Detroit Free Press

THE TRADE: TIME TO BURY SOME MISTAKES

THE TRADE: TIME TO BURY SOME MISTAKES

They handed him the red and white jersey, and he pulled it over his head. "Welcome," they said, "to the Detroit Red Wings." Jimmy Carson grinned and posed for cameras. Next to him, general manager Jimmy Devellano was beaming. On the other side, coach Jacques Demers flashed a huge smile, the kind of smile you get when a police officer tells you, "It's all a misunderstanding, sir. You're free to go."
THERE WAS A WORST PART: BEARS WERE RIPE FOR LOSS

THERE WAS A WORST PART: BEARS WERE RIPE FOR LOSS

CHICAGO -- Well, this was a terrible, embarrassing, second- rate football game. But let me be blunt. The Chicago Bears finished off the Lions Sunday about as quickly as it takes a dog to raise its leg, and with nearly the same respect. On a day fit for tadpoles and the occasional polar bear, they bruised and bullied and stomped all over the silver and blue and left giggling, 24-3 winners.But that wasn't the worst part.
A PERFECT ENDING, A PERFECT HERO FOR PAN AM BASEBALL

A PERFECT ENDING, A PERFECT HERO FOR PAN AM BASEBALL

INDIANAPOLIS -- It was a perfect American moment in need of a perfect American hero. Bottom of the ninth. Two out. Score tied. The crowd on its feet, waving flags, stomping feet, killing its vocal chords in lusty cheer: "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.
FUTURE BEGAN MONDAY NIGHT ON MORNING AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE, LONG IS WISER — AND TIRED

FUTURE BEGAN MONDAY NIGHT ON MORNING AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE, LONG IS WISER — AND TIRED

He did not look older. He did not look wiser. He looked tired. Which is what you'd expect. "What do you think?" someone asked Chuck Long, just moments after the Lions dropped a heartbreaker, 16-13, to the Chicago Bears.He shook his head. "Now I know what Eric Hipple's been going through all these weeks," he said.Now he knew. First-hand experience. This was supposed to be Chuck Long's night, his debut as starting quarterback. Monday Night Football, the nation watching. And for a few brief moments it was all he could have wanted.
TWINS DOME-INATE CARDS, WIN SERIESMINNESOTA’S HEROES EARN THEIR VICTORY LAP

TWINS DOME-INATE CARDS, WIN SERIESMINNESOTA’S HEROES EARN THEIR VICTORY LAP

MINNEAPOLIS -- They were pouring champagne on each other's heads, screaming, laughing, celebrating in the usual way for world champions -- when suddenly, in the midst of this clubhouse euphoria somebody screamed: "OUT TO THE FIELD!" And out they charged, en masse, all these alcohol-soaked Minnesota Twins, the most unlikely World Series winners in some time, pushing through the tunnel and slapping hands and camera lights and finally, finally, emerging back to where it all happened, back to the Metrodome field where they had captured Game 7, a title, and the hearts of every Minnesotan an
SPEAKING OF THE LIONS, LET’S TRY NOT TO UNTIL JUNE

SPEAKING OF THE LIONS, LET’S TRY NOT TO UNTIL JUNE

ATLANTA -- I know many of you would like to strangle the Lions for winning Sunday and dropping themselves from No. 1 to No. 2 in next year's draft. To which I say: Go ahead, do it.No. Just kidding. Where's your Christmas spirit? We might have looked at the Lions as the worst team in football all year -- but obviously we weren't looking far enough.Here in Georgia, in the last game of the season, we found a creature few people thought existed. The Atlanta Falcon. So inept, so pathetic, that Detroit looked playoff-bound by comparison.
SWEEP! TIGERS ROAR TO THE AL EAST TITLE BY BEATING BLUE JAYS — PERFECTLY

SWEEP! TIGERS ROAR TO THE AL EAST TITLE BY BEATING BLUE JAYS — PERFECTLY

This said it all: Frank Tanana darting off the mound, scooping up the ball, turning to first baseman Darrell Evans and -- with a lollipop smile already on his face -- flipping it underhand for the final out.One, two, three, leap!Happy ending."Whenever I think of this game from now on," Evans said, champagne soaking his face, after the Tigers had beaten Toronto, 1-0, to capture the American League East, "that's the moment I'm going to see. Frank coming towards me, the ball in his hand, his eyes as big as saucers. . . . Oh, man. Oh man. I'll never forget that."

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.

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