He had a head full of shaving cream and a smile that could light up a stadium - if he hadn't already done it an hour earlier. Jair Jurrjens may look, on paper, like the name of a Dutch hand lotion, but this kid with a string of shells around his neck just threw his first major-league victory, gave up one hit in nearly seven innings, and, for one night, anyhow, had Tigers fans laughing and saying: "Pitching problem? What pitching problem?""Who covered you in shaving cream?" Jurrjens was asked."Todd Jones," he said, grinning."What does it mean?"
DAY 14: The Green Flash.BEIJING - Oh, mon, it was a party! Bang the steel drums! Yams for one and all! Anybody in a green "Jamaica" shirt was being swarmed for interviews. We didn't even know who they were. "We're proud to be Jamaicans!" a middle-aged woman declared. "We are the sprint factory of the world!""Is that his mother?" a reporter whispered."He can go faster! You won't see nobody like him for another 50 years!" insisted a middle-aged man."Is that his coach?" a reporter whispered.
In sports, it's good to be original. The first to dunk. The first to throw a knuckleball. The only time you don't want to be original is when it comes to bad behavior.Michael Vick is finding this out. Using drugs? Sexual assault? DUI? Waving a gun? As pathetic as it seems, those offenses no longer shock in the privileged world of professional sports.
Like a lot of people, I admire Brian Wilson, the soul of the Beach Boys. Over the years, I've had chances to speak with him. When he releases a new CD or comes through town, we'll do an interview. We did one just recently, for radio. Now, I know Wilson's music backward. I have memorized the lush harmonies of "In My Room," the ahead-of-its-time variations of "Good Vibrations," the seemingly million things that are going on in the background of "Wouldn't It Be Nice." Armed with such loving research, I figured I could draw something new and special out of Wilson. I was wrong.
As soon as the Tigers wake up this morning, they should go to their calendars and rip out the current page that reads "August."It's September now.Oh, maybe not by the moon and the stars, but by the little white ball that measures the season. "September" is really a frame of mind in baseball. It means crunch time, the shedding of the fat, every game and inning with consequence for the playoffs.
DAY 13: Old gold. New gold. And a little white ball.BEIJING - Let me throw some names at you. Carl Lewis. Bob Beamon. Bob Hayes. Evelyn Ashford. Bob Seagren. Cassius Clay. Sugar Ray Leonard. Greg Louganis. These are athletes who became famous by winning Olympic gold in sports in which the U.S. once excelled - the 100 meters, long jump, pole vault, boxing, diving. There was a time where you could check off American medals in certain events before we even marched in the Opening Ceremonies.
DAY 12: Major duds and a major dud.BEIJING - In a moment, we will get to the injury and abrupt quit of the biggest sports star in China, an event that, on Monday morning, brought this nation of 1.3 billion people to tears. But first, the big news: The suits are back, and they fit great!So do the shirts, which I bought five more of, along with three more suits, two more sport coats, all handmade, and I think I got change from my dollar.
NEW YORK - Two nights earlier, he was sleeping at a hotel in Altoona, Pa., sharing a room with a minor league teammate.Friday night, he had his own key at the Hilton in New York City.And here he was now, Saturday afternoon, at the plate in Yankee Stadium, facing Roger Clemens, a future Hall of Fame pitcher who had already won 40 major league games before the kid was even born.
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.
