by Mitch Albom | Jan 28, 1999 | Detroit Free Press
MIAMI– Few reporters talk to offensive linemen. They are big, thick-necked creatures who toil anonymously in the mud and muck, so that a flashy, famous running back can zip through the holes they open and score touchdowns.
Running backs, we want to talk to. Quarterbacks, we want to talk to. Receivers, we want to talk to.
Offensive linemen? It’s like interviewing Madonna’s limo driver.
The only thing you might ask a lineman is, “Pardon me, did you see the running back?”
by Mitch Albom | Jan 27, 1999 | Detroit Free Press
MIAMI– OK, Atlanta Falcons, listen up. There’s a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things. And as a veteran of this Super Bowl process, I am sorry to report that many of you, who are new to winning, let alone Super Bowls, are already making some...
by Mitch Albom | Jan 13, 1999 | Detroit Free Press
This is how we evaluate star careers in America: little heads. You know them. You see them. They appear on the TV screen to size up the person in question, little heads inside graphic boxes, on news programs, on interview shows, some holding a microphone, some...
by Mitch Albom | Dec 31, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
This is what awaits the survivors.
Joe Lelli gets out of the car and squints against the cold December wind. That’s the lake, he says, the last place he remembers them all together, Jim, Jack, Graham and him. It was just before Christmas, the water was frozen over, hockey time, and he remembers the way they jostled for the puck. “We hit each other so hard we just started giggling,” he says. “It was so much fun.”
by Mitch Albom | Dec 31, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
This is what awaits the survivors.Joe Lelli gets out of the car and squints against the cold December wind. That’s the lake, he says, the last place he remembers them all together, Jim, Jack, Graham and him. It was just before Christmas, the water was frozen...
by Mitch Albom | Dec 29, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
Second in a series on heartbreaks and hopes from the sports world.
She came into this world with a mother and father, and for a short while, they were all together. She remembers a baseball game when she was small, sitting on her daddy’s shoulders, hearing the crack of bats and the roar of a crowd. She remembers feeling happy and secure, the way a child needs to feel. That was a long time ago.
by Mitch Albom | Dec 23, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
As he lifted the razor, he thought about her. And as he pulled it across his scalp, he thought about her. He shaved down to stubble, making himself bald, the hair falling in globs on the floor. And all the while he thought about her.
He thought about the happier times, like the night they met, at a high school dance in Canton, Ohio. They held each other close during a slow song. It was nice. But then that fast Prince tune came on, “Little Red Corvette,” and he backed away because he was this macho football player, and macho doesn’t do fast dances.
by Mitch Albom | Dec 23, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
As he lifted the razor, he thought about her. And as he pulled it across his scalp, he thought about her. He shaved down to stubble, making himself bald, the hair falling in globs on the floor. And all the while he thought about her.He thought about the happier times,...
by Mitch Albom | Dec 21, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
On a weekend when we impeached the president, lost a future speaker of the House and bombed a foreign country, it’s comforting to know that certain stories remain unchanged.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Detroit Lions.
On Sunday, the Lions played their last home game of 1998, and they closed the local show by once again promising to do better next year. Of course, they promised that for this year. You see how this repeats.
by Mitch Albom | Dec 20, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
Hate wins. That’s the only certainty. From the bombs falling over Iraq to the verbal bombshells exploding in Washington, hate wins. We have, in so many ways, given in to this emotion we can’t even see straight.It starts with the president. He is a kitchen...
