CHICAGO - Ben Wallace stood at the loneliest place in his world, the free-throw line. He dribbled. He shot. Swish. He dribbled. He shot. Swish again. The place exploded. Ben nodded. The fans had their cheer. The Bulls had their win, 102-87. And the Pistons had another game to play.They are on borrowed time now, these Pistons; they are borrowing it from themselves. Every quarter they extend this series is a quarter they should be saving for the next one. Every minute they play these Bulls is a minute they should be resting up for someone else.
It was another night in another town, but here in the final seconds was Tayshaun Prince out top again against Hedo Turkoglu, with the game hanging in the balance. Turkoglu this time drove right, and he rose to jam the ball and draw the foul to tie. Prince was having none of that. Enough with the Magic. Enough with Hedo. It had been hard. It had been ugly. It was time for it to be over.
It wasn't so long ago that a teenage girl who wished she were prettier would parade in front of a mirror in her older sister's clothes. And in time, she'd be called downstairs for supper.It wasn't so long ago that a teenage boy, wishing he were tougher, would do push-ups on his bedroom floor or mimic a movie poster on his wall. And in time, he'd be called downstairs for supper.You'll notice a similarity in those fantasies: They began and ended inside the teenager's imagination.Those days are gone.
FIRST OF TWO PARTSOn Friday, Joey Harrington woke up a Detroit Lion and went to bed a Miami Dolphin. After four tumultuous years, his first NFL home was behind him.Now we were on the phone. It was late. Harrington was in Idaho for his brother Michael's graduation. The reality of the trade, which he had wanted and waited for, was finally sinking in.
I sometimes have this vision of Tayshaun Prince as a long, lean robot, a super cyborg sent from the future. He is already cut at sharp angles, neck to shoulder, shoulder to elbow, as if metal were welded just beneath the flesh. He rarely shows emotion. He doesn't sweat easily. And if you could crawl behind his eyes during crucial moments, I swear you'd see those flashing screens that give you digital info about everything in front of you.Listen to Tayshaun explain the shot he hooked in to win Game 4 in Orlando.
The year he was born, a guy named Johnny Carson started working on "The Tonight Show," John Glenn went around the Earth in a spacecraft, and the United States discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba.Chris Chelios is still skating.The year he started grade school, a doctor named Christiaan Barnard performed the world's first heart transplant and an actor named Dustin Hoffman mumbled, "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me."Chris Chelios is still skating.
I sometimes have this vision of Tayshaun Prince as a long, lean robot, a super cyborg sent from the future. He is already cut at sharp angles, neck to shoulder, shoulder to elbow, as if metal were welded just beneath the flesh. He rarely shows emotion. He doesn't sweat easily. And if you could crawl behind his eyes during crucial moments, I swear you'd see those flashing screens that give you digital info about everything in front of you.Listen to Tayshaun explain the shot he hooked in to win Game 4 in Orlando.
It was my uncle, your grandfather, his best friend. It was your dad or his neighbor or his brother-in-law. They were soldiers in World War II, and when they finished serving their country, they came home to a grateful embrace - not just words, but action.There was something called the GI Bill, passed in 1944, and it quite literally changed the face of America. It paid for returning soldiers to study at trade schools, colleges, universities - even medical and law schools. Paid in full.
Look, if you don't want to play, you don't have to. But don't start hacking Ben Wallace. In the second quarter? If that's the best the Cleveland Cavaliers can come up with, maybe they should rethink this whole second-round thing.True, they were already trailing by 20. And yes, they were clearly out of ideas. They had already used the 24-second violation, the five-second violation and the three-second violation. There's not much left. Maybe pass interference.
The nice thing about a Pistons-Pacers game is you go in with such low entertainment expectations a fast break seems like Paul McCartney doing "Yesterday." You want to scream.Well, let 'er rip. When Ben Wallace is playing like a mad scoring machine, when the Pistons have 52 points at halftime, when you can actually hear their thundering feet moving downcourt with (gulp) speed -- then holler away.Because you know the night will at least be fun -- and most likely victorious.
Niklas Kronwall came plowing into his Dallas opponent like a football linebacker running to make a bus. Shoulder in. Opponent goes up. Opponent crashes. Kronwall skates away. What rust?
Like it or not, the Pistons are playing the Pacers again, starting tonight at the Palace. So listen up, because these are the rules:1. If you can drink it, you can't throw it.2. Popcorn goes in your mouth.3. It's a buzzer, not a boxing bell.4. Chill.5. If a player lies on the scorer's table, give him a break: Maybe he's tired.6. Ron Artest is not playing. There's no reason to scream at him.7. It's a ticket, not a hunting license.8. It's a hot dog, not a missile.9. Be nice with your ice.10. Be like Yoda with your soda.
