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--?"
FREMANTLE, Australia -- The afternoon was hot and quiet, and Cyril Kenair, the security guard, swiped at a fly that was buzzing his head. A woman and two children came to the door of the Royal Perth Yacht Club and Cyril stood up quickly. "We called this morning," said the woman, her voice polite and hopeful. "Do you suppose we could see the Cup?""'All right, mum," he said. "But the kiddies -- will you watch that they don't put their hands on the glass?""Certainly.""Very good, then. Go on up."
NEW YORK -- That music you hear from the Big Apple isn't "New York, New York" anymore.It's taps.Pennant races may not be over until they're over, but if Saturday's 9-4 Tigers loss didn't decide the fate of the American League East, it surely summed it up: The Red Sox won again in Boston, the Yankees exploded their napalm offense, and the Tigers, defeated, went gently into that very bad night."Do you find yourself talking more or less to the team as this goes along?" someone asked manager Sparky Anderson after Detroit's 16th loss in its last 19 games.
The quietest Piston stays on the court after practice ends; dribble, shoot, rebound, shoot again. The big stars are on their way home. The camera crews pack up and leave. Pretty soon it's just the ball, the basket, and Joe Dumars. Plain ol' Joe.
WIMBLEDON, England -- Youth will be served.Youth will be volleyed.Youth will be backhanded and forehanded and slammed and cross-courted and finally, on this early summer day, youth, in the form of 18-year-old Steffi Graf, would be defeated. At Wimbledon. In the final. By Martina Navratilova, 30, who, following the winning point, leaped in the air not once, not twice, but three times, screaming, "YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!"Not bad for an old lady, huh?
BOSTON -- There were three minutes left in what used to be a playoff series when Chuck Daly, watching his Pistons streak and soar and rise to the occasion, leaned back in his chair, shook a fist at Celtic mystique, and screamed the magic words: "LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"Right. No point in hanging around when there are bigger fish to fry. So Vinnie Johnson broke away and dished to Dennis Rodman, soaaaaarrrring dunk!And John Salley launched himself in the face of Robert Parish. Look, Chief. Now I got the ball, now I don't. Slam. Oooh, oooh.
In his 10 years as a professional baseball player, Bill Lajoie reached Opening Day just once. Kansas City, 1963. He got to the park early. He was ready. He was excited. He was sold.Sold?"Sorry, Bill," his manager told him a few hours before game time, "we just sold your contract to another team."Lajoie packed his bag and left.So you can lower that pie now. The man "who let Lance Parrish get away" is no stranger to rejection. He didn't do it to be a jerk.
This is Lisa Bonder's fourth trip to Wimbledon. By now, she knows the ups and downs. The ups, for example, are winning a first-round match and having the next day off. On Wednesday, such a day off; the 20-year-old player from Saline went shopping for a coat along fashionable Kings Road in London. She has been traveling 10 weeks. This was her way of rewarding herself."I haven't bought anything in months," she said, smiling.Thursday, however, was not such a happy day. Bonder lost her second-round match, 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, to Anne Minter of Australia.
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.
