Chris Bourg

You won’t just see human beings filling up the streets and walkways of Chicago. A lot of people will have their canine companions walking or running alongside them to enjoy the sights and sounds of our beautiful city. If you’re thinking about whether you should get a dog to call your own, here are nine doggone good reasons to get one. 1. Dating: Let’s just get this one out of the way. Everyone love puppies and that is an indisputable scientific fact. It's impossible to walk around the city of Chicago with a dog and not get at least one "aww" out of a potential date walking by. Too nervous to talk to that attractive girl or guy next door? Your pup is the best conversation starter you could have. Just make sure the conversation isn't about how your dog just did his business on their porch. 2. An excuse to get off of the couch: How many nights have you spent watching Breaking Bad on Netflix and thought to yourself, "Better fire up that 16th consecutive episode to watch, I've got nothing better to do?" Having a dog slobbering in your face and biting at your ankle to take it outside and play might just be that final push for you to hit the pause button after 10 straight hours of your favorite show. 3. Lessons in responsibility: Getting hired for a hot-shot job straight out of college and moving to the city has made you a respectable member of society, right? Wrong. You can take the kid out of college, but you can't take the college out of the kid. Your nights of getting blacked ou

If you ever needed affirmation of the fact that Chicagoans have the best taste in pizza, then look no further than this map of the most popular pizza chains by state. .@pizzahut rules the US — See which pizza chain is the most popular in every state pic.twitter.com/oXJX67gWaF — Business Insider (@businessinsider) January 9, 2017   Business Insider created a map that depicts the most popular pizza chain in every state based on Foursquare check-ins, and for the most part the results come as little surprise. Pizza Hut lays claim to 21 states across the country, the most of any chain on the map, followed by a smattering of other national and regional chains. But right smack dab in the middle of the map is a beautiful sight: the Giordano's logo placed firmly in the state of Illinois. That's right, instead of some super-chain that serves up mediocre pies, Illinois residents check into one of the city's best Chicago-style deep dish purveyors more often than any other pizza joint in the state. There is one interesting note to be made in the northeast corner of the map. For all the smack New Yorkers talk about how superior their city's pizza is to Chicago's, they sure do seem to love Pizza Hut. You would think that any New Yorker's pizza chain of choice would serve giant, floppy slices that need to be folded in half before they're consumed—perhaps they just prefer the generic (and easier to consume) stylings of a national chain? That's not another gratuitous potshot at New York's

In Game 4 of the NLDS against the Giants, the Cubs found themselves down 5-2 heading into the top of the ninth inning in San Francisco with the offense stagnating against the Giants' pitching. While some fans and analysts were looking ahead to a rematch against Johnny Cueto and wondering aloud if the Cubs would be able to pull off a Game 5 victory, the Cubs' bats suddenly exploded, yielding four runs in the ninth inning to win the game and the series. The Cubs weren't about to quit when it seemed others had. In the NLCS against the Dodgers, the Cubs started the series down 2-1 and found themselves in a stretch of 21 consecutive innings where the team's offense was shut out. It seemed like the offense had frustratingly hit a wall against Dodger pitching and wouldn't be able to break through with Rich Hill and Clayton Kershaw looming again later in the series. Instead, the team found another gear as it scored four runs in the fourth inning of Game 4 and proceeded to beat the Dodgers like a drum for the rest of the series en route to a pennant. When it seemed like the team was losing its pulse, it came roaring back and reminded everyone that even if it looks like they're close to surrender, the only white flag these Cubs wave has a W on it. In this World Series, the Cubs found themselves in the deepest hole they've been in this year. On Saturday night during Game 4, this team looked dead in the water after Jason Kipnis hammered a three-run homer in the top of the seventh inning

Superstitious types will certainly appreciate the NLDS matchup between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs, which starts tomorrow night at Wrigley Field. On one side you have the Giants, a team that has what a lot of people call "Even Year Magic" on its side. This is the phenomenon that explains how, since 2010, the Giants have won the World Series in every even-numbered year despite not necessarily having the odds stacked in their favor. Conversely, in odd-numbered years, the team has failed to even make the playoffs. 2016 is obviously an even-numbered year, so it would stand to reason that fate is on their side this postseason. It's also interesting to note that the Giants' last World Series title in 2014 started off with them winning the Wild Card play-in game on the road like they did last night in New York against the Mets. On the other hand there's the Cubs, who suffer from the diametric opposite of the Giants' recent streak of good fortune. This is a franchise that has been hexed with almost every curse imaginable for the past 108 years. Billy goats, black cats, Bartman, bad baseball— you name it, they've been cursed by it. Even in incredible seasons like this one, these curses are at the back of the entire fanbase's mind. Instead of having complete confidence in the best team in baseball, there will always be natural, lingering thoughts like "Oh god, what supernatural force is working against them this time?" So should Cubs fans be worried about this? That d

