Fall in Chicago possesses a strange dualism: all the leaves in the trees are dying, but they’re also turning beautiful colors; we can’t hang out on patios or the lakeshore as much with the dropping temperatures, but we can finally tolerate wearing our favorite cozy sweaters again. If you appreciate the beauty of Chicago’s fleeting autumn, check out these 15 activities and events to help you enjoy the season.

Fall Foliage

Luckily, you don’t even have to venture outside the city to catch some beautiful fall colors— you can just visit LaBagh Woods, Winnemac Park, or Garfield Park Conservatory (among a couple of other choice spots). If you have a little more time on your hands and don’t mind a longer commute, you could also check out Chicago Botanic Garden or Morton Arboretum.

Chicago Jazz Fest

Since the Chicago Jazz Festival in its purely-live form can’t proceed as usual this year, jazz enthusiasts can check out the “Millennium Park at Home: Chicago Jazz” series, which “will offer four days of free, virtual performances” during Labor Day weekend.

Apple Picking

Do you love being out in the crisp fall air while picking the main ingredient of every quintessential fall snack? You don’t need to go very far to find some great orchards and farms for apple picking and fall fun.

Creating Autumnal Treats

Speaking of fall snacks, what would the transition from summer to winter be without some sweet treats for keeping warm as the air turns chilly? If you’ve been cooking at home more in recent months, it should only be a short leap to whipping up a hearty pumpkin soup, apple cider doughnuts, or a classic apple pie.

Finding the Perfect Pumpkins

Need some pumpkins for that pumpkin soup you’re making this weekend? Or maybe you just like to decorate with them? Head on out to a pumpkin patch for some tip-top gourds.

Hyde Park Jazz Fest

Though details are still forthcoming on the exact logistics of the late-September festival, information on the festival website suggests that performances may be a combination of virtual and in-person events, the latter being presented on “mobile stages”.

Escaping a Corn Maze

A corn maze offers both the fun of a puzzle that needs to be solved and the slight nervousness of needing to find an exit— it’s somewhere between wholesome family fun and horror-movie creepiness, and you can find plenty of that creepy fun at some nearby mazes.

If your chosen method of combatting the growing chill in the air is the warm glow you get from a couple of beers, fall can be a great time to try some new seasonal brews. Revolution’s Oktoberfest is a recurring fall treat, as are Off Color’s Scurry and Empirical’s Subatomic.

Chicago Latino Film Fest

Like many other large, multi-day festivals this fall, Chicago’s Latino Film Festival is going virtual. According to the festival website, the online event “will present 43 features and 38 shorts, Sept. 18-27.”

Plan Your Halloween Season Itinerary

To some people, Halloween is defined by big parties, pop-up bars, and other crowded celebrations of spooky season. While we may not be able to gather like we’re used to for All Hallows’ Eve, you can still scare yourself silly and have a great time by going on a self-guided tour of Chicago’s famous haunted spots, or creep yourself out with morbid oddities at Woolly Mammoth.

Leaf Piles

A yard full of dead leaves is a yard full of possibilities: you can rake all your leaves into a pile and jump in, use them for arts and crafts, spread them as mulch, make compost, and generally incorporate them into your gardening.

Fundraising Races

Fall is a great time for running— with the end of summer temperatures, you can exercise outside without sweating out all of the water in your body, but it’s too early for the ice and snow of a brutal Chicago winter. For those who like running outside and also want to make a difference, fundraising races (many of which are happening virtually this year) can be a great outlet. Among the local organizations hosting virtual races are Red Door Animal Shelter, Strides for Peace, and Head for the Cure.

Get to Kingston Mines While You Can!

Feeling nostalgic or just want to help a local Chicago staple? Check out the ways you can help Kingston Mines stay in business.

Get to Kingston Mines While You Can

Autumnal Crafts

Prepare for the cozy season by upping your arts and crafts game. Learn to knit online (and buy supplies) with Chicago-based Knit 1, make an autumnal wreath for a more welcoming front door, or spice things up with fall-scented homemade candles.

Fall Gardening

In the last few months, lots of people have found comfort in reconnecting with nature, which for some has manifested as a newfound love of gardening. Check out tips and tricks for fall vegetable gardening, or decide which spring-blooming bulbs you might want to plant in the fall.

At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.

Tell us what you think matters in your neighborhood and what we should write about next in the comments below!

Featured Image Credit: Hyde Park Jazz Festival

 
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Chicago Bears Rumors: Bears top favorites for Leonard Fournette by Ryan Heckman

Chicago Bears: 3 trades to consider with latest NFL injuries by Ryan Heckman

The Chicago Bears may need a running back but not this one.

The Chicago Bears may have an opening at the running back position, but it should not be filled by recently released Leonard Fournette.

Recently, the Bears’ running game took a big hit when projected starter David Montgomery injured his groin last week during practice. Montgomery went down in with a “non-contact” injury and fans were left to fear the worst while they waited for reporters to address the rumors circulating on Twitter. However, the news wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been and reports are that the former second-round pick, on whom the Bears were expected to rely this year, may only miss between 2-4 weeks.

This means that he could be on the field for the Week 1 opener against the Detroit Lions, though it is likely the Bears will take their time and not rush him back, despite some recent optimism.

If Montgomery is not able to go, the Bears would turn to a platoon of Tarik Cohen, Cordarrelle Patterson, and perhaps even Ryan Nall or Artavis Pierce. That prospect has led some to clamor for the signing of Fournette, though the Bears should not bite.

