Detroit Free Press

Still, there are the Russians. Not as many as there used to be. Not as young as they used to be. But there, pumping the Red Wings like a heartbeat.

MITCH ALBOMAL East -- NY YankeesAL Central -- ClevelandAL West -- AnaheimAL wild card -- BaltimoreNL East -- AtlantaNL Central -- HoustonNL West -- Los AngelesNL wild card -- San FranciscoWorld Series -- Atlanta over New York YankeesAL Central:1. Cleveland2. Chicago3. Detroit4. Minnesota5. Kansas City

Last week, the bosses of baseball said they were thinking about selling ad space on the players' sleeves. This sent baseball lovers into a twitching, neurotic frenzy."Not the uniforms!" they protested. "Those uniforms are sacred!"Personally, I don't understand how the uniform is sacred when the player is paid by a corporation, the stadium is named after a bank and the scoreboard keeps flashing commercials.Besides, why should a baseball player's arm be different? Every other inch of the country is sponsored by somebody.Take a typical American day.

TO: MATEEN CLEEVES, JUNIOR GUARDMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITYDear Mateen,Don't even think about it.I know the NBA is ...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- I am standing over a cauldron of hate. I am watching it bubble and boil. I am getting in the mood for tonight's showdown between Michigan State and No. 1-ranked Duke."Igor, give me the photo of the coach!" I scream. "We will burn him in hatred! Ahahahahahaha!""Yessss, maaaaster," Igor says.Igor hands me the photo of Mike Krzyzewski, Duke's coach for the past 19 years."Look at how evil he is!" I exclaim, ready to drop his photo into the smoldering pot. "Look at how, uh ...uh . . ."

The sisters were doing it for themselves. There were two of them, Tonda and Trina, older and younger, 2 1/2 years apart. They would compete at every little thing, racing, eating, jumping. Tonda vs. Trina.And then along came baby brother."We figured we could double-team him," Tonda says now, laughing. "It would be the girls against the boy."

EASTLANSING -- Even in paradise, the dark clouds managed to find A. J. Granger. He already had endured a long bout with mononucleosis that left him weak and depleted on the basketball court, haunted him his entire sophomore year.Then, after getting over that, his mother was in a car accident, breaking five ribs and her wrist.

This was the last magic trick, the final yank of the tablecloth. The Red Wings, just hours before the NHL trading deadline, burned up the phone lines, said "deal," "deal," "deal," "deal," and acquired four new players, three of them major personalities, in hopes of finally straightening the wheels on their wagon roll to a third straight Stanley Cup."I went to bed last night with a wish list," general manager Ken Holland said. "We had lots of irons in the fire. We had lots of lines in the lake."