by Mitch Albom | Nov 15, 1987 | Detroit Free Press
EAST LANSING — In the end, nothing could hold them back, not history, not the critics, certainly not the Indiana defenders. There was an end zone to reach and California somewhere beyond it, and so the Spartans players charged, dove, banged, twisted, scored, scored, and scored again, until there was nothing left, no way they could lose, and with the clock down to its final seconds the crowd stormed the field in one glorious wave of celebration:
Go Green.
Go White.
Go West.
Michigan State is in the Rose Bowl.
by Mitch Albom | Nov 8, 1987 | Detroit Free Press
I can see it now. This Eric Dickerson thing. It has the makings of a national movement.It was only last week that Dickerson — the star running back who was unhappy with his contract with the LA Rams — said, very loudly, that he wanted out. And he got out....
by Mitch Albom | Nov 1, 1987 | Detroit Free Press
It’s a good thing the strike is over so we can get back to the really important things in football, like finding lost sisters.
Yes. That is what I said. Lost sisters. In a week full of the strange and weird, this incident may have been the strangest and weirdest of all:
Reggie Rogers, the Lions’ No. 1 draft pick, gave his sister, Jackie, the keys to the Bronco last Saturday. And she did not come back: not on Saturday, or Sunday, or Monday, or Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Rogers skipped practice to search for her.
by Mitch Albom | Nov 1, 1987 | Detroit Free Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Bobby McAllister took the final snap, dropped to one knee, and when the gun sounded, he rose with a smile. You couldn’t have painted a more fitting scene: Off your knees, Michigan State.
This morning, you are on top.
“What were you thinking as the game came to a finish?” someone asked McAllister, after the Spartans upset Ohio State, 13-7, Saturday to take sole possession of first place in the Big Ten.
by Mitch Albom | Oct 26, 1987 | Detroit Free Press
MINNEAPOLIS — They were pouring champagne on each other’s heads, screaming, laughing, celebrating in the usual way for world champions — when suddenly, in the midst of this clubhouse euphoria somebody screamed: “OUT TO THE FIELD!” And out they charged, en masse, all these alcohol-soaked Minnesota Twins, the most unlikely World Series winners in some time, pushing through the tunnel and slapping hands and camera lights and finally, finally, emerging back to where it all happened, back to the Metrodome field where they had captured Game 7, a title, and the hearts of every Minnesotan an
by Mitch Albom | Oct 25, 1987 | Detroit Free Press
MINNEAPOLIS — He was lumbering around the base paths, his arms raised in triumph, taking the bags the way a Mack truck might take speed bumps. What could possibly interrupt Kent Hrbek now? Three Twins were waiting for him at home plate, the three he had just...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 25, 1987 | Detroit Free Press
Well, hallelujah! Real football is back. I know because my boss called, and as soon as the phone rang, and I shook the sand off it, I heard him say, in his patient, caring way, and not every boss is this understanding:”BAAAACK TO WORRRRK!”So here I am. And...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 24, 1987 | Detroit Free Press
MINNEAPOLIS — And the winner is: Gary Gaetti. No matter what happens. Three weeks ago he was a name heard only in Minnesota and a few select baseball circles. And now you’ve got Whitey Herzog wishing he had him and Sparky Anderson wishing he had him and a nation’s worth of media fantasizing how great it would be if Gaetti graced their clubhouses during the regular season — and not just during this wacky World Series.
by Mitch Albom | Oct 24, 1987 | Detroit Free Press
ST. LOUIS — It is not my place, as a mild-mannered sports writer for a large metropolitan newspaper, to tell two successful World Series managers how to act. But I will do it anyhow. And here is why. Every time I see writers walk away from Tom Kelly of the...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 23, 1987 | Detroit Free Press
ST. LOUIS — It is not my place to tell two successful World Series managers how to act. But I will do it anyhow. Every time I see writers walk away from Tom Kelly of the Minnesota Twins or Whitey Herzog of the St. Louis Cardinals, they look as if someone just stuffed a liverwurst sandwich under their nose.
