by Mitch Albom | Oct 29, 2003 | Detroit Free Press
Everybody leaves. Larry Brown knows that. He knows it from the time he was 7 years old and his father didn’t come home from work. The old man, it turns out, had died in a hospital from an aneurysm; Larry and his older brother were at the movies. Larry’s mother was so distraught, instead of telling him, she sent young Larry away with relatives for nearly a month. He missed the funeral. He missed the grieving. He was told his father was on his job as a traveling salesman. “But I knew,” Brown says now.
by Mitch Albom | Oct 26, 2003 | Detroit Free Press
Afriend of mine does this Simon and Garfunkel impersonation. He mimics the soft-spoken Garfunkel, leaning into the microphone, telling the audience,
“We’d like to slow things down now . . . even more.”
It’s a common joke, especially among young people. You tell anyone under 30 that you’re going to see Simon and Garfunkel on their reunion tour — that you’re excited about it! — and they snicker as if you can’t wait for your new pair of Depends.
“Wow, Simon and Garfunkel,” they deadpan. “You’re gonna rock.”
by Mitch Albom | Oct 20, 2003 | Detroit Free Press
Joey Harrington was moving backward, much like his team, after another Dallas Cowboy intercepted another one of his passes. The Cowboy, Mario Edwards, was charging hard and Harrington, near the goal line, dropped to make a tackle. Forget it. Edwards burst through his grasp and was gone. Just like the game.
And just like the season.
by Mitch Albom | Oct 19, 2003 | Detroit Free Press
For almost as long as there has been war, there have been letters home. The image is usually of a weary soldier, huddled over a light, scribbling words to his family or fiancee, trying to be brave.
by Mitch Albom | Oct 12, 2003 | Detroit Free Press
At this point, it’s mostly about jail for Kobe Bryant. What else is in dispute? His reputation? That’s shot. His fidelity? Gone. His image as a nose-to-the-grindstone basketball player? History. This is the way we try celebrities in this country. We smash...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 10, 2003 | Detroit Free Press
Now that’s how you start a season — with a perfect finish. The final rush, game tied and a surging Steve Yzerman, in the first game of what is likely his final year, takes a sweet backhand pass from his newest teammate, Ray Whitney, and zaps it past the...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 9, 2003 | Detroit Free Press
Tonight, for the first time in 13 years, Dominik Hasek will not come home to his wife and kids after an NHL regular-season home game. Instead, he will return to an empty Birmingham apartment, half a world away from his family. When it’s time to cook dinner, he...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 5, 2003 | Detroit Free Press
‘You know what I’m going to do?” I say to the Expert. “I’m going to vote for Arnold.””No, you’re not,” says the Expert.”Yes, I am,” I say. “I’m going to vote for Arnold, because an actor is...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 3, 2003 | Detroit Free Press
Rush Limbaugh sees the world in black and white. It is the secret of his success. While other radio hosts wince at slicing the world in two — saying one side is always right and the other is always wrong — Limbaugh’s cash register has always rung on...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 1, 2003 | Detroit Free Press
You don’t interrupt a child’s birthday party to remind him of a dentist appointment. So we did not interrupt the Tigers’ jubilant celebration for losing only 119 games this year to remind them that they still do, to be honest, stink.But the...
