I linked to Jim Palmer’s post about his love for the Lakers in the NBA finals and made a rather unfair comment about Jim when I was really frustrated with North America’s infatuation with Kobe Bryant.
My problem with is Kobe but also with a professional sports culture (which as a big time fan, I am a part of) that says that because these guys put pucks in a goal or can score 50 in a night, it doesn’t matter if they drive drunk and commit vehicular homicide, sexually assault a women, or shoot themselves in the leg, as long as they can perform on the field, all is forgiven and forgotten. On a smaller scale, NCAA basketball is the epitome of that where it doesn’t matter what a coach did someplace else, as long as he can help us win and go deep into the tourney, all is good. I don’t know if you remember what happened with Lawrence Phillips. Late at night when the team returned from East Lansing, Michigan, Phillips went looking for his ex-girlfriend, Kate McEwen, a basketball player for the Nebraska women’s team. He found her in the apartment of another football player, Scott Frost. Frost had transferred from Stanford the year before, and was sitting out the 1995 season. Phillips found McEwen and assaulted her by dragging her down a stairwell by her hair and by her shirt. Frost was eventually able to intervene, but not before Phillips had caused significant harm to McEwen. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne kept him on the team. Talent is everything in professional sports (yes I called NCAA professional sports on purpose).
At the Centre, I help run the halfway house which deals with guys who have committed federal crimes. I won’t get into any details but in Canada, federal crimes are the most serious ones and you can use your imagination. At the same time I see every day how men can be rehabilitated and changed. I don’t think we need to give up on them. I don’t think anyone should give up on Kobe but what bothers me is how as society we elevate up Kobe and how short our memories are because of his considerable talents. His aggressive legal team and the incompetence of the Eagle Colorado police caused the case to be dropped. Shortly afterwards Kobe came out and said this
I also want to make it clear that I do not question the motives of this young woman. No money has been paid to this woman. She has agreed that this statement will not be used against me in the civil case. Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.
Of course after admitting to having unconsensual sex with someone (or rape if you prefer), the endorsements came back, fans started to buy the jerseys and he became the biggest star in the NBA. Even in Canada, The Score has done hours of documentaries just with him and Cabbie. We have short memories towards professional athletes and I think we will as long as they can continue to wow and entertain us.
Oddly enough, our attention span seems to be longer in the case involving Michael Vick and dog fighting than it does towards players who show violence towards women. I guess that is what made the situation with Jason Kidd so unique in Phoenix when Jerry Colangelo traded him to the Nets. It’s rare to see an owner take a stand like that. (although kudos to Arthur Blank in Atlanta for standing behind Vick as a person but at the same time saying there are lines that can’t be crossed).
In most cases, we tend to look the other way if they help the home team wins. Look how San Francisco still cheered for Barry Bonds in spite of overwhelming evidence than he used steroids. CFL fans overlook Warren Moon’s incidents with the law because of what he did in Edmonton and Houston (among other places). It goes beyond sports. After Rihanna was attacked by Chris Brown, I listed to numerous women call in and defend Chris Brown being played on air. Caller after caller had the same rationale. It’s good music so it doesn’t matter what he does.
So maybe I am the exception, I still think it matters what an athlete does off the court and that affects how we see them as fans. We don’t know the story and too be honest I wanted to believe Kobe didn’t do what he said he did but when he admitted it and then walked back to everything after reading an apology and confession, it bothers me because he went back to money, fame, and adoration while in the process of defending Kobe, his lawyers destroyed his accuser.
Of course I shouldn’t be surprised. According to Forbes.
Look at Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who exemplifies how the American public can overlook past transgressions by its sports stars. In 2000 the perennial All-Pro was involved in an altercation that resulted in the stabbing deaths of two people. Lewis was closely linked to the murders and eventually pled guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of justice charges. Lewis was the Super Bowl MVP the year after the incident occurred, but companies wouldn’t touch him. Yet, four years later, he’s one of the NFL’s most marketable players– not to mention the cover boy of Electronic Arts videogame Madden NFL 2005–with major endorsement deals from Reebok and Under Armour.
I wonder if this is redemption. For me redemption comes from a change in character, restitution for your actions, and life changed. By minimizing it down to what happens on the field when it is 3rd and goal or making it all about hitting a clutch shot, aren’t we minimizing both what they did and who they are? We give redemption to #24 Kobe Bryant the player but we minimize who athletes are as humans. For me I want my heroes to be heroes, not just guys who can break down a defense.
Most of you know I love NFL Films. One of my favorite was one they did on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1976 winless season (you know, before the Detroit Lions made it common). On the stories was about a running back who was cut by John Robinson because he wasn’t smart enough to learn the playbook. I cringed when I saw Robinson gently tell him. Two decades later, NFL films decides to find the player. I half expected to find him homeless. He was anything but that. He used his college education and is a teacher. He may not have had a knack for reading defenses but he knows chemistry pretty well. Yet who cares about 20+ years teaching kids, yet we idolize those we can run fast, shoot a ball, or cover a receiver.
