Detroit Free Press

ST. LOUIS -- Hold the applause. The Red Wings may have won a game, but they have not earned cheers, not yet, and ...

When Frank Sinatra was at his peak, he performed one night with an all-star band. He had already sold millions of ...

ST. LOUIS -- Hold the applause. The Red Wings may have won a game, but they have not earned cheers, not yet, and ...

Some fool needs to take charge here, and I am just the fool. I cannot shoot a hockey puck. I cannot stop a hockey puck. I cannot even walk across the ice without falling down.But I am taking charge, because, gosh darn it -- ooh, did I really say "gosh darn it"? -- this city is not ready for baseball season. Have you looked at the Tigers' pitching staff? Are you nuts?

The last nine minutes were like something out of a war movie, explosions, bodies flying, nobody sure who was still out there, or, for that matter, who was even left standing. Vladimir Konstantinov hit the ice to block a shot, and his hand went numb from the impact. Paul Coffey took a stick to the head and lay face-down, bleeding. Sergei Fedorov saw a rebound and tried to flick it past the goalie, the crowd screamed, the puck hit the goalie's leg pads, the crowd screamed again, Fedorov tried again, off the body -- denied!

Sometimes, this is the only thing more baffling than the people in sports: the people who try to get close to them.Take the cases of Marge Schott and Michael Irvin.