In October, Mike Ditka told a gathering of reporters, "I would
assume that you think I think you're my friends, but I know
better. The media is never a coach's friend." Maybe not, but you
could argue that Iron Mike was a reporter's best friend in '97.
Here are five of our favorite quotes from the first-year Saints
coach.
Sept. 19: "When I was a young coach, I had a perm. Because of
being in the sun all the time, my hair actually turned kind of
an orangish-red. A lot of people thought I dyed my hair orange
because of the Bears colors. But it's a fallacy. These things
are the illusions of life. I never dyed it. But if they want me
to—it made Rodman a lot of money."
Sept. 29, the day after a 14-9 loss to the Giants: "We had no
emotion. We could have been going down Fifth Avenue for a
shopping spree. We were like, 'Cabbie, over here.' If we think
we're going to roll up with three-button suits on and a copy of
The Wall Street Journal under our arm and conduct a businesslike
game, we're crazy."
Nov. 10: "I got a call this morning from my mother wondering if
I'm all right. I said, 'Why wouldn't I be all right?' She said,
'Well, you don't look all right.'"
Dec. 1: "I'm a flake. Just write that. I got a lot of split
personality. Some night, if you're at the right place at the
right time, you'll probably see me in a dress."
Dec. 8, the day after a 34-27 loss to the Rams: "I'm not going
to get excited anymore. It doesn't matter. It's only a football
game. Six billion people don't care about it. And that's only
this world. What about the other ones? There must be one out
there somewhere. They keep making movies about it."
Issue date: December 29, 1997
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