TO: Baby Girl YzermanRE: Your birthday messageDear Newborn,By the time you are old enough to read this, many things will have changed. We'll be in another century. We'll have a new president. We might even have stopped going to see "Titanic."Also, by the time you're old enough to read this, your father might not be playing hockey anymore. He might be retired, living a quiet life with you and your mother and your older sister, polishing his Stanley Cup ring (or rings), getting on with a new career.
My back hurt.This was nothing new. My back often hurts. When it does, I visit a chiropractor. I like my chiropractor. He always makes time for me. There was only one problem.I was in Spain; he was 4,000 miles away.Thus begins today's "what I did on my vacation" column. I looked for a chiropractor. In a foreign country. And I can safely say this: In Spain, which is a lovely country, you have a better chance of being stabbed by a bullfighter than having your spine adjusted."Can you recommend a chiropractor?" I asked the people at my hotel.
Joe Dumars dragged himself through the tunnel like a man headed for his own execution."Flu," he croaked.He shook his head slowly, as if to add, "Can you believe the timing?" His eyes were glassy. His head was clogged. And that wasn't the really bad part. The bad part was around the corner, on the Palace floor, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were waiting.
This weekend marks the NFL draft, and across the country, phone lines are buzzing. Of course, not every conversation is as fruitful as the next ..."OK, Rocky, gimme the news. What have you found?""Well, boss, scouting ain't as easy as it used to be.""You're already making excuses?""I'm just saying there's good news and bad news with these 'sleeper' picks. Take this quarterback prospect I got out of South Carolina.""What's the good news?""He's a combination of Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf.""What's the bad news?"
Just under a year ago, we took a talented young golfer and turned him into a god. Fortunately, for Tiger Woods, he has turned himself back into a man.Unfortunately, for Tiger Woods, he's had to do it by losing.That's right. Tiger loses. He loses close. He loses far. He loses a playoff. He loses by collapsing on the final day. He even loses, once, by missing the cut.
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.
