– Getting his kicks: It isn’t often a politician can get a big cheer these days, but Mayor Richard Daley managed that Thursday when he told the Chicago Hospitality Industry’s luncheon salute Thursday to World Cup ’94 that $18 million has been targeted for Soldier Field renovation for next summer’s big event. Furthermore, Daley said no new property taxes will be required due to retirement of existing park district bonds and the issuance of new bonds. Gov. Jim Edgar also pledged $1 million in state tourism funds to help Chicago in its World Cup efforts. Unfortunately, there was no help for U.S. Soccer Federation President Alan Rothenberg and key Cup organizing committee member Jay Pritzker, who missed the luncheon due to fogged-out O’Hare.
– P.S.: Mayor Daley made a point of saying the $18 million renovation of Soldier Field is not connected to any new agreement with Mike McCaskey and the Bears, whose lease expires in 1999.
– Sightlines: Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz on pay-per-view HawkVision being offered cheaper this year: “You can see I didn’t have a vote in it,” said Wirtz, with a wink. The prices: $15.95 a game, or $12.95 a game if ordered by the round, for individual homes. This is $4 less than ’92. Continental Cablevision, which declined to offer the service last year, also has signed on this time. As the No. 2 Chicagoland outlet with more than 220,000 homes, this should boost last year’s subscriptions. It also means the Hawks, most of whom live in Continental turf, can get it. Last year, Jeremy Roenick had a house full of relatives during the playoffs and couldn’t get the game for those who remained home. Oh, yes. A Hawks official said we shouldn’t draw “any inference” that lower HawkVision prices signal a future reduction in Stadium ticket prices.
– Wait till next year: De Paul will have a representative in Madison Square Garden for the NIT finals. Blue Demons AD Bill Bradshaw will be in New York finalizing details for network broadcasts of De Paul games next year. ESPN already has scheduled an airing of the Dec. 4 game in the Horizon with Kansas. In what turned out to be a fortuitous situation, De Paul made no CBS appearances this season and, in turn, Bradshaw got a commitment from the network for two games next season.
– Tourney patter: Vanderbilt coach Ed Fogler is making it tough on his old North Carolina roommate, Big 10 Commissioner Jim Delany, to pull for him. Vandy knocked off Illinois in the NCAAs and, with a win Friday, may face Michigan. . . . Try this on for size: George Washington’s Yinka Dare, its 7-1 freshman center, goes hardship after another year and gets picked by the Bulls. Never happen? Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf is a George Washington alum. . . . New Wake Forest AD Ron Wellman, on the job less than six months after leaving Illinois State, has been busy. In addition to the ACC school being in the Sweet 16, it has won a football bowl game and Wellman has hired a football coach. Ron coached baseball at Elmhurst and Northwestern before going into administrative work. . . . True story: One phone in the Seattle Kingdome for the NCAA West Regional was mistakenly installed as a “collect only” unit, with the operator identifying callers as being prison inmates.
– Book beat: Shari Lesser Wenk, formerly with the David Burns Sports Celebrity Service in Chicago, has left to start her own literary agency here. Among books Wenk brokered was “The Jordan Rules.” Other credits include biographies by Steve Garvey, Darryl Strawberry, and Ryne Sandberg, and Ron Santo’s about-to-be-published effort.
– Around town 1: Figure skater Rory Flack, in Chicago with the Ice Capades, makes what should be a final appearance for a while Sunday in the Horizon. Flack, cousin of singer Roberta Flack, is three months pregnant. Former Olympic skater Debi Thomas, going to med school here, will attend Friday’s show. . . . The Bears’ Neal Anderson addresses students Friday at Jenner School, where Dantrell Davis attended classes until killed by a Cabrini-Green sniper last year. Anderson’s visit, sponsored by Budget Rent a Car, is the kickoff for the school’s Project Achievement Program. . . . Dan Marino’s autograph appearances at Target stores this week in Chicagoland proved so popular sponsors had to give numbers out to fans to keep lines orderly. Just think if Marino played for the Bears. . . . Scooting around Chicago as a reporter has its hazards. WSCR-AM’s Mike Greenberg went into traffic court Thursday to pay a parking ticket and came out to find a Denver boot on his auto for failing to pay parking tickets.
– Around town 2: Michael Jordan spent Thursday at Lake Forest College filming a Gatorade commercial with the Rockford Lightning team in the CBA. This is the shoot Sir Michael postponed two weeks ago due to a foot problem. . . . Yes, that was Arnold Schwarzenegger tooling around Thursday on the North Side. Schwartzy was checking out the new World Gym Fitness Center, first of 20 planned for Chicagoland. He’s part-owner of the chain. Al Phillips has the Chicago spot. . . . The Bears’ Tom Waddle will make an appearance Saturday morning at the new Builders Square in Woodridge.
– And finally: Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz is the featured speaker Wednesday at a Chicago Bar Association luncheon in the Palmer House Hilton Hotel. This should be fun. Holtz likes to joke that he did everyone a favor by “taking a lawyer off the street” in hiring Tom Clements as an assistant a year ago. The ex-Irish QB was an attorney in Chicago before returning to football.