Sports, especially professional (so-called) sports are the reality of decay in the United States. Character, professionalism, earning your way are all gone. Self-centered (or in Canada, self-centred?) lifestyle is were it is at now. It doesn’t matter how you got it or got there, it is that you have it.
It’s more than Kobe. It’s NCAA coaches and players who cheat at one school and then take another job while their old school takes the fall or in the case of Reggie Bush, turn pro. It’s Jay Cutler thinking he can lie about calling Bowlen and then getting rewarded in Chicago for it. It’s Tom Osbourn keeping Lawerence Phillips on the team after he badly beat his girlfriend up and then St. Louis drafting him in the first round and then the 49ers giving him a chance and then the Calgary Stampeders giving him a chance and then the Montreal Alouettes give him a chance because “winning is everything”. I want someone to say “Winning is important but winning is nothing without character” and then live by that.
excellent examples cited and i couldn’t agree more. i remember thinking that there’s no way i’d like Kobe after he refused to sign in Charlotte and demanded to be traded where he wanted to play. i thought the same of Eric Lindros when he refused to play in Quebec and demanded his way. i’ve never like either guy during their entire careers.
of course i realize that we’re not citing the same sorts of examples but i wasn’t surprised when “issues” cropped up for Kobe later. i wasn’t surprised when there were arguments with teammates, and i wasn’t surprised when he “believed” it was consensual and she did not. it always seems to be about ego and self-importance.
i was umping a baseball game last week when a coach and an 18 yr old left fielder began yelling at each other about how the defense should line up in a situation, eventually the kid got pulled from the game but not without an 8 yr old’s hissy fit from a “grown” youth. i was speaking with that kid after the game and i flat out told him that i would’ve done things exactly as his coach did … and he didn’t get it.
this “win above all else” mentality pervades everywhere. it sometimes makes me want to walk away from the enjoyment of sport of any kind.
Ian,
I forgot that Kobe had been drafted by Charlotte and of course as a Canadian, we all know about Lindros. I tend to think of those as business decisions. If a team can cut you at will, then I think a player can hold out for more opportunities elsewhere. As a Denver Broncos fan, it stunk when Jay Cutler did it to my team but I understand it is a business.
The other example is great though. I loved that the coach pulled the player for yelling at him because there is something for winning and losing with class. I read an article about Bobby Knight and he talked about how satisfying it was for beating teams who he knew that was cheating because Indiana and later Texas Tech did not. There is something for winning the right way (and tossing the occasional chair).
Ah, you had to bring up Bobby Knight. As an avid Michigan Wolverines fan, (I grew up in MI and lived there 33 years), Knight was always a hated figure but I liked his “hard-nosed” attitude, kind of like Gene Hackman in Hoosiers. I simply can’t imagine having a clear conscience if you cheated or used a performance enhancing drug etc. to win. Apparently, mean the end justifies the means, winning at all costs.
Given that you’re a Broncos fan and I’m a Chargers fan, I’m not accustomed to agreeing with you when it comes to sports, but this is spot on. Every time I see Ray Lewis on a TV commercial, I wonder how the families of the people he participated in killing feel when they see the same commercial.
It’s really arbitrary the way we pick and choose athletes/sports to elevate. Last week I read an article about Bryan Clay, the 2008 Olympics decathlon champion. He has an extremely humble income and lifestyle, after becoming what many call “the world’s greatest athlete.” He’ll never cash a multi-million dollar check. Here’s the link: http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/sports/olympics/02clay.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=79c02bccQ2F1Q7BkQ5B1a8swP88Q23_1_Q2FQ2Ff1Q2Fe1Q2F_1wQ258PQ23w187.YQ25isw1Q2F_s7Q7D.v!Q23Y7
My only point of disagreement in your post is on the NCAA athletes as professionals thing. Don’t forget that the vast majority of NCAA athletes gain no notoriety, and the only financial gain they’ll ever receive is their school scholarships.
Steve, well with the Broncos being so bad this upcoming year, I don’t even think we will be considered rivals of the San Diego Chargers.
I agree with your comment on the NCAA, big time basketball and football is a small percentage of university scholarship athletics.
Excellent post, Jordon. I am a 43 year-old woman who has not forgotten the crimes against women perpetrated by Lawrence Phillips or Kobe Bryant. It is a disgrace that violence against women is excused due to a perpetrator’s athletic talent. I will never watch Nebraska or the Lakers play. I have no respect for organizations that condone devaluing women.
Thanks for putting into words why I don’t like Kobe, even though I was born in LA and should be routing for the Lakers. I just can’t as long as it’s his team.
Hey everyone, thanks for your comments on this. Not everyone agrees with me but I appreciate the feedback on this. Of course the issue is bigger than Kobe and a number of athletes could have been used as an example.