He wrote here. He drank here. He still lives here.
“I miss Mike very much,” Sam says in May 2000. “I see Mike three, four times. Matter of fact, I see him three days ago. Mike come by here. It was when he was dead. I ask him if he remembers when I said, ‘Mike, if anything ever happen to me, I want you to keep the Billy Goat name alive.’ And he nods his head and I tell him, ‘Now that you are gone I am going to keep your name alive. I’m going to make sure your name will live forever.’”
in 1991, President Bush came to Billy Goat for a visit and to meet Sam.
Sam calls Mike and excitedly tells his assistant over the phone, “The president wants to know if Mike is here. I tell him no and then he wants to know where he usually sits and I show him and he seems very excited to see where he site when he comes down here.”
Sam wants Mike to have a burger with Bush. Hes says no. Sam calls Mike’s wide, Judy. Shes wants him to go. He says no. Mike often refers to Bush as “the greatest tourist of our time,” and in the next day’s Tribune writes, “The country is going to hell in a hand basket, and the president of the United States wants to know on what part of the bar I rest my elbows? Or forehead?”
Royko’s Raiders deliver another trophy – Mike Royko (back row, second from right), Don DeBat (back row, third from left), Tim Weigel (front row, far right)
This story is from the book “A Chicago Tavern” and was told by Tim Weigel:
“One night after a loss, we headed to the tavern to lick our wounds and gargle a few beers. After a while Sam brought a goat in for a drink. The goat smelled pretty bad and Mike kept feeding the goat $1 bills. Then some one hands Mike a $10 bill and the goat eats it. Just a couple of minutes later the goat lets loose with a fusilade of pellets on Mike’s shoes. Seeing this, Sam yells from behind the bar, ‘Hey Mike. He gave you change.”
