ISHOULD SAY, from the start of this particular column, that it is not for outsiders. If you aren't from Michigan, you probably won't get it.And if you're not a hockey fan, you probably won't get it.And if you're a journalistic wise guy, one who thinks the only good use of newspaper space is critical and negative use of newspaper space, then you, too, will probably not get it.But most of you will. Because most of you saw what I saw these past few years, a hockey team that lifted the level of expectations in this city and then, remarkably, exceeded them.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- And that's that.No repeat title. No championship parade. No Colorado or Dallas. No May. No June. No anything, really -- which is what happens when you suffer the biggest no of all: no wins.Four times the Red Wings took their pride and power onto the ice against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, a team with a laughable name and a nonexistent tradition, and four times they skated off humbled. Wednesday night was the final indignity, a night when the Wings vowed they would show what they were about.
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."
IT WAS THE game he had to play in the game they had to have. Superstars don't deliver every night, but they do when they must, or they're not superstars for long. Grant Hill pushed the curtain aside Friday night and did what you're supposed to do when your whole business is watching. Took the night over.
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.