Reporters avoid eye contact as Scotty Bowman passes. He heads down the Joe Louis Arena tunnel, alone, walking in a half-stomp, half-limp, a four-star general with a stone in his boot. Suddenly, he sees an arena worker carrying a large piece of pipe."Hey," Bowman says, jutting out his chin. "What happened?"There is a frozen moment before the worker answers. It is in this moment that the Bowman legend hisses. The way he asks the question. His squinty eyes. That jaw. You can almost hear the analysts now...
To: President Bill ClintonThe White HouseWashington, D.C.Dear Mr. President:We, the citizens of Detroit, can't tell you how thrilled we are that our Red Wings are facing a Washington, D.C., hockey team for the Stanley Cup. The prospect of you attending a Wings game is truly exciting.I believe you know our team. They were guests at the White House. No sir, they didn't stay in the Lincoln Bedroom. We don't have that kind of money. We had to give it to Sergei Fedorov.
Here's how the Free Press experts forecast the Pistons' playoff chances:* MITCH ALBOM: I actually like the Pistons' chances against Boston better than their chances against Atlanta. Unfortunately, should they beat Washington -- and they should -- they would have to play the Hawks first.In a long series, the Hawks just have too many horses. The only way the Pistons would get to a conference final -- assuming they play Atlanta in the second round -- is to catch the Hawks early, winning the first two games and putting the pressure on.
In the end, you could no more stop them than you could stop the moon. They rose to the occasion, they rose to the challenge, and finally -- when the last seconds ticked away and Chris Osgood threw his hands into the air and leaped into a hug from Larry Murphy as a lonesome octopus came flying onto the ice -- finally, they raised the roof. They were back to the big stage, the Stanley Cup finals, and they burst through the curtain with a certain swagger, as if they knew it would happen, as if they've been here before.
Chris Osgood was standing by his locker when I approached. He was sucking on a candy that smelled like a LifeSaver. Interesting choice of sweets, a LifeSaver, since that's what half this city seems to want to throw him after Wednesday night's loss.But here's a piece of news. He doesn't need it. Doesn't want it. And doesn't deserve it."How do you feel about what happened?" I asked."Ticked off," he said. "I was 85 seconds away from my best playoff series ever.""Does it make you want to play right now?"
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.
