He wore a gray-striped suit with the stripes going both directions, a white dress shirt and a stylish print tie. Still, when they called his name, the crowd barely noticed, because the music was blasting and fire was shooting and the fans were busy watching the players do their jump-and-slam moves.
But make no mistake. This Pistons opener was about one man more than the rest. Those long pants have been a long time coming.
Michael Curry is on the board.
MITCH ALBOM The tune you’ll hear
Experience will carry them. But inexperience will factor in, too – with some of the young guys in the postseason.
Who’ll top the charts
Rasheed Wallace
It’s his contract year. And he’s the MVP half the time already.
The Pistons will finish in the:
Division: Second.
Conference: Third.
Playoffs: East semis.
The finals:
East: Cleveland over Boston.
West: L.A. Lakers over San Antonio.
NBA: Cleveland over L.A. Lakers.
VINCE ELLIS
The tune you’ll hear
They were supposed to be different. Not the same old Fab Four. Either Chauncey or Tayshaun, maybe Rasheed, maybe Rip. Someone was going. That’s what fans figured this summer. Joe Dumars, the team president, said it publicly and loudly – after the Pistons fell short of the NBA Finals yet again – he would trade one or more of his Mt. Rushmore faces if the right deal came along.
What happened?
“It didn’t come along,” he says.
Tickets remain. That was the story Sunday. For the first time at Ford Field, the Lions couldn’t sell out; the game was not televised. Some called this sad. Others called it merciful. Many didn’t notice.
But as one of the lucky 54,312 in attendance, I feel obliged to report to you what you missed.
Not much.
Detroit actually scored in the first quarter for the first time all season. A touchdown with 13 seconds left. That makes the year-to-date first-quarter total: Opponents 57, Lions 7. Yay!
Last week, Colin Powell said that he was going to vote for Barack Obama.
He said it in a long, thoughtful interview on “Meet the Press.” He paid tribute to John McCain, said it was close, said he’d waited months to decide, but in the end, he was going with Obama for numerous reasons.
Nobody heard the reasons.
It was a gutsy play, if not a smart one. The Spartans lined up for fourth and one on the Michigan 21. There were less than five minutes left; they had a one touchdown lead. One touchdown? Normally you kick a field goal. Normally, it’s a no-brainer.
But Saturday was not about normal.
“I looked over to Coach D,” quarterback Brian Hoyer would later tell the media, “and I could see him saying to himself, We’re going for it.’ “
EAST LANSING – The weather was perfect, the stadium was packed, and the whole town was pounding with green-and-white optimism.
And then the game started.
And Ohio State pulled the Spartans’ pants down.
Not ready. Not yet. The records suggested that Michigan State was an elite team, but records are just numbers. The field tells the tale. And on the field, there were the Big Boys and there were the Wannabes. Before this game was 15 minutes old, it told an age-old story about one team that has done it and one team that is still dreaming about it.
Until last week, the most common axiom about plumbers was that when they bent over to fix a pipe, you could see the crack of their butts.
Not anymore.
Thanks to Joe Wurzelbacher, we can now go to plumbers for our political future.
EAST LANSING – The weather was perfect, the stadium was packed and the whole town was pounding with green-and-white optimism.
And then the game started.
And Ohio State pulled the Spartans’ pants down.
Not ready. Not yet. The records suggested that Michigan State was an elite team, but records are just numbers. The field tells the tale. And on the field, there were the Big Boys and there were the Wannabes. Before this game was 15 minutes old, it told an age-old story about one team that has done it and one team that is still dreaming about it.
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