On Kobe

I might have relished in seeing Kobe Bryant humbled yet again but, in all honesty, I wanted him to win. I wanted him to demolish Steve Nash and for Nash to have the most illegitimate Podoloff trophy since b-ball curmudgeon Gnarls Barkley. But by the time the Mayorga-De La Hoya undercard began, the L.A. faithful must have been straining not to change channels. I haven't seen Kobe in this state, degenerated and disgusted by team basketball, hoping for a swell conclusion without imposing it himself. The guy is great and he should not have to feel depressed because there is a vicious media (Drew included) waiting for him to crack. It's not right.

I was flummoxed by his lack of shots and seeming surrender on Saturday night until I realized what kind of thoughts must be enveloping him as his team went down 14...then 25...then 30. Here is my interpretive inner Kobe-logue; it may provide some perspective for the reader.

As Suns go up 15: "Damn. If I take more shots, these guys will be colder than they are now...scored 50 on 'em with no cigar. Maybe Smush and Sasha need some buckets?"

As Suns dominate by 20: "What's an MVP anyway? One hundred twenty six guys in America think this guy is better than me. Are they right? They're gonna be creaming their pants when we lose. At least I made them sweat for that silly choice. Silly."

Down 30: "Long as Wade don't win one, I'm good. When do they start playin' again...I'ma have Vanessa program the TiVo. To-do list: Send Shaq congratulations card for the baby before he sends to me."

Now, for those who might errantly suggest that Kobe is a quitter, I'll ask you this: do we know the same No. 8? Didn't everyone get a least a bit excited in overtime of Game 6 when he hit that first three ball over Marion? (Interesting sidebar: My buddies and I had the penultimate game behind by about 3 minutes when one of us gets a text saying "Kobe is the most vicious player in basketball" which prompts us to a debate over whether or not to fast-forward and one shouting "there's no way they came back! there's no way!") He plays to win the game but he was plastered by a better group of players.

This all leads to the age-old aphorism. Walk a mile in his shoes. It's not like the placid Peyton Manning commercial that mocks the zeal of fans by turning the QB into an intrusive fan. It's more like being Jack Johnson and knowing that the scale of your accomplishments will be made relative to the amount of criticism you face for...well...greatness.

The great black athlete with any smack of arrogance will soon be destroyed my the media. It happens every time. The "race card" term amuses me in the sense that there is a faction of people who wholeheartedly believe that we only apply race when there is a troublesome situation, that blacks are only interested in bemoaning injustice. How laughable that these athletes, who predicate their career and spirits on triumph, would so easily bask in the implication of social defeat. Please.

On Bonds

I want Barry to crush Babe Ruth's homerun record even more than I want Kobe to reach for the Finals and not because I'm an avid baseball guy. The rise of the Steroid Era was marked by Canseco, Maguire, Giambi and Caminiti more than it was by Barry Bonds. Barry Bonds was a 40-40, Gold Glover before he began to allegedly juice. His indulgence in performance enhancing drugs could be likened to Jordan taking them during his Wizard days. The greatness had already been established and the legacy was undoubtedly there.

I would never excuse cheating but for a man who has been cheated by the MLB and fans, had his life threatened and lived to swing another day, I could dang sure understand it. I could understand his impulse to disprove the people who thought that Maguire was a better power-hitter or that Barry Bonds was not the Player of His Time. Like Kobe, he must face a media that has been more focused on his prickly responses to constant inquiry than to his ability to dominate year after year. Give him his 715, let him keep his 73. You don't know his plight (just like I don't) and you never will. Bud Selig drew my disdain for his callous comment about refusing to commemorate Bonds' achievement. Selig made a glib remark about "not reading into it" before then offering a token to fans with specialized balls for the record-breaking at-bats.

So yes, it is about race and it is about overcoming difficulty. Sports is the struggle for fairness more than it is about the dollar signs. Kobe and Barry will never be afforded the former and for that I respect their persistence.