The U.S. Women's Soccer Team, fresh off their late win against Brazil, face off against France in the World Cup semi-finals. more ›

Amidst the storms and Blago and whatever else is going on about town, you may have noticed the U.S. Men's National Team is making a nice run at the World Cup. It hasn't been easy but after yesterday's dramatic 1-0 victory over Algeria, Team USA own their group for the first time ever (not counting 1930 when they won in a three-team group) and is through to the knock-out round. Waiting for them on Saturday is Ghana, the nation that stymied the Americans in Germany four years ago and prevented the USA from advancing then. The USA had their lapses and missed opportunities throughout the Group Stage, but they've lined themselves up as good a draw as they could hope for, slated to face the winner of South Korea-Uruguay in the quarterfinals should they win Saturday. more ›

Did you miss the USA-England World Cup match from this weekend? Don't worry because you can catch a recap in LEGO form right here, including the now famous/infamous (depending on which side you're on) Hand of Clod. more ›

It was a thrilling gold medal game as Team Canada defeated Team USA in the men's ice hockey final 3-2 in overtime. The game also had a distinct Blackhawks flavor: Jonathan Toews scored the opening goal for Canada and Duncan Keith was credited with an assist on Canada's second goal, giving them a 2-0 lead. But Team USA came back as Ryan Kesler deflected in a Patrick Kane shot for USA's first goal. Kane was credited with an assist. He'd get another assist on Zach Parise's game-tying goal with less than 25 seconds left in the third period. But it would ultimately be Canada's triumph as Sidney Crosby scored the game-winner 7:40 in to the OT period. Still, Seabrook, Duncan, and Toews will return with gold medals, Kane with a silver, and all four re-teamed and focused on one ultimate goal: the Stanley Cup. The 'Hawks, who will also be rejoined by Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky who played for Team Slovokia, get back in action tomorrow night at the New York Islanders (6 p.m., CSN). more ›

Happy Leap Day! While it hasn't officially become Pizza Party USA day, there are plenty of ways to celebrate. more ›

NIU classes resumed today after a vigil last night drew 10,000 people from the university and beyond, including Governor Blagojevich, Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama, and secretary of the department of health and human services Michael Leavitt. more ›

Are cougars reemerging in the Midwest? A few years ago, a dead mountain lion turned up in New Boston, IL and last month, a live one made its way through southern Wisconsin. Experts tested DNA from a bloody pawprint the animal left and confirmed that it was indeed a mountain lion, the first in Wisconsin in a hundred years. 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 ›

What's the best part about the Monday after the Super Bowl? Why it's heading into the office and listening to Mr. Hilarious Co-Worker re-enact all of his favorite Super Bowl ads of course. more ›

This morning's not-too-brutal weather is a lie. A lie! Because starting around 3pm, temperatures are going to be falling, fast*, into the single digits. It's also going to start snowing, and winds will be gusting around 50 mph. Overnight, temperatures will be around 3 degrees, which putswind chill in the -24 degree zone. The National Weather service has issued a winter storm warning, and remember: even if the snow doesn't stick, it's going to be "blowing snow," which makes travel hazardous. And a total drag. [Trib, S-T, USA Today] more ›

Anytime an event is held every few years instead of annually, it takes on some added importance (we're thinking, for example, presidential elections, the Olympics and the World Cup). In the culinary world, this event is the Coupe De Monde De Boulangerie, a bread-baking contest that takes place every three years in Paris. This year, it's part of the Europain exhibition, held March 29–April 2. 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 ›

WXRT just announced this morning that Wilco will be playing a five-day residency at the Riviera Theatre in February. And the most exciting part is the band promises to explore its entire catalog, creating a unique set list for each show and playing songs they haven't played in quite some time. Needless to say, we're excited. (Summerteeth, anyone?) more ›

Mike Ditka's red-faced this weekend, and not because of overindulging on his vanity wines. A report in yesterday's USA Today showed that a charity "Da Coach" founded three years ago to help retired Hall of Fame football players whose bodies are ravaged by the violent demands of the NFL has only doled out $57,000 in assistance. Federal and state tax records indicate that $715,000 of the $1.3 million raised by the Mike Ditka Hall of... more ›

If you need further evidence that cultural awareness is increasingly non-existent among the general populace, look no further than college blog Campus Squeeze. Following on the heels of its list of the 20 most beautiful college campuses, the site recently weighed in on what they deemed the 20 ugliest campuses in the country. While the prison-style buildings of Drexel University and the utilitarian blocks at Rochester Institute of Technology certainly didn't look appealing, we... more ›

The Audit Bureau of Circulation released its Fas Fax data today, giving newspaper ombudsmen everywhere a topic for tomorrow's column. Too bad everyone's going to write largely the same story: Newspaper circulation is down. Circulation is down 2.6 percent across all major US daily newspapers, with the Trib faring worse than other papers, falling 2.9 percent over the last six months to a paid weekday circulation of 559,404. That makes the Trib the eighth biggest... more ›

