NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. -- GOOD MORNING! HAPPY NEW YEA-- WHAT'S THAT? TOO LOUD? OOH. SORRY. ROUGH NIGHT, HUH? I CAN TELL BY THE TORTILLA DIP ABOVE YOUR EYELID. ALSO THE FACT THAT YOU SAID "TOO LOUD" TO A NEWSPAPER. THAT'S PRETTY STRANGE, DON'T YOU THINK? BY THE WAY, YOU MIGHT WANT TO WIPE THAT DIP OFF BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE OTHER--WHOA. LOOK OUT. OVER HERE. NO.DOWN HERE THAT'SIT.TOUGH TO FOCUS WITH BOTH OF THEM, ISN'T IT?
Rain on everything. The players, the fans, the parade, everything. What had started Friday afternoon as a crisp new dream had, by Sunday night, been left soggy and limp.The Red Sox came here in first place. Now they are more in first place. The Tigers were 4 1/2 back. Now they are 7 1/2 back.Rain on everything.
BOSTON -- Well, here we are again. The Red Sox versus the Tigers. The saga continues.What will happen this time? Who knows? Many people are still scratching their heads at the outcome of last week's showdown in the Motor City. After all, the Sox came into town like hot soup; they left like a wet noodle."What happened?" asked baseball pundits, who had been ready to hand over the AL East to Boston -- until the Tigers beat them four of five. "Who are those guys in Detroit? How did they do that?"
INDIANAPOLIS -- It was a perfect American moment in need of a perfect American hero. Bottom of the ninth. Two out. Score tied. Crowd on its feet, waving flags, screaming madly: "U-S-A! U-S-A!"Drama? Ho. You'd have to look a long while for a purer drama than this: a humid August afternoon on a minor league field where perhaps the two best amateur baseball teams in the world, one Cuban, one American, had scratched and pounded and finessed each other to a 4-4 deadlock with one out to go before extra innings. Drama? Come on."NOW BATTING . . . " boomed the PA voice.
SAN DIEGO -- I am looking for horses. I see no horses. This is what I see: a Denver Broncos PR man skipping across the football field, yelling: "This way, Amigos! This way!"Strange, I think. Even for the Super Bowl."The Amigos will be at midfield! Right now! Clear the midfield area for the Three Amigos!"No horses. No sombreros. No sagebrush. Just three short football players in
OK. About the last two weeks. Let me explain. The Super Bowl champion 49ers came in to play the Lions -- and I picked the 49ers. The Super Bowl runner-up Dolphins came in the following week -- and I picked the Dolphins.In both cases, the Lions won."How could you be so disloyal?" people asked. "How could you possibly give up on our home team?" people asked. (Actually, I'm not sure whether people asked this. I know the guy at the dry cleaner asked it. At least, I thought I heard him ask it; although, now that I think of it, he might have been talking to someone else.)
The kickoff came tumbling out of the wet, gray sky, and nobody could believe this. Raghib (Rocket) Ismail couldn't believe the ball was coming his way, and his coach, Lou Holtz, couldn't believe Michigan would kick it to Ismail again, and Bo Schembechler, already having a bad day, what with an injured quarterback and a sluggish offensive line, couldn't believe what had happened once would ever happen twice. A second kickoff return? For a touchdown? In Michigan Stadium? No way. There hadn't been one here against U-M since 1957.
WIMBLEDON, England -- Wait a minute. I like Chris Evert Lloyd, too, but the fact is she blew it. The way the American press was acting Thursday you'd think the Czechs had sent her a bomb disguised as a birthday cake."Tough break," one reporter mumbled."She really wanted it," said another.Hey. Lloyd was up 5-2 and lost 14 straight points in the second set. Fourteen straight? And that was after missing an easy shot that sunk her in the first.
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.
