On this date in 1939 a local cult hero was born in Carnegie, PA. more ›

It would have been a shocker if Ditka didn't make the list. more ›

25 years after they won the Super Bowl, the 1985 Chicago Bears finally received their White House welcome. President Obama, you got this. more ›

Another Son of Ditka is charged with DUI in Deerfield. "Another Son of Ditka," by the way, would make a kickass band name. more ›

"Da Coach" responds to Jeff Pearlman's Walter Payton bio with what we're certain is a health code violation. more ›

"The Colonel" is the latest, and possibly last, of the '85 Bears to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. more ›

Given this area's idol worship of all things related to the 1985 Bears, you'd think having the last name Ditka would equal a "get out of jail free" card. To hear Michael P. Ditka, son of the legendary former Bears coach, that's not the case. Son of Ditka contested a DUI charge in Deerfield, claiming that police targeted him because of his famous name. more ›

The Dade County (Fla.) medical examiner has ruled former Bears safety Dave Duerson's death a suicide. Duerson was found dead in his Miami home Thursday with a gunshot wound to the chest. more ›

We really thought that the hype to Bears-Packers III would be off the charts at this point. Either it isn't or we're just really good at ignoring it. There have been no calls of "DITKA" yet. more ›

Briggs Status Uncertain: Lance BRigg's right ankle injury that sustained against Carolina kept him out of practice for a second straight game, leading to speculation as to if he'll play against the Seahawks Sunday. Head coach Lovie Smith said that Briggs usually heals late in the week, but didn't say if backup linebacker Brian Iwuh would start in place of Briggs. The linebacker play of Briggs, Urlacher and Pisa Tinaisamoa has been one of the main reasons the Bears have jumped to a 4-1 start. more ›

Instead of throwing his hat in the ring to run for mayor--not yet anyway--the self-described "ultra-ultra-ultra conservative" Mike Ditka has decided to endorse an unlikely candidate, Gov. Pat Quinn. An oddly democratic choice coming from a man that once introduced Sarah Palin at a McCain campaign rally, but nevertheless Ditka refers to Quinn as "good people" and offers his support in his taped endorsement video. more ›

Chances are you've spotted the work of Bucktown photographer Jim Newberry before -- while reading about your favorite Chicago band in Spin or Rolling Stone, or catching up on the Trib. Newberry took some time out from shooting household names to answer a few questions for us. You can catch him in person tonight, actually, when he appears with several other artists Martyr's for Pecha Kucha Night: an evening by, of and for creatives. more ›

We were thinking the other day about the Bears' Super Bowl Shuffle years. Every Sunday night on Channel 2, Mike Ditka would have a call-in show with sportscaster (and Bears great) Johnny Morris that usually were nothing more than drunk fests, which made them entertaining. It's still considered blasphemy in some parts to make fun of Da Coach, but damn if he doesn't make it easy. more ›

Jim Dooley, the coach who took the reigns from Bears and NFL founder George Halas, passed away on Tuesday at 77. more ›

With the Bears' season over before it started, what better way to celebrate the end of the regular football season than remembering the good years (roughly 1985 to 1988) over a glass of vino? more ›

Mike Ditka's red-faced this weekend, and not because of overindulging on his vanity wines. A report in yesterday's USA Today showed that a charity "Da Coach" founded three years ago to help retired Hall of Fame football players whose bodies are ravaged by the violent demands of the NFL has only doled out $57,000 in assistance. Federal and state tax records indicate that $715,000 of the $1.3 million raised by the Mike Ditka Hall of... more ›

Around the virtual Chicagoist "offices" we're known as "Grandpa" because we're one of the older members of the staff. We also have a penchant for telling "back in my day" stories, so sit back and strap in as we take the Chicagoist Wayback Machine on a trip to the spring of 1987. Back then, Harold Washington was re-elected as mayor and he had the votes in City Council to fully implement his agenda; Andre Dawson... more ›

Chicagoist knows one shouldn't get Ditka angry. A former player, especially, should know better. But then, we know Dave Duerson isn't exactly one of the classiest guys. To be honest, we don't even know how he is one of six trustees overseeing retiree benefits as part of the NFLPA benefits committee. Duerson's role on the NFLPA retiree board currently pits him against Mike Ditka, who has been working lately to help disabled retirees to get... more ›

