OLD ACQUAINTANCES NOT FORGOTTEN AT OLYMPICS
LILLEHAMMER, Norway — Wait a minute. Torvill and Dean? Didn’t we kiss them good-bye 10 years ago? Weren’t they skating with the Muppets last year? Isn’t Dean about as old as Regis Philbin? Isn’t Torvill in a reading group with Candice...
WEBBER, U-M REVEL IN OLD COLLEGE JOY
Chris Webber recently told me all things being equal, he’d choose to stay in college now, instead of turning pro. Not for college rules or its lack of paychecks. But for certain nights, nights on which the noise rattles your eardrums and you can’t wait to...
It Started In South Bend With A Tip From Fisher’S Dad
Michigan’s Fab Five started their first game together two years ago Wednesday. A lot of changes have taken place since then — from the Final Fours, to Chris Webber’s departure to the recent incident involving Ray Jackson and Jimmy King. As a reminder of how it all began, the Free Press offers this excerpt from “Fab Five: Basketball, Trash Talk, the American Dream,” written by columnist Mitch Albom.
Webber Has Dodged The Pitfalls Along Road
One by one they came up to Chris Webber, smiling, batting eyelashes, bearing gifts. They gave him candy.
Photographs. Phone numbers. Lots of phone numbers.
“Call me,” a young woman cooed.
“Call me,” rasped another.
He smiled at them all. He took their numbers but lost them quickly after they’d gone. He stepped into the limo and marveled at the crowd as the car sped away.
“They don’t even know me,” he said, shaking his head. “Why would I call them?”
Skaters, Networks, Agents Go For Gold
A friend in Hollywood keeps me up on certain things, which is how I know the following: Nancy Kerrigan, and her agents, accepted an enormous business deal last week from Disney. It includes $450,000 for the rights to make a TV movie about her, plus her own ice show after the Olympics, plus five TV specials, plus her own book, plus a children’s book, plus her own video and a few other perks. The friend in Hollywood knows this, because he, too, was bidding for her TV movie. He lost to Disney.
Repeating History Shoots Uncomprehending Buffalo
ATLANTA — Bruce Smith, the symbol of Buffalo power, was on his knees in the end zone, the posture of surrender. All around him, Cowboys were dancing, doing high steps, mugging for the crowd. Half of them had their helmets off so the TV cameras could catch their faces. They mobbed Emmitt Smith, who had just scored a touchdown on fourth-and-one, a muscle test, yours versus ours, late in the game, the championship on the line; Smith had gone in standing up. Touchdown. Now flashbulbs exploded and rolls of toilet paper came flying from the stands.
NFL SHOULD HELP FOLD GEORGIA’S FLAG
ATLANTA — For years, the flag has flown high overhead, while people below have changed with the times. Black citizens fought for — and gained — their civil rights. Black children were granted their rightful education. A black man was elected mayor of...
BUFFALO WILL WIN, CURTYOU’LL CHANGE YOUR TUNE AFTER SUNDAY
So once again, Curt Sylvester, my aging and decaying friend, we find ourselves in a familiar position: You, being helped along by sheer luck and artificial intelligence, and me, stuck picking Buffalo.How do I get myself into this?I know. I know. Last year I said the...
IF I WERE AIKMANWHAT A WONDERFUL LIFE IT’D BE,EXCEPT FOR THE COUNTRY MUSIC
ATLANTA — Troy Aikman wants to be a regular guy. I have decided to help him out.All week at the Super Bowl, I have heard his plea. “I just want to be a regular guy,” Troy laments, while surrounded by reporters and security guards. His friends —...Stay Connected
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