The morning is cold and rainy. Wilbert Montgomery rises at 7, feeds his infant daughter, heads out. No breakfast. Billy Sims rises about the same time, makes a few phone calls, heads out. They meet in the training room, where shattered knees go for resurrection.Once they were two of the best running backs in the NFL. Different teams. Same status. Montgomery shouldered a load that helped the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl in 1980. And Sims was the Detroit Lions. That simple.
IOWA CITY -- The ball was snapped, the holder slammed it to earth, point-first, and the kicker's foot came through with a thud. The ball rose up high and through the uprights, and the biggest college football game of the year was decided with :00 showing on the clock.It was an Iowa foot.The Hawkeyes won.And that was the proper ending to this game, as hard as it is to swallow for Michigan fans.The Wolverines were No. 2 and trying harder. But the Wolverines are still No. 1.They deserve it.
OK. This week I've got a great new theory on how to pick winners. Big stuff. Really. Read this and you'll be making hundreds of dollars every Sunday. I guarantee it.Now the . . . oh, I should explain that I am writing this from the press box of the Michigan-Ohio State game in Columbus, Ohio. No problem. I can do two things at once.All right. Now the first thing you do in this new system is get a list of--DID YOU SEE THAT?Sorry. Big play there. Now then, you get a list of the games and take the point spreads and--LOOK! LOOK! HE'S OPEN! HE'S---
Let me tell you about the social event of the football season, the marriage of Bob and Kim Gagliano, live, on the radio, an event that can be summed up with the following sentences:"Are they ready yet?""No! Throw on another Van Halen record!"Now. There are many ways in which a man and woman can be joined in holy matrimony. Most of them do not involve headphones. Nor do most include a disc jockey who says, "We'll be back with the wedding, right after this. . . . "
ANN ARBOR -- They used to go back to their apartment after the games, and friends would come by and the two of them would put on a rap record and shout along with it and do some dancing and laugh until it hurt. It would be easier after a win, but they'd do it after a loss, too. Hell, most losses fade quickly enough.
The first question is whether Alan Trammell deserved it. The answer is yes. "Most valuable player" is a funny phrase -- it means different things to different people -- but if you spent time around the Tigers this season, you know Trammell, the shortstop and cleanup hitter, was oozing the right stuff.
LAKELAND, Fla. -- I am too old for this. I have a car in the garage and a life insurance policy and a coat and tie somewhere. I am grown up. But I am standing behind the batting cage in spring training, and that is where it always begins. "Phone call," someone yells."Coming," I say, but I do not move.My fingers curl around the metal links. The sun is warm. I am watching the Tigers take batting practice and my eyes are closing and my mind starts to drift. I am too old for this. "You wanna take a try?" I hear the player ask. "Me?" I say.
Every now and then, a terrible problem arises which I must help solve. Usually it involves my dog and the carpet. But today, I am called upon for an even nobler cause. I am here to prevent embarrassment. I am here to prevent grown men from walking into Joe Louis Arena carrying baseball gloves. I am here to prevent grown women from entering Tiger Stadium with octopus in their bags. The problem, of course, is baseball and hockey. Same day. Same town. How confusing! The Tigers open their home season this afternoon; the Red Wings continue their playoffs this evening.
Mitch Albom writes about running an orphanage in impoverished Port-au-Prince, Haiti, his kids, their hardships, laughs and challenges, and the life lessons he’s learned there every day.