The last two weeks, our Made in Chicago feature, about local artists and crafters, has brought you jewelry. Now, we bring you some crafty clothes to go with that Chicago skyline necklace. Amy DeVoogd ( it's Dutch, pronounced “deh-vogued”), 42, a drifter from Boston, MA to Charlottesville, VA, has settled as a Chicagoan since 2004. Her illustrations are bright contrasts of color that are both surprisingly simple and detailed. Her work has appeared in Playgirl,... more ›

The United States Olympic Committee awarded an Olympic Opportunity Grant earlier this month to World Sport Chicago. The Gloves not Guns program, run in cooperation with USA Boxing, the Police Athletic League, and the Chicago Park District, promotes the sport of boxing to Chicago's urban youth as a way to stay in shape--and out of trouble. more ›

Everyone knows puberty is the #1 most awkward and mortifying stage of growing up, but what if it hit you before you were even 8 years old? According to today's Sun Times, kids as young as 4 are experiencing early-onset puberty. Precocious puberty, which is not as fun as it sounds, is more common than you'd think. According to the Oak Park-based Magic Foundation, between 1 in 5,000 and 1 in 10,000 kids become gangly... more ›

Two Ugandan boxers and one Armenian boxer have disappeared from the AIBA World Boxing Championships. Phillip Adyaku, 25, and Sharif Bogere, 19, of Uganda were reported missing yesterday morning, and Vachagan Avagyan, 25, has been missing since Wednesday night. Also missing? Their luggage. Police don't consider them missing persons because there's no evidence of foul play. Ready to drop the d-bomb? It's possible the athletes have defected, and it wouldn't be the first time... 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 ›

Dave Warwak was just another mild-mannered middle school art teacher in Anywhere, USA (actually Fox River Grove Middle School in McHenry County). Then, in January, he switched to a vegan diet, sold his boat and fishing tackle from his side job as a fishing guide, and became politicized on the issue of animal rights. Last week Warwak handed his students a book by John Robbins titled The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save... 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 ›

Via Chicago Foodies, we found out about USA Dine Out, a new program sponsored by San Pellegrino. Here is the deal; a select bunch of Chicago restaurants will be offering $25 and $35 fixed price lunches and dinner, respectively, in between August 19-23 and August 26–30. Every table gets a free bottle of water, and Pellegrino donates $1 to Share Out Strength. Now we all know $1 isn't a huge amount of money... but if... more ›

On a day when Americans came together to celebrate the gloriousness that is the USA, we found another reason to cheer; American Joey Chestnut won Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, unseating six-time defending champion (and Japanese native) Takeru Kobayashi. Though those two were the certainly the stories of the day, we can't help but proudly mention Chicago native Patrick Bertoletti (pictured) came in a respectable third place. Bertoletti already has the title for eating 19 slices of pizza in 10 minutes last year, and he owns the record for eating 5.75 pounds of corned beef and cabbage. more ›

This afternoon, gangs of Chicago artists are out to change the way you think about Independence Day, slaying sacred cows and cherished myths. Myth #1: July 4 is a time to put politics aside and celebrate America. For Feel Tank Chicago, the personal is political. And that includes how we celebrate The Fourth. Rather than marching lockstep with Team USA cheerleaders, loving their country right or wrong, the artistic collective has planned this afternoon’s Fifth... more ›

Head 300 miles south to The Creation Museum and you may be dazzled by their Because The Bible Said So, That’s Why! explanation of life’s origins. That prospect is too much for The Field Museum. On Friday they open Darwin, a new traveling exhibition focused on the man and scientist considered the creationists’ biggest gadfly. Now a household name, Charles Darwin is remembered primarily for publishing Origin of Species and Descent of Man, the most... more ›

Packer Jennings’ gleefully subversive panels, journalistic mash ups, and participatory projects hearken back to Abbie Hoffman’s Vietnam-era jabs at The Man. Jennings claimed he was unfamiliar with the Yippie agitator when we made the comparison at Three Walls last weekend, but Corporate America’s most aggravating philosophies and practices haven’t changed much since Hoffman’s klepto manifesto started disappearing off bookshelves. Three Walls’ latest exhibit features Jennings’ instruction panels for the aspiring revolutionary. Our favorite series imagines... 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 ›

Now, we love our meat. This is the Midwest after all. Chicago was home to the Chicago Union Stock Yards once dubbed, “slaughterhouse to the world.” So we guess it's no real big surprise Chicago is also home to the world’s largest vegan social network: VegChicago, with 840 members. VegChicago hosts monthly gatherings, generally dine-outs. Their website says, “No agendas, no pressure… just a pleasant social setting for vegans, vegetarians, and veg-curious to meet, network,... more ›