SYB_DC
Winger
RIP man. It's not called Chiraq for nowt. Just stay away from the south and west sides and you'll be fine. The Loop and Magnificent Mile are full of tourists so you will be okay there - just apply normal common sense as you would in any big city.
It's not bad at all, especially in the tourist areas - granted, it used to be much worse, but Cabrini-Green was torn down years ago. Presumably the OP is doing mostly tourist stuff, in addition to the rugby - which is at Soldier Field, right on the lake by a bunch of the tourist stuff. My wife (no) lived on the south side of Chicago for 6 years and never had any real issues.
Aye I think Shameless is set on the south side. It's a city with street names though and can make it more difficult to navigate - unless that was just me and my lack of direction.
FFS, it's still a grid.