CHICAGO -- Chicago¡¯s downtown location of Ditka¡¯s restaurant closed last week due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the short term left on the restaurant¡¯s lease.

The business¡¯ announcement means the end of its signature pot roast nachos and pork chops in the city¡¯s Gold Coast neighborhood, although local franchises still exist in suburban Oak Brook and Westmont, Ill. The closing also brought about a special White Sox postseason memory for Aaron Rowand.

Rowand was the hard-nosed center fielder on the 2005 World Series champions and had brought his entire family to the establishment after the White Sox claimed a 14-2 home victory over Boston in Game 1 of that year¡¯s American League Division Series. Their group was seated quickly and one of the waiters told Mike Ditka -- who was frequently at his Chicago restaurant -- that Rowand and his family were celebrating after he finished 1-for-3 that night with two runs scored and an RBI.

¡°He came down, he started talking and introducing himself to my family and myself,¡± said Rowand, who played five of his 11 years with the White Sox after being taken by Chicago in the first round of the 1998 MLB Draft. ¡°He got to talking about how much it would mean to the city of Chicago for us to be able to win a World Series and bring a championship to Chicago, and he started getting excited.¡±

Ditka pulled up a chair and sat with the Rowand family. And with an intensity befitting the fiery Bears leader for the 1986 Super Bowl champions -- which matched Rowand¡¯s run-through-a-wall style of play on the field -- Ditka was very specific in how he wanted the White Sox to beat the Red Sox in Game 2 and the rest of the series.

It was a colorful directive never forgotten by Rowand, a lifelong Bears fan who once temporarily won over fans in the Wrigley Field bleachers by showing a Bears T-shirt he often wore under his jersey.

¡°Everybody at the table kind of looked around,¡± said Rowand with a laugh. ¡°I was like, ¡®This is the greatest day of my life.¡¯ I felt like I was in a football locker room and he was getting me pumped up to go play.

¡°That was the first time I met him. Obviously being a lifelong Bears fan, it was a dream come true to meet the coach. He was watching all of our run toward the postseason and everything, so he had been paying attention to our team.¡±