by Mitch Albom | Jul 2, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
WIMBLEDON, England — You see lots of ponytails in women’s tennis. Some of them will fool you. Take Monday at Wimbledon, a wet, cloudy day that was the grass-court equivalent of a soggy biscuit.
Across the net at Centre Court stood two female players, both in short white skirts and designer tennis tops — and both in ponytails. But on Martina Hingis, who’s 15, the hairdo was an extension of her teenage exuberance. On Steffi Graf, 27, the ponytail was all that remained of a carefree life.
by Mitch Albom | Jun 17, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
When you reach the highest level of golf, someone else carries your clubs. You have to carry your story. On Sunday, in the dying afternoon heat, four unlikely men, with four unlikely stories, came down the mean stretch of the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills Country Club,...
by Mitch Albom | Jun 16, 1996 | Comment, Detroit Free Press
Here’s to the fathers, who always begin, on the outside of children, but looking in Such curious men snapping cameras like mad recording the moment they turn into “Dad” Here’s to the fathers, who put in their time who don’t say to mothers...
by Mitch Albom | Jun 14, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
Of all the scenes I can picture in my mind — and with an imagination like mine, that’s a pretty nasty collection — I cannot envision anyone throwing a rat at Jack Nicklaus.
by Mitch Albom | Jun 13, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
Welcome, welcome, yes, you’re in the right place, the U.S. Open, at Oakland Hills — hey, you with the sandals on, it’s OK. Stop hiding in the corner. No one’s going to kick you out. This might be the most exclusive country club in the metro Detroit area, and on most weeks they wouldn’t let you near here with a bazooka, but today, everyone is love ‘n’ knickers. That’s the great thing about the U.S. Open. It’s American! You pay for a ticket, they have to let you in — no matter how badly you’re dressed.
by Mitch Albom | Jun 9, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
New York Sen. Alfonse D’Amato has been yelling a lot lately. What a waste. He could be practicing something he’s really good at — doing nothing and making money.Three years ago, D’Amato’s brokerage firm did him a little favor. Told him...
by Mitch Albom | Jun 2, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
Last week, Albert Belle hit a home run in Texas. This is not big news. Belle hits home runs everywhere. But this year he wants to collect his home run balls, perhaps because he plans on building a shrine to himself. If you know Albert Belle, this would not surprise...
by Mitch Albom | May 30, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
DENVER — The dream died in the mountains, a mile above sea level, where the air is thin and it is difficult to breathe. And as cold reality sank in
— one goal behind, two goals behind, three goals behind — you could feel the Red Wings players gasping, suffocating, all the good things they had done this season crashing to earth like a boulder during an avalanche. Or should we say, Avalanche?
Snowed under.
by Mitch Albom | May 29, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
So here I am, convinced that the whole city is severely afflicted with Red Wings Fever, and I go to the dentist and they put me in the chair and the hygienist sits down and says, “Hey, who won that hockey game?”Who won that hockey game?And the dentist...
by Mitch Albom | May 28, 1996 | Detroit Free Press
The game was played on Memorial Day, a day for men who go down fighting. That was the bad sign.The good sign was they don’t celebrate Memorial Day in Russia.Da. Da. Da. The first three home pucks in the net Monday night were good enov, strong enov and lucky...
