Caricature, a picture, description, etc., ludicrously exaggerating the peculiarities or defects of persons or things. i.e. Mike Ditka

Topic for discussion today, as I am bored waiting on the snow.

I believe that Mike Ditka should not be nearly as legendary as he is. In fact, CSFMBers, I submit to you that a signicicant percentage of his fame is due to the SNL Superfan skits. He plays into the Superfan character at all times, becoming what I suspect is a caricature of himself. I don't think he's even got a real personality anymore.
So, imagine that the SNL Superfans never happened... Is Ditka regarded with all the pomp and circumstance of a living Chicago legend, or, is he a guy who should have repeated or three-peated his way to a couple more Super Bowls?
Personally, I think that he should have had more success with that Bears team in 86 and 87.
Why doesn't Phil Jackson have the cult hero status that Ditka does? I mean, Jackson was in on 6 Championships, right?
You guys ready to roast me for this?

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http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

i wouldn't touch your pussy with Bea Arthur's dick!

Ditka: caricature

Beyond a caricature. He has referred to himself as "Da Coatch."

End of Story.

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Both legend and caricature....

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I think his legendary status is fading.

Correct. Don't be restricted by only painting in black and white Darkside.

Ditka is the only bear coach to win a super bowl. He took a bad team and had immediate results, which is always a sign of a good coach. He allowed players to be individuals while keeping them focused on team concepts.

He also shamelessly plugged for any sponsor that asked for his services. Coach never asked whether you wanted him to wear a suit of armor or do the Grabowski shuffle. He only asked whether you had the funds available to pay him.

There are countless stories of Ditka giving of his time and money to charitable causes without any expectation for it to forward his career. At the same time he has disavowed his relationship with a long time friend and father in law to his daughter.

He is politically active, but has turned his back on his union roots (I don't mean the NFLPA.

Ditka is not this OR that, he is this AND that. The same is true for most people who achieve legendary status.

I wasn't really going for a black and white, this or that. What I was really trying to get at is, where is Ditka today without the SNL skit? Is the source of his current state of fame the coaching, or the personality, or the SNL skit?

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Not as big. He'd be a mini Ditka.

Ditka achieved the fame before the superfans. Ditka's place in NFL history is firmly cemented with Hall of Fame credentials as a player and coach. He would have been immediately recognizable to the casual observer regardless of SNL, in the same way Jimmie Johnson is.

Remember, this is not just some nondescript hall of famer. He revolutionized his position. When speaking about TE's Ditka's name should always be mentioned.

I would say that his legendary status is aided more by his embracing Chicago and, in turn, Chicago embracing him.

Ditka won a championship in a championship starved city that loves its sports teams. He coached the greatest team in history in my opinion, and still knows more about football than almost any talking head on the radio or tv.

I think he plays into the "Da Coach" character, but I dont necessarily see that as a bad thing. He's terrible in a broadcast booth, but often had refreshing, logical analysis when in a studio.

He's definitely a legend, and deservedly so in my opinion.

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Was this legendary status affected by the 86 and 87 seasons?
If not, why wasn't it?

When Darkside was 10, he thought Ditka walked on water.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

I dont remember those playoffs specifically, so I wouldnt be able to tell you if they lost because of poor coaching, or because they simply got outplayed on the field. If it was the latter, than I cant really blame Ditka.

One thing I do know about sports, is no matter what happens after the fact, if you win a championship you're pretty much golden from then on. Its really the only logical reason why Brian Billick still has a job.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Ditka lost his team after the strike. After they tuned him out he quickly became the loon that HFC poked sticks at on a weekly basis in studio.

i think this came from someone else, too:

He had the right personality for his team at that time. However his unraveling in Chicago was almost pathetic and New Orleans was of course a fiasco. That he never could come close to duplicating his success to me means he was in fact a second-tier coach.

And it's just starting to snow here in Arlington....

He not only coached a SB winner but his teams the next three years were title contenders (I firmly believe if the Bears had beaten the Redskins in the 87 playoffs, they would have beat the Vikings and then the Broncos in the SB).

This is in contrast to the Cubs, Sox, Bulls and Hawks who combined won one playoff series from 86-88. The Bears were the most successful team in town in the late 80's while the other teams were mediocre, Bulls, to downright bad, Cubs and Sox.

And while Ditka maybe was outcoached in a few of those playoff losses (I think the QB problems were the main reason why the Bears weren't more successful) it wasn't as if he got outcoached by a bum. The coaches that beat the Bears in the playoffs under Ditka: Walsh, Gibbs, Parcells and Jimmy Johnson. A pretty good coaching quartet.

Ditka: pwned by the best!

Zen philosophy and a cerebral approach don't appeal to the masses.

And football coaches are always seen as more important and as larger characters than coaches of other sports.

Dikta to the world = caricature

Dikta to himself = same old guy

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I'd rather have Michael Jordan and a cerebral approach than just a cerebral approach.

That is the problem with all of the championship bulls, they will always be seen as riding coat tails.

Jordan went no where with Collins.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

He went to a conference finals only to lose to a multiple time champion Piston team. He was also in the earlier stages of his career.

I believe Collins could have taken them to the Finals if given the chance.

The rumor was that MJ wanted him fired for marital infidelity. Looking back on that now, I don't know how MJ could complain about it.

Phil Collins never had the best basketball mind, but he always felt it coming in the air, especially at night.

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I don't think Ditka cares if people think he's a caricature of his former self, as long as he gets paid.

Feel free to blame Ditka as well, but include the 88-89 playoffs when Walsh executed every play in Paul Brown's 30 yr. old playbook, that da Coatch still couldn't understand. (Stanford/SC or or App St./Michigan upset my ass, SF 49ers 28 - 'Bear Weather/Grabowski' Bears 3 in the '88 NFC title game that was a local forgone conclusion/prelude to the Bears' 20nd appearance in the Super Bowl)

I DO remember 86/87, and what I remember was poor special teams play(keep in mind that the Coatch had been/was still a special teams coach), 'we are a running team coming off of the bus' play calling and no adjustments from St. Ditka.

That, and one of those years Ditka ranting after a loss about how the team didn't rally around Doug Flutie.... (or his turning his back on the 'ingrate/pampered' players *his words* during the '87 strike)

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Both Phil and Ditka have huge egos and did have the respect of their players. Except McMahon.

While I am not going to issue either as a great sports tactician, they were both great fits for the teams they managed.

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Because this is a Bears town. It never was a Bulls town. It was a Jordan town for a while because they won titles. Bears pre-season games get better ratings than pennant race baseball games and I would bet that regular season baseball gets better ratings than post-Jordan playoff basketball. Ditka is worshiped because the 85 bears captured the city's imagination. He has become a caricature of himself and has lived off his 15 minutes of fame. Ditka was also a player here. In fact, even with his recent transgressions, I would think that Ozzie is more loved than Phil Jackson.

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I doubt that, because two-thirds of Chicago baseball fans don't like Ozzie's team.

Ditka is a joke, but I feel obligated to tolerate or celebrate the whole Ditka meatball thing.

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Chicago is not a Bears town, it is a cockfighting town.

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