by Mitch Albom | Jan 31, 1993 | Detroit Free Press
LOS ANGELES — The young man was tall and broad-shouldered. While his teammates spoke of touchdowns, he spoke of flying a jet across the skies of Kuwait. Chad Hennings is a Dallas defensive lineman, who, unlike most of the players in Super Bowl XXVII today, served in the military. I found him intelligent. Engaging.
Then someone asked about gays.
“In the military? I’m against it. Absolutely. Nothing against gays, you know, but the idea of living with them? In close quarters? Nuh-uh.”
by Mitch Albom | Jan 30, 1993 | Detroit Free Press
LOS ANGELES — Oh, Curt. How sad.In what can only be a meek and pathetic attempt to recapture your lost youth, you are picking the Cowboys to win this Super Bowl. You obviously feel this makes you hep, the cat’s meow, the bee’s knees, or whatever...
by Mitch Albom | Jan 29, 1993 | Detroit Free Press
LOS ANGELES — The hair! The hair! They are buzzing about his hair, his follicles, his “do”, his mop, big brown crown. Does it move? Does it muss in a hurricane? Could he use it as a helmet? Could he melt it with anti-freeze? Does he comb it, or slide underneath it? Can he run his fingers through it, or does he need power tools? The hair! The hair! Jimmy Johnson hears all this talk about his hair, why he wears it in that Glen Campbell, early-1970’s, part and dip and swirl back, half-country, half-lounge lizard, spray-until it turns-to- cement style. Such hair!
by Mitch Albom | Jan 28, 1993 | Detroit Free Press
With or without his helmet. I don’t care if he forgets his pants, his shirt and his socks this time. Just give me those legs, those hands, wind him up and let him go. I will have the advantage in this Super Bowl by a very simple rule:Arithmetic.Two is more than...
by Mitch Albom | Jan 27, 1993 | Detroit Free Press
LOS ANGELES — The gates opened and the beasts came running. Cameras bounced on shoulders, boom microphones swung like lances, reporters dashed with notepads flying. It was Opening Day of Media Assault at the Super Bowl, a scene that every year, I am convinced,...
by Mitch Albom | Jan 24, 1993 | Detroit Free Press
I don’t know what kind of attorney general Zoe Baird would have made. I do know this: The reason we will never find out, the reason she has been bounced out of Washington like a teenager trying to sneak into a bar, is pretty simple. She was rich. And she was cheap.
Oh, people will tell you it’s because she broke the law. They’ll say a candidate for attorney general should know better than to hire illegal aliens to care for her child.
by Mitch Albom | Jan 22, 1993 | Detroit Free Press
MINNEAPOLIS — The elbow flew, it made contact, and suddenly, Chris Webber was Rocky, taking the whack and hitting the deck, as the crowd noise swirled like a jet engine on dope. He was halfway to la-la land, head on the floor, eyes wet with ooze. You could almost hear Burgess Meredith yelling,
“Stay down! Stay down!” Jalen Rose leaned over him. Steve Fisher leaned over him. The trainer, Dave Ralston, leaned over him.
What do doctors tell you when your nose is broken? 1) Take it easy. 2) Avoid stress. 3) Avoid contact. Above all, avoid contact.
by Mitch Albom | Jan 22, 1993 | Detroit Free Press
Jimmy Carson grabbed the water bottle, took a swig, and spat. He had just punched in the tying goal on a power play. Minutes earlier, he’d made an assist on the Wings’ first goal against St. Louis since November, a pretty pass to Ray Sheppard that turned...
by Mitch Albom | Jan 21, 1993 | Detroit Free Press
MINNEAPOLIS — The elbow flew, it made contact, and suddenly, Chris Webber was Rocky, taking the whack and hitting the deck, as the crowd noise swirled like a jet engine on dope. He was halfway to la-la land, head on the floor, eyes wet with ooze. You could almost hear Burgess Meredith yelling “Stay down! Stay down!” Jalen Rose leaned over him. Steve Fisher leaned over him. The trainer, Dave Ralston, leaned over him.
What do doctors tell you when your nose is broken? 1) Take it easy. 2) Avoid stress. 3) Avoid contact. Above all, avoid contact.
To which Chris Webber says:
by Mitch Albom | Jan 18, 1993 | Detroit Free Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Joe Montana, maybe the greatest quarterback ever, stood on the sideline, clean as a marine during inspection. All around, players were drenched in mud, swallowing it, spitting it, their numbers smeared and camouflaged by it. Montana, still neatly pressed, crossed his arms and shuffled his feet, his famous No. 16 as bright as a lighthouse beacon. This was his time of day, late afternoon. This was his time of game, fourth quarter. But this was not his time. Not his. Not the 49ers’. Not anymore.
