After a while, in any good marriage, you learn to read each other's faces. You can sense anger, glee, disappointment. So it was that Isiah Thomas, who has been professionally married to his coach, Chuck Daly, for the last five years, sat on the curb of a parking lot Sunday afternoon, acting out all of Daly's courtside expressions."There's this one," he said, tugging on an imaginary coat lapel, "and that means, 'Calm down, relax, slow it up.'
SOMEWHERE IN THE SKY . . . -- "So what do you think tonight?" I ask the man sitting to my left. "Pistons by eight? Celtics by eight? What do you think?""I think . . . " he says.I know what he thinks. He thinks Boston is on a roll after its last win. He thinks Boston will win tonight. But I say no. I say tonight is the Pistons' night. I say Silverdome mystique prevails. I say tonight's star will be . . . John Salley. Yeah. He hasn't had a night yet. John Salley's night. Tonight."Well?" I repeat. "What do you think?""I . . . uh . . . I don't think--"
TORONTO -- So what if his front teeth were missing? He was smiling as wide as an open net and he was answering the same question a hundred times -- "Describe the goal!" "What happened on the goal?" -- and suddenly a teammate's voice broke through the steamy locker room and stopped the interviews in mid- sentence."PROBY! PROBY!" yelled Joe Kocur."YEAH?""YOUR FIRST PLAYOFF GOAL?""YEAH.""HERE. CATCH."
The glove was gone. It was just gone. Everything else happening around Chet Lemon, all the players shaking hands and welcoming each other back, it didn't matter. Because the glove was gone."Have you seen it?" he asked.The equipment man said no."I thought I left it here," he said.The equipment man said no.
ST. LOUIS -- Put down those bats and gloves. Drop those box scores. Just for today we're talking mood. Color. Flavor. For all you unfortunate souls who can't be here at this All-Muh-ZU- rah World Series, and you don't know what you're missing -- but then, how could you know what you're missing? How could anyone know what they're missing, come to think of it? -- I am here to capture some of the sights and sounds and smells. A Day in the Life of an I-70 Classic. Spanning the streets. Leaving no Bud can unturned. The thrill of the foam, the agony of the hangover.
Pop quiz. Here's the question: 1. Roger Craig is:A) A baseball manager.B) A running back.C) The same person, in different shoes.The answer, of course, is C), which explains why, when Craig talked to his pitcher in Saturday night's National League playoff game, he said: "X-screen red on three, ready, break!!"
BOSTON -- Well, now. Wasn't that a nice little visit to Fenway Park? Anything else we can break on our way out?Tigers win. Red Sox lose. In Boston. Did you hear that, America? RED SOX LOSE IN BOSTON. THE STREAK IS OVER. No doubt that will get more attention than Detroit scoring 18 runs in one game -- as much as any American League team has scored this year.Wait.Did I say 18 runs?Yes. I did. The Tigers? They don't score that in a week, do thay? Here is a synopsis of the game: SCRREECH!* percent$ . . . ayee!
ANN ARBOR -- Must have been the pope.How else do you explain this thrashing, this 26-7 loss to Notre Dame, the worst Michigan defeat in 20 years? In the opener? Whoa. Michigan doesn't lose home openers under Bo Schembechler, does it? It hadn't in the last 18 seasons.And now it has. Badly."Was there anything positive in that game?" someone asked Schembechler after the turnover-plagued defeat by the Irish."No . . . no . . . " the coach answered, biting his lip, "as a matter of fact . . . no."So, in other words, no.
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.
