What do Isiah Thomas, Barry Sanders and Juwan Howard have in common? All have been celebrated as "good guys." All have been hailed as humble star athletes who have their priorities straight.And all have fathered children out of wedlock.I bring them up only to prove that the current Sports Illustrated cover story, "Where's Daddy?" about paternity and athletes, is not some device to sell magazines, and not some blown-up tale about a few sex-crazed deviants. It's as real a problem as there is in sports, and it says a lot about who we are and what we choose to admire.
One by one, in moments like these, he pulls us back into his rooting section. Here was Sergei Fedorov Thursday night, second period, the game dangerously close, chasing a loose puck, accelerating until he gathered it in, then juking on the Phoenix defender, Gerald Diduck, who fell to the ice just trying to keep up. Keep up? It was like trying to bottle a hurricane. Sergei curled past the fallen player as if racing a lawn mower around a tree stump, then glided until the perfect angle on the goalie came into his crosshairs.
Itried to be nice.I tried to be mellow, calm and understanding. I tried to say, "It's only hockey, and hockey is sports, and sports is brotherhood, and brotherhood means peace and love for everyone, right?"I tried.But now I must come clean. I must tell you the reason the Phoenix Coyotes, who play the Red Wings tonight in their deadlocked playoff series, will have to be, and I don't want to overstate things here, destroyed.
Idon't want to give the folks in Phoenix early indigestion, but when Joey Kocur scores two goals on your team, you'd better check your diet.Yes, I know it's only the first game of the playoffs. Yes, I know some teams need time to get loose. But two goals -- by Joey Kocur? That's like two touchdowns by Jerry Ball. Two home runs by Justin Thompson. Demoralizing? That wasn't sweat on the Phoenix players, it was skid marks. The Zamboni had a better night than they did.
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.
