oh brother My brother left last night after a tiring but excellent weekend of doing Chicago stuff. The weather was kind, with shorts still a la mode, although last night it thundered and lightning’d like you’d never seen resulting in my brothers return flight being delayed by 3 hours. I was at the airport this morning and it was still chaos.

Of course Chicago is a wonderful walking city and we walked and walked, stopping for the odd beer or three here and there. We took in a Cubs game on Friday, sitting behind home plate to watch their miserable season continue right up to the last weekend of the season.

The Cubs, who last won a ‘world series’ 98 years ago – and you thought being an Addick was bad – ended up with the worst record in the National League and fired their head coach Dusty Baker yesterday. With the White Sox also bowing out, the title will go to a new home with the play-off’s starting today.

It is obvious to anyone who spends a little time here that this is a huge sports city with 6 professional teams, each one with a glittering history. But the team on everyone’s lips at the moment is the Chicago Bears, who hammered last year's Superbowl runners-up Seattle Seahawks on Sunday to remain undefeated. My brother and I watched at home with a cold beer and let me tell you the natives are getting a bit excited around these parts.

Today kicks off a 3-week bout of travelling for me with New York, Munich, Hannover, London and Bermuda all on the itinerary. I arrived in New York an hour or so ago and am looking forward to meeting for the first time my fellow blog cohort New York Addick on Thursday night for a beer.  ¶ 18:36