Jordan’s shadows get longer with age
Mitch Albom
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
DETROIT — The toughest de
fender Michael Jordan ever faced got
up Wednesday morning and made
breakfast for his son. Then he drove
him to school. Then he went to the
office, answered calls, did e-mail,
and eventually, picked his son back
up at school and helped him with his
homework. Joe Dumars is a few
months younger than Michael Jor
dan. But he didn’t touch a basketball
all day. He didn’t break a sweat until
late afternoon, when he worked out
on a Stairmaster, while watching
CNN. In the evening, he put on a
white cotton sweater and brown
slacks, drove to the Palace, and
spent the night in his suite, watching
the game.
Jordan, meanwhile, followed the
same old NBA routine, just like
teammates 20 years younger. He
stayed at the team hotel, took the
team bus to a morning shoot
around, went back to the hotel, re
turned on the team bus a few hours
later. He dressed with the other
Washington Wizards in the
cramped visitors’ locker room.
When he emerged on the court, the
place was two-thirds empty. It was
an exhibition game, meaning no
body cared who won. Jordan was
not a starter. He stood while his
teammates were introduced.
You wonder why he does it. You
wonder how, approaching 40, this
can possibly be worth it to the
greatest player in history, these
empty nights, devoid of glory, no
longer the athlete he once was, no
longer on a team that can win any
thing that matters.
“What would you be thinking,”
Dumars was asked before the game,
sitting in an office as Jordan dressed
down the hall, “if you were in his po
sition right now?”
Dumars grimaced. “It would be
hard to find any emotion to get up
for the game.” He pursed his lips.
“Extremely hard.”
Once, Dumars was Jordan’s
biggest nemesis. Their battles in the
Eastern Conference Finals of the late
‘80s and early ‘90s were basketball
purity, flash against fundamentals,
swoop against stick.
But Dumars retired several years
ago, saying enough was enough. He
had his rings. He had a family. He
put on wire-rimmed glasses, be
came the Pistons team president,
and never played the game again,
not even pick-up.
“Right when Michael was first
coming back, he called me and said,
‘Gome on, you and me, we can both
do it,”’ Dumars recalled.
What did you say?
He laughed, and held out a
straight arm.
“I said, ‘Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Don’t
even start.’”
When Jordan entered the game
Wednesday night, with 4:43 left in
the first quarter, there was consider
able applause, but not like last year,
when he first came back after a two
year absence. He blew a bubble with
his pink chewing gum, as if to re
mind us — or maybe himself—that
a game can keep you young.
And then he looked old. He tried
backing in on 24 year-old Richard
Hamilton and threw up a shot that
hit the backboard. He tried an open
three-pointer but clanged it off the
rim. He threw the ball away. He
yelled at younger teammates, in
eluding Kwame Brown, who was in
high school 18 months ago. He
looked, at times, like an "exasperated
camp counselor.
This is not to say there isn’t still
some Jordan in Jordan. He eventually
hit one shot, and another. He grabbed
rebounds. His instincts remain im
peccable. His grace in simply running
the court is worth the ticket.
But there is less of him than there
was before. The jumps are not daz
zling. The quickness is only average.
He can bury jumpers, but jumpers
are like socks in a superstar’s suitcase.
You wonder why he does it. When
he returned to the bench, after 23
minutes and five baskets in 14 tries,
he took a seat not far from Patrick
Ewing, the former Knick who used to
battle Jordan at Madison Square
Garden. Ewing finally quit this sum
mer. Now he wears a suit and sits on
the Wizards bench, dry as talcum,
while Jordan sweats. It’s as if Michael
is trying to outlast everyone he ever
played against.
The other night, in Denver, the
Nuggets, in an effort to boost their
ticket sales, offered 8200,000 to the
Wizards if Jordan would play in their
exhibition game. It is the first time, I
believe, that an NBA player has com
manded an appearance fee.
But in many ways, that is what
Jordan’s career has come to. People
pay to catch a glimpse. It is wonder
ful for NBA marketers and wonderful
for fathers who want to point Jordan
out to their sons.
But what is in it for him? Does he
love it that much? Did he find “real”
life so dull? Or does he, as some sus
pect, truly believe he can muster
enough to win another champi
onship and shock everyone?
After the game, Durnars drove him
self home to his wife and kids, and
Jordan got on another team bus,
headed to the airport and another ho
tel. He said, on his way out, that he
never asks himself why he is here. He
said he is “having fun.” He could have
left at the top of his game. Now he bat
tles, in half-empty arenas, to try and
continue to cast a long shadow, in
stead of becoming one.