Look, Fournette is a pretty darn good running back. Last season, the fourth overall pick in 2017 rushed for 1,152 yards and caught another 76 passes for a pretty impressive 6.9 yards per reception. He also has some familiarity with the Bears — or at least their quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo and quarterback Nick Foles, who Fournette was with during his time in Jacksonville.

However, Fournette would currently cost the Bears a little over $4 million to pick up, unless they let him clear waivers. There is a decent chance he does not make it that far so if the Bears really wanted him, they’d have to pony up the money.

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If the loss of Montgomery was expected to last months or even the whole season, then it would make much more sense to bring in a full-time replacement for the season. However, Fournette is in the midst of a grievance with the Jaguars over offset language in his contract, meaning he likely won’t be willing to take less money in a deal with another team with that grievance unresolved.

Next: Ranking the best edge rushing duos in the NFC North

If I’m the Bears, I’m also worried about how Fournette would react to splitting time with Montgomery once he comes back. Obviously Montogmery is the long term option for the Bears. While Fournette was in a terrible situation in Jacksonville, it also led to some discontent within the team. That, and the cost, may be enough to keep the Bears at bay — and it would be wise.

Finally, and most importantly, Fournette is not an ideal fit for Nagy’s system. With cut down day looming, the Bears will likely have cheaper options who are better fits for their scheme to choose from shortly.

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The Chicago Bears should not go after Leonard Fournette by Patrick Sheldon

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Chicago Bears (Photo by Nam Y. Huh-Pool/Getty Images)

With recent injuries around the NFL, the Chicago Bears could look to make a trade or two while returning some future draft capital.

Training Camp can be an exciting time and it can be a stressful time. Chicago Bears fans are excited to get to see their team back on the field after a rough year of sports, but before they do, a few things need to be figured out.

To start, the quarterback competition must be finalized. Will it be Mitchell Trubisky or Nick Foles? Does it even matter? That’s the bigger question at this point. It is safe to say, however, that this is by far and away the biggest question mark in regards to Bears training camp.

Another question is at running back, where starter David Montgomery went down to a groin injury a few days ago. Montgomery may be able to suit up Week 1, but the odds aren’t completely in his favor to do so. He could be out until roughly Week 3. If that’s the case, it’ll be Tarik Cohen and Cordarrelle Patterson who must step up.

Injuries are part of training camp. Fortunately, Montgomery’s injury wasn’t more serious. For other teams, though, that isn’t the case. There have been some big name injuries throughout training camp so far, and a handful of teams have some issues to work through there.

Roster cuts will happen and players will find new homes. In fact, cuts have been consistently happening here and there — including the big Leonard Fournette cut which came Monday morning. But, before the majority of team cuts go into place, could the Bears work out a deal with another team in need?

Next: Trade No. 1

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The Arts & Makers Community Business Academy is ramping up to launch its third cohort in September.

When Etiti Ayeni moved herself and her company to Chicago last year, she knew she needed something. But what that something should be, she wasn’t sure.…Read More

In the last week, Chicago baseball fans witnessed two singular events.

First came Lucas Giolito’s 13-strikeout no-hitter in the White Sox’ 4-0 victory against the Pirates last Tuesday. Then, in a 10-1 rout of the Reds on Sunday, Kyle Schwarber, Jason Heyward and Ian Happ made the Cubs the first major-league team to have three outfielders hit two home runs in the same game.

Both events are reflective of the way the game is played today.

By the Bill James game-score method, Giolito’s masterpiece was the most dominant no-hitter in Chicago baseball history. His 99 game score topped the previous no-hit best of 98 by the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta against the Dodgers in 2015. The highest nine-inning game score in major-league history was a one-hitter: Kerry Wood’s 105 with 20 strikeouts against the Astros in 1998.

Game score is a measure of pitching dominance, with strikeouts an important factor. Giolito outscores Arrieta because he had one more strikeout, while each walked one.

The high-strikeout, low-batting-average game of today, with major-league teams hitting only .244 with 8.65 strikeouts per game, is a fitting backdrop for a game such as Giolito’s.

We have seen a recent uptick in no-hitters. A search at Baseball-Reference.com finds 263 games of nine or more innings since 1901 in which teams were held hitless. That includes multiple-pitcher games, so not all appear on official no-hit lists.

Starting in 1901 divides neatly into 12 decades — 1901-10 through 2011-20.

Since 2011, there have been 35 hitless games, or 1.17 no-hit games per team per decade. That’s up from 0.7 in the 10 years ending in 2010, from 0.89 the previous decade and from 0.8 the decade before that.

This is the sixth decade to exceed one no-hit game per team per decade. Two are in the dead-ball era: 1.38 in 1901-10 and 1.75 in 1911-20. Three are in a cluster, with 1.19 in 1951-60, 1.70 in the enlarged-strike-zone ’60s and 1.12 in 1971-80.

What about the Cubs’ outfield homers?

With the outburst Sunday, Happ and Schwarber lead the team with nine apiece, followed by Anthony Rizzo with eight. Heyward is next in a four-way tie with five.

Overall, Cubs in the game as outfielders have hit 25 of the team’s 51 homers (49 percent).

Starting with the Cubs’ breakthrough to contention in 2015, outfielders have hit 31.6, 28.6, 30, 33.5 and 36.3 percent of the team’s homers.

Installing Happ in center has made an enormous difference. In less than a fifth of a normal season, he has homered six times while playing center, two while playing left and one while playing right. The most homers from a center fielder the Cubs have had since 2015 was 22 last season.

The Cubs’ outfield homer binge comes while homers are surging throughout baseball, just as Giolito’s no-hitter comes in a high-strikeout, low-hit environment. But more than going with the flow, all came through in a big way.

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