Mike Ditka -- Rising to the Occasion? In a situation just crying out of double entendres Levitra's prominant spokes-stiff, Mike Ditka, is pulsating in anticipation of being named as a potential Republican Senate candidate in Illinois.

"I'm getting excited about it. I'm just thinking about it," Ditka told WGN-TV, Chicago.

Though he hasn't consumated a conquest since January 1986, his supporters are aroused at the possibility of a shot with the Coach in what promises to be a long-hot, sweaty, summer of campaigning. Given these are Illinois Republicans shouldn't they be calling Buddy Ryan?