by Mitch Albom | Oct 30, 2022 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
The game was barely history before it became secondary. Moments after Michigan thumped Michigan State on the football field, a group of Spartan players assaulted a Wolverine player in the Michigan Stadium tunnel, roughing him up and shoving...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 28, 2022 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Here is Blake Corum at 6 years old, walking barefoot in the morning through thick Virginia grass, wandering lazily to a nearby creek. He picks up rocks, looking for crawfish. In the afternoon, he drops a piece of charcoal into a bucket of water, then dips a stick...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 16, 2022 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Good news, Mom and Dad. They passed their midterms! In their first true test of this 2022 football season, the Michigan Wolverines aced the run section, aced the pass section, aced the tackling section and finally — though not without some struggle — aced...
by Mitch Albom | Jul 12, 2022 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
He was private soul with a booming public voice, a soft heart beneath a hard, gritty exterior, a good man who had a bad hour in a Southfield restaurant 27 years ago and never really stopped paying for it. Many a football coach has issued this warning to his players:...
by Mitch Albom | May 22, 2022 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Last week marked a watershed moment in college football. Nick Saban complained that a rival school had an advantage in recruiting. Saban has won seven national championships, including six at Alabama, his current school. He’s the most famous coach in his sport....
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...