As I watched Daunte Culpepper get sacked, miss receivers, bump into teammates and hear boos from fans, I was hit with the following thought: Nobody needs the NFL this badly.Culpepper, who came out of retirement for Sunday's game, began the first quarter with an incompletion and an interception. He ended the second quarter by banging into his running back. He got three snaps in the third quarter. And he sat for the fourth.
MINNEAPOLIS - Don't blow a fuse. Don't raise your blood pressure. It's not worth it. This team is not worth it. The season is perfunctory. It's a different organ grinder, but the same old monkey.
Being a sportswriter may not get you much - besides a decent seat and mustard on your tie - but it does prepare you for race relations.Maybe that's why, from the start of the presidential campaign, I've been less concerned with Barack Obama than some of my countrymen. There were many white voters who were hesitant about a black president. Some were painfully blunt. They spoke, insultingly, about watermelon patches on the White House lawn and rappers like Ludacris as official guests.
A friend said I must buy this "new" CD."It's great!" he gushed. "Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane live at Carnegie Hall."They're both dead, I said. "But this is their best stuff ever!"I have given that sentence some thought. Perhaps we've been worrying over nothing. Being dead is not the career killer we thought it was.In fact, it may do wonders.
Now we'll see what it means to be a "great American."For nearly eight years, anyone who dared to criticize President George W. Bush risked being called unpatriotic. The people doing this name calling are mourning John McCain's loss today.We'll soon see if it's about country or party. Remember, if you need to support the president to be a "great American," critics must get behind Barack Obama or risk total hypocrisy.
America gets a new president. The Lions get a new quarterback. Quick. Which of these events happens every other week?Right you are! The Lions' new quarterback is 31-year-old Daunte Culpepper, who, simply by signing a contract just became the most famous player on the team. That's sad enough. He also became the biggest attraction on the team, the most recognizable name on the team and, to hear some people tell it, the best player on the team. He also may start Sunday's game. Heck. By Monday, he could own Ford Field.
With a week to go before a critical midterm election, the president, his supporters and most of the media acted as if the most important issue in America wasn't a costly war, failed international policies, failed domestic policies or the battle between religion and science. Instead, what apparently mattered most was a bad joke.If you don't do well in school ... "you get stuck in Iraq." That was the punch line of an ill-advised, badly delivered attempt at humor by Sen. John Kerry, who has never been strong in that department.
Say this about Joe Dumars' Pistons: They're more interesting when they're not playing than the Lions are when they are.Dumars, criticized by some for standing pat over the summer, just shot a cannon through the Detroit roster, and nothing is standing pat anymore. Out goes Chauncey Billups and crowd favorite Antonio McDyess. In comes Allen Iverson.Yes, THE Allen Iverson. But before anyone hyperventilates, let's take a breath and look at it two ways: the basketball way and the business way.
Mitch Albom writes about running an orphanage in impoverished Port-au-Prince, Haiti, his kids, their hardships, laughs and challenges, and the life lessons he’s learned there every day.