For the second consecutive season, the Cubs are going to the MLB playoffs, this time as champions of the National League Central division for the first time since 2008. With two weeks remaining in the regular season and a playoff berth all wrapped up, the team will benefit from using this time to rest its regular starters while fans wait anxiously for the calendar to flip to October. As we await the start of the postseason and look to fill the void of what are essentially meaningless games from now until the beginning of the playoffs, let's go over the Cubs' potential NLDS opponents and rank them in order of who we think will make the best match in the first round. (Let's also take a moment to reflect on the fact that we're dismissing the remaining regular season games in September as meaningless because the team won the division with so many games left to play. That's quite a change from the Cubs of yesteryear and speaks volumes to the behemoth of a team this organization has built. Just saying.). For the sake of this exercise, we’ll assume the Cubs will clinch home-field advantage for the National League portion of the playoffs and therefore face the winner of the Wild Card game. Currently, there are three teams in realistic contention for the two Wild Card spots. They are: New York Mets: The Cubs and their fans are undoubtedly still haunted by the ass-kicking the Mets laid on them in last year's NLCS sweep. Making matters worse, the Cubs went only 2-5 against them this sea

In a move that was undoubtedly inspired by the CTA's award-winning "Courtesy Campaign," Metra has recently rolled out a similar ad series of its own called "Ride Nice" with the hashtag #MetraManners. Metra is hoping to accomplish what the CTA has been able to in improving computer etiquette by calling out train misbehavior through humorous advertisements. However, Metra's campaign is scaled back compared to the CTA's, featuring only five ads currently. Since we know there's probably more misbehavior going unaddressed than what's in the campaign, here are some ideas for Metra to expand its campaign with: Have your Ventra app ready: If you're not aware, the Ventra mobile app lets you buy Metra tickets from your phone. It's incredibly convenient and removes the hassle of paying for a ticket in cash once you board a train. However, if you choose this method of payment, make sure you have the app up and ready to go. It's frustrating for the conductor trying to do his job if you don't have the app up, or need to input all your payment information, or didn't check beforehand to make sure it's working on your phone. A little cognizance in this situation goes a long way for all parties involved. Especially for you, if you want to avoid getting thrown off the train. Hold your liquor: One of the simple pleasures in life is enjoying an ice cold alcoholic beverage on a train ride through the scenic Chicago suburbs. Unfortunately, some people take this advantage of this privilege, getting

Some serious spoiler alerts below.  The sixth season of Game of Thrones has arguably been the most exciting and exhilarating one in the show's run. It comes to an end with Sunday's sure-to-be-epic, 69-minute season finale titled “The Winds of Winter.” All across the Seven Kingdoms, the ante has been upped in the game each set of characters find themselves playing in their quest for power. In honor of that, and to mourn the upcoming nine-month absence of any new episodes from television's best show, we're setting up something that, surprisingly, Tyrion hasn't made Missandei and Grey Worm try to play yet: A Game of Thrones season finale drinking game! So grab your wineskins, pull up the new episode on your parents’ HBO Go account and let's end this thing on a higher note than George R.R. Martin probably will. Pre-show: -Pour some of your drink out in remembrance for all the dead homies. Miss ya, Hodor. During the whole show: -Have one drink for each death. If scores of men are wiped out in a battle or something similar, chug your drink. If a character you really like dies, get a drink of something strong. -Have one drink for each bare breast you see. So if you see a woman with her top off, that's two drinks. It'll be like you're right there in the brothel with the characters! -Drink any time The Hound shows up, because he's a badass and deserves that kind of respect. Westeros: -Have one drink for each instance the camera shows Cersei Lannister in her trademark “Resting bitch fa

Each year, waves of young people move to Chicago to begin their professional careers, receive an education from one of the many colleges in the city or simply because the allure of living in the greatest city in the world is too great to resist. And when they initially move here, they have to find a place to live that offers the best value without being a complete dump. As a result, the first apartment most young people end up moving into ends up having a lot of the same features. The flooring: Every apartment building seemingly has the same tan hardwood flooring design. It's almost as if every building designer in the city met up at some point and had an agreement that they were all going to install this specific type of hardwood flooring. There's also usually a random burn mark somewhere on the floor that the realtor showing you the place will insist isn't that bad and can simply be covered up with a rug. Repurposed rooms: A lot of apartment buildings in the city are several decades old and have gone through changes over time. There's a even a chance your building might have had a completely different purpose in its past—one that didn't involve housing apartments. That's why you'll find things like walls in places that don't make sense, or entrances to rooms that have a random step leading up to them. Small bedrooms: Apartment designers must have really taken the word "bedroom" to heart because most places have enough room for a full or queen size bed, a dresser, maybe a de

