RIP Kobe

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Vonnegut, Jan 26, 2020.

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  1. Vonnegut

    Vonnegut Well-Known Member

    While he may have had a colorful personality and history, his talent was unreal. Also sad to hear that his youngest is only six months old, that will be rough.

    Helicopter Crash
     
  2. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    The 'Black Mamba' was the greatest high-school-to-NBA player ever. Five souls perished; no survivors. Reportedly, one of his children was one of the five.

    His father, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant was a long-time role-player in the NBA and in Europe.
     
  3. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  4. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Wow . . . another death that no one would have known about if it were not reported on DI.

    :emoji_zzz::emoji_zzz::emoji_zzz::emoji_zzz::emoji_zzz::emoji_zzz:
     
  5. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Almost as predictable as your comment. Do us all a favor though, see if you can avoid that "bull shinto" joke. It wasn't very funny the first hundred times and then it became annoying after that.
     
    SteveFoerster likes this.
  6. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Implying what, that the only matters discussed on this board are breaking news?
     
  7. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  8. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Could be. It's hard to tell in cases like that with no witnesses and very little evidence indicating it was not consensual. But she won a serious settlement from him and an apology (written by her attorneys prior to the settlement--he issued the apology before settlement talks began). When you read both their stories--and their words--they seem to be interpreting the same act differently. If I was faced with voting on a jury, I'd vote to acquit in a criminal case (where the standard is beyond a reasonable doubt), and would vote he is responsible in a civil case (where the standard is preponderance of the evidence). In other words, I think there is more reason to think he did it than not, but not enough to convict him of a crime. YMMV.
     
  9. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

  10. Vonnegut

    Vonnegut Well-Known Member

    Personally, I hate to dwell on the negative, and never want to overtly disparage the deceased. Kobe never escaped that incident in the hotel room, and we likely owe it to each other to not wash it away as well. The more we learn, there seems to be so many ethically and morally sordid stories about so many historical and present day figures. In the end, we're all human. I still think it's worth sending applause for amazing accomplishments, and I don't think that trivializes or ignores the negative. If he was raised in this day and age, and the event occurred today, I do believe it would likely have ended differently. Or so I would like to believe, and would like to also believe that at some levels we're improving as a society. Earlier today I saw a friend post a blog post, which I think beautifully summarizes the complexities of his passing. Excerpt posted below.

    "There is no shame in grieving the end of a human life; it is good to feel, especially for the people who knew and loved the person who died. No matter how painful or complicated a person’s legacy, considering their death with softness and grace calls on us to draw from the best parts of ourselves.

    That same work of compassion also calls on us to remember that no person is an island. All of our lives leave ripples. Some lives are tsunamis. Compassion is not summarizing the beauty of the wave; it’s picking through the wreckage, reckoning with who was hurt. Awe without honesty isn’t respect; it’s myth. Admiration of only the easy parts is fanaticism, not reverence.

    What we admire is so overwhelmingly male, so much of the time. And as a result, what we are willing to set aside, what we deem inconvenient, the worse-makers of more important male matters, is overwhelmingly female. If we want our heroes to be better men, and if we want more of our heroes to be women, and if perhaps we want a world in which our stories are more honest than the framework of heroes and villains allows, well — we have to start by telling the whole truth.
    "

    Click here for full blog post.
     
  11. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Well, as y'all know, I love to dwell on the negative. :D

    Speaking of which, here's my favorite rape song. It's from The Fantasticks, the longest running musical in NYC ever. The singer (cool bit of trivia) is Jerry Orbach, who most people will remember better as Detective Lenny Briscoe on Law & Order.

     

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