– Getting hyper: Brace yourselves for two weeks of Super Bowl hype. This year you can expect a lot of publicity about the game’s halftime, such as who’s going to be in the potato chip commercials, Michael Jackson’s big show, etc. Why all the fuss? Because last year, the Fox Network’s live broadcast of “In Living Color,” timed to coincide with halftime of CBS’ Super Bowl telecast, drew 29 million viewers. This made it one of the year’s most watched shows. Fox talked about airing a Riddick Bowe fight as a counter this time, but the plan didn’t materialize. NBC and the NFL aren’t taking any chances.
– War of words: Buffalo fans had extra reason to celebrate Sunday’s victory. Many have been doing a slow burn for the past week over anti-Buffalo columns written by Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel columnist Gary Stein, who has had a field day poking fun at that city’s cuisine, weather, etc. “They’re so thin-skinned,” Stein said. Buffalo radio stations picked up on the columns and the Florida writer was hit by a blizzard of faxes, some of which Gary said his 1-year-old son would have no trouble understanding.
The war goes back to pro-Buffalo billboards that cropped up in the Miami area. Following Stein’s subsequent columns, a Buffalo restaurant owner who tosses huge parties before Bills’ games in Miami, demanded a public apology or he’d cancel the one scheduled for this weekend-worth several hundred thousand dollars to the local economy. Stein, who has covered two Middle Eastern wars, didn’t crack. In fact, before Sunday’s game he even ventured into tailgate parties thrown by Bills’ fans-and he wasn’t wearing a helmet.
– Grin & Bear it: Whoever gets the Bears’ head-coaching job, Halas Hall experts say it’s unlikely he’ll have an independent TV show like Mike Ditka had with Channel 2. The Bears, who’ve been producing their own pre-game show for several seasons without Iron Mike as the centerpiece, want to incorporate the new man into the concept. Where does that leave Johnny Morris? The Channel 2 sportscaster did a great job getting Ditka to open up this season, but, at this point, he’s not in the new production plans.
– Bleeding Cub blue: It was the most poignant moment in eight years for the Cubs’ annual convention. Ferguson Jenkins, making his initial public appearance since the tragic death of his girlfriend and daughter last month, was part of a Hall of Fame panel with emcee Jack Brickhouse and former teammates Billy Williams and Ernie Banks. In his first response to a question from Brickhouse, Jenkins told the hushed, Grand Ballroom SRO crowd in the Hilton & Towers what it felt like when he was named to baseball’s hall.
Noting that it occurred in the few days between the time his wife, Mary Anne, was injured and then died from an automobile accident in 1991, Fergie said, “When I told her, it was the last time she smiled.” Jenkins, starting to get misty-eyed, concluded: “To this day, I don’t know what I said at the induction (in Cooperstown). My 18 years as a player went so quickly and now I’m going to be 50.”
His answer was met with polite applause that grew and grew. Finally, after a minute, the several thousand spectators were all on their feet with a full-bore, emotional standing ovation. Fergie took off his glasses, wiped his eyes, got up from his chair and retreated to the curtain behind the stage to regain his composure. “He’ll be back,” Brickhouse said. A few minutes later, the ex-Cub did return to his seat and the program continued.
More sights from the weekend-long convention:
– Jimmy Piersall, as candid as always during one panel discussion, called departing catcher Joe Girardi “a good guy, but a Punch and Judy hitter.” He said this about minor-league prospect Fernando Ramsey: “As far as I’m concerned, he’s our best outfielder right now. The way I look at it, outfield is wide open because last year we had the worst outfield in baseball.”
– Larry Himes made himself more than available to fans. In addition to appearing on panels, the Cubs’ GM strolled the halls and answered questions-with a lot of them about Greg Maddux and Andre Dawson.
– The Peoria Chiefs had a booth where vice-president Scott Krusinski had on display the Midwest League team’s new, original uniforms. Said Krusinski: “We’re not going to be wearing the Cubs’ hand-me-downs anymore.” The Chiefs will be a Cubs affiliate only two more years, and the club is working at building up an independent identity, he added.
– Ex-Cub Rick Monday on today’s player salaries: “What bothers me is owners paying . . . and then telling fans that’s why they have to raise ticket prices. If the money isn’t there, don’t pay those salaries.”
– Around town: Andrew McKenna, part owner of the Bears as well as a member of the Cubs’ board of directors, will get the Chicago Area Council-Boy Scouts of America’s Distinguished Citizen Award at Wednesday’s annual dinner in the Chicago Hilton & Towers. . . . Bad timing: R & R Sports Tours in Chicago announced it’s organizing a trip to the Blackhawks-Penguins game in Pittsburgh in February just before news hit that Mario Lemieux has Hodgkin’s Disease. . . . The Western Open’s Peter deYoung has been reelected to a three-year term on the American Golf Sponsors board of directors and appointed the organization’s secretary-treasurer.
