And the travels continue ...

I recently returned to Tennessee from one of the best trips of my life: Two weeks in San Diego, Orange County, L.A. and Vegas -- pretty, pretty good. I'd never spent time in California before, and relaxing on the beach in the month of December and swimming on New Year's Eve, for a cat from Michigan, was surreal. (So was the sight of 100 or so surfers in wet suits at Huntington Beach on a day where the temperature got no higher than 55 degrees. Radical.) I got to spend solid time with my high school buddy Brandon at his place in Costa Mesa and see what the O.C. is all about: A fun, diverse area with mostly down-to-earth people comfortable in their own skin. I enjoyed going into different restaurants and bars and clubs with no real clue of the type of people that would be there. I liked that. "Type-ing" is something I'd prefer to not do, and that was easy in SoCal.

The O.C. is also a MASSIVE county, with lots of different 100,000-plus cities. Suburbia for miles. Its separation from L.A. is noticeable because of the traffic. That kept us from venturing North too much, but when I finally did -- to spend some time with my uncle David, who lives in Van Nuys -- it was well worth it. David is a musician who has played with the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Boz Scaggs, George Benson and Natalie Cole through the years. He's recently been working with Smokey Robinson, and as luck would have it, he and Smokey had a recording session when I was in L.A. visiting. Sitting in on their session and listening to them arrange two songs and then lay down tracks on each tune was the equivalent of being in the locker room at halftime with Coach K and his Duke team at the Final Four. Magical.

When they finished, David took me around L.A. and showed me some of his former haunts, some cool neighborhoods and finally, his favorite sushi restaurant in Little Tokyo. I'd never had "toro" before, and it was magnificent: A fine tuna, the filet mignon of sushi.

I spent the next two nights in Las Vegas, and let's just say I had a fantastic time. Left with a little more dough in my pockets, too.

My next stop is Washington D.C., for Barack Obama's inauguration and to catch up with a few old friends. Haven't been to "OUR NATION'S CAP-IT-TAL" -- as Forrest Gump would say -- since I was a wee lad, and I'm pumped. I feel like what goes down on Jan. 20 will be as inspiring and uplifting as what occurred on Election Day -- if not more. Obama taking office means a lot to me because he seems so much more human than any other politician I've observed. He seems to understand what is real and what is realistic, and I have no doubt he will do all he can, in his power, to right the many troubling wrongs that have made our country's current footing unstable. It's time to stand strong again, and I have so much hope for the next four -- and let's hope eight -- years.

After D.C., it will be on to Cleveland to see some family and then back to my college town of Kalamazoo for our alumni basketball weekend. That's in nine days, so I'd better go get my jump shot right. I'll holler again from the road.

The state of Detroit

If you grow up in Detroit and follow sports, then you know who Mitch Albom is: The city's most recognizable sportswriter, and arguably its greatest. (I also happen to love reading Michael Rosenberg, Lynn Henning and Jon Paul Morosi.)

Albom recently wrote an exceptional piece in Sports Illustrated about Detroit and its current state of affairs. If you're from Michigan, I'm sure you can identify with a lot of what he touches on. And if you're not from Michigan, I promise that Albom's portrayal of how much Detroit cares about sports is accurate. Either way, I strongly suggest you give it a read.

Because of what Detroit is currently enduring -- as harsh an economic state as anywhere in the country -- sports is a welcomed escape. But when your football franchise is the worst in the history of pro sports, that complicates matters. When the all-time winningest college football program goes 3-9, that hurts, too. And when you can't afford tickets to the games and the seats at the once-rocking Palace of Auburn Hills look as barren as a Memphis Grizzlies game at the FedEx Forum, you know things are dark.

But the chord Albom strikes most effectively in his article -- and what was so emotionally gripping for me and my other friends who read the story -- was the unwavering hope Detroit has in its teams, in the city itself and, ultimately, in its ability to thrive.

I don't live in Metro Detroit anymore, but I'm proud to come from the area. I've always seen myself as an optimistic person -- to a fault sometimes -- and much of that comes from how I was raised by my parents. But some of it also, I know, comes from growing up where I did. It sure helped bolster my passion for sports, too, because Detroit is one of the great sports towns in the country -- perhaps the very best, as Albom suggests. My dad has often said Detroit would be an ideal place someday for the summer Olympic Games because of the great variety of venues the local colleges provide and because of the many bodies of water in and around Metro Detroit. That's something I hope to see in my lifetime.

In the meantime, Detroit struggles -- but its hope never fades. I hold the same hope, and I think that can be evidenced by this: Wherever life takes me, I'll always care how the sports teams of the town are faring. I know this.

How would LeBron do in the NFL?

I had a fascinating discussion -- actually, let's call it a heated argument -- last night concerning LeBron James's potential as an NFL player. Think about it: LeBron lined up as a wide receiver with pads and a helmet on -- all 6-foot-8, 270 of him -- and a 5-8, 165-pound defensive back trying to cover him. I think The King would dominate.

Obviously, this is hard to forecast without any evidence. But if you understand what makes LeBron such a fantastic basketball player, you should at least concede that his skills would translate to a gridiron.

LeBron is the greatest athlete playing professional sports right now, and by athlete, I mean the physical traits that make him who he is: Incredible upper and lower body strength, elite quickness, impeccable balance, tremendous speed and, above all else, a unique explosiveness I've seen from no other athlete before. Now, LeBron has a lot else going for him on the court -- his savvy, his vision, his sense of when to make a pass and an increasingly effective jump shot -- but what makes him so great is his athletic ability. No defenders can stop that train coming through the lane. No defenders want to. (I'm painfully reminded of that each time I remember the 48 he dropped on my beloved Detroit Pistons in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.)

So ... how would all of those abilities translate to a football field? Well, line him up beside the greatest receiver in the NFL -- for the sake of this argument, let's say the Texans' Andre Johnson. What makes him great? Size, strength, speed, quickness, leaping ability, great hands, a great sense of when to time his jumps and, probably most importantly, an ability to run excellent routes. The only area I feel like Johnson might have a leg up on LeBron is speed and route-running. But LeBron would learn to run good routes. And his size, strength and leaping ability would trump his less-than-elite speed. (Although if he were to run a 40-yard dash, I'm pretty sure LeBron could pull off something in the 4.6 range. Have you seen his gigantic strides? Ridiculous.)

The argument my counterpart waged centered on the great speed and quickness of NFL defensive backs, and that because LeBron isn't as fast as many wide receivers, DBs would be all over him whenever the ball would arrive from the quarterback. Touche, although I just suggested that a QB could throw the ball higher to LeBron than any other receiver, and he would just go up and get it. And on the way down, any hit from a much, much smaller DB would surely throw off his balance, but not to the degree guys like Randy Moss, Terrell Owens and even Andre Johnson lose their balance throughout the course of an NFL game.

It's a fun topic to me because I'd love to see it played out someday. In fact, if you've seen LeBron's latest ad on TV (he has some big announcement on Jan. 18 -- a new era he calls it), then you might hold the same hope I do: That LeBron will make himself eligible for the 2009 NFL Draft and become the next great two-sport athlete beginning next fall.

How exciting would that be?

As for LeBron's potential effectiveness as an NFL player ... I think he could be a Pro Bowler. What about you? And when it comes to skills translating from one league to the other ... would more NBA players be effective NFL players, or vice versa? Please weigh in.