LAKELAND, Fla. -- He sees them all, every spring, from behind the bars of his sweaty black mask. The pitchers cannot hide. Not from him. With each thud in his glove he knows who is smokin' and who is just lighting up and who can't even generate a spark. You want to know something about something?Ask the catcher.
SEOUL, South Korea -- I will tell you how much football I have seen in the last two weeks. Twenty minutes. It is shown between 3 and 6 a.m. on Sunday nights here. One game. Usually Buffalo is in it, I don't know why.I do know, however, everything you need to know about rowing, yachting, bowling, synchronized swimming, dressage, judo, epee, butterfly, javelin, and rhythmic gymnastics.Unfortunately, I can't get a point spread on any of them.So here are this week's picks . . .
BOSTON -- By the time the clubhouse were doors opened, Larry Herndon was already dressed in shirt and pants and had one shoe on.Had he been able to get away faster he would have. But the team bus was not due for 20 minutes. Where could he go? A group of reporters approached, and he quickly found a TV set and stared as if his destiny were somewhere inside it."Can we get a comment on that tremendous home run?" asked someone to Herndon's shoulder blades, as the minicam lights flicked on."Uh . . . uh . . . I'd rather not," he said, stepping back like a trapped animal.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- It was too early for heartbreak. The sun was just creeping through the huge glass windows. The plane wasn't ready yet, and the airport was filled with the lonely echo that comes in those ungodly hours before the coffee shop opens.
MINNEAPOLIS -- And the winner is: Gary Gaetti. No matter what happens. Three weeks ago he was a name heard only in Minnesota and a few select baseball circles. And now you've got Whitey Herzog wishing he had him and Sparky Anderson wishing he had him and a nation's worth of media fantasizing how great it would be if Gaetti graced their clubhouses during the regular season -- and not just during this wacky World Series.
I am concerned. I am worried. I think the Pistons have too much time on their hands. They swept Boston. They sat. They swept Milwaukee. They sit.What to do? May I suggest . . . music. A new Pistons theme. I don't know if Isiah can sing, or if Bill Laimbeer can dance (actually it's a pretty safe bet that Laimbeer can't dance), but a music video might be just the thing to pass the time. And it's good for team spirit. For example: Ah-one, ah- two . . .
PALOS VERDES, Calif. -- I am walking past the cliffs that drop into the Pacific Ocean. I am walking past the Corvettes, and the BMWs and the dark blueMercedeses. I am walking past the tennis courts and the long turquoise pool.I am walking into Bill Laimbeer's old high school.His high school?"Do people really go to class here?" I ask Laimbeer's former coach, John Mihaljevich, 52, who greets me dressed in a red windbreaker, sunglasses, shorts and a deep tan. "Do they actually study, you know, math and science and all that?"
NEW ORLEANS -- Did you know Bobby Knight is writing a newspaper column? One of those quickie syndication deals. So now he gets to sit up there in front of a ballroom full of reporters and say with a sneer, "Well, as a fellow sports writer, I think. . . . "This, I suppose, is better than him punching you in the face. Or screaming until your hair turns white. Or brutally insulting your intelligence while your peers laugh along because if they don't, they're afraid he'll turn on them next. Not that it ever stopped him before."Bobby," a reporter began, "do you--?"
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.
