by Mitch Albom | Jun 3, 1997 | Detroit Free Press
PHILADELPHIA — Thank heaven there’s a hockey game tonight. If people here had to wait any longer, they might implode.
I’m not talking about the normal Philadelphians. Normal Philadelphians might have a few other things in their lives, like jobs. The Philadelphians I’m talking about are the rabid fans who have nothing better to do but call into Philly sports talk radio — or as it’s known in the industry, Lawsuit Central.
Now, it’s true, most towns have some kind of sports talk radio station. Many sound like this:
by Mitch Albom | Jun 2, 1997 | Detroit Free Press
PHILADELPHIA — There were llamas and trapeze artists and the air smelled like horse droppings. The circus had taken over the building where the Stanley Cup finals were being staged, so the players had to dress in one locker room, then take a shuttle bus — or worse, walk across the parking lot, fully dressed except for their skates — maybe passing a few clowns and the fire-eating man. All this to get to a second building, across the way, where ice was available.
by Mitch Albom | May 31, 1997 | Detroit Free Press
There is a word for what he does, we just don’t know what the word is. Instigator? Annoyance-maker? Stick-poker?He is technically a defenseman, but he pretty much goes where he has to go, following the other team’s best player and trying to give him...
by Mitch Albom | May 31, 1997 | Detroit Free Press
I got a phone call Thursday from a man who sounded frantic. He said he would speak only to me. He said he’d found some money, a lot of money, money from that armored truck that spilled over on I-75 Tuesday. He wanted to return it. He said he was scared.That much...
by Mitch Albom | May 30, 1997 | Detroit Free Press
I have dreaded this day for 12 years.I knew it was coming. You can’t escape your past, no matter how far you run. Remember that movie, “Sommersby,” where Richard Gere is this local hero, until someone comes out of the shadows and yells, “Wait!...
by Mitch Albom | May 29, 1997 | Detroit Free Press
Look, Philadelphia. I don’t want to ruin your day. But while you’re talking about how big and tough your hockey team is, you might consider that the coach of the Detroit Red Wings, 63- year-old Scotty Bowman, not only has a jutting jaw, a thick neck, three...
by Mitch Albom | May 27, 1997 | Detroit Free Press
The game was in the final minute, the Colorado goalie was pulled, and finally, finally, there really was nothing standing between the team and the dream. Brendan Shanahan raced to the loose puck, took good healthy aim and put that baby in the open basket, unleashing a flood of noise that could be heard all the way to the Rocky Mountains.
by Mitch Albom | May 23, 1997 | Detroit Free Press
Now finish it.Oh, I know the more popular song this morning is the sweet chorus of Thursday night’s spectacular down at Joe Louis Arena, where the Red Wings so dominated the defending Stanley Cup champions Colorado Avalanche you’d have thought Patrick Roy...
by Mitch Albom | May 22, 1997 | Detroit Free Press
The issue is not whether Sergei Fedorov is a superlative player. It’s which superlative do you use?Depending on whom you listen to, he’s either the most talented man on the Red Wings, or the least interested. He’s the fastest on the ice, or the...
by Mitch Albom | May 21, 1997 | Detroit Free Press
It is not my place — as a man who needs a month to grow a five-o’clock shadow — to ask why Red Wings players are suddenly sporting the same facial hair. But I’ll do it anyhow. Someone has to. I mean, if everyone in your office suddenly came to work looking like Magic Johnson, you’d ask, “What’s going on?” Wouldn’t you?
So what’s going on?
“I don’t know,” says Aaron Ward, rubbing his mustache. “I just grew mine because you’re supposed to.”
“Don’t ask me,” says Darren McCarty, scratching his beard. “I don’t know who started it.”
