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Bryant makes case against idolizing
jocks
By Rick Morrissey
Chicago Tribune
(KRT)
CHICAGO _ We're supposed to be shocked by Kobe Bryant's behavior, just
as we were supposed to be shocked by Michael Jordan's behavior, just as
we were supposed to be shocked by the behavior of (your favorite athlete
here).
I'm shocked anyone is shocked. When players' statistics include career
points, rebounds and DNA swabs, shock seems a little out of place.
You say you're not shocked, just disappointed in Bryant? I have a sports
survival tip for you. It's impossible to be disappointed when you have
no expectations of good behavior in the first place.
When Bryant, the former Mr. Clean, sits at a news conference and says
he is guilty of adultery, but not sexual assault, it should tell us something
once and for all: Never trust another happy word about athletes' happy
marriages.
Kobe was different, we were
told. Mature beyond his years. Married to the love of his life. Didn't
run with the pack. A homebody. But then he wanted a few things not
found on the room-service menu, had relations with a 19-year-old hotel
worker who visited him while he was staying near Vail, Colo., and
now finds himself in trouble.
If you looked at Bryant before the recent scandal and sighed, "The
perfect guy with the perfect life," you need to get yourself
to a re-education camp as soon as possible. And if you look at Jordan
and still want to be like Mike, then you desperately need to bundle
up in a coat of cynicism.
To begin with, if people are looking to Bryant for direction in their
lives, there's something very wrong with them. And if they're allowing
their children to learn about life through Bryant, they have dumped
their parental responsibilities on somebody's doorstep and taken off,
wheels squealing.
Of course, these are the same people who will give Bryant a standing
ovation in his first game back with the Lakers.There is one line of
thinking that says the NBA is in big trouble if Bryant is convicted
of sexual assault.But that thinking assumes we looked at Bryant any
differently than we did any other pro athlete. I'd like to believe
most of us, hardened by years of bad behavior by our athletes, have
learned to watch the games and be skeptical of the lives of the people
who play them. It's sort of like watching Sean Penn in a movie. |
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My interest in the NBA had nothing to do with the personalities
involved, so I won't watch any more or less now that Bryant has
fallen. I don't see Tim Duncan throw in a jump hook over a defender
and think, "What a wonderful human being. You know, I really
need to pattern my life after his." And I tell my kids to look
at the players straight on and not with adoration.
Drop your jaw at Allen Iverson's crossover dribble and roll your
eyes at his fondness for handguns. Don't rely on anything more from
Bryant than his dunks.
It's interesting and hardly surprising that one part of the Bryant
saga is the effect of the criminal charges on his marketability.
Put aside, for a second, how demeaning that topic is to all involved:
to the alleged victim, to Bryant's wife, to Bryant's family, even
to Bryant.
But it does get at the essence of what Bryant is: a commodity, a
package, a highly stylized product. And what his handlers have been
trying to sell us since he came into the NBA is class, the same
currency others have used to sell Jordan. Bryant was the anti-Iverson.
In other words, he was supposed to feel safer to white people.
And in one of the more sick twists to a sick story, there are those
who believe Bryant's legal troubles will give him more credibility
among young African-Americans with dollars to spend on basketball
shoes and jerseys. What an insult to blacks.
Several years back I wrote a profile of a pro football player, quoting
his wife as saying he had found Jesus. Apparently Jesus can be found
in a strip club because a few days after the story ran, a friend
of mine saw the player stuffing money into G-strings.
If you allow yourself to believe in these people, there's a decent
chance you're eventually going to feel like a sucker. If you marry
one, there's a decent chance you're going to end up a rich sucker.
Is it worth the betrayal?
The Charge
Text of the charging document in the Kobe Bryant case:
State of Colorado, County of Eagle against Kobe Bean Bryant
Mark D. Hurlbert, District Attorney in and for the Fifth Judicial
District of the State of Colorado, in the name and by the authority
of the People of the State of Colorado informs the Court:
COUNT 1: that on or about the 30th day of June, 2003, in the said
County of Eagle, State of Colorado, KOBE BEAN BRYANT unlawfully
feloniously and knowingly inflicted sexual intrusion or sexual penetration
on (name omitted) causing submission of the victim by means of sufficient
consequence reasonably calculated to cause submission against victim's
will.
Further the defendant caused submission of the victim through the
actual application of physical force or physical violence, in violation
of section 18-3-402 (1) (a), (4) (a), C.R.S; against the peace and
dignity of the People of the State of Colorado, in violation of
C.R.S. 18-3-402 (1)(a), (4)(a), as amended, (F3). SEXUAL ASSAULT-OVERCOME
VICTIM'S WILL. Penalty 4 years up to life in the Department of Corrections,
20 years up to life if Probation imposed pursuant to 18-1.3-1004
C.R.S. And possible fine of $3,000 to $750,000.
Respectfully submitted this 18th day of July 2003.
Mark D. Hurlbert, District Attorney
LA Laker basketball player KOBE BRYANT shows remorse
at the news conference Friday night at the Staples Center in Los
Angeles. Bryant said, 'I'm innocent. I didn't force her to do anything
against her will. I'm innocent.' Bryant was charged with felony
sexual assault of a 19-year-old woman in a hotel near Vail, Colorado.
Bryant admitted to adultery, but pleaded innocent of of the sexual
assault charge. He faces four years to life in prison if convicted.
Photo by Armando Arorizo
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