‘Da coach’ gets into ‘da wine’

What is the world coming to when Bill Walsh is seen shilling for Coors Light on television and Mike Ditka is out promoting his own brand of pinot grigio?

As it turns out, Ditka and his famous “Grabowskis” were actually a bunch of wine-sippers. Ditka, who claims to be a lifelong red wine aficionado, has partnered with Mendocino Wine Co. to produce five Ditka wines to be shipped to retailers this week.

Ditka’s pinot grigio and merlot will sell for $10-$12 a bottle. His chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon will go for $15-$17. And his high-end bottle, a zinfandel-syrah-petite sirah blend will be priced from $40 to $50.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Ditka told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I’ve drank red wine my whole life. There’s no wine ever made that I didn’t try.”

Ditka said the pinot grigio line was a must because “my wife only drinks pinot grigio.”

The only concession Ditka is making to his old lunch-bucket-and-beer image: His wines will be sold at Costco.

An updated version of the old “Da Bears” skit on “Saturday Night Live” would certainly look different now.

Instead of ribs, brats and pitchers of beer, Bill Swerski’s Super Fans would be surrounded by delicate wedges of Camembert and Brie cheeses, slices of seared ahi tuna and maybe a few grapes.

And when Swerski asks the rest of the wine-tasters which bottle of Riesling they prefer, the verdict is unanimous.

“Da Beringer!”

Trivia time

Which professional golfer has his own brand of wine?

What about kegs?

Columbus, Ohio, is more of a beer-drinking town. Too much so, say Ohio State University officials, who have asked three convenience stores near the campus to stop selling domestic beer in glass bottles through the end of the school year.

The request comes in advance of the Ohio State-Michigan game, with Ohio State officials concerned about intoxicated fans throwing empty beer bottles at one another.

“Beer bottles are lethal weapons when thrown empty,” Willie Young, the school’s director of off-campus student services, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Cans don’t hurt you, empty.”

The three stores have agreed to phase out the glass bottles of domestic beer already in stock and will not re-order.

Why the crackdown on only domestic beer bottles?

“Our students drink cheap beer,” Young said, “so the foreign beers are not a problem. You never see those bottles in the neighborhood.”

How about Aston Villa Park next?

With chances of Anaheim getting an NBA franchise about as good as Los Angeles landing an NFL team before Valentine’s Day, the city has had to content itself with a franchise in the NBA’s Development League.

The team is called the Anaheim Arsenal, which raises a few issues:

* Washington’s NBA team could no longer be called the Bullets because of the violent nature of the name, but Arsenal is OK?

* Arsenal is a great name for a London soccer club, but consider this basketball team to be in trouble when the home fans start singing, “One-nil! To the Arsenal!”

* If Anaheim qualifies for the NBA Development League, does Stephen Jackson qualify for the Arrested Development League?

Trivia answer

Greg Norman, whose “Greg Norman Estates” wines include reds and whites from Australia and California.

And finally

Preparing to face his old soccer club Leicester in an English League Cup match, Aston Villa Manager Martin O’Neill cracked, “If we lose, I will be left with 35 fried eggs on my face.”

Aston Villa won, 3-2. O’Neill avoided the omelet.

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