Detroit Free Press

WHERE DO THEY GO TO GET THEIR NAMES BACK?

WHERE DO THEY GO TO GET THEIR NAMES BACK?

The Duke players made their statements and the cameras cut away. Too bad. That's when the real story started.I'd like the cameras to keep rolling. I'd like them to follow Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans after the crowds disappear, in the months and years ahead.I'd like to follow them when they apply for a job, and the company interviewing them has a staff meeting and someone in that staff meeting says, "Maybe we should stay away from this guy. After all, that whole rape thing …"
NO HERO IN NET – LET’S KEEP IT THAT WAY

NO HERO IN NET – LET’S KEEP IT THAT WAY

Are you in? That's supposedly the Red Wings' playoff slogan this year, but midway through the third period Thursday night, it already had become a desperate fan's question. Are you in? That puck flying across the crease? Are you in? That shot that hit the post? Are you in? That Johan Franzen second chance? Are you in? That Pavel Datsyuk solo rush?
DEPTH PERCEPTION

DEPTH PERCEPTION

He has come a long way in 20 years, when he was skating for a British hockey team while teaching at a local college."Did you ever come to class with a black eye?" I ask Mike Babcock."Probably," he says.You can't get much more anonymous than the Whitley Warriors, near Newcastle upon Tyne, where Babcock, between classes, played hockey in "a barn that sat 5,000 people" and had a mesh screen instead of glass, so the puck bounced off it.
LESSONS FROM NIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE

LESSONS FROM NIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE

Attendance was mandatory. You had to be on time. Appearance mattered. No outside items were permitted. And no one left until all were dismissed. I am not talking about school, church or the military.I am talking about family dinners.If I had to point to one thing as the glue of my childhood, it would be those meals. They were fixed and firm. We waited for everyone. We never had the TV or radio playing. And we stayed at that table - eating, talking, laughing, yelling - sometimes for hours.
A BASEBALL STORY: TWO WIDOWS AND THE HOME OPENER

A BASEBALL STORY: TWO WIDOWS AND THE HOME OPENER

They met in a soda shop over a milkshake - he ordered it, she served it - and six weeks later, he asked her to marry him. This was 1947 and she was still in high school. So they waited until she graduated. During that time there were dates and laughs and flowers - flowers, because his work was landscaping - and there was baseball, too, always baseball.
I PICK THE PATS – NOW AND FOREVER

I PICK THE PATS – NOW AND FOREVER

I'm taking New England. What about you? Hurry. Pick now. It's almost too late. What's the rush, you ask? There's still 12 days until the Super Bowl. Please! That's the rush. The 12 days are a trap, pure poison to any thinking fan. Already I can feel the Super Hype oozing out of radio speakers. Already, I can see the television talking heads turning "pro" into "con" and "con" into "pro."Already, I can see newspaper ink thickening in evenhandedness: "Why The Eagles Will Win" and "Why The Patriots Will Win."
A FEW WISE WORDS FOR THE NEW GUY

A FEW WISE WORDS FOR THE NEW GUY

Good Morning, Mr. Marinelli:If you are who we say you are - namely, the Lions' new head coach - then welcome to Detroit. To be honest, most of us never heard of you. But we already know a lot about you.For example, we know you are taking this job, which makes you A) an optimist, B) desperate, C) the wrong man for the position or D) the exception to the rule.Let's hope it's D. We know you're 56 years old, which will be used against you ("If he's so good, how come nobody hired him before?") unless you win.

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.

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