by Mitch Albom | May 19, 2002 | Detroit Free Press
Getting kicked out of kindergarten isn’t easy. A child would have to do something truly awful, right?
Not necessarily. A 5-year-old girl last week didn’t have to do a thing. Her mother did it for her.
Or rather, her mother’s job did it. Christina Silvas, a 24-year-old single mom, works as an adult dancer in Sacramento, Calif. She does it for the money.
She takes a chunk of that money and pays the $400-a-month tuition for her daughter, Abigail, to attend the Capital Christian School.
by Mitch Albom | May 18, 2002 | Detroit Free Press
In many ways, they’re a lot alike.
The Red Wings have won Stanley Cups. The Avalanche has won Stanley Cups.
The Red Wings have a goalie who speekeeng with dee accent. The Avs have a goalie who speak wit’ an’ accent.
The Wings have a captain who is quiet, rugged and wears No. 19. The Avs have a captain who is quiet, rugged and wears No. 19.
And while the Wings have a foreign phenomenon, Igor Larionov, who is 41 yet skates like a kid, the Avs also have a foreign phenomenon, Peter Forsberg, who took the regular season off yet is leading the playoffs in points.
by Mitch Albom | May 17, 2002 | Detroit Free Press
At long last, the Kirk Maltby column.It is my first, I admit. For some unknown reasons, in 17 years of covering the Red Wings, I have never made Maltby the subject. I have written countless columns on Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Scotty Bowman. I’ve dealt...
by Mitch Albom | May 14, 2002 | Detroit Free Press
You wouldn’t want to be Jerry Stackhouse today. As the tip-off nears for what might be the Pistons’ last game of the season — and perhaps the defining night of Stackhouse’s career — the minutes will feel like hours and the hours like...
by Mitch Albom | May 12, 2002 | Detroit Free Press, Comment
For all the mothers whose sons did not kill.
For all the mothers whose sons did not steal.
For all the mothers whose sons did not plant pipe bombs.
For all the mothers whose sons did not rape.
For all the mothers whose sons did not poison.
For all the mothers whose sons did not abuse.
For all the mothers whose sons did not create Internet viruses.
For all the mothers whose sons did not need guns.
by Mitch Albom | May 11, 2002 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Steve Yzerman is in his car, driving to practice. He doesn’t really do much on the practice ice these days. For one thing, his bad knee can’t take it. And, anyhow, at this point in the season, he and the other veterans don’t exactly need work.But he...
by Mitch Albom | May 9, 2002 | Detroit Free Press
Jerry Stackhouse lost control of the ball and it flipped into the air and he leaped to get it back from his defender, Boston’s Paul Pierce. First tap, they both got a hand on it. Second tap, more Pierce than Stack. Third tap, Pierce gaining control. Final tap,...
by Mitch Albom | May 8, 2002 | Detroit Free Press
Talk about first impressions. It was just another hot day in Phoenix, and Joe Dumars was in a Ritz-Carlton suite with a day’s worth of interviews for Detroit’s head coaching position. There was a knock on the door and a guy in khaki pants and tennis shoes...
by Mitch Albom | May 7, 2002 | Detroit Free Press
As the last city in America to have hockey and basketball teams in the playoffs, we in Detroit have a unique problem.
It can all get so confusing. Slam dunks on Tuesdays? Slap shots on Wednesdays? Or is it the other way around?
What channel are we on?
Which round is it?
How do we know which sport we’re watching?
There are many differences between the NBA and the NHL, not the least of which is you’ve never seen hockey players’ knees.
by Mitch Albom | May 6, 2002 | Detroit Free Press
So where were you? The last time the Pistons played in a conference semifinal, they were the defending NBA champions and the city was nuts. You’d cut off your arm for a ticket.That was 11 years ago. Now, finally, here they were again on Sunday afternoon,...
