This was the moment that said it all: Tayshaun Prince, holding the ball, alone on the wing with Manu Ginobili, the early god of these NBA Finals. And Ginobili stuck a big, old Argentinean hand in front of Tayshaun's eyes. Block his vision? That schoolyard trick? Tayshaun shook his head, then shook his shoulders, then shook his torso and his feet - Elvis getting ready to rock - and then he shook off Ginobili as surely as a Labrador shakes off a bath. Whoosh. He blew right past him for a two-handed slam.
NEWS ITEM: American Airlines now will charge $15 to check your first bag. Last week other airlines announced they would do the same.My sweet, old grandfather came down from heaven recently, just in time to join me at the airport. He'd been gone for years, so a plane trip had him excited."Why aren't you wearing a suit and tie?" he asked. "This is an airplane, not a bus."Planes aren't a big deal anymore, Gramps."Pooh. You fly in the sky, it's a big deal."We pulled up to the curb."What, no one to take our luggage?"
Behind every good man, there's a woman counting his rebounds. And Chanda Wallace didn't like the numbers. She doesn't, as a rule, give a lot of basketball advice (I guess if your husband, Ben, is the NBA's defensive player of the year, how much is needed?), but she knows her man. She knows the signs. And as any wife will tell you, one of those signs "is when he doesn't get 10 rebounds. That's when I get concerned."So Chanda sat Ben down after the first game of these NBA Finals against the Spurs, in which the Pistons were beaten soundly.
So I'm down at the make-believe doctor's office, sitting in the waiting area, and Richard Hamilton happens to be in the examining room. And the door is slightly ajar."Doc, you gotta help me.""What's the problem, Rip?""It's kind of embarrassing. I need something removed.""What is it? A polyp? A mole?""This.""Oh, my. That's an entire person.""I know. They call it Bruce Bowen. It won't come off.""Have you tried the normal methods?"
In basketball, somewhere between heaven and hell lies heart. The Pistons wore their hearts on their bare, muscled arms Tuesday night, and, as a result, they are a bit farther from the warm spot this morning. They began like a cornered animal, they ended like a runaway lion. Call it ferocity, call it focus. Or call it fate. Because when Stevie Wonder does the national anthem, does Detroit have any choice but to win?They just called to say it's not over.
CORONA DEL MAR, Calif. - You often hear pro athletes - especially pro hockey players - talk about "riding the bike." They mean the stationary bike exercise machine, and they ride it to train, to recuperate, to push their lungs and muscles. Some hockey stars all but live on those things.
CNN was born 25 years ago this month. It was a simple yet awesome invention, the brainchild of Ted Turner, who saw a world of satellites and cable and got the idea for a 24-hour news channel. Turner is a man who often asks "Why not?" rather than "Why?"Therein lies our difference.
SAN ANTONIO - I wannu be Manu.I wannu have his flopping, sweaty hair. I wannu have his mile-wide smile. I wannu enter a news conference after taking over an NBA Finals game and begin by answering a question in Spanish. I wannu be bilingual. I wannu be international. I wannu be large in two Americas, North and South.I wannu be Manu.
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.
