by Mitch Albom | Mar 19, 2021 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
The NCAA tournament begins in earnest today, so you’d expect a certain level of excitement. But, truthfully, can you say there is a single team that the whole country is anticipating? A group of talent or arresting personalities that many have heard of but few have...
by Mitch Albom | Aug 12, 2020 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
It was like lining up for a kickoff, then waiting for months, then charging madly to the ball … and watching it flop off the tee. After a spring of wishful thinking, a summer of flimflamming, and 48 hours of confusing, closed-door debates, the Big Ten has finally...
by Mitch Albom | Mar 29, 2018 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
This is a story about coming a long way, and it begins with garlic. Lots of garlic. That’s what Axel Wagner, Moe’s father, used on the lamb he cooked the night Michigan basketball coach John Beilein traveled 4,200 miles from Ann Arbor to Berlin to meet his son....
by Mitch Albom | Mar 28, 2018 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Well, this just isn’t fair. After beating Montana, Houston, Texas A&M and Florida State, the Michigan Wolverines now have to defeat God. OK, maybe not God, His or Herself. But one of God’s more dedicated servants. A nun. And not just a nun. A 98-year-old nun. And...
by Mitch Albom | Mar 4, 2018 | Detroit Free Press, Comment, Sports
As we grapple with the evils of money and college sports, we might want to remember Jodie Foster. The actress, who enrolled at Yale University when she was 17, had already been nominated for an Oscar, been paid for many Disney movies, and even hosted “Saturday Night...
by Mitch Albom | Apr 5, 2015 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
INDIANAPOLIS – In the hyperdrive world of the NCAA tournament, it takes six days to go from overjoyed to overwhelmed. The Michigan State team that fanned crazy flames these last few weeks, flamed out badly in the national semifinals Saturday night....
by Mitch Albom | Apr 3, 2015 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
“I don’t think I would be who I am today if it weren’t for going through four years of college.”— Travis TriceBehold the senior.He is a dinosaur. A relic. A thing of the past. Four years in college basketball today suggests a failure of...
by Mitch Albom | Nov 2, 2014 | Comment, Detroit Free Press, Sports
I loved Bo Schembechler. I knew him well. Spent crazy time with him. I even co-wrote his autobiography. For years, I got to feel his wrath, brilliance, passion and affection.And I am here to say this:Michigan should stop invoking his name.As the university begins...
by Mitch Albom | Apr 1, 2014 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
NEW YORK -Keith Appling sat silently by his locker inside Madison Square Garden, his hands clasped over his eyes. He could have been praying, crying or hiding. He had reason to do all three.”I just feel like I let everybody down,” he whispered. “We...
by Mitch Albom | Mar 31, 2014 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
The Blues have it. No. Wait. The Greens. The Greens have it, don’t they? Or is it the Blues? Well, the beauty of today’s basketball feast is that we don’t have to pick. Michigan can win. Michigan State can win. There is no “either.” There...