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?
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.
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.
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'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."
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.
I would like to write a glowing column about Chris Webber, one that celebrates him home. But it's not that easy.I would like to cheer his return, talk about winning a title with his hometown team in the autumn of his career. But it's not that simple.I would like to share only positive things about Chris Webber as I have been privileged to know many of them, his family, his intelligence, his grace. I once liked this kid as much as I've ever liked any young athlete in Detroit. But that wouldn't be the whole story.
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.
