by Mitch Albom | Feb 4, 2022 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
On the first night of the rest of his life, Jim Harbaugh got snowed in. So he kicked back in a Minnesota hotel room, ate a hamburger and french fries from room service, and made phone calls to the important people in his life, telling them his decision was...
by Mitch Albom | Dec 19, 2021 | Comment, Detroit Free Press, Sports
I know the real Christmas is later this week, but another Christmas arrived this past July. The one for college athletes. On July 1, the NCAA began permitting college athletes to make money off their name, image and likeness. Nicknamed “NIL,” the rule has, quite...
by Mitch Albom | Nov 18, 2021 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Once upon a time, as a young graduate assistant, Mel Tucker used to drive Nick Saban around. Now Tucker can send a private jet, and he and Nick can compare paychecks. Tucker, who has been at Michigan State football less than two seasons, is set to become the...
by Mitch Albom | Nov 1, 2020 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Now that’s how you enter a rivalry. Ride into the other guy’s town, kick the doors in, and yell, “Howdy!” New coach Mel Tucker had exactly one performance under his belt at Michigan State, a forgettable seven-turnover loss to lowly Rutgers, before...
by Mitch Albom | Sep 17, 2020 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
If there was any doubt as to whether college football was the tail or the dog when it comes to Big Ten universities, we now know the answer. Wag, wag. Ruff, ruff. The Big Ten reversed field Wednesday as fast as a greyhound chasing a loose rabbit, veering away from...
by Mitch Albom | Feb 16, 2020 | Comment, Detroit Free Press, Sports
Dear Coach Mel Tucker: Consider this a welcome letter. Or a “welcome back” letter, because you were at Michigan State once before, in the late ’90s. Your duties back then, as a graduate assistant on the football team, you told me, included shoveling...
by Mitch Albom | Nov 17, 2019 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Just before the final snap of what he called “the state championship,” Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh pulled aside his quarterback, Shea Patterson, and said, “This year, after you kneel down, keep the ball. Don’t throw it up in the air.” “I’ve got...
by Mitch Albom | Nov 3, 2019 | Comment, Detroit Free Press, Sports
There were two days in Juwan Howard’s life that he chose Michigan. Both ended in tears. The first was almost exactly 29 years ago, when he rose and got dressed in his grandmother’s place on the south side of Chicago. She told him to wear something nice,...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 6, 2019 | Comment, Detroit Free Press, Sports
One of the great things college teaches us is that it’s not always simple. Answers can be complex and nuanced. When it comes to sharing the wealth in college sports, it’s not that simple either. California passed a “fair pay to play” law last...
by Mitch Albom | Sep 22, 2019 | Comment, Detroit Free Press, Sports
That wasn’t a football game. That was Waterloo. Forget national playoffs, forget challenging the elite programs, forget even moving the bar higher than last season. The Michigan Wolverines on Saturday looked as bad as they’ve looked since Jim Harbaugh...
