Other Ventures
In 1991, Ditka cooperated with Accolade to produce the computer game Mike Ditka's Ultimate Football. In 1995, Ditka starred as a football coach in a full motion video game called Quarterback Attack with Mike Ditka, released for the Sega Saturn, PC, and 3DO.
Ditka performed "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field in 1998, the first season after the death of Harry Caray, who had previously led the song. Chicago Now blogger Marcus Leshock derided the performance, dubbing Ditka "the worst 7th-inning singer in history."
Ditka was inducted to the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
Ditka has also done guest spots and cameos on shows from L.A. Law to Saturday Night Live, and 3rd Rock from the Sun. In 2005, Ditka portrayed himself in the comedy Kicking & Screaming as a little league soccer coach, alongside Will Ferrell.
In January 2007, Ditka used the Super Bowl return of the Chicago Bears as a platform to promote efforts by many early NFL players trying to raise support for former NFL players in need of money and medical assistance; he is a key member in the Gridiron Greats. Angry at the wealthy NFL for ignoring the players that helped to create the league, Ditka and other former players have since been attempting to raise funds, in the words of Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure, "for guys who made this league and built it on their backs, their knees, their legs and now they're all broken down and they can't even get a decent pension." Ultimately, however, in December 2007, Ditka folded his "Hall of Fame Assistance Trust Fund" charity amidst revelations that, "in 2005 the group gave out more money to pay celebrities to play golf than the group in its entire three years of operation gave out to injured players," according to Laurie Styron of the American Institute of Philanthropy. During Super Bowl XLIV, Ditka (who was not in the original group) joined other members of the 1985 Chicago Bears in resurrecting the Super Bowl Shuffle in a Boost Mobile commercial.
In the spring of 2007 Ditka worked alongside X Management and Geneva Hospitality to form Mike Ditka Resorts, currently consisting of two resorts in the Orlando, Florida area. Ditka owns a chain of restaurants, "Ditka's," which has two locations in Illinois and one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Ditka is a co-owner the Chicago Rush, an Arena Football League team. In August 2011, media reports noted that Ditka would be a financial investor for the new Elite Football League of India, a proposed American football league that will be India's first.
In 2012, Ditka partnered with Terlato Wines to produce his own collection of wines, produced in California. The partnership stemmed from a 20-year friendship between Ditka and Bill Terlato and their shared love of sports and food and wine. The first Mike Ditka Wines were released in fall 2012, including eight labels highlighting his career: "The Player," (2011 Pinot Grigio and 2010 Merlot); "The Coach" (2011 Sauvignon Blanc and 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon); " The Hall of Famer" (2011 Chardonnay and 2011 Pinot Noir); and "The Restaurateur" pair which includes "The Icon" (2010 Cabernet Sauvignon) and "The Champion" (2010 Red Blend)."
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Famous quotes containing the word ventures:
“At the moment when a man openly makes known his difference of opinion from a well-known party leader, the whole world thinks that he must be angry with the latter. Sometimes, however, he is just on the point of ceasing to be angry with him. He ventures to put himself on the same plane as his opponent, and is free from the tortures of suppressed envy.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended? But who can keep from speaking?”
—Bible: Hebrew, Job 4:2.
Eliphaz, one of Job’s “comforters,” to Job.