by Mitch Albom | May 17, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
Looking out the window, the first thing Jerry Seinfeld noticed was a little man running down the tarmac.
“De plane! De plane!” the little man yelled.
“Hey,” Kramer said, “isn’t that Tattoo from ‘Fantasy Island?’ “
“Yeah, the midget!” said George.
He looked at Jerry and smiled.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with that!” they said in unison.
They stopped and listened. Strange. No laughter. Not even a chuckle.
“What gives?” said Elaine. “That line always gets a laugh.”
by Mitch Albom | May 15, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
ST. LOUIS — So Sergei Fedorov gets the puck on a breakaway, and he makes one of those moves, and yada, yada, yada, Wings win.
Oh. Sorry. Got my shows crossed.
On a night when a third of the nation was watching “Seinfeld” end, those of us who prefer pucks to yucks were watching a remarkable pattern continue. It was the Red Wings showing familiar focus when threatened. It was the Red Wings showing familiar disregard for other people’s ice, winning their fourth straight road game in these playoffs.
by Mitch Albom | May 12, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
If home is where the heart is, then Brendan Shanahan once left his heart in St. Louis. He played there for four happy seasons, made friends, had good times, hosted a radio show, even purchased his first house. It’s a big moment when you first sign a mortgage, it makes you feel rooted, grown-up. So the dismal day he was traded to Hartford, the Siberia of the NHL, Shanahan made a vow. He would not give up his house. They could take away his uniform, pluck him like a weed.
But they couldn’t take his roots.
by Mitch Albom | May 11, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
Chris Pronger is as big as they come. He is 6 feet, 5 inches tall, with a beefy frame, pounds of muscle and an impish face that says if you want the rough stuff, that’s fine by him. With his front teeth out — and they are out when he plays — he is...
by Mitch Albom | May 8, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
COLORADO — Well, here I am. Looks like my idea paid off. I’m the first one at the arena.”Gonna be some battle this year, huh?” I yell to the maintenance man.”Mister,” he says, “you’re –“Early, I know. I...
by Mitch Albom | May 4, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
PHOENIX — Since the days of the Bible, man has come to the desert looking for a sign. Sometimes it’s a burning bush. Sometimes it’s two stone tablets. And sometimes it’s a puck that ricochets into the net off the skate of a turned-backward...
by Mitch Albom | May 3, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
What do Isiah Thomas, Barry Sanders and Juwan Howard have in common? All have been celebrated as “good guys.” All have been hailed as humble star athletes who have their priorities straight.
And all have fathered children out of wedlock.
I bring them up only to prove that the current Sports Illustrated cover story,
“Where’s Daddy?” about paternity and athletes, is not some device to sell magazines, and not some blown-up tale about a few sex-crazed deviants. It’s as real a problem as there is in sports, and it says a lot about who we are and what we choose to admire.
by Mitch Albom | May 1, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
One by one, in moments like these, he pulls us back into his rooting section. Here was Sergei Fedorov Thursday night, second period, the game dangerously close, chasing a loose puck, accelerating until he gathered it in, then juking on the Phoenix defender, Gerald Diduck, who fell to the ice just trying to keep up. Keep up? It was like trying to bottle a hurricane. Sergei curled past the fallen player as if racing a lawn mower around a tree stump, then glided until the perfect angle on the goalie came into his crosshairs.
by Mitch Albom | Apr 30, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
Itried to be nice.
I tried to be mellow, calm and understanding. I tried to say, “It’s only hockey, and hockey is sports, and sports is brotherhood, and brotherhood means peace and love for everyone, right?”
I tried.
But now I must come clean. I must tell you the reason the Phoenix Coyotes, who play the Red Wings tonight in their deadlocked playoff series, will have to be, and I don’t want to overstate things here, destroyed.
by Mitch Albom | Apr 29, 1998 | Detroit Free Press
When you check into a bed and breakfast, it’s a good idea to read the guest book. See what others before you had to say.Same goes for hiring NBA coaches. A look back gives a glimpse ahead. So here, on this first morning of the Alvin Gentry Era in Pistonland, a...
