And then, depression set in.What else was left? The Lions had just been penalized, tripped, whacked, rushed, fooled, intercepted and, finally, beaten in the closing seconds, 24-17, by the Cincinnati Bengals. Three defeats in the last three weeks. Their best hope for the playoffs is now TicketWorld.How did they lose this? Let me count the flags.Second quarter, Lions driving deep into Cincinnati territory. Eric Hipple back to pass -- and it's complete, a first down!What's that yellow thing?"PENALTY. ILLEGAL USE OF HANDS."
I'm starting my own hall of fame. For hoopla. I call it The Hoopla Hall Of Fame. It will be truly amazing and unbelievably fantastic.All the BIG NAMES will be in it. You know. The sports heroes the media have decided you cannot live without for more than five minutes.William (The Refrigerator) Perry will be in my Hall of Fame, posing with a GE Frost-Free. Boris Becker will be there, too. Right next to Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant.
EDMONTON, Alberta -- "Hey, how does this machine work?" Greg Stefan hollered. He was with several teammates inside a subway station. They were heading to a morning practice at Northlands Coliseum. But the ticket box kept spitting back Stefan's quarters."Drop them a little slower," suggested Mel Bridgman. "Like this. See? Give it a chance to settle, and it works."Stefan let the coins drop more slowly. And out came his ticket. He grabbed it, marched ahead to his teammates, and fell into their pace.
EDMONTON, Alberta -- "Hey, how does this machine work?" Greg Stefan hollered. He was with several teammates inside a subway station. They were heading to a morning practice at Northlands Coliseum. But the ticket box kept spitting back Stefan's quarters."Drop them a little slower," suggested Mel Bridgman. "Like this. See? Give it a chance to settle, and it works."Stefan let the coins drop more slowly. And out came his ticket. He grabbed it, marched ahead to his teammates, and fell into their pace.
SEATTLE -- When the game was over and the crowd was singing and the players had gathered in front of the TV cameras, arm in arm, sweat on sweat, screaming, howling, ready for their 60 seconds of network glory, only one of the victorious Wolverines was missing."Hey . . . where's Rumeal?" said Terry Mills."YO! RUMEAL!" yelled Sean Higgins.Suddenly, Rumeal's image flashed on the monitors. He had slipped away to find his family. And there he was, in the stands, raising a six-year-old boy over his head, kissing him, waving his hand.
SEATTLE -- When the game was over and the crowd was singing and the players had gathered in front of the TV cameras, arm in arm, sweat on sweat, screaming, howling, ready for their 60 seconds of network glory, only one of the victorious Wolverines was missing."Hey . . . where's Rumeal?" said Terry Mills."YO! RUMEAL!" yelled Sean Higgins.Suddenly, Rumeal's image flashed on the monitors. He had slipped away to find his family. And there he was, in the stands, raising a six-year-old boy over his head, kissing him, waving his hand.
"Jack, if . . . " a reporter began."Jack, but . . . " a reporter began.Oooh. This was too good. Jack Morris couldn't resist. He leaned back smugly against his locker and began to sing."If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Mer-ry Chris-tmaasss."Pause."Dandy Don Meredith," he quoted, "Monday Night Football."Jack Morris, Monday afternoon baseball.
Mike Henneman put the can of Foot Guard in one corner and lined his shoes neatly along the bottom rack. This was the first game of the year in Tiger Stadium. He had a new locker. Dan Petry's old locker."He passed it on to me," said Henneman, a good friend of Petry's before Petry's trade to California in December. "He wanted me to sit here. We came to work out once during the off- season, and he said, 'You know, Mike, someday you're gonna have to get out of the corner where you're sitting now.' "
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.
