The locker room was noisy and they were slapping Wayne Fontes on the back and someone said to him: "Hey, Wayne. The governor's on the phone."Fontes looked up. Really? The governor? He jogged to the office and someone handed him the receiver and whispered in his ear, "I think he's gonna commute your sentence."Fontes smirked."Hello, governor! How are you!" Something about congratulations."Thank you, sir . . . uh-huh . . . "Something about the offense."Improving, governor . . . that's right . . ."
NEW YORK -- So much promise. That has always been the rock around Aaron Krickstein's neck. When he first showed those powerful ground strokes, when he turned pro at age 16, when he started losing and his ranking dropped like an anchor. "So much promise," the people sighed. No wonder he used to speak with his head down in his chest. Have three words ever weighed so heavily? Do you remember 1983? It was here, at the U.S. Open, that Krickstein, then an amateur, showed the world that promise.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- It was the biggest moment of his baseball life, he was about to pitch the bottom of the ninth, lead his teammates to the promised land of the World Series, and there he was -- sitting in the dugout, his head back, his eyes closed."What were you doing?" someone asked Orel Hershiser."I was singing hymns," he said.Oh.
Gather round, Lions. Everybody grab a Coke. We're gonna give out a sack of game balls for Sunday's efforts against Minnesota.Get comfortable. It's a big sack.But then, this was a big game, at least if massacre is your thing. Detroit was to Minnesota on Sunday what a Cusinart is to a potato masher. They pureed the visitors, 41-21, proving once again, that Dorothy knew what she was talking about. There's no place like home.
NEW YORK -- She was flat on her back in the middle of center court, her eyes squeezed shut in glory, as if she had to lie down to absorb what she'd just accomplished.7-6, 1-6, 7-6.Mandlikova beats Navratilova.Incredible.What a match! What a spectacular match! A showdown that was never supposed to be. Everyone knows that just as dessert comes at the end of the meal, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert Lloyd come at the end of a women's tennis tournament.Chris vs. Martina, punch after punch, rematch after rematch, Ali and Frazier in tennis dress.
Gather round, Lions. Everybody grab a Coke. We're gonna give out a sack of game balls for Sunday's efforts against Minnesota.Get comfortable. It's a big sack.But then, this was a big game, at least if massacre is your thing. Detroit was to Minnesota on Sunday what a Cusinart is to a potato masher. They pureed the visitors, 41-21, proving once again, that Dorothy knew what she was talking about. There's no place like home.
NEW YORK -- She was flat on her back in the middle of center court, her eyes squeezed shut in glory, as if she had to lie down to absorb what she'd just accomplished.7-6, 1-6, 7-6.Mandlikova beats Navratilova.Incredible.What a match! What a spectacular match! A showdown that was never supposed to be. Everyone knows that just as dessert comes at the end of the meal, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert Lloyd come at the end of a women's tennis tournament.Chris vs. Martina, punch after punch, rematch after rematch, Ali and Frazier in tennis dress.
This is the second of five excerpts from "Bo" by Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler, co-authored with Free Press columnist Mitch Albom. Today's excerpt, "Woody and Me," deals with Bo's relationship with Woody Hayes.I loved Woody Hayes. I am not ashamed to say it. In the 37 years I knew him, he coached me, humbled me, employed me, angered me and taught me more about the game than anyone could. I guess I was about as close to him as anyone, but to the day he died, I never considered myself his equal.
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.
