Detroit Free Press

I'll take Thanksgiving.You can have Halloween, New Year's, Christmas, Fourth of July, Easter, Hanukkah and any day ...

One minute he was a college football star. The next minute he was in jail, then hell. All he'd ever owned was ...

Quickly, now. Who's your mayor?If you thought "Kwame Kilpatrick," answer a second question. Do you live in ...

Being a sportswriter may not get you much - besides a decent seat and mustard on your tie - but it does prepare you for race relations.Maybe that's why, from the start of the presidential campaign, I've been less concerned with Barack Obama than some of my countrymen. There were many white voters who were hesitant about a black president. Some were painfully blunt. They spoke, insultingly, about watermelon patches on the White House lawn and rappers like Ludacris as official guests.

Rip wore the mask, Rasheed argued with the refs, Tayshaun made several gravity-defying moves, Chauncey had the sweat pouring down the back of his neck and Ben - well, Ben was Ben, except when he uncharacteristically took the microphone before the game and welcomed the fans back "on behalf of my teammates." And he seemed to want to continue talking, but then he stopped and abruptly punched the air instead. The crowd cheered. A fist is worth a thousand words.

The New Guy grabs a sub sandwich and takes a seat on the team bus. He talks while he eats, and a morsel of cheese lodges above his lip. He is wearing a plain black sweatshirt and plain black pants, an outfit that prompted him to ask a staff member: "Am I dressed OK?" But if it's not OK, it is still who he is, nothing fancy, no complicated patterns, as basic as a sandwich and a bus ride downtown.