by Mitch Albom | Sep 3, 1985 | Detroit Free Press
NEW YORK — There’s a broken heart for every light on Broadway, and this morning there are a few million more.
Bye-bye, Boris Becker.
See ya next year, when you’re old enough to drink.
Yes, meine kinder, it’s sad but true — Boom Boom went bust bust, as Boom Booms will do.
It happened here at the U.S. Open, just one round before the West German’s much-anticipated showdown with John McEnroe — the No. 1 player in the world
— which CBS had planned to televise Wednesday night in glorious prime time.
by Mitch Albom | Sep 3, 1985 | Detroit Free Press
NEW YORK — Father Time has come to the net, and you half expect Jimmy Connors to flip him an obscene gesture before smashing the ball back at his face.The nerve of it all. James Scott Connors, the original angry young man of tennis . . . old? Why, the spirit...
by Mitch Albom | Sep 2, 1985 | Detroit Free Press
FLUSHING MEADOW, N.Y. — They are stripped naked for 10 minutes a day. All of them. Martina and Chris, McEnroe and Lendl and Connors, even golden boy Boris Becker, exposed for all to see every time they make the walk from the locker room to the stadium.
Yes, the big shots must wade through the crowd here — past the hamburger stands and bathroom lines — just like the regular folk, without priority, without special privilege. Sure, they walk a little faster and try to look disinterested.
by Mitch Albom | Sep 1, 1985 | Detroit Free Press
Wow.I am impressed.Two weeks ago, on this very page, I offered readers a chance to “Write Your Own Column” on what’s wrong with the Tigers. All you had to do was fill in the blanks of a make-believe column, draw a picture of yourself on top, and lick...
by Mitch Albom | Aug 30, 1985 | Detroit Free Press
PHILADELPHIA — Darryl Rogers woke up with his face in a textbook. His eyes were bloodshot. Empty coffee cups crowded his desk. The dorm room was half-buried in playbooks, film, and stacks of paper filled with little X’s and O’s.
He glanced over at the alarm clock. Friday, 7:30 a.m. Oh, Lord.
The pre-season study period was over.
The final exam was just minutes away.
He pulled on an NFL sweatshirt, and fixed the freshman beanie on his head.
“Gosh, I hope I crammed enough,” he thought. “This summer semester went by so darn fast.”
by Mitch Albom | Aug 26, 1985 | Detroit Free Press
Toothbrush. Gym bag. Shoes.Playbook.The New Guy has arrived.He looks around at the naked walls of his training camp room.He sits down on the mattress. But he can’t seem to get comfortable. Not with the mattress, and not with the idea that he’s been...
by Mitch Albom | Aug 25, 1985 | Detroit Free Press
Already some people are licking their chops at the thought of Petr Klima coming to Detroit. Klima is a hell of a hockey player — maybe the best in Europe. Fast. Strong. Gifted.
He is also 20 years old, alone, and in the middle of defecting from his country, Czechoslovakia.
Early last week, he disappeared from a hotel in West Germany, where his Czech team was training. The whispers began. He’s doing it.
by Mitch Albom | Aug 23, 1985 | Detroit Free Press
The first time I faced the life-changing issue of “How to Play Sports Against a Woman” was on a football field at age 10. It was a pickup game, and the other team was short one player, and this freckle-faced girl named Chrissy was the only soul around...
by Mitch Albom | Aug 21, 1985 | Detroit Free Press
Alan Trammell swallows a mouthful of water from the fountain, wipes his chin, then plops down on the dugout bench.
“Listen, I don’t want to talk about me, OK? I’ll talk about the team, how
we’re doing. Anything. But nothing about me.”
He pauses.
“I just don’t want any features on me. I don’t. I’ll talk about other things, but not about me.”
Another pause.
“OK?” he says, looking over. “All right? Nothing about me, OK?”
Slumps are death.
by Mitch Albom | Aug 19, 1985 | Detroit Free Press
I hate to get serious on a Monday morning, but I think some people have got this “Lions Lose Anthony Carter” drama a little mucked up.
If you listened to all the theories floating around out there, you’d believe that:
A) Lions GM Russ Thomas was shanghaied by Don Shula, who backed out on a deal, or . . .
B) The Lions were too cheap, too incompetent, too dunderheaded to make a deal, or . . .
