OT Terribly sad news - Kobe Bryant

[Chris]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

When Jimmy Carter finally dies you'll see reams of words from me about a real saint of a human being.

And maybe someone will get on here and pick him apart as well, which will be as uncalled for as your snipes.

[Tonger]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Sharing my opinion isn't trolling, and I haven't shared what my opinion is of the man out of deference to this "if you don't have anything nice to say" nonsense. When Jimmy Carter finally dies you'll see reams of words from me about a real saint of a human being.



As I've stated elsewhere on this subject, if we want to have RIP threads for public figures, then just demand empty, banal RIP platitudes when these are complex, interesting figures to discuss, I think that speaks poorly of the forum's ability to actually discuss things.

Please just stop already - there is no argument here to ‘win’. You’re awesome and people really think you’re smarter than everyone else ok? Now give it a rest.

[GOTHBROOKS]

[gasman]

Okay Gothbrooks you just earned a two week timeout. I'll be happy to hand out more if this nonsense continues.

[cash05458]

Originally Posted by jtbadge

Maybe we don't need to have so many threads on a bike forum dedicated to memorializing people that have done a lot of bad stuff and also don't have anything to do with bikes

yeah...just get rid of every ot about pretty much anything then other than chain length etc...it's really not up to you or anyone to decide who "did bad things"...I personally am not a Kobie fan but you types are really full of it...dude and daughter just died and have to come out here shooting your mouths off about you don't like him and he is a "bad" person according to you...grow the **** up...

[Frankwurst]

Why are people so enamored by athletes, movie stars, rock stars and people who they have no personal connection with?

[jtbadge]

Originally Posted by cash05458

yeah...just get rid of every ot about pretty much anything then other than chain length etc...it's really not up to you or anyone to decide who "did bad things"...I personally am not a Kobie fan but you types are really full of it...dude and daughter just died and have to come out here shooting your mouths off about you don't like him and he is a "bad" person according to you...grow the **** up...

weren't you just complaining that a post (that you edited after it was quoted) was misinterpreted - and now you're saying I said he's a bad person?

[cash05458]

Originally Posted by jtbadge

weren't you just complaining that a post (that you edited after it was quoted) was misinterpreted - and now you're saying I said he's a bad person?

just let it go...you don't like the guy...I get it...whatever...let folks talk about what he meant to them without your stuff and "bad" behavior...have your own thoughts...and yeah, shut the **** up...so don't go buy your kid a kobe jersey...whatever...

[Ralph]

I am a fan....especially after retirement. RIP.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by Frankwurst

Why are people so enamored by athletes, movie stars, rock stars and people who they have no personal connection with?

That's a good question, of course. I was 27 when Kurt Cobain killed himself. His exact age. His death was sad, but it didn't shake me like Kobe Bryant's death. I've never been so affected by a celebrity's death before.

[p nut]

Years ago, I found myself on the court during the half time at a Utah Jazz game and saw him shoot around. Smoothest stroke I’ve ever seen, in person. Guy was just silky smooth. Loved watching him play. Loved his insightful YouTube break downs. Loved what he was doing for women’s sports. What a great father he was to his daughters. He will be missed.

[XXtwindad]

[QUOTE=XXtwindad;2649008]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Great 2 guard who fit the era he played in.

After that, well, that's about the only compliment I can think of for the guy.

Well, I can see your perspective. It's certainly a rational one. His legacy is complicated - undoubtedly the most complicated in this Millennium. But that doesn't explain why I've been teary eyed all day.

Kobe was a master of burnishing his own legacy. He created the "Mamba," the gunner who saved the day late in the game (the stats don't exactly agree) and the charming, charismatic, and handsome man who was tailor-made for Tinseltown. Except that was really a myth, too. See: hotel room, Colorado. And his teammates didn't exactly adore him.

Contrast Kobe with AI, who was seemingly his antithesis. And he was. Yet the press flipped the script. AI was adored by his community, and his teammates.

But it's easy to digest a ready-made script. At the Philly/LA game last night, (the same game where the cameras zoomed in on LBJ's eerily prescient "Kobe Homage" shoes) my buddy and I saw a guy embrace Mark Jackson and Van Gundy. We didn't know who it was. We were shocked when we found out it was AI. Hard to believe. He looked drastically different from his playing days.

But not Kobe. He was the first basketball superstar of the Internet Age, and for 25 years, he never appeared anything less than youthful, confident, and indestructible. Hard to reconcile the fact that he's gone.

That's why I've been crying on and off today. Especially now that I'm a parent. You want to believe that someone like Kobe, who so artfully mastered his own legacy, would be impervious to the capricious whims of fate.

But he wasn't.

https://www.heraldcourier.com/sports...e39cb09c4.html

This article sums up my feelings pretty nicely: https://www.omaha.com/sports/nationa...e897b55a0.html

From the article: "But athletes, rock stars, Hollywood legends — we hoist them high, their narratives become enmeshed in our own. And when a star’s narrative is cut short, it leaves us a loose thread. A part of us unravels.

We’re reminded no one is immune to death — not them, and certainly not us. Giants can die. That’s a gut punch. What hope does that leave for the rest of us?"

[josephr]

nvm

[soulspinner]

It appears more and more that the conditions(extreme fog contributed to this) were poor enough to ground aircraft. What was this pilot doing going into known hilly areas with extremely poor vision?

[shoota]

[QUOTE=XXtwindad;2649107]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

This article sums up my feelings pretty nicely: https://www.omaha.com/sports/nationa...e897b55a0.html

From the article: "But athletes, rock stars, Hollywood legends — we hoist them high, their narratives become enmeshed in our own. And when a star’s narrative is cut short, it leaves us a loose thread. A part of us unravels.

We’re reminded no one is immune to death — not them, and certainly not us. Giants can die. That’s a gut punch. What hope does that leave for the rest of us?"

Ugh, I can answer all of that with the greatest of Hopes, but I'm not allowed to here.