News media reports indicate that apathy is at an all-time high in our country, and that small percentages of the voters are actually planning to go to the booths today. Six years ago, I wrote the following poem about apathy. The Free Press reran it before the 1996 presidential election. And it still rings true today on the cusp of another election.I heard a knock upon my doorAnd opened it to seeAll the poor around the worldLooking back at meIn tattered clothes and worn-out shoesWith families to feed,They held their hands out, hopefully,
HOUSTON -- Let's not say the stadium was empty. Let's just say that if you were sitting behind one end zone, and the hot dog guy was clear across the other end zone, all you had to do was yell, "Sir? When you get a chance?"
The sports world is full of errors in judgment: The Lions drafting Andre Ware, World Team Tennis, Fox creating a blue puck.Still, lately it seems like a plague of bad decisions has infected sports, and it's even worse than usual. For example:OLIVER McCALL VS. LENNOX LEWISA couple of years ago, Don King was talking about one of his fighters. He couldn't remember his name, so he said, "Who's that junkie I got?"
It's a long walk to the Red Wings locker room at the farthest end of the arena tunnel, past the storage areas and the electrical wires, and past the benches where the players' wives sit and wait for their husbands.
NEWS ITEM: As the United Nations convenes to celebrate its 50th birthday, leaders from 185 countries will gather today for a "class photo." It is the first time so many world leaders have been photographed in one room. A special task force has been working on the shoot since last spring, and a recent run- through took more than six hours."You must carry this out with maximum civility," said Francois Giuliani, director of the UN media division. You can't just say, 'You there, stupid, you're moving.' "
The protester was knocked down. As he lay on the ground, one policeman handcuffed him, while another put his foot on the man's forehead to hold him still.This happened in Seattle last week. I know this not because I was there, but because I saw it on TV. The camera zoomed in on the policeman's foot and held there for at least six seconds.I was never told what the protester did to warrant such police behavior. I have no idea if the guy verbally abused the officers, threatened to kill them, maybe pulled a gun. All I saw was that foot on his forehead.
* HUT ONE: I'm gonna miss the little fella. There. I said it and I'm not ashamed.I'm talking about Lou Holtz, who announced his retirement this week -- actually, he announced the sentence "I think this is the right thing to do" this week, approximately 2,538 times during his news conference, which, by the way, is still going on down in South Bend, Ind., and is being carried live by ESPN6 -- and yes, I have to admit, I got a little misty.
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.
