Mike Ditka turns 85 — legendary Bears coach gave up cigars, misses Chicago

The Ditka Report … well, sort of!

Dear Coach:

Happy 85th birthday!

It’s time for Sneed’s howdy-do and check-in with the Great Grabowski, Chicago’s legendary Big Bear Mike “The Hammer” Ditka, the tough nut football legend who survived a stroke and subsequent heart attack during the past decade.

When the coach was absent from last year’s Naples 2023 Pickleball fundraiser in Florida honoring his 84th birthday, his fans all showed up instead sporting giant Ditka mustaches.

The pigskin goliath has been pretty quiet since taking up full time Florida residency after his beloved Streeterville eatery Ditka’s was sold in 2023.

When last we talked, the football bulldog was monitoring Russia’s war in Ukraine from the safety of Naples, Fla., and sharing memories of his Ukrainian grandmother’s yummy latkes.

“No Ukrainian is going to take crap from the Russians,” he said then. “Ukrainians are indestructible!”

Less than a decade ago, this Chicago legend was still smokin’ stogies and passing out the cigar rings to fans, taking phone calls, making a mint from mucho commercials, and holding court on the golf course near the Florida digs he and his wife, Diana, share.

We really miss Chicago’

So, I rang up Diana, to check in on how her husband was doing. “They really aren’t taking calls,” said an old Ditka buddy. “Mike’s tough, but he struggles with his health, and they are playing it low key.”

So, Ring. Ring. Well. Well.

The indomitable Diana Ditka answered.

“I just wanted to wish Mike a happy 85th birthday today [Oct. 18] … and wondering what you guys were up to.”

Diana: “Well, you caught me shopping for new clothes. But everything is fine … doing great. We don’t get out much these days, but everything is OK.”

Sneed: “Well, it looks like you guys were tough enough to survive the fury of Hurricane Milton when it hit the Florida coast? You guys OK?”

Diana: (chuckling) “It’s all fake news,” she said, claiming Naples, where they live, wasn’t hit as hard as predicted. “Fake news.”

Sneed: “The last time I saw a live interview with Mike in mid- 2022, he was still devouring a big cigar? Is he still at it?”

Diana: “No. Finally stopped. Done. And we are fine,” she chuckled, “Heck, I mean we’re still married!”

Sneed: “I think it’s a safe bet you guys miss Chicago and your daily visits to Ditka’s eatery now that you basically live in Naples now.”

Diana: “Yes. We really miss Chicago. BUT [pause] we actually should have some [pause] news for you soon. But not right now. Bye.”

News?

Stay tuned.

White Sox solace via New York?

Yep. No secret now White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, 88, may be open to selling his team.

But let’s all get a grip before Sox fans flip out.

“Merde” happens. And I think it’s safe to say nobody loves this team more than Jerry Reinsdorf.

Years ago, when I was writing the INC. column at a paper “across the street” from the old Sun-Times, hot shot New York newspaper legend Jimmy Breslin sat across from me in my office at Tribune Tower, quietly waiting for me to get off the phone.

Breslin, an Irish Catholic fireplug then in his late 40’s, was patient and quiet, with none of the volcanic eruptions of his New Yawk Queens borough, working-class, neighborhood bar jargon.

There was no tough Breslin banter that day, just a polite get-to-know you chat in the mid-1980’s and what he was up to during his visit to the nation’s “second city.” I’m thinking he had just won the Pulitzer Prize.

So, I’m also thinking about the 1963 best-selling book Breslin had written about the 1962 New York Mets titled: “Can’t Anybody Here Play this Game.” It’s got a line that might give Reinsdorf a little balm for his wounds.

“The Mets are losers, just like nearly everybody else in life,” wrote Breslin. “This is a team for the cab driver who gets held up and the guy who loses out on a promotion because he didn’t maneuver himself to lunch with the boss enough.”

I hope this quote brings Jerry some solace.

Play Ball!

Sneedlings …

In case you have forgotten, it’s National Pitbull Awareness month … Saturday birthdays: actor John Lithgow, 79; artist Peter Max, 87; actor Jon Favreau, 58 … Sunday birthdays: Actor John Krasinski, 45; rapper Snoop Dogg, 53; actor turned Catholic Benedictine nun, Dolores Hart, 86, whose movie debut was with Elvis Presley; singer Wanda Jackson, 87; director Danny Boyle, 68; actor Viggo Mortensen, 66; actor Dan Fogler, 48.