Detroit Free Press

Trust? Why should they trust? Why should Chrysler workers believe anything they hear from their company's new would-be owners, Cerberus Capital Management, a firm named for a mythical, three-headed hound of hell? Do you trust a new king who was born in another country? Do you trust a new landlord who has a history of evicting people? Who trusts anything when it comes to big business today? If you know someone, tell me. I don't. Not anymore.

CLEVELAND - Alive. That's all that matters, right? Breathing hard. Showing scars. But alive. Alive as in this choking playoff series, which is tied at 3-3. Alive as in the basketball itself, which, in the final two minutes of Friday night's gut-wrenching game, was fought for and fought for by a group of guys who simply were not ready to go home for the summer.Rasheed Wallace misses a shot? Ben Wallace soars to keep it alive. Rasheed misses another shot? Tayshaun Prince soars to keep it alive.

It might be strange, when picking your poison, to have a preference. But if you're a Pistons fan, you might regret Sunday's departure of LeBron James and the Cavs. They may have been the defending Eastern Conference champs, but they sure looked more beatable than Boston.Yes, I've heard the reasons the Celtics might be a better foe for Detroit. They've yet to win a playoff game on the road. They needed seven games to finish each of their two series. They're still gaining playoff experience - while Cleveland has been there.

So I'm walking past the Palace loading dock Tuesday night, after the Pistons waxed the Pacers in Game 5 of their series, and there, standing by the bus, were Rasheed Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal, and they were talking and laughing and at one point they must have shared a joke so funny that Rasheed doubled over and shook his head in hysterics.Now, as you know, these two do not play for the same team. An hour earlier, they had been battling on the court. They often guard each other in the blood feud known as Detroit-Indiana. They are "opponents" in every sports sense of the word.

So what CAN you call someone today? When Barack Obama used the word "sweetie" in addressing a Detroit TV reporter last week, it made national headlines. He was scolded by the media. Fingers wagged. Tongues clucked. "Uh-uh-uh," the conscience-makers said, "you're stepping over the line."And maybe he was.But where is the line? I've been thinking ever since this happened about the things we call each other when we call each other, and it seems they are all bad at one point or another.

Antonio McDyess just sat there. The court was empty. He just sat there. A few fans yelled encouragement. Someone said, "It'll be all right." But he just sat there, hands over his head, staring into the abyss. The arena emptied. What was he thinking? What was everyone around here thinking? It was a game they don't lose, right? But they lost it. It was turnovers they don't make, but they made them. It was the situation they never dreamed they'd be in, but they are in it.

Rick Carlisle wears a suit and tie and a dress shirt and dark socks and he's not allowed to play anyhow, so all he could do was call time-outs. Sometimes that's effective. And sometimes it's all you've got.We lost track of how many time-outs Carlisle, the Indiana coach, signaled for during the bloodletting that was the late second and third quarters Tuesday night. Suffice it to say, he spent the nest egg. Time out, ref. Time out, ref. Making a "T" with his hands. Touching his shoulders. Why bother, Rick? It was like trying to save theTitanic by scooping with a paper cup.

If the Pistons won't listen to their critics, their coaches, their fans or the gods of destiny, they should at least listen to Antonio McDyess.McDyess is the long, tall voice of reason on a team full of cowboy swagger. When other Pistons say they're serious, McDyess says, "We're playing around."When other Pistons say they're focused, McDyess says their focus is "out the window."