The October passing of National Football League and Chicago Bears legend Mike Ditka, beloved by generations of people as “Da Coach,” brought back memories more than two decades old of when the sports bar “Don & Mike’s” celebrated its grand opening at the Majestic Star Casino in Gary, Indiana.
The venue was named for Don H. Barden, the owner of the property, and of course “Iron Mike,” who signed on as the official spokesman.
This columnist was invited to the official unveiling of Don & Mike’s, at which time I had an opportunity to sit down and talk gambling with Da Coach in an era long before the legalization of sports gambling. What follows are some of the highlights of that conversation:
“It wasn’t a big decision for me to sign on,” Ditka told me. “I’m not involved with the National Football League. I have a life made of choices. I chose to do this. It’d be different if I didn’t gamble. I’m not worried about it. I gamble in Vegas, I gamble in Indiana, I’ve gambled in Costa Rica, so I’m gonna gamble. That’s just the way I am. I don’t care what people think of me. I know what I think of myself. And if it’s not illegal, why should I worry about it?”
Ditka’s close affiliation with a legal, state-sanctioned and regulated casino came at a time when America’s gambling consciousness was at an all-time high. Gambling legislation was the hotbed of political conversation in revenue-starved states, including Illinois, while high-stakes poker was the rage on cable TV.
Even though legalized gambling in various forms (the lottery, horse races, bingo, etc.) and the proliferation of casinos nationwide aroused the public’s awareness of betting, the practice is ages old. I asked Ditka, “why the sudden interest”?
“It was illegal for years,” Ditka maintained. “Now it’s legal. Everybody has a little bit of a gambler in them. Very few people let it come out. But those who think they have a chance of taking a $25, $100 or $500 stake and turning into $1,000 or $5,000 are going to try. Yet people seem to ignore the fact that the public wants it. I think that people like a game of chance. Life’s a game of chance.”
Ditka acknowledged that illegal forms of gambling still existed, especially on professional sports. Office pools, fantasy leagues and underground bookies thrive on the attention that point spreads and betting lines receive in the sports pages of newspapers nationwide, yet Nevada is the only state where you can place bets legally. Why the hypocrisy?
“Who said the media knows what they’re talking about?” Ditka snapped. “It kinda amazes me that even the NFL turns its back on it. Do you know how much money is bet on professional football? You’ve got Vegas and you’ve got sports books. I mean it just doesn’t make any sense. It’s here to stay. Now, if the point they’re making is that it’s because they (the NFL) don’t get a share of it, I don’t know anything about that. But it’s there, it’s here to stay, and it ain’t gonna change.”
After the ribbon cutting ceremony at Don & Mike’s, Ditka made a beeline to the casino floor and sat down to play craps at the head of what the Majestic Stat named “The Coach’s Table.” It’s a recreation he obviously enjoys thoroughly.
“There’s not a whole lot of betting I do,” he maintains. “But I like to gamble. I like to roll the dice, bet on a golf game, or play blackjack once in a while. I really don’t go to horse races, although when I played in the Pro Bowl in the sixties I’d go to Santa Anita with friends. I didn’t know what I was doing. Just pick a color and bet on it.
“But I’ve never bet on sports in my entire life. I’ve never made a bet on a pro football game, basketball, baseball, anything. Here in the casino there’s no point spreads, there’s odds: that’s all. And you gotta understand that when you gamble, some odds are greater than others, depending on what game you’re playing. You can play it close to the vest, or you can take your chances. There’s no guarantee you’ll ever win, but if you can’t afford it, you shouldn’t do it.”
Even though Mike was an unabashed proponent of legal gambling for those who are so inclined, he stressed the need to practice responsible gambling. At the same time, he viewed recreational casino gambling as a perfectly acceptable entertainment option that wasn’t as much out of the financial realm of families as most people think.
“You can’t gamble for the rent, and you can’t gamble to feed your family,” he emphasized. “You gotta take care of what’s most important first. After that, I think it’s fine to do. Most people have an idea of what they can afford. But you can’t go beyond that. I believe you must be responsible about how you do things.
“Most entertainment is very expensive these days. You can take your family to a Cubs game and easily whip out close to $500 for the day, including the tickets and refreshments for everybody. Now if you choose to spend that money in a casino, you derive all the entertainment value plus you have a chance to turn it into even more.”
Ditka was always the eternal realist, a man who had convictions and stuck with them, caring less about what others may think. In the long run he saw legalized gambling as a viable means by which revenues can be generated.
“It’s a great source of revenue for the state involved,” he said. “All you have to do is take a look at Nevada (no state income tax, lower cost of living). Go to Las Vegas and you’ll see what’s happening. It’s incredible. Gambling’s here to stay. It’s going to be here forever.”
Da Coach wasn’t roaming the sidelines anymore, but at the time he definitely was the most high-profile former sports figure to associate himself commercially with a casino. And unlike the Pete Rose’s of the world who fell prey to breaking the rules and the underground world of illegal bookies, Ditka was basking in the excitement and publicity of a new career.
“We’re very fortunate to sign on a man of Mike Ditka’s caliber to help re-energize our property,” said the late Don H. Barden, who at the time was the only African-American owner of a major national casino company and whose holdings also included casinos in Las Vegas, Mississippi and Colorado. “The coach is a winner and we love that association. He’s highly regarded throughout the country.”
Indeed, he was. Indeed, he still is. Well done, Coach Ditka. You will always be one of us in the gaming community. And we couldn’t ask for better company.
