OK. You're at a cocktail party. You're standing on the table. You're waving your arms, howling like a moose, you've got the whole room listening to you. . . . And you blank out. You were about to tell them why the Pistons will win their third straight NBA championship, starting with Game 1 of the playoffs tonight at the Palace. You were about to tell them why the other NBA teams are not that good, why the Pistons have nothing to fear, now that Earl Strom has retired.
Twenty . . . The clock matched Chris Webber's age when he pulled down the rebound. But as the seconds ticked away, he seemed to grow younger with them. Nineteen . . . His first thoughts were of victory, how his whole life had been geared to this moment. We will win, he told himself, cradling the ball against his chest. We will make a basket and we will win!Eighteen . . .
TAMPA, Fla. -- When the coffee turned cold and the fruit plates were empty, the announcement came that the morning interviews were over. All around the huge ballroom, the Buffalo Bills headed for the exits. James Lofton stayed where he was, sitting at a table, surrounded by reporters. He answered more questions -- about his age, about his years in Green Bay. Soon the room was half-empty, and the kitchen staff was collecting plates and clanging silverware. Lofton stayed, answering more questions -- about being cut by the
Gatorade is out. Worms are in.It's true. As you read this, athletes are pouring milk on their worms.Or spreading worms on toast. Bagels and worms? With tomato?Whatever. It's just a matter of time before we're all into the slimy little buggers, after the news this week in sports:Worms make you run faster.
Now the hard question: Who's responsible?Some former players have finally admitted what has been whispered in sports circles for some time: Michigan State football players, at least in the 1987 season, maybe longer, routinely used steroids to bulk up.
LONDON -- Now that America has caught soccer fever -- or, as medical experts call it, baseball boredom -- I thought I'd examine how the World Cup is doing here in England.England is a perfect country to study for two reasons: 1) I happen to be here; 2) The English, who love soccer almost as much as they love tea, ARE NOT IN THE WORLD CUP.And America is.
TAMPA, Fla. -- Week after week, Wayne Fontes keeps asking why the media can't say something nice about his football team. OK. Here's something nice. Nice collapse, fellas.It's hard to imagine a better nosedive. Losing to Tampa Bay, a team that not only hadn't won a game, but hadn't seen a second-half lead all season? And you lose by 17 points? And you throw the ball just about everywhere but to your receivers?I am impressed.But then, I liked "Cliffhanger."
LILLEHAMMER, Norway -- Although the Winter Olympics have barely begun, we've already had our first major clash. It took place a few days ago, in a packed auditorium, during a press conference. It was not a clash of skis or hockey sticks, but a clash of cultures. In many ways, it set the stage for these Olympics.The focus of that press conference was Norway's Vegard Ulvang, a top cross-country skier and a national hero. Cross- country is to Norway what basketball is to America. Ulvang is hugely famous. When he speaks, people listen.
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.
