Close Enough
By · CommentsOK, it’s getting ridiculous now, the range of actress Glenn Close. Is there any character that she can’t, or won’t, play? Not satisfied with playing a wide range of women, Close is now branching out to the other gender—sort of. Close is now dazzling us in “Albert Nobbs,” where she plays the title character: an [...]
Read full entry ⇒Victor Martinez’s name just got wiped off the front pages as if it had been written on a dry erase board. There have been some shocking free agent signings in baseball since Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally unleashed the genie from the bottle back in 1975. But the Tigers signing of Prince Fielder today caused [...]
Read full entry ⇒Ice hockey, the world’s fastest sport, is played at blinding speed by powerful men gliding along the rink on razor-sharp blades fastened to their boots, swinging fiberglass sticks at a vulcanized rubber disc. It’s polo played on ice, sans the horses. The thrills and chills come from the long, effortless strides of a puck-carrier as [...]
Read full entry ⇒Nature or Plastic?
By · CommentsLesley Visser, the statuesque, longtime correspondent for CBS Sports, was on my TV screen last weekend. And I barely recognized her. She had that “look” about her. The one that has, more and more, vexed both male and female celebrities—though more female than male. The “look” is what we’ll refer to here as “the Joan [...]
Read full entry ⇒V-Mart’s Loss Tough, But There’s Still a Season to Play
By · CommentsThe knee is an unpredictable and petulant joint—one that can take an inordinate amount of pounding, twisting and extending, then can buckle and tear while performing much less strenuous activities. We’ve had some famous knees in Detroit sports. Nick Eddy was a hard-running, even harder working running back for the Lions in the late-1960s. A [...]
Read full entry ⇒He was the NHL’s original Iron Man—a man of perfect attendance, whose offices were located in six Taj Mahals of indoor sports venues. Long before the tentacles of corporate sponsorship wrapped themselves around the naming of stadiums and arenas, the NHL of Johnny Wilson was played in a half dozen barns, each wonderfully devoid of [...]
Read full entry ⇒Zoom-Zooming Out of Motown
By · CommentsLast we saw Joel Zumaya on a big league diamond, he was throwing out a ceremonial first pitch at Comerica Park. He acknowledged the big cheers, and for the briefest of moments, it was 2006 all over again. But the more resonating image of Zumaya, the fireballing reliever, was of him writhing on the ground [...]
Read full entry ⇒Wild Pitch
By · CommentsWhatever happened to Mr. Belvedere? Or Marilyn Turner, hawking Carpet Center? How about Bob Allison for Bobson Construction? Remember Mel Farr and his cape, “flying” through the skies over Metro Detroit, promising a “Farr better deal” on Ford cars? Or the Metro Detroit Ford Dealers commercials, which always featured sports celebrities, including all the Detroit [...]
Read full entry ⇒Unearned Parting Gifts
By · CommentsSince when does being a member of a studio audience entitle one to be showered with gifts? Shows all over the dial, from “The View” to “Dr. Phil” to “Ellen,” are treating their audiences like they’re all Queens for a Day. It’s gotten out of hand, all the gift-giving. It started several years ago with [...]
Read full entry ⇒Lions’ Playoff Loss is GM Mayhew’s Mulligan
By · CommentsThey say you should never bring a knife to a gunfight. Well, the Lions didn’t; they brought a shotgun. Trouble is, the New Orleans Saints have a howitzer. The Lions, 45-28 losers on Saturday night in New Orleans, didn’t get blown out because they don’t have a good offense. The Lions lost big because [...]
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