Patience, patience. If there was one lesson learned from the opening of the most anticipated hockey playoffs in Detroit history -- and let's be honest, you shouldn't learn more than one thing from the first game, right? -- it was that patience will not only be a worthy companion on this horse ride through the postseason, it may keep you sane."When already?" Wings fans seemed to ask, as Detroit went scoreless in the first and second periods Wednesday night, and trailed the eighth-seeded Jets by a 1-0 score as the final frame began. "What are you waiting for?"
PHOENIX -- Grant Hill was just a few seconds into his first All-Star Game when he took a pass and tried a jump shot from the corner. It missed. But at least it hit the rim. Considering the pressure he was under, I was surprised it didn't drop out of his hands, as he fainted.
Kirk Gibson was yelling like a banshee. His teammates froze. I still remember that scene, even though I can't tell you the day, can't tell you the opposing team. I can tell you the Tigers had lost several games in a row, during a pennant race, and that was enough to boil Gibson's blood. He was screaming, calling them -- and himself -- names I can't repeat here, pacing like a caged beast, swearing they would never lose again or he'd kill somebody.The other players -- older and younger -- looked up the way children look at a raging parent.They won their next three games.
* Detroit 20, Chicago 19: The only thing that worries me here is that it's a Monday night game and the opponent isn't Dallas or San Francisco. Are the Bears good enough for the Lions to beat? Pick vs. spread: Chicago.* Minnesota 23, Tampa Bay 21: What happened to all that bold talk from Sam Wyche? Pick vs. spread: Tampa Bay.
On a weekend when we impeached the president, lost a future speaker of the House and bombed a foreign country, it's comforting to know that certain stories remain unchanged.Ladies and gentlemen, the Detroit Lions.On Sunday, the Lions played their last home game of 1998, and they closed the local show by once again promising to do better next year. Of course, they promised that for this year. You see how this repeats.
When those in power say they're doing what the American people want, you can pretty much bet they have their own interests in mind.Take Kenneth Starr. For the past four years, he has pursued the president's every conversation, memo, phone call and sneeze. He has spent more than $40 million in taxpayer money. He insists he is doing what the American people want -- even when the American people tell him they're sick of him.
There goes autumn. Before it even started. Detroit's football season has been knifed at the knees, it is bent, bleeding, broken -- and the trees haven't dropped their leaves yet. The Lions lost Sunday, which is no longer news around here, but how they lost was unique, even for them. Blown snaps. A rainstorm of penalty flags. Last year's quarterback returning to burn them. And the final crushing blow: Superman humbled.
ATLANTA -- Carl Lewis was standing next to me on the set of "Good Morning America" Friday, wearing frayed tan shorts, a matching top, and sandals with no socks. It was 7:45 a.m., and everyone was yawning. Carl was with his agent and some guy who is co-writing Carl's new autobiography. None of them seemed in a hurry to get anywhere.
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.
