O'Donnell: Neither Bears nor Dogs can keep Ditka from golf course
MIKE DITKA WAS WAITING on wife Diana Friday morning.
They were set to go hit that little white ball around a golf course near their winter home on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
"Hell, I'm 80 years old now and no good anymore but I still play every chance I get," 'Da Great '89' said.
"And I'll be hitting it around as long as I can, as long as I feel good."
Ditka hit the Chicago sports radar late this week when it was announced he will "comanage" the Chicago Dogs in their 2020 American Association of Independent Professional Baseball opener vs. Sioux City at Rosemont's 6,300-seat Impact Field May 22.
All fans attending will receive a bobblehead of Ditka in his trademark sweater vest, only this time in the Carolina blue, white and red of the Dogs.
But before this baseball cameo, Coach, what about the Bears?
"I still like 'em," Ditka said.
"I like the coach. I like (Mitch) Trubisky. I like a lot of things about their chances this fall.
"If they develop a running game, they're a playoff team and then things can happen.
"That division is no killer. Green Bay's got one guy (Aaron Rodgers), and sure, he's one of the best ever, but he's another year older. And what else do they really have?
"Minnesota and Detroit are just teams.
"The running game will decide a lot. People forget that back in '85, sure we had as good a defense as has ever played the game.
"But we also led the league in time of possession, rushing and first downs.
"That's a lot of control of football games and that's a lot of time off the clock."
And this baseball thing?
"They asked me so I'm doing it. It'll be fun.
"My first love was baseball. I was going to be a St. Louis Cardinal because Stan Musial was my favorite.
"Not only was he all about class and talent, he was also a Pennsylvania guy like me, only from Donora.
"And he had that peek-a-boo batting style, which I tried to copy all the way until I gave up the game at the University of Pittsburgh."
Ditka was a catcher-outfielder. Besides two seasons of baseball at Pitt, he also played three seasons of basketball and wound up covering West Virginia's all-universe Jerry West in one classic matchup.
"I had him for about seven minutes, after our starter got in foul trouble. And then I picked up four fouls in those seven minutes. It was quite a battle."
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• Jim O'Donnell's Sports & Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.