The rare occurrence of last week was actually not that rare. My buddy, Mike Holzman, received his father’s South lot parking pass again. However, Nicole needed to move forward with her school work so we were on our own for this tailgate.
Since she did practically all of the work last week, Mike ended up putting this tailgate together. He brought burgers but the fact the grill worked was a major plus. I, with a 6-month-old at home, brought nothing to the table except a 12-pack of beer.
Washington Redskins at Chicago …

In a rare occurrence, my friend Mike Holzman had his south lot parking pass. So the Ultimate Sports Wife and I hired a babysitter and Nicole planned her own tailgate feast. On the menu was gorgonzola stuffed burgers, artichoke dip and stuffed mushrooms. On a food-only level, it definitely competes with Tailgate Rob’s menu, but our tailgate looks a lot worse than his does. Our main issue was the lack of a table and only having a small grill. To give you an example of the sad state of our …

For the first time in awhile, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I did not tailgate or go out before or after a Bears game at Soldier Field – which actually made for a calm game day.

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears
It was Monday Night Football so we arrived at Soldier Field shortly after 7 pm and headed straight into the stadium. The Packers took a late first quarter lead after Greg Jennings caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers. The Packers held onto the lead at halftime 10-7.
However, that …

This season is the first in awhile where the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs home games do not conflict with each other – meaning I do not have to choose which game to attend. Two years ago, I chose to attend the Bears home opener rather than the Cubs game since Tailgate Rob was tailgating before the game. This year was no exception as Tailgate Rob tries to attend the Bears home opener each season. Needless to say we were in the South Lot by 8:30 am.

After the tailgate, my …

We were back at Soldier Field for a second consecutive Saturday night as the Chicago Bears were hosting the Arizona Cardinals.
Pre Game Dining
Before the game we ate at Tapas Valencia located at 1530 S. State St. As I wrote last week, we paid $26 to park and the parking lots around the area are more expensive than that. When we valet parked our car at the restaurant they told us we could pay $15 if we wanted for park for the Bears game (regular valet price is $6, but a …

After the Cubs game we drove down to Soldier Field for the Chicago Bears pre-season game versus the Oakland Raiders. Since we were not tailgating we paid $26 to park in the Monroe Parking Garage at Millennium Park. The garage runs a “free” shuttle to Soldier Field, but given the pain of getting on the shuttles after the game the price is expensive for what you get.
Oakland Raiders at Chicago Bears
Last time I saw the Raiders on the road was October 5, 2003 in the Bears first season at the …

It’s not every weekend that one gets to attend Monday Night Football after attending an NFL game on Sunday. But that is what happened this weekend. At the beginning of the NFL season, I knew the Chicago Bears were playing on the Monday night after Christmas. I also knew the San Francisco 49ers were home Sunday afternoon where Nicole and I were planning to spend the holiday. Thus, in order to attend both games, I booked a 6:50 am flight from Oakland to Chicago on Southwest Airlines.
Our flight landed in …

It was a day I have only participated in two times before – the first time on November 14, 1999 and the second, last year, on November 9, 2008. Yesterday, I attended both the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Blackhawks game in the same day. The timing for the games works perfectly. The Bears start at noon and the Blackhawks start at 6 pm on Sunday – meaning you have around three hours to grab dinner in between the games.
Pre Game DiningRather than tailgating before the game, …

It was a bad NFL game to attend (with the Bears at 4-7 and the Rams at 1-10) but since we already had our season tickets we were planning to attend. At first, we were planning to meet Hawkeyes Bryon and Julie at a bar before the game. However, that was before my friend, Mike Holzman, hooked up the parking pass late in the week in the Waldron Deck – the parking lot directly south of Soldier Field. Thus, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I put together our own tailgate …

For the second week in a row I attended Sunday night football. This time the game was in Chicago as the Chicago Bears hosted the Philadelphia Eagles.
ParkingOnce again the Ultimate Sports Wife and I were attending the game with Blackhawks Jim and, today, Blackhawks Jimmy Jr. Since Blackhawks Jim was driving from Wilmette, IL he picked us up. However, we did not have the Waldron Deck parking as we did two weeks ago so we parked in the Millennium Parking Lot. The best part of the Millennium Parking Lot is …