The first piece of hate mail I ever received came from a Michigan State fan.He felt our sports section was giving Michigan too much attention while ignoring his team, the Spartans. The letter went something like this:"I'm sick of all the publicity U-M and its crybaby coach Bo Schembechler get in the Free Press. How come you never write about the Spartans? How come it's always MICHIGAN MICHIGAN on the front page and then some little article on State buried inside by the tire ads?
When Bill Bonds arrives with three cameras -- one of them always pointed at himself -- and asks a million questions so he can look good on the local news, that's not journalism. It's theater.When Bo Schembechler bangs his fist on the podium and says "NO!" to this, "NO!" to that, and insists he is doing it "for the fans," that's not negotiating. It's theater.When Ed McNamara drops his jowls and looks deadly serious and says, "This is all part of a plot for the Tigers to move out of Michigan," that's not informed knowledge. It's theater.
On the morning of the last day of the best days of his life, Ernie Harwell got up and put a cassette into the small recorder he had plugged in under the sink. "This is Sammy Fain singing," he said. The recorder spit out scratchy sounds of an old man and a piano, a ballad, a pretty melody. We came together young and strongThe summer smiled and touched us with a songfor that one summerthat one sweet summer
A strange thing happened to me this week. I was nearly mowed down by a car racing toward a bookstore.Normally, I wouldn't mind this, since at least the person was in a hurry to read, instead of getting home in time to watch "The Simpsons." Then I noticed other cars also speeding toward the parking lot, and people -- mostly women -- slamming their doors and racing into the store."What's going on?" I asked."Gone With The Wind," I was told.
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.
