Many people wonder how the Prom began.History shows that the Prom was invented when a caveman named Tux and a cavewoman named Limo met one night, gave each other the googly eye, and then clubbed each other over the head. When they awoke, they couldn't remember a thing, which is still how it works at proms today.Thus the tradition was born.
BOSTON - Well, if that was rust scraping off the Pistons on Tuesday night, it was the Celtics who were scraping it. Don't just blame the six-day layoff. Too many times in Game 1 of these Eastern Conference finals, the Pistons moved to the hoop and suddenly were without the ball - because a Boston player swiped it, poked it, swatted it or just plain took it. Steals? It was like watching a police video on purse snatchings.
DALLAS - It was steaming hot outside American Airlines Arena, temperatures in the 90's, bad ice weather, a bad omen for a northern team, and the Red Wings didn't need any more bad omens. But unworthy teams stumble and fall, while worthy champions stumble but come back harder. And so the Wings, after two losses in trying to close this series, came down to Texas, stood tall against the fire, then threw themselves into it Monday night.
Trust? Why should they trust? Why should Chrysler workers believe anything they hear from their company's new would-be owners, Cerberus Capital Management, a firm named for a mythical, three-headed hound of hell? Do you trust a new king who was born in another country? Do you trust a new landlord who has a history of evicting people? Who trusts anything when it comes to big business today? If you know someone, tell me. I don't. Not anymore.
CLEVELAND - Alive. That's all that matters, right? Breathing hard. Showing scars. But alive. Alive as in this choking playoff series, which is tied at 3-3. Alive as in the basketball itself, which, in the final two minutes of Friday night's gut-wrenching game, was fought for and fought for by a group of guys who simply were not ready to go home for the summer.Rasheed Wallace misses a shot? Ben Wallace soars to keep it alive. Rasheed misses another shot? Tayshaun Prince soars to keep it alive.
It might be strange, when picking your poison, to have a preference. But if you're a Pistons fan, you might regret Sunday's departure of LeBron James and the Cavs. They may have been the defending Eastern Conference champs, but they sure looked more beatable than Boston.Yes, I've heard the reasons the Celtics might be a better foe for Detroit. They've yet to win a playoff game on the road. They needed seven games to finish each of their two series. They're still gaining playoff experience - while Cleveland has been there.
So I'm walking past the Palace loading dock Tuesday night, after the Pistons waxed the Pacers in Game 5 of their series, and there, standing by the bus, were Rasheed Wallace and Jermaine O'Neal, and they were talking and laughing and at one point they must have shared a joke so funny that Rasheed doubled over and shook his head in hysterics.Now, as you know, these two do not play for the same team. An hour earlier, they had been battling on the court. They often guard each other in the blood feud known as Detroit-Indiana. They are "opponents" in every sports sense of the word.
So what CAN you call someone today? When Barack Obama used the word "sweetie" in addressing a Detroit TV reporter last week, it made national headlines. He was scolded by the media. Fingers wagged. Tongues clucked. "Uh-uh-uh," the conscience-makers said, "you're stepping over the line."And maybe he was.But where is the line? I've been thinking ever since this happened about the things we call each other when we call each other, and it seems they are all bad at one point or another.
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.
