. Just four minutes into the game Chad Barrett buried a goal to give the Fire the early lead. more ›

Tickets for the Chicago matches of the Barclays Churchill Cup are on sale now. The tournament is North America's biggest international rugby tournament, and if you recall, the tournament will culminate in Chicago with the final day of competition being played at Toyota Park. more ›

Chicago has been selected as the host city for the 2008 Barclays Churchill Cup finals, the biggest international rugby tournament in North America. The Tournament will kick off in Ottawa, Canada on June 7th with several dates across Canada before converging on Chicago for the final day of matches. Teams from the United States, Canada, England, Scotland and Ireland will compete in the event on June 21 at Toyota Park. Last year, Toyota Park played... more ›

A lesbian couple was named "cutest couple" for Waukegan High School's annual yearbook. Minor hand-wringing from a parent ensued. It's too damn early for Christmas music on the radio. Same goes for Christmas sales. You might want to think twice about eating those Jeno's or Totino's frozen pizzas. Too little too late? Macy's hopes FAO Schwartz can bring customers back to State Street. There's still some meaningful soccer to be played at Toyota Park.... more ›

The Chicago Fire clinched a playoff spot in their final regular season match of the year, defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0 in front a record-breaking 21,374 fans at Toyota Park. Right from the start, the Fire was clearly the hungrier squad. They nearly scored in the opening minute and continued to dominate play through the first half with successive shots on Los Angeles Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon. A combination of some great saves... more ›

The Fire return to Toyota Park tomorrow night to take on rival New England Revolution in their penultimate regular-season home game. The New England Revolution are hot off their U.S. Open Cup Championship game earlier this week. The Fire come into the match on a five-game unbeaten streak, but four of those non-beatings were ties because the Fire's been fizzling: In each of their last three games, they held the lead with less than ten... more ›

Only four of the thirteen Major League Soccer teams took advantage of Major League Soccer's new Designated Player Rule, made most famous by the signing of David Beckham by the Los Angeles Galaxy, signing a total of five players. This weekend, arguably the two most impactful designated players, Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Juan Pablo Angel, will match up at Toyota Park. Blanco has played just seven games but has helped the Fire to earn 13 points... more ›

Brazil's national soccer team arrived in Chicago on Friday for their Clash of Champions match-up with the United States National Team at Soldier Field on Sunday. Brazil did not wait long to entertain fans. On Saturday they held their one and only training session prior to the match with the United States and they did it in front of a crowd of a few hundred die-hard fans at Toyota Park. Chicagoist has always enjoyed watching... more ›

This weekend 8,000 rugby fans enjoyed seeing 2006 Heineken Cup Champion Munster defeat the Rugby World Cup bound-USA Eagles 10-6 at Toyota Park. This match was the final match for the USA Eagles before they travel to France for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. This was the first time Chicagoist had seen rugby played at this level and was immediately intimidated and impressed at the size of the players and the ferocity with which they... more ›

Chicago Fire Forward Cuauhtémoc Blanco proved that David Beckham is not the only recent Major League Soccer acquisition that can be deadly accurate on free kicks. Kansas City came into Toyota Park after their midweek 3-2 victory over the Fire and dominated the first half of play, heavily out shooting the Fire. Just before the halftime break Fire midfielder Ivan Guerrero was tripped up just outside the Kansas City penalty area resulting in a... more ›

Toyota Park will be home to a professional soccer game and an international friendly rugby match this weekend. On Saturday night the Chicago Fire will look to exact revenge when they host Kansas City, to whom they lost 3-2 in a mid-week clash. The Fire and Kansas City have split their previous two matches with the home side winning each game. Both games have been close, determined by just one goal. The Fire are badly... more ›

Chicagoist is a big fan of alternative sports. No we are not talking about underwater hockey but sports that are popular around the world that have just-under-the-mainstream-radar following here in Chicago. We're talking Gaelic Football, Rugby, and Australian Football. Chicagoist was excited to see there are some great alternative sporting events heading to town in the coming month. This weekend, Chicago United Australian Football Club is hosting the Nashville Kangaroos in a Mid-America Australian Football... more ›

Toyota Park will host two international sporting events this summer. The first on Sunday, July 22 when the Chicago Fire host Scottish Premier League side Celtic FC. Celtic FC had a remarkable season last year where they went unbeaten in 31 of 34 games, leading them to a repeat as champions in the Scottish Premier League. The club has won five of the last seven championships and has racked up 41 domestic titles in their... more ›

Chicagoist loves getting free stuff. Whether it's Free Cone Day, burritos, or bags of useless trinkets, we revel in all things gained sans payment. But, when a goodie bag containing condoms, a racy catalogue from Lover's Lane, an explicit CD, coupons for sexual favors and suntan lotion packets with marijuana leaves on them is given to a 12-year-old girl, the buck stops there. As was the case last weekend when Pam Richard took her three... more ›

It was a great atmosphere in Chicago this weekend for soccer fans. The Chicago Fire won an international friendly over MKS Cracovia on Friday night at Toyota Park. Saturday night, Chicagoist visited the Globe Pub where we found United States National Team supporters who had traveled from both coasts for the Gold Cup final. They joined together singing soccer songs while taking in Major League Soccer action via satellite feed. The U.S. fans found themselves... more ›

The Chicago Fire let Dave Sarachan go on Wednesday. The Chicago Fire started the season with their best start ever and have floundered since to a record of 4-6-2 brining Sarachan to 55-50-31 on his career. For the time being Denis Hamlett will be promoted from assistant coach to interim head coach of the Fire. Hamlett has been with the organization as an assistant for 10 years. He will get his first opportunity at the... more ›

Live Nation has put the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park up for sale after an evaluation on their real estate holdings by CB Richard Ellis. If the venue is sold, it does not mean that concerts won’t be held there anymore, but it sounds pretty likely that this single-use venue could become a warehouse. With rezoning of the 110-acre property, we can imagine condos, condos, town homes, and more condos filling up the... more ›

The Chicago Fire beat the Columbus Crew at Toyota Park on Sunday, ending a five game winless streak. Defender Jeff Curtin got the Fire out in front when a well-placed corner kick by Willian Olveira found Curtin at the far post where he headed in his first MLS goal. Prior to the halftime break the Columbus Crew's recent acquisition Gullermo Barros Schelotto, formerly of Argentinian club Boca Juniors, served in a free kick that found... more ›

Lacrosse Fans should head out to Toyota Park this Saturday to catch some Illinois High School Lacrosse action in addition to checking out the professionals of the Chicago Machine. The first game on the docket Saturday is a match-up of Grayslake and Fenwick at 2pm in the Lacrosse Cup Final, featuring finalists from the Illinois Class B tournament. Directly after that match at 4pm will be the Class A Illinois State Championship game. Since 2002... 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 ›

The Fire will be looking for a win tonight when they return home after dropping the last two of a three game road run. The Fire helped make history in their last match, but not the good kind, when they became the first franchise to be scored upon by expansion franchise Toronto FC and then went on to be the first team to lose to the Canadian club. The Fire host FC Dallas in tonight's... more ›

Saturday night, the Chicago Fire won their first season opener in five years. The game time temperature was a frigid 31 degrees but that did not deter nearly 15,000 fans from coming out to Toyota Park to cheer on the Fire. The fans were barely in their seats before the Fire netted the game winner. In the fourth minute midfielder Justin Mapp(right) drove down the sideline and crossed a ball to Logan Pause who flicked... more ›