MARK MESSNER, NEVER AT A LOSS
It was the winter of 1984, and Mark Messner was seeing things he had never seen before: girls in string bikinis, men lifting weights on the beach, 80-degree weather in the middle of February. California. He was being recruited to play football. Wow. A small-town kid...
LIONS PUNTER HOPES FOR HAPPY RETURNS
Comedy is not pretty. But it does not usually wear a helmet.It does now. Lions punter Jim Arnold, who sings like Sammy Davis Jr., laughs like Pee Wee Herman, and leaves a message on his answering machine in the voice of Robin Leach (“The men of the house are NOT...
Landry’S Ok; Walsh’S Ok — But Ditka And Rogers?
A lot of people were shocked last week when Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka suffered a heart attack. But I was not. After all, one look at the volatile coach, ranting and raving on the sidelines, and you knew that he was an accident waiting to happen.
The truth is, in football, it is possible to tell the stress levels of coaches simply by watching them on Sunday afternoons.
Show Aside, Pistons Prove They’Re Back, Ready To Play
Chuck Daly stood at center court, the applause wild, the spotlight caressing him. He held the microphone. He grinned. For a minute I thought he would break into a snappy rendition of “Mack The Knife.”
Ah-one, ah-two, ah-three . . .
Show biz.
THIS YEAR BELONGS TO PISTONS; CASE CLOSED
I sit in my robe at halfcourt. I bang my gavel on the hardwood floor. I hereby call this NBA season to order.”Go ahead,” I say, “state your case.” “Your honor, we are the Atlanta Hawks,” says the man with the mustache and the...
A BRUTAL FALL PUSHES SPORTS TRIVIA ASIDE
This is not a column I expected to write. But then, I didn’t expect the package that arrived two days ago, either.Some of you may remember a column from August, in which I enrolled in The Vic Braden Tennis College in Utah to learn the game that had always...
Rogers Finally Ran Out Of Green Lights Innocence Ended With The Lives Of Three Teenagers
When they first told him three people were dead, that it was a crime, that when he was finally released from the Pontiac hospital where he now lay, immobile, his head in a brace, his thumb sewn to his hand, he would be charged with manslaughter, this is what Reggie Rogers said: “Why?
GREASE, SUGAR: A WINNING RECIPE
As an expert on the finer points of professional football, I am often asked, “What food do you recommend for watching the ball game?” This is a delicate question and one which I will now address.Urp.That is Rule No. 1. If it doesn’t make you burp,...
EIGHT IS ENOUGH TO LEARN NOTHING IN NFL
Believe it or not, sports fans, we have reached the midpoint of the 1988 NFL season. Isn’t that exciting! Do you know what that means?Good.Please tell me.Actually, it means nothing at all. Except we now realize how pathetically wrong we’ve been about...Stay Connected
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