SYDNEY, Australia -- And with that, we end these 2000 Olympic Games! They were spectacular, weren't they? See you in 2004!Uh, Mitch. Why are you upside down? Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing. Maybe it's being Down Under, where today is yesterday, yesterday is tomorrow, up is down, and how about that Olivia Newton-John?She sings in the opening ceremonies.She sang.What are you talking about?She sang in the opening ceremonies. Those were two weeks ago, mate.Two weeks ago?
ISEE BIG things. I see alley-oops and thunder jams. I see blocks that swoop like the hand of God. I see liftoff from the foul line, astronaut hang time, two-fisted dunks that leave the rim in need of medical attention. I see tip-ins, put-backs, "gimme-that-ball" rebounds, so high he could spray paint his name on the backboard.I see a future of big nights, big numbers.I see Jason Richardson.And he is sitting on the bench.
Aw, shucks. Now that Chris Webber has called another last-minute time-out -- to cut a deal with prosecutors over felony charges -- there goes my chance to be a star witness. Not that I think of myself that way.But Webber's lawyer did.That lawyer, Steve Fishman, told anyone who would listen that I had important information that would prove his client's innocence. He drew up a subpoena. He went to court to get me to testify.He even accused me of hiding from responsibility, as if saving his client's butt was a civic duty.
SYDNEY, Australia -- The Olympics end today. The final medals will be decided. But I'm ready to name my own winners and losers of the past few weeks.By the way, I am a purist.Only gold ...and tin.Olympic Comeback* Gold: To out-of-retirement swimmers Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres. They came. They saw. They delivered.* Tin: To French track diva Marie-Jose Perec. She came. She saw. She ran away.New Olympic Event* Gold: Triathlon. Every time you watch it, you think "grueling."
"So, Mitch," I am asked as the NFL season is about to begin. "How do you know you're a Lions fan?"That's easy.You know you're a Lions fan if you expect 5-11, but still kid yourself about 11-5.You know you're a Lions fan if you believe Joey Harrington is "The One" -- but you once said that about Andre Ware.You know you're a Lions fan if you hate Barry Sanders for quitting the team, but deep down, you don't really blame him.
LOS ANGELES -- They were three seconds from the top of the castle. Three seconds from a hammerlock on this series. And then Kobe Bryant lifted as high as a man can go without a trampoline, and Richard Hamilton got a hand up but not enough body, and the ball flew toward the hoop with every ounce of Lakers legend spinning a cloud of pixie dust around it. You knew it was going in. You could have closed your eyes and seen it.
WIMBLEDON, England -- "Can you read that?" I ask the woman behind the counter."Let's see," she says, fingering the little pink paper. She squints."My handwriting," I say, "it isn't . . .""Not to worry. I've seen worse."She finally smiles. "OK. How much do you want to wager on . . ." she squints again "...Serena Williams?""How much?" I say. "Uh . . ."
DENVER -- Hollywood is interested. They want a hockey movie. They dispatch a young producer to the Western Conference finals to assemble a cast. He wears sunglasses, a diamond earring, a leather coat and four cell phones.He asks me to help."I hear this Detroit team is loaded with stars," the producer says.It is, I say."Good. Get me the guy without a spleen."I beg your pardon?"The guy without a spleen. Sign him up. The Spleenless Swede. I love it!"You mean Fredrik Olausson, I say?
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.
