Kobe Bryant Dies in Helicopter Crash

[habsfan1]

 

[GDAWG]

 

 

 

 

[Around the Horn]

 

[The_Admiral]

3 hours ago, DG_Now said:

Some of it has to be of the variety "Cry you little sportsball babies but did you know your hero WAS A RAPIST????" And that's part of the sentiment I think I was trying to get at; what exactly is the utility of condensing a complicated incident that all parties have moved on from, and distilling Kobe Bryant to yada yada yada sexual assault?

 

It's just the garden-variety narcissism of blue-check Twitter. Lob some grenades, take heat for it, then "in a way the real victim in all this is me" and watch the "are you okay"s roll in. It's all in extremely bad faith.

[Red Comet]

3 hours ago, DG_Now said:

I don't think the utility of any of this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/27/posts-misguided-suspension-felicia-sonmez-over-kobe-bryant-tweets/

 

Some of it has to be of the variety "Cry you little sportsball babies but did you know your hero WAS A RAPIST????" And that's part of the sentiment I think I was trying to get at; what exactly is the utility of condensing a complicated incident that all parties have moved on from, and distilling Kobe Bryant to yada yada yada sexual assault?

 

Maybe I'm being a sportsball baby, but I doubt John Lennon obits talked about him abandoning his son and beating his wife. Or maybe they did, I don't know.

 

People like that would rather look like a good person than actually try to be one. Mainly because looking like a good person is easy and actually being one is hard.

 

And then there are parasites who care more about external validation than asking themselves "If I thought about posting this after an hour, would it still be a good idea"? If so, then by all means, the world needs your scorching takes but don't be surprised if you burn yourself with said takes.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

13 minutes ago, the admiral said:

 

It's just the garden-variety narcissism of blue-check Twitter. Lob some grenades, take heat for it, then "in a way the real victim in all this is me" and watch the "are you okay"s roll in. It's all in extremely bad faith.

 

I don't want to agree with this...but I do. The flip side of woke culture can be a whole lot of yearning to be a victim.

 

Mining Kobe sadness for controversy, retweets and Reddit karma is a sad way to function. Some people need better and different hobbies.

[Wings]

The mark of a good person is not accepting adulation or reward for your kind acts. Just doing them is enough. 

[The_Admiral]

I'm not sure it's even about wokeness in and of itself so much as a culture of insularity and collective reinforcement (or, to be less charitable, enabling). They all know how the script will play out: rage from the out-group, support from the in-group, and a nice dopamine rush from knowing the right people like you and have your back. No one who called attention to Kobe Bryant's rape scandal walked away thinking "God, I really thought they'd take that a lot better."

 

The whole structure of likes, hearts, and upvotes (dad, get me out of this) is as addictive and unhealthy as any number of vices.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I just upvoted that before I finished your post.

 

We should ditch the like system. It's silly and the idea of a leaderboard is so weird and gross.

[GDAWG]

Gianna was a pretty good basketball player, so much so that the hope was that she would make the WNBA relevant when she got there.  It wasn't meant to be.

[GDAWG]

 

 

[GDAWG]

 

[GDAWG]

 

 

[SFGiants58]

4 hours ago, DG_Now said:

I just upvoted that before I finished your post.

 

We should ditch the like system. It's silly and the idea of a leaderboard is so weird and gross.

On the contrary, I think it’s useful for showing support during debates.

Like, we should be able to signify agreement without having to comment, right? 

[Digby]

8 hours ago, GDAWG said:

Gianna was a pretty good basketball player, so much so that the hope was that she would make the WNBA relevant when she got there.  It wasn't meant to be.

 

I hate to say this because it's unfair, but it's also true that I'd hoped that maybe seeing a handful of our generation's daughters in the WNBA might elevate the profile of the women's game and function as a fun generational sequel. Still might happen but so far it seemed like Gianna might be the torchbearer for that.

[Digby]

9 hours ago, DG_Now said:

 

I don't want to agree with this...but I do. The flip side of woke culture can be a whole lot of yearning to be a victim.

 

Mining Kobe sadness for controversy, retweets and Reddit karma is a sad way to function. Some people need better and different hobbies.

 

I don't think it's at all fair to assume that anyone who dares speak ill of the dead is a victimhood-seeking grifter. It's insane that the Post suspended a reporter over daring to tweet.

[LMU]

The issue with the exhumation of the Colorado controversy is that those who are doing it either weren’t old enough at the time to fully comprehend the nuance or are generalizing the point either out of convenience or “woke” retroactive imposing of current standards/norms.  I followed the case with a fine-toothed comb as it happened being a Laker fan and being in LA so here’s my analysis:

 

To flat out call him a rapist is disingenuous since:

*All charges were dropped

*The settlement/apology statement was not the smoking gun confession that everyone is insinuating. The statement was that he was sorry that there was a miscommunication of what was perceived on both ends as consent. It’s very similar to the Aziz Ansari situation in that regard but is not at all a confession, and writing a check to make a burdensome trial go away is commonplace.

 

And you also have the issues that arose with the case itself, mainly that she reportedly bragged to her friends that she slept with him and that she reportedly bragged at a party that she was using his money to buy a koala. The other issue at the time was that the DA, Mark Hurlbert, was facing a tough re-election and overreached with this case as campaign material. Then you also have Kobe defending himself in the media and in the legal system against an anonymous accuser who was only revealed after she was named on the Tom Leykis Show.

 

Was I in the room? Was anyone else in the room? No. But, this black and white posthumous public trial is far more complex than what is being brought up, and he certainly did a great, great deal to atone, reinvent himself, and make a positive impact.

[Digby]

I don't think it is worthwhile to re-litigate the case, but I also don't think it's fair to assume anyone who brings it up at this point is doing so in bad faith and has their story wrong. That's all.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

7 minutes ago, Digby said:

I don't think it is worthwhile to re-litigate the case, but I also don't think it's fair to assume anyone who brings it up at this point is doing so in bad faith and has their story wrong. That's all.

 

No, of course everyone isn't doing so in bad faith. But I do think some who have never said anything about Kobe Bryant, never said anything about basketball, and never noticed the strides Kobe's made as a person since 2003 are likely acting in bad faith. Is the assault case part of Kobe's legacy? Yes, absolutely. Can you fairly reduce him to just that? No, you can't though people are trying.

 

None of that excuses death threats or whatever. Everyone likely needs to chill (me included). But it's also helpful to call some of this latest battle in the culture war what it is.

 

Also, some of my anti-Kap extended family members are posting "what about the Altobellis?" memes on Facebook. So that's out there too.

[Red Comet]

I don't think it would kill anyone to wait a week to let people mourn Kobe Bryant and then talk about his entire life, warts and all. But less than 24 hours after it? Just sounds like a vampire looking for attention.