Speculation: "Hang Time" coach Mike Katowinski To Appear at Rose Bowl

With the announcement that special “Illini personalities” will be appearing at the Illini Bash celebration occurring on New Year’s Eve at Universal Studios, speculation as to the identity of these mysterious Illini celebrities is widespread. This blog speculates that Fighting Illini football legend turned Hollywood actor Dick Butkus will be one of the celebrities appearing at Illini Bash.

Butkus is a hero of epic proportion in Fighting Illini football annals. As a center and linebacker, he was the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player in 1963 and a unanimous All-American in 1963 and 1964. Between top 6 finishes in Heisman Trophy balloting, Butkus starred in Illinois’ last Rose Bowl victory, the 17-7 triumph over Washington in 1964. He later completed a storied career with the Chicago Bears and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.

After hanging up his cleats, Butkus turned to acting, appearing in many films and television shows. His first starring role in a network sitcom was Richard “Ski” Butowski in “Blue Thunder,” which aired for 11 episodes in 1984. Butkus starred opposite a young Dana Carvey and others as a Los Angeles police officer involved with a unit that utilized an extraordinary helicopter to fight crime.



For the remainder of the decade Butkus guest starred in sitcoms such as “Night Court,” “My Two Dads,” and “Growing Pains,” a virtual pantheon of 1980s television. The 1990s brought roles in football films “Necessary Roughness” and “Any Given Sunday,” as well as a three episode stint as Earl “Rocket Man” Dent in “MacGyver.”



Butkus may be best known to a younger generation of Illini fans as Mike Katowinski, the gruff but genial coach of the fictional Deering High School basketball team in the Saturday morning children’s television series “Hang Time.” The show, which starred Daniella Deutscher as Julie Connor, a female standout on a boys’ basketball team, was a formidable addition to an NBC lineup that already included Saturday morning heavy hitters “Saved by the Bell” and “California Dreams.” It is this blog’s California dream that come New Year’s Eve, when the Fighting Illini invade the land of movie stars, Fighting Illini and movie star Dick Butkus will be present to minister to the orange masses.