Detroit Free Press

JANITOR COACH SHOWS PLAYERS HOW TO SHINE

JANITOR COACH SHOWS PLAYERS HOW TO SHINE

This is a story about taking pride in your work, whether it's saving children or cleaning toilets -- or, in Willie Davis' case, both.Willie Davis is a janitor. Oh, you can call him a custodian, or a caretaker, or a sanitation engineer. You can call him the King of England if you want, he still takes a broom every day and cleans the dirtiest corners of Arthur Smith Junior High School in Alexandria, La.And when he's done sweeping, he mops. And he waxes the floors. He does the windows. He mows the lawn. He plucks the weeds. When he has to, he cleans the toilets.
ALL SMILESYES, IT WAS AN OVERWHELMING WIN, BUT RED WINGS STILL MUST FINISH THE JOBSATURDAY

ALL SMILESYES, IT WAS AN OVERWHELMING WIN, BUT RED WINGS STILL MUST FINISH THE JOBSATURDAY

MITCH ALBOMBrett Hull loped a shot into the crease, like a Little League coach throwing a grounder to his shortstop -- and here came the shortstop, Sergei Fedorov, flying in and tapping the puck so deftly and quickly that by the time the red light flashed he was already circling away, hands in the air, rocking back on one skate like a man without a care in the world.
SCORING SHOWDOWN: STACK VS. IVERSON

SCORING SHOWDOWN: STACK VS. IVERSON

Ask the average American sports fan, "Who's contending for the NBA scoring title?" he'll probably say, "Kobe, Iverson and that guard from Detroit."Welcome to Jerry Stackhouse's world, where the sign could read, "Be careful what you wish for." Nearly every NBA player dreams of being "The Man." Some even ruin careers over it.Jerry Stackhouse actually got it. Grant Hill went away. No big names were signed. And Stackhouse became The Man on the Pistons the way Eminem became The Man for musical controversy, the way Dr. Phil became The Man for relationship rescues.
HASEK OUT FOR SEASON; CUP CHASE FALLS TO CUJOGOALIE’S TROUBLESOME GROIN ENDS RED WINGS’ $6-MILLI

HASEK OUT FOR SEASON; CUP CHASE FALLS TO CUJOGOALIE’S TROUBLESOME GROIN ENDS RED WINGS’ $6-MILLI

That thump you just heard was the sound of a city falling to its knees and begging Curtis Joseph to forgive and forget.Or maybe it was Mike Ilitch fainting.Truth is, there were many things going bump in Hockeytown on Tuesday after Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek announced that the Grand Experiment was over, that his groin was not improving, that he was done playing hockey this year.
LIONS MAKE SMART HIREMARIUCCI SIGNS 5-YEAR, $25-MILLION DEAL

LIONS MAKE SMART HIREMARIUCCI SIGNS 5-YEAR, $25-MILLION DEAL

Put on the coffee. Pull open the shades. The Detroit Lions, awakening from a decades-long slumber, are today, officially, entering the 21st Century.They are, for the first time, hiring a coach that other teams actually covet. They are, for the first time, paying the kind of money the top teams pay and the top coaches get. They are, for the first time, jumping feet first into the sandbox with the other top NFL teams, looking to a proven, young winner to guide them -- instead of some who-dat face they got on the cheap.
WHEN NEEDED, OLD GLORY IS ALWAYS THERE

WHEN NEEDED, OLD GLORY IS ALWAYS THERE

That our flag was still there through the gloom and despair hanging on porches, flapping in schoolyards painted on cheeks of young mothers whose husbands are leaving to face the rockets' red glare, bombs bursting in air and our flag is still there
WE TURN OUR SERIAL KILLERS INTO CELEBRITIES

WE TURN OUR SERIAL KILLERS INTO CELEBRITIES

How could someone do that?" a friend of mine asked. "How does someone get so sick?"He was talking about the sniper who has been systematically killing innocent people in Maryland and Virginia, stalking them in their everyday acts, then shooting them as they put gas in their car or mow their lawns."He's jut picking them off, like target practice," my friend said. "He kills one, then he goes and kills another! What could possibly make a person that twisted?"
WITH EMINEM, REAL MUSICIANS GET A BUM RAP

WITH EMINEM, REAL MUSICIANS GET A BUM RAP

Editor's note: This column contains lyrics that could be offensive. But the Free Press thinks they're important to understand the columnist's view.So I went to the Eminem concert in a football stadium last week and here's one good thing I can say about it right off the bat: There were no long guitar solos. That was good. There were also no musicians. That was bad.

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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