Lynn Henning The Detroit News Published 11:28 PM EST Jan 31, 2019 The first day on the job as a full-time journalist and sports writer was Aug. 5, 1974, a hot, bright Monday morning, three days before President Richard Nixon resigned, and with a 7 a.m. start at the Battle Creek Enquirer. A guy two months after grabbing his journalism degree from Michigan State had secured that most aspired of all prizes: a job at a daily newspaper. I walked into the office and joined my two sports-staff partners, Dick Lovell and sports editor Bill Frank. My first task: write a cutline (photo caption) for an Associated Press photo of Jack Nicklaus from the Pleasant Valley Classic's final round. Four decades and many million words later, it ends, formally anyway, today at The Detroit News, a wondrous employer for nearly all of the past 40 years. There have been moments and minutes so magical, and so frequent, as to defy any orderly account. But here goes on … [Read more...] about Henning: 45 years covering sports provide endless memories
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Spoiler Alert: A 900hp Turbocharged LS2 Porsche
Window Shopping I can finally add a third item to my list of unexpected things that come from Iceland: volcanic ash clouds, a half decent national football team and Fannar Thor’s 900hp turbo V8-powered Porsche 944 drift car. It was one of the first machines that caught my eye when I arrived at Gatebil. Here I was, fresh off the plane in Norway, standing in front of a widebody Porsche 944 sporting a huge wing, with two screamer pipes and an LS intake sticking out of the bonnet. In many ways, Fannar Thor’s 944 ‘F2’ set the scene for what I could expect from Rudskogen’s liveliest festival. Fannar has owned his Porsche 944 for around 16 years. In fact, it was his very first car, and he spotted it one day when taking the bus home from school, and instantly fell in love. Fortunately, the Porsche was up for sale at a local car dealer, and that very same day Fannar and his uncle retraced his route, found the dealer and bought the car there and then. “It was … [Read more...] about Spoiler Alert: A 900hp Turbocharged LS2 Porsche
Justify shakes off muddy track, wins 144th Kentucky Derby in commanding performance
Democracy Dies in Darkness Sections Home Try 1 month for $1 Username Sign In Account Profile Newsletters & Alerts Gift Subscriptions Contact Us Help Desk Subscribe Account Profile Newsletters & Alerts Gift Subscriptions Contact Us Help Desk Accessibility for screenreader Sports Justify and jockey Mike Smith cross the finish line first. (Brian Spurlock/USA Today Sports) by Chuck Culpepper by Chuck Culpepper Email the author May 5 at 7:30 PM Email the author LOUISVILLE — With a run of exquisite command and mastery given a capable and chaotic field of 20 colts, veritable greenhorn Justify won the 144th Kentucky Derby on Saturday evening on a track officially marked sloppy but closer to deluged. He granted a sight that looked very much like greatness and cemented himself as a star after snaring the lead with a half-mile left and keeping it from there. He also used his nimble hoofs and … [Read more...] about Justify shakes off muddy track, wins 144th Kentucky Derby in commanding performance
First Drive: 2019 Toyota Avalon
DEL MAR, California — Jimmy Durante Boulevard just north of San Diego is the perfect stretch of pavement to experience the 2019 Toyota Avalon.Like the street’s eponymous comedian/entertainer, the all-new fifth-generation sedan has a schnoz that only the Great Schnozzola could appreciate.“My nose isn’t big. I just happen to have a very small head,” the funny man used to say.If you compare the Toyota flagship’s new grille with the nose of a fighter jet, well it definitely looks small. But if you parked it next to a Lexus LS, its spindle grille would look tiny.Premium XLE and Limited trims of the 2019 Avalon feature a large slotted grille that’s as wide as the 805 Freeway, while sporty XSE and Touring models get a big, piano black mesh one. Hybrids get both plus grille shutters to help cool the engine.Head on, the grille appears to smile like a Cheshire cat with Triple-J LED headlamps for eyes above its side air intakes. Limited and Touring models … [Read more...] about First Drive: 2019 Toyota Avalon