In some ways, this is the hardest column I have ever had to write, hard because, for the first time in my life, I have no interest in writing it. This has never happened before. I love my work. I love wandering around the sports world, breathing in its funny drama, writing it down.
Detroit Free Press
NEW ORLEANS -- A-hem. If we can have your attention, please. We are about to begin the slide show entitled "Our Week At The Super Bowl" or "Get That Cigar Out Of My Face You Ugly Denver Mutant." This is a close-up view of the life of a sports writer, and should not be confused with the TV show "Wild Kingdom," although parts may look the same.
PASADENA, Calif. -- Suddenly, the grass had turned to track, the football to a baton, and he was back in his lane, chugging his arms and lifting his legs and leaving them all in the dust. Tyrone Wheatley was gone, baby, he was cape and boots, nobody would touch him. The crowd was roaring and the TV announcers were gushing and the end zone was getting closer and closer, he was going in -- he was going in! -- the longest run in the history of the Rose Bowl, 88 yards of gobbled grass, and nobody knew that he was doing it all on one leg. The right leg.
When NBA players start treating their coach like a substitute math teacher, it's time to say good-bye. Ron Rothstein was liked by few, tolerated by most, and flat-out ignored by others. It is no surprise he is fired this morning. I keep waiting for an eraser to hit him in the back of his head.Bye, Ron. Enjoy the money. Find an island and try to bring down your blood pressure.
You are calm. You are serene. You are a perfectly mature adult who is not the least bit worried that tonight could mark the quick death of a once promising hockey season. Not at all."Coffee?" asks your spouse."COFFEY? WHAT ABOUT COFFEY? DON'T TELL ME HE GOT HURT! THAT'S ALL WE NEED! HOW DID HE GET HURT? BLAST IT! CURSES! RATS! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"Your spouse runs upstairs. Must be having a bad day.Not you. You are fine. You are at peace. You go to work, enter your office, nod at your colleagues.One of them says, "How's things?"
BARCELONA, Spain -- I got Carl Lewis out of bed once. He was a college kid, spending the summer at his parents' house in Willingboro, N.J. I arrived for an interview -- you could do that with Carl back then -- but he had overslept. I rang the bell. I rang again. Finally, he came wobbling down the steps, wearing his underwear, rubbing his eyes.
We don't know how to win," Chris Spielman said. His jaw was clenched. His hair was sweat-soaked. He spoke as if in a trance. "We don't know how to win. Before you can win, you have to know how. Washington knows how. Maybe one day we will. But right now, we do not know how to win. It's that simple."
EAST LANSING -- The screamers can take the year off. Save your voices. Save the gas. The Michigan-Michigan State basketball rivalry, which, when it's good, is really good, is no better than lopsided this winter, one of those years when the light shines in only one direction. Green light. Spartans go. The Wolverines will spend most of their season just trying to get across the street.
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