GOOD MORNING, class. The question today is simple: Which of the following is the greatest mystery of all?A) The riddle of the Sphinx.B) Stonehenge.C) Charlie Batch's thumb.The answer is C, Charlie Batch's thumb. Not because it is as complex as the Sphinx or Stonehenge. In fact, Charlie's thumb is pretty simple. It's attached to his hand, like the rest of our thumbs. He can stick it out if he wants to hitchhike. He can wiggle it, bend it, he can jam it in his nose.
Just under a year ago, we took a talented young golfer and turned him into a god. Fortunately, for Tiger Woods, he has turned himself back into a man.Unfortunately, for Tiger Woods, he's had to do it by losing.That's right. Tiger loses. He loses close. He loses far. He loses a playoff. He loses by collapsing on the final day. He even loses, once, by missing the cut.
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- This was all you needed to see, safety Ron Rice, pointing at the sky. "The sun! It was the sun!" he screamed, as if the refs should throw a flag on Mother Nature.
First, I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I vote for people, not parties.Second, I am neither a liberal nor a conservative. I worry about people, not ideology.Third, I am not a gun owner.Ah. Changes things, doesn't it? I was safe on the first two, a common-sense type of guy. But as soon as I wrote that third item, some of you said, "Friend," and others said, "Enemy."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Jerry Jones is talking to me, something about revenue sharing or marketing ideas, but it isn't the conversation that holds me, it's his look. His eyes are wide, bigger than they need to be, his mouth is curled up in the corners as he speaks. His neck is tight above his expensive white shirt collar, his complexion is ruddy, and, to me, he seems slightly crazed, his words appear to fly from his own mouth straight into his ears, fueling him with energy. He enjoys listening to himself.
Here's the scene: The door opens and a recruiter walks in. He sits down with the high school basketball star. Says he wants the kid to play for his team. Says the kid might only have to stay a year or two before he's ready for the NBA. And don't worry about attending math class, it won't be necessary.Then the recruiter reaches into his bag and takes out ... a checkbook.At this point, you're thinking the NCAA bursts down the door with its surveillance camera and yells, "FREEZE!"
LONDON -- When the British insist that, despite our shared language, they are different from Americans, I believe them. It is not, however, due to their superior birthright, their love of manners or their unique ability to tolerate cricket for more than 30 seconds.It's the TV they watch.In today's video-saturated world, you are what you see. And while we Yanks spend an average of seven hours a day with our tube -- swallowing such pabulum as "Melrose Place," "Spin City," "Dawson's Creek" and professional wrestling -- the Brits are being spoon-fed "Ground Force."
The last nine minutes were like something out of a war movie, explosions, bodies flying, nobody sure who was still out there, or, for that matter, who was even left standing. Vladimir Konstantinov hit the ice to block a shot, and his hand went numb from the impact. Paul Coffey took a stick to the head and lay face-down, bleeding. Sergei Fedorov saw a rebound and tried to flick it past the goalie, the crowd screamed, the puck hit the goalie's leg pads, the crowd screamed again, Fedorov tried again, off the body -- denied!
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.
