Nothing for nothing. That's the bottom line of the Bob Probert equation. You watch him walk out the door now, motorcycle helmet under his arm, off to make big cash and who knows what trouble someplace else, and all you can do is shake your head and say what a mess, what a waste, what an ending. For all the stupid sympathy the Red Wings gave this guy, all the excuses, the lying, the coddling, the protection, the rehab -- not to mention the money -- in the end, he gives them his worst season and walks freely out the door, thanks mostly to their mistake. Nothing for nothing.
It's true, as a cop, I have plenty of weird days. But this was the weirdest. The chief calls. Wants me to interrogate a ball and a bat. I'm not kidding. A ball, a bat, and me. Down at the station. Under the hot lights."All right," I says, opening my notebook, "Mr. Bat, we'll start with you. The report claims you were kidnapped.""That's right," the bat says. He talks like he's ready to hit something. "In the middle of the game, some guy pops out of the ceiling, grabs me, and hides me in the venting system.""You must have been scared."
Maybe he wasn't "a giant in the industry" but he was big, physically big, a furry guy with a mop of hair, thick beard, cotton shirts, old shoes. When he waddled down the hall you had no choice but to say hello, and to say hello to Dorian Paster was to start a conversation that could go for hours. "He never stops talking!" some people moaned.What did they expect? He was a disc jockey.I would call him sometimes late at night at WLLZ, to leave a message for the morning shift producer."Where are you?" he would ask."Houston," I'd say.
O: Mr. Baseball CommissionerFROM: Field Correspondent RE: All-Star Break ReportDear Sir,As per your request, I am filing my report on the state of baseball at the midway point and, to sum up, let me say, Brazil 3, Netherlands 2.No, you're right, that is not baseball. But that is my point. More people are now familiar with World Cup soccer than they are with many parts of our national pastime, such as when does the strike start, who makes the playoffs, what division does Milwaukee play in, and is the strike over yet?
WIMBLEDON, England -- I saw it. I swear. It was gone in an instant, but I saw it. Men's semifinals, third set, a hotly contested point, and I spotted -- are you ready for this? -- a bead of sweat on Pete Sampras' forehead!Well. I thought I saw it.Maybe someone's air conditioner was leaking.The Iceman Serveth. Everybody duck. The latest racket in the world of racquets is this skinny, dark-haired, unflappable tennis machine that makes the cop who chased Schwarzenegger in "Terminator 2" seem like Fred MacMurray.
WIMBLEDON, England -- If she weren't gay, this would be such a big story. Cameras would be following her all week, and TV and radio would be updating her progress. But here is the dirty little secret about Martina Navratilova. Not that she's a lesbian. We've known that for years. She admits it. Talks about it. Doesn't try to hide it. The dirty little secret is that she keeps paying for it.
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.
