INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- They were dancing on the court with nine minutes still left to go. The score was Lakers 85, Celtics 70, time-out was called, and the Laker cheerleaders grabbed fans from the front-row seats and, ho, the heck with Celtic comebacks! They did the victory shimmy right there on the Forum hardwood, fans and showgirls, as the crowd screamed along with the thumping public address system:"WE LOVE L-A! . . . ""WE LOVE IT!"
ROME -- The runners were charging to the tape in the 1,500- meter final, but I can't tell you who was in front. I was watching the guy in last place, the tall, sandy-haired American whose steps were labored and whose face was strained. He was way behind, maybe 60 yards, but I kept waiting for him to charge, to kick, to win. It was stupid. I can't help it.His name is Steve Scott. He is the first athlete I ever interviewed.
TAMPA, Fla. -- Yippee! The Lions won. I vote we end the season right now.Why wait the final two weeks? They could lose the final two weeks. Please, somebody. Put it in ice. Let us finish this desperate journey on a happy note, even if it did come at the expense of the Buccaneers, Florida's answer to the poster child."How does it feel?" someone asked Darryl Rogers, after his Lions knocked off Tampa Bay, 20-10, Sunday to end a four-game losing streak and raise their record to 3-10."It feels," he said, "like a change."
It's taken me the entire NFL season, but I've finally figured out Darryl Rogers. Sort of.Remember when he arrived last spring, fresh from the college ranks, a seemingly laid-back, unassuming, you-respect-me- I'll-respect-you kind of guy?Yeah. Well. I never trust that type. There has to be more. A fire in the belly. A skeleton in the closet. A Jack Daniel's in the desk. Something.
COSTA MESA, Calif. -- The Giants players were all in their designated seats. Only Tony Galbreath's seat was empty. He would not be available today. He had taken the big leap, stepped off the silver screen of the Super Bowl. Like the hero in the "Purple Rose of Cairo," he was walking through real life now.With a movie camera."Oh, man, look at all these people," Galbreath said, eyeing a mob of reporters around teammate Phil McConkey. "This is no good. Excuse me . . . Excuse me . . . "
TAMPA, Fla. -- There is a man. He does exist. A man who makes trends meet. A man for all reasons. A man who tickles the fancy of nearly every type of sports fan in this scattershot country, and that's a lot of tickling. There is a man. There is Kirby Puckett.Kirby Puckett?
You had to like this right away: Bennie Blades, the Lions' No. 1 draft pick Sunday, took a jet from Miami, a helicopter from Metro Airport, a car from the parking lot, and now, 7 p.m., he was courtside at the Silverdome before the Pistons-76ers game, awaiting his introduction to the people of Detroit."Yo man, take some shots," yelled Pistons forward John Salley over the blaring music.
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.
