Dylan was driving me crazy at home after the Cubs game, so I put him in the car and drove to Toyota Park for the Chicago Fire game. I had every intention of putting Dylan to bed and hang out at home. But, at this point in his young life, the Ultimate Sports Baby loves to wander around. And, he is safer doing so at a sports stadium than our home. So this was another opportunity for him to do so.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
I pulled into the Toyota Park parking …

For the past two seasons, I have attended the Chicago Fire home opener. This year was no exception especially since the game was on a Saturday afternoon. Under normal circumstances I would bring the Ultimate Sports Baby with me to an afternoon game, but the temperature was in the 30’s which is too cold for him to attend.

Pre Game Dining
Since I did not have the Ultimate Sports Baby, I decided to go to one of the bars around Toyota Park. I ended up at The Krash Inc. located at 7122 …

It was a rare Saturday afternoon game for the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park – meaning the Ultimate Sports Baby and I were off to the game since Nicole would appreciate her usual nap after teaching skating on Saturday morning.
We arrived late to the game since Dylan napped later than I thought and we hit unexpected traffic on I-55 heading to the park. Arriving late is always nerve-wracking since there will be a lack of tickets on the secondary market (especially free tickets). I would never want to pay full …

In a rare Sunday night game at Toyota Park the Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls played to a scoreless draw. However, the names on the field were the reason the game sold out and 21,868 were in attendance – the largest crowd ever for a Fire game at Toyota Park.
On the pitch for the Red Bulls was Mexican captain Rafael Marquez and Thierry Henry, while the Fire debuted Freddie Ljungberg and Nery Castillo. Castillo came into the game in the 56th minute to a standing ovation and fireworks.
Beg, …

Two weeks ago I attended the Chicago Fire game in a luxury box. For $5, I received parking, a luxury box ticket and unlimited food and drinks. A deal that is nearly impossible to beat. However, with no official “deal,” I came close as close as I could to equaling that deal last night in my second visit to Toyota Park this season.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
I was already at a severe disadvantage since I had to pay $15 for parking. But, I knew I would find a cheap ticket. I …

A few weeks ago, I wrote about attending the Chicago Bulls game with students from my Masters program at Northwestern University. That night, I wrote that I had to pay more than I normally would since we were attending the game as a group.
Last night, the “group” experience benefited me greatly. This time around we were attending the Chicago Fire’s home opener at Toyota Park versus the San Jose Earthquakes. However, we had a luxury box with unlimited food, drinks and parking included for only $5 – essentially free when …

It is difficult for me to attend many Major League Soccer games throughout the season because their games often compete with many other sporting events that take place during the summer and they play on Saturday nights – normally a forbidden night for me to attend sporting events. Last night was an exception since the Chicago Fire was playing a Thursday night game versus Chivas USA and it was the main sporting event taking place in the Chicago area.
One problem with getting to venues in Chicago on weeknights is …

I was the first person to my car in the U.S. Cellular Field parking lot and the race was on. Could I get to Toyota Park, buy a ticket and get into the stadium within 20 minutes? Since both U.S. Cellular Field and Toyota Park are relatively close to Chicago’s Interstate-55 it was definitely possible.
Parking and Obtaining TicketsI was at the Toyota Park parking lot at 6:55 pm (luckily for me there was no Saturday evening Chicago traffic) and used my media parking pass to park quickly. Since Jamie Trecker, …

I generally do not attend many Chicago Fire games during the season. Their games are usually scheduled on Saturday nights or Sunday afternoons. Saturday nights are normally off limits for sporting events and since I live right by Wrigley Field, Sunday afternoon games sometimes compete with a Sunday afternoon Cubs game. However, today the Fire was home on a Sunday afternoon and the MLB season had not yet started.
Pre Game DiningI invited my friend, FOXSoccer.com columnist Jamie Trecker, to the match. We met Sunday morning at Purgatory Pizza – a …

With prior plans on Saturday night and the Chicago Bears game to attend on Sunday afternoon, the Chicago Fire’s home game in the conference semifinals fell on the only day of the week I could have attended – Thursday night.
I had considered eating at Fire Station Pub before the match since Nicole was not attending but I called one of my friend’s to see if they were attending. They were and said I could get a ride to Toyota Park. The ride from Wrigley Field to Toyota Park …