He name drops for his Bears

When hard-core Chicago Bears fan Scott Wiese looks into his bathroom mirror this time next month, introductions will be needed:

“Scott, this is Peyton. Peyton, this used to be Scott.”

Last Friday night in a bar in mid-state Decatur, Ill., Wiese, 26, made a decision that will haunt him the rest of his life. There, in front of a crowd, he signed a pledge saying that if the Bears lost the Super Bowl, he would change his name to Peyton Manning.

Two days after the Bears went down in a 29-17 defeat, Wiese went to the Macon County Courts Facility to begin the process of changing his name.

“I made the bet, and now I’ve got to keep it,” Wiese told the Associated Press.

He is required to advertise his intention in the local newspaper, the Herald & Review, for several weeks and then a judge will grant him approval to legally change his name.

“I think I kind of represent all Bears fans,” Wiese said, trying to explain his reasoning. “Not that I’m saying they’re all idiots like me, but I represent their passion because I really care about my team.”

Meanwhile, in other Chicago sports news, there is no truth to the rumor that Rex Grossman, seeking less notoriety, is changing his name to Steve Bartman.

Trivia time

The Indianapolis Colts made Manning the No. 1 pick in the 1998 NFL draft. Which player did the Bears draft with the No. 5 pick that year?

Commercial potential

In Tennessee, where the original Peyton Manning played his college football, folks read the story about Wiese and ask, “What’s the big deal?”

Peyton is a popular name -- for boys and girls -- in the state. Last weekend, the Knoxville News Sentinel invited a roster of little Peytons to gather, and 49 of them, from infants to 12-year-olds, showed up.

The newspaper also received phone calls and e-mails from more than 160 people from the United States and Canada, saying they had named a child after Manning.

It doesn’t stop there. In 1996, the Knoxville Zoo named a baby giraffe Peyton.

And that giraffe grew up to star in many commercials for Toys “R” Us and National Geographic.

A quick study

Drag racers John Force and his 24-year-old daughter, Ashley, are competing this week in the funny car division of the NHRA Winternationals at Pomona. Ashley is a 2003 graduate of Cal State Fullerton.

As for John ...

“People ask me how long I went to college,” John said at a Wednesday news conference to promote the Winternationals, “and I tell them, ‘Until noon.’

“No, really. I left East L.A. College at 12:15 my first day.”

Trivia answer

Penn State running back Curtis Enis.

And finally

The closing of college football’s recruiting season, the opening of baseball’s spring training -- from an optimist’s standpoint, they are one and the same. It’s the time of year when the only news emanating from any team’s camp is great, or better.

New Arizona State football Coach Dennis Erickson acknowledged as much when he announced his first 19-man recruiting class.

Erickson was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, “To me it’s an awfully good class.... Have you ever heard a coach who didn’t have a good recruiting class?”

mike.penner@latimes.com