NEW YORK -- Before leaving for New York and the National League Championship Series that begins Saturday, Cubs manager Joe Maddon ate dinner with Chicago Bears icon Mike Ditka on Thursday night while watching the Mets defeat the Dodger in their division series.
“Two Pennsylvania guys hanging out,” Maddon said on Friday. “He’s the kind of guy you feel like you know your whole life. Real easy conversation. Funny. Straightforward.”
Maddon and Ditka had never met before Thursday, but the football coach is all aboard the Cubs' bandwagon.
“He loves our team,” Maddon said. “He said he watches all our games. And I think he does from the things he was saying about our players.”
Maddon hails from Hazelton, Pennsylvania, while Ditka is from Aliquippa.