(c) 2002, Detroit Free Press.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
Troy
continued from page 13
Polamalu is still on many nation
al-award “watch” lists, despite miss
ing the two Pac-10 games. He is on
the short list for the Thorpe Award
and the Bronco Nagurski award,
both defensive awards given out at
the end of the season.
Polamalu has been one of the ma
jor factors in USG’s defensive renais
sance this season. The Trojans are
ranked first in the Pac-10 in total
defense, scoring defense and pass
defense, and are third-best in the
conference against the rush. USG is
ranked 13th in the nation in total
defense and 17th in scoring defense.
In a conference often lambasted
for its lack of tough “D,” the Tro
jans are an exception to that rule.
They allow only 286.1 yards per
game on average, and only 185.9
passing yards per game in the air
happy Pac-10.
The Trojans still have some con
ference offensive powerhouses re
maining on its schedule, starting
with Oregon on Saturday. USG also
has Arizona State and UCLA re
maining on its schedule. Oregon
and Arizona State are ranked first
and second, respectively, in Pac-10
scoring offense, averaging 38.1 and
36.3 points per game.
“The conference is loaded with
offense,” Carroll said.
But Polamalu welcomes the chal
lenge. His philosophy on football is
similar to his philosophy on life.
“Say it’s first and goal, we’re
playing Notre Dame and we’re
down by two points,” Polamalu
said. “Someone needs to make a
big play. I can tell myself in life,
Adam Amato Emerald
Troy Polamalu (43), seen here tracking down Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington
last season, is on the short list for two national defensive awards.
when my back is to the wall, I can
pull myself up because I’ve been in
a similar situation.”
Polamalu’s work ethic and deter
mination led him to a rare accom
plishment: He was elected as USG
team captain before the 2001 sea
son, as a junior.
“He is a team player, as shown
by his desire and performance on
special teams,” Carroll said. “He is
also a humble, dedicated team
leader who is respected greatly by
his teammates.”
When Polamalu leads his team
mates into his home state on Satur
day, they will need his leadership
more than ever as they face a tough
Oregon squad.
They will need him to play tough
football.
They will need him to be a man
of Troy.
Contact the sports editor
atpeterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
Sharks ‘Nab’ their
star goalkeeper
Victor Chi
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Just a few
hours after the Sharks had an
nounced the signing of Evgeni
Nabokov to a two-year contract Tues
day worth $7.15 million, the fran
chise goaltender was doing drills on
the ice with mentor Warren Strelow.
How soon will Nabokov be ready
to play? After a 1-4 stumble in which
they have yielded 22 goals, the
Sharks hope it’s sooner rather than
later as they begin a six-game trip
Thursday in Nashville.
“It’s really hard to say right now,”
Nabokov said. “We have games every
other day, so it all depends on how
much ice time I can get. I think I’m
in pretty good physical condition, so
hopefully it will be pretty quick, but
it’s hard to say.”
Coach Darryl Sutter had planned
to start goalie Miikka Kiprusoff
against Nashville even before learn
ing of Nabokov’s signing. The club
sent goalie Vesa Toskala to the mi
nors after Nabokov rejoined the fold.
Nabokov set team records last sea
son with 37 victories and seven
shutouts. He also finished fourth in
voting for the Vezina Trophy as the
league’s top goalie for the second
season in a row.
The new deal, which pays $3,525
million this season and $3,625 million
next season, was a compromise.
Nabokov, 27, got the shorter-term deal
that he had sought. And the Sharks
got him at a price consistent with
what Nabokov could have gotten via
arbitration, had he chosen to file.
Citing their concern for a possible
drop in the age for unrestricted free
agency in a new collective bargain
ing agreement after the 2003-04 sea
son, the Sharks had pushed for a
long-term deal because they wanted
to secure one of the organization’s
cornerstones.
The ineffectiveness of Kiprusoff
and Toskala was only part of the
problem for the Sharks, but it was a
glaring one as Nabokov was prepar
ing a return to Russia.
“Hey, who are we kidding here?”
Lombardi said. “To say that the
performance of the team does not
factor into the urgency of your
analysis is just not being truthful....
It heightened the urgency of it the
way we’re struggling right now. But
to be truthful, to pin this start all
on the goaltending is not fair. And
not accurate.
“There are other issues that are
reflective of this 1-4 start. To pin it
on goaltending is way too simplistic.
But of course you’re going to miss an
athlete of that caliber.”
Nabokov had not skated in more
than two weeks before Tuesday,
and he probably won’t get any ice
time today because the team has
an early flight.
“But I worked out all the time, two
to three hours a day,” he said.
© 2002, San Jose Mercury News (San
Jose, Calif.). Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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