] Da Coach is thinking of running for office. ] ] Illinois is abuzz over a fledgling effort to draft Mike ] Ditka, legendary coach of the Chicago Bears, to fill the ] Republican slot in the U.S. Senate race against Democrat ] Barack Obama. ] ] The opening was created last month when investment banker ] Jack Ryan said he was quitting the race over claims in ] his divorce records that he took his wife, actress Jeri ] Ryan, to sex clubs and asked her to have sex in front of ] other people. ] ] Many prominent Republicans have declined to step in, most ] citing a lack of financial backing from the party. ] ] Ditka met Tuesday night in Chicago with Sen. George ] Allen, R-Va., head of the National Republican Senatorial ] Committee. Allen is the son of another legendary football ] coach, the late George Allen Sr., the man who picked ] Ditka in the first round of the 1961 NFL draft. Allen sat ] down with Ditka not to recruit him but to make sure his ] family friend was aware of what might lie ahead. ] ] Ditka, who has never held elected office, has said he ] will make a decision by week's end. Being from the Chicago area, Ditka is worshiped there and a shoe-in if he runs. I liked him as coach, but the US Senate?? He is not the brightest crayon in the box and his anger management problems are legendary. It's just a series of bad jokes that write themselves for Leno and Letterman if he makes the bid. -LB Ditka considers bid for U.S. Senate |