Tickets for the Chicago run of the smash Broadway hit Hamilton go on sale Tuesday, June 21, and they will undoubtedly be the hottest ticket in town for the duration of the its run. If the show's New York ticket sales are any indication, we can expect box office tickets to sell out faster than Lin-Manuel Miranda can spit a rhyme, and tickets on the secondary market to reach astronomical prices. Now, there are perfectly legitimate ways for you, the average theatergoer, to ensure that you get Hamilton tickets at face value. But there's no guarantee that it will happen. However, you shouldn't let that crush your hopes and dreams of seeing a live performance of one of the most popular shows in Broadway history. So instead, we'll go through some alternative—albeit totally shady—methods of scoring the hottest ticket in town. Enlist an army of people to order them online: Remember the scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where Veruca Salt, the bratty rich girl, had her dad hire a factory of workers whose sole job was to unwrap Wonka bars until they found a golden ticket? That's something you could totally do! It worked for her, did it not? Simply round up a crew of your friends to sit around on their phones, tablets and laptops the morning tickets go on sale to ensure at least one of them can get through the server to place an order. Your friends will definitely resent you for this, but so long as you have a ticket to Hamilton, who cares what they think? Become the PrivateB

A significant number of Chicago's citizens (the ones who aren't fleeing the city, anyway) aren't originally from here, and as a result, they find themselves having to adjust when they first move. Whether they're here for work or college, chances are they're entering an environment that differs vastly from the town or city they came from. Fortunately, it doesn't take too long to get used to the Chicago way. These are some of the things they'll have to get used to: Navigating the grid. Chicago's street system is built on a grid that makes getting around incredibly easy. Just say a block number and a cardinal direction and any Chicagoan should, at the very least, be able to produce a visual in their mind as to where that is with relative ease. Also helpful when giving or receiving an address to a place is to name the nearest major intersection. Instead of giving an exact address, people will more often than not give the nearest intersection of where they're at, even if they aren't at the corner. It's just easier that way and something seemingly everyone does. The expressways have names. Listen to any traffic report on the morning news or someone complaining about their commute and you'll notice that the numbers of the expressways are never used. Everyone refers to them by their names, whether it's the Dan Ryan, Stevenson or whatever expressway.  Bi-polar weather. Chicagoans always rejoice at the first sign of sunshine in spring, even though that's been known to change at the dro

Chicagoans love the Blackhawks and they especially love watching them in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Thursday night's game against the St. Louis Blues was no exception, with Patrick Kane scoring the game-winning goal just three minutes into the second overtime period to keep the Hawks' season alive. But while Kane certainly stole the show with his late-game heroics, Blackhawks announcer Pat Foley caused a stir during the broadcast when he used his platform to issue a spot-on critique of the NHL for scheduling yet another game in this Blues-Blackhawks series to start at 8:30pm Central Time. You can view the video here, but here is a partial transcript: "Well Eddie, we have had a tremendous series between two great teams here... But this is the third time in five games that a start time of 8:42 local was mandated. I can say with certainty players cannot stand these late starts, coaches cannot stand them, most importantly the fans can't stand them. So as we approach midnight Eastern again, on a work night, a school night, a simple question. An 8:42 puck drop serves who?" Foley is absolutely right about this. There is no reason the NHL should be scheduling the games in this series as late as they have been. It might be excusable if the Hawks were playing a west coast team and the NHL wanted to compromise a fair start time between the two time zones, but these are two teams in the middle of the country. The fans who live in Chicago and St. Louis shouldn't have to stay up until at le

Outside of the 1985 Bears, the Bulls in the '90s are the most revered team in Chicago sports history, especially the 1995-1996 team that went 72-10 in the regular season and set a record for most wins in a season. Ever since that dynasty broke up following its sixth NBA Championship in 1998, Chicago fans have always bristled at the notion that another player could possibly live up to the legend of Michael Jordan, or that another team would ever be great enough to pose a serious threat to the 1995-1996 squad’s 72-win record. When a player or team in the league does start to rise to prominence and draw comparisons to Jordan or the '96 Bulls, Chicagoans are quick to dismiss them, spouting off stats from that era or playing the trump card of “six world championships." It's not necessarily a bad thing—those are our teams, and it's only natural to get territorial when we feel threatened by some up-and-comer in the league trying to usurp their legacy. Enter the Golden State Warriors. On Wednesday night, much to the chagrin of Chicago fans actively rooting against them, the Warriors capped off their incredible season with their 73rd victory of the year, surpassing the record set by the ’95-’96 Bulls. Despite the talk from fans who said they'd never witness a team as great as the record-setting Bulls, or the former players from that team who claim they would sweep the Warriors in a best-of-seven series, Golden State went out and not only beat the 72-win record, but did so by stomping