I have been to many funerals in my life. I had never been to one like they had for Sam Washington on Saturday. People came from all over -- white, black, old, young, basketball players, kids in sneakers, mothers, fathers, coaches.They filled the pews at St. Cecilia Church, there, ostensibly, to say goodby to a man they loved. It was a sad moment, yet there seemed to be little sadness, and when they spoke of him, one by one, loved ones rising to tell stories about "Sammy," well, there were actually ripples of laughter, and tears mixed with smiles.A funeral.
We pulled away from the Windsor hotel, and the mustached man in the passenger seat began fishing in his pockets for the toll fare."Hey," I said, suddenly. "Do I turn here? I can't remember. Is it here or there?""Gee. I'm not sure.""I think it's here.""Yes, I . . . no . . . wait . . . is it?"Back in the car.With Jacques Demers.
The Live Albom:Let's see. Alan Trammell had a hitting streak of 22 games; the day I wrote about him, it ended. Paul Molitor had a hitting streak of 39 games; the day I wrote about him, it ended. Hmmm.
What am I doing here?That's what I was thinking as I ducked away from the reporters at the Seattle Kingdome Monday night, April 3, 1989. The bands were blaring. The teams were taking lay-ups. Basketball? What was I doing on a basketball court -- not just any court, but the NCAA championship game between Michigan and Seton Hall?I tried to make my way to my seat."Bo! Bo!"I looked up. It was Brent Musburger from CBS."How are you doing, Brent?"
MINNEAPOLIS -- They gave James Jones the game ball Sunday. Then they gave him oxygen.How often did he run in this season opener? How many plays did the Lions have? Talk about one-man offense. Directory assistance doesn't get that many calls. Jones might as well have come to the line and said, "Uh-huh, that's right fellas, it's me again, No. 30, over here, yeah. . . . "
He was wearing a Detroit Lions cap and he stood under a Detroit Lions banner. He was still wearing his Detroit Lions pants."Had you ever played in the Silverdome before today?" a reporter asked."No," he said."Had you ever been in the Silverdome?""No.""Had you ever been in Detroit?""No."
CALGARY, Alberta -- We are watching the sleds come down the hill. The sun is warm. Our feet are in mud."Who's winning?" someone asks."Who cares?" comes our answer.We are not interested in winners in this Olympic two-man bobsled competition. We know the winners will be East German or Soviet, because they are winning everything else.Nor are we interested in the U.S. team, because every time we turn around, someone on the U.S. team is suing someone else on the U.S. team. Besides, the Americans are in 24th place.
ATLANTA -- He has the eyes of an eagle and the touch of a card shark. And with his collegiate career on the line Sunday afternoon, he left the floor in three-point territory, bent the forearm, flicked the wrist, waved good-bye with the fingers -- somebody get a video camera, this is beautiful -- and the ball arched in glorious perfection, dropping through the net the way a pearl might drop through water.Swish!We're outta here.
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.
