Contrary to popular belief, there is one thing Barry Sanders did not do that he was supposed to do this year. He did not appear on "Late Show with David Letterman." Scheduling problem. A shame, really. The Letterman people see this supersonic little running back, great moves, beloved by kids, they figure "Terrific. Dave will have a blast. Book him."What they don't know is Barry's verbal repertoire, with people he doesn't know, usually consists of these three sentences:1. "Hmm."2. "Is that right?"3. "You think so?"
* LIONS 23, BEARS 17: Too bad Jim Harbaugh isn't putting his $70,000 on the line this week. The Lions could use it to buy an offensive lineman.* SAN FRANCISCO 24, TAMPA BAY 10: The 49ers would like to win and stay in San Fran throughout the playoffs. The Bucs would like to stay in San Fran throughout the playoffs, too. On vacation.
Maybe you are lucky enough not to live in the low end of the city, and so the idea of being some place where drugs are used, or sold, or both, still seems shocking. It isn't. It happens all the time in Detroit. So it is really no jolt that Jalen Rose, a city kid, a Detroit kid, was in a house where drugs were found last October. This does not make him an addict. Or a user. Or a dealer. He is none of those things. He is a city kid who has friends, old friends, from way before he wore that maize and blue uniform, and some of those friends are involved with drugs.
There's a line from the movie "Stand By Me," a line written by Stephen King, which says "I never had any friends like the ones I had when I was 12 years old." I have thought about that line a lot recently. It seems more true than ever.Like most of you, I've made many friends as an adult. They are, in my eyes, wonderful people. Great senses of humor. Admirable. Compassionate.
Willie Green grabbed the water bucket and snuck up behind Wayne Fontes. Photographers raced over. Fontes must have known. He stood there anyhow, looking innocently away as the clock ticked down. Whoosh! Green doused his boss. Fontes yelped.Wouldn't you know it?Even when he wins, they dump on him."I can't tell you how great I feel," a raspy-voiced Fontes said after the Lions captured the Central Division, beating Green Bay, 30-20, in the last game of the regular season. "It shows what you can do when players believe."
CHICAGO -- The temptation is to say "Gimme mine." Others do. Businessmen. Politicians. Oh, they put up a good front about "what's best for everyone." But in the end it's their own skin they worry about.And then there's Steve Yzerman. He has been skating near the top of his profession for years and has watched his peer group of superstars get their dance with the Stanley Cup -- Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Mario Lemieux. So when will it be his turn? When does that big wheel stop on No. 19?
Olden Polynice was 7 years old when he came to America. He got off the plane at Kennedy Airport, holding his younger sister in one hand and his younger brother in the other. He was supposed to wait at the gate, but instead, in a new country, in a strange place, he decided to start walking.
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.
