by Mitch Albom | Sep 16, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
PHILADELPHIA– As reporters gathered outside the Lions’ locker room after yet another early-season loss, they pulled out their notepads and prepared to face the players. One guy looked around and mumbled, “Anyone got any new questions I can use?”
It was a grim but accurate statement about pro football in Detroit. Same questions. Same answers. Same dull toothache. The Lions, under Wayne Fontes, play their games the way they play their seasons — too casual at the start, a mad rush at the end. Almost always, they come up short, talking about “next week.”
by Mitch Albom | Sep 9, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
Alvin Harper was so alone, he could have shot off a flare. He waved his hands. He jumped up and down. And, as is often the case with his team, he watched as the ball went somewhere else, the wrong place, thrown by a quarterback who has a lot to learn. Harper walked slowly back to the Tampa Bay huddle, shaking his head, wearing those silly orange pants.
by Mitch Albom | Sep 8, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
The little girl died of starvation. She was 4 years old. Her mother didn’t like the way she looked — said her face reminded her too much of her father
— so she didn’t feed her. The child withered to skin and bones. When the cops found her dead body, they also found six other living children, who slept together on one mattress in the rat-infested New York City apartment. The 32-year-old mother, now facing murder charges, was pregnant again.
by Mitch Albom | Sep 5, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
One sack. One stinking sack. One strong push through the monster in front of you, one mad dash to the quarterback, one wrap him up before he throws the ball and smash him to the ground. Not so hard, right? One lousy sack? Heck, if you’re out there every game, starting on the defensive line, you might get a couple just by accident, no? Sixteen games? One little notch in your belt? Is that too much to ask?
by Mitch Albom | Sep 2, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
MINNEAPOLIS — It was a summer afternoon better suited to a barbecue, which might explain why the Lions played their season opener the way a kid roasts a marshmallow, toying with it, sticking it closer to the fire, closer to the fire — oops, it’s in the fire.
What a gooey mess.
See if this sounds familiar: The Lions go on the road to open the season, they mess around, make mistakes and blow a game they should have won in the final seconds. Bingo! It’s last year all over. And you thought hamburgers and hot dogs were the only constants of Labor Day weekend.
by Mitch Albom | Aug 8, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
The world of sports turned its eyes to Atlanta for 17 days, when former boxing champ Muhammad Ali, top, thrilled the nation on opening night, left. Michael Johnson, above, was unbeatable in the 200 and 400 meters, and little Kerri Strug, right, was swept up in the U.S. gold rush.
FACES OF THE GAMES
by Mitch Albom | Aug 5, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
ATLANTA — That sound you heard was a bomb. The explosion at Centennial Park that claimed one life and affected thousands of others may be your first memory when someone says, “Olympics, 1996.”
But not your last.
by Mitch Albom | Aug 4, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
ATLANTA — The mother and father sat with their hands folded on the long white table. They had never given a press conference before, and they blinked uncomfortably into the TV camera lights.”Mr. and Mrs. Strug,” a reporter asked, “when did you...
by Mitch Albom | Aug 3, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
ATLANTA — Carl Lewis was standing next to me on the set of “Good Morning America” Friday, wearing frayed tan shorts, a matching top, and sandals with no socks. It was 7:45 a.m., and everyone was yawning. Carl was with his agent and some guy who is co-writing Carl’s new autobiography. None of them seemed in a hurry to get anywhere.
by Mitch Albom | Aug 2, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
ATLANTA — The race was over, the world record was in pieces, and the loudspeakers were blasting well-chosen rock lyrics — “You’re unbelievable!” The hero of the moment was jogging around the track in golden shoes, with an American flag in his hands and an ice pack on his right leg. The crowd rose to applaud. Now, with the expected miracle behind him, we’ll see how much steam this Michael Johnson really has.
