The TV behind the bar flashed a picture of Gary Kasparov, who had just won the world chess championships in Moscow."What a bore," said the man next to me. Not really, I said. Chess can be exciting."Yeah? How?"Strategy. Pressure. Timing."But there's no action. They just sit there."Not all of them."Come off it," he said, slurping down his beer. "Those guys are just a bunch of sissies in suits."
PASADENA, Calif. -- They came, they saw, they conquered. Now it is time for the New York Giants to do what all great American sports heroes must do:Endorsements.Phil Simms for American Express:
So Bill Ford came out of his office and turned on the shower and washed Darryl Rogers clean. "He'll be back next year," Ford said to a couple of reporters Thursday. "I just want to put that to rest." And then he said the same thing to the Lions themselves, and then the TV guys got a hold of it, and with that, we spritzed away all those dirty rumors that Rogers, the coach whose team has gone from 7-9 to 5-11 to 2-9, might somehow be in danger of losing his job.
He has snuck into the spotlight like a sweet old uncle you never knew you had, the kind who brings lots of presents."HEY, JAMES!" the crowd screamed, slapping his hands, as he walked through the Silverdome tunnel after the Pistons beat the Celtics, 98-94, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. "WAY TO GO, JAMES! ALL RIGHT, JAMES!"
Hey. I'm into participation sports, right?So there I am, naked, alone, inside a dark, fiberglass tank, floating in water.Floating? Yes. I am told this is the latest thing. I am told this is what the modern athlete does. Here is what I want to know: Where's the soap?"Flotation tanks are great for reducing stress, healing injuries, and allowing athletes to focus on performance," says Pete Panelli, owner of Tranquil Visions, 4514 N. Woodward in Birmingham."Uh-huh," I say. "They can't accidentally lock, can they?"
ST. LOUIS -- How would you feel if your boss suddenly said you could keep your job but not do any work?Quit cheering. It's a hypothetical question.Except in baseball.Consider Hal McRae, age 39. Occupation: Designated hitter, Kansas City Royals. Job Performance: Excellent. Experience: First rate. Priority to team: Highest.Starting Role in World Series: None.Reason: Rules.
CLEVELAND -- He was the perfect quarterback. Completed all of his passes. Never got hit. He was cool. He was unrazzled. He came into the locker room after the game and his uniform was still gleaming white, and he took it off and strolled casually in for a shower.Very cool."How many of those have you thrown in your career?" someone asked Brian Brennan of his dramatic big pass, the longest of the Lions-Browns game Sunday."Three," he said, wrapping a towel around himself. "I'm three-for-three. I am 1,000 percent."
The other day I saw something I could not believe, even for the NFL. During the broadcast of the Thanksgiving game, NBC employed a sports psychologist as an additional analyst to the regular color man. A sports psychologist? On the microphone? Yes. This takes the cake. Even for pro football, this was too, too. . . . Well. Let me give you a sample of what it was like:ANNOUNCER: . . . and Jones picks up two yards.COLOR GUY: Jimbo, he ran off tackle there, and they've been going at that spot all day long!
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.