Though our Christmas holiday was lovely enough (thanks for asking), the death of James Brown cast a pall over its early morning hours. He was a conflicted man with his share of personal and legal troubles, but in a genre that too often fails to recognize those who paved the way, James Brown’s influence over hip-hop may still be underrated, despite all his renown. The AP story on Brown’s passing is poorly written and researched,... more ›

Given his litany of DUI's and drunken television appearances with Johnny Morris during the "Super Bowl Shuffle" years, that answer would be "whaddaya got?" But if you're "Da Coach" as a marketing brand, you'd probably partner with a proven wine company. Say, Mendocino Wine Company, which lists Parducci, Zingaro, and Big Yellow Cabernet Sauvignon among their brands, to create Mike Ditka Wines. Then you'd drink a lot of your signature wine, pass out in the... more ›

Halloween is Tuesday, which means this weekend is really the time for all of the –ists to celebrate. And whether they're designing super-spooky costumes or talking about the super-spooky upcoming elections, we'd say that they're doing a fine job of it. Austinist knows that few things in life are scarier than zombies, people with way too much money, and politicians who try too hard to be funny. Slightly less scary, depending on whom you... more ›

Good news out of Fort Myers, Fla. this morning: the town’s annual Turkey Testicle Festival will be allowed to keep its name. And they just may have an Illinois town to thank for it. more ›

The Chicago Rush defeated the Orlando Predators 69-61 to win ArenaBowl XX in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Rush tamed the Predators in front of a crowd of over 13,000 at the Thomas & Mack Center. more ›

Want to score a pair of tickets to see Conan when he comes to Chicago May 9-12? Better act fast. To request tickets (2 per person allowed), send an email to ConanInChicago@nbcuni.com with your name, address, phone number and email address. more ›

Maybe during the Super Bowl Halftime this weekend you'll watch the Rolling Stones, maybe you'll switch the channel to watch something else, maybe you'll grab a drink and something to eat, but one thing is almost for certain: bathroom break. SCOTT, you know, the toilet paper guys, say that at half time there will be 90 million toilets flushed creating enough water to flow over Niagara Falls for 7 minutes. more ›

Herman's Gem-Bar Lounge and Grill has been a staple of Bridgeport since 1920 and yet in the six-plus years we've lived in the neighborhood we never patronized the place. Maybe it was their tag line: "the 'gem' of Old Bridgeport", which to Chicagoist harks back to the days of male-dominated ethnic "sports clubs", political deals made at the end of a bar and a beer, and racial epithets casually tossed about like the first words of a child. Maybe it was its location in the largely industrial Loomis Street corridor linking Bridgeport with Pilsen, or the slight musty and polluted aroma rising from the Chicago River's south branch located yards from the front door. Upon passing the place we often joked that the gem in question was cut from zircon. Regardless of the reason we left there yesterday cursing that we hadn't visited before. more ›

Legendary Bears coach Mike Ditka -- now part owner of the Chicago Rush Arena League Football team -- introduced Grabowski, the team's new mascot yesterday. more ›

Newcity is calling for submissions for their annual "Best of Chicago" issue. So if you know where to buy the coolest things, get the sharpest haircuts and dine on the hippest eats, go here and let 'em know. Polls close on August 31 at midnight. more ›

Remember the old Saturday Night Live “Superfans” sketches where they pondered who would win in a fight between say, Mike Ditka and the 1992 Chicago Bulls? The city saw a real-life version of that matchup yesterday when it was Ditka vs. The Entire Chicago City Council on the proposed smoking ban. True to form, Ditka, a longtime fan of cigars, pulled out three of the signature moves in his unstoppable fighting style: more ›

Chicagoist’s love for the 1995 collegiate male bonding film Kicking and Screaming has been well documented in this space. In a time when indie films of people sitting around talking were being churned out as fast as Parker Posey could make them, K&S earned a special place in our hearts if only for the scene with the “Broken Glass” sign. more ›