dabuda

oh yeah, he went to his HS prom with brandy if i remembered correctly...man that seemed so long ago...

yuhoo22

With Shaq on my team, I would look good to....everyone makes a big deal that they still won games while Shaq was out, but that was early in the season.

dabuda

valid points...nba fans seem to like players that have gone thru hard times and appreciate what they have now. this probably applies to anyone actually

Mokos23

hey yuhoo22, how do you feel about jordan? you're prob a huge knicks fan?

Junkster

lol, that's one of my father's main complaints about Kobe:

Dad: "it was cool when Jordan did it... but Kobe just looks like an ass"

Junkster, who thought it was just one person's observation

Junkster

When shaq deems so much attention in the post, it's easy to do whatever for a guard.

Still, the guy's talented, by all means.

Junkster, whose just got a phd... playa hatin' degree

Junkster

Oh, that's another thing, he had a HS girlfriend back than, and he still took Brandy... what an ass...

Junkster, who can't find a good personal quality of Kobe

yuhoo22

If he didn't have Shaq, it would have be the Timberwolves vs. Pistons and the Timberwolves vs the Spurs.

Kobe can eat a big fat one. Crying cause he got caught banging some other chick.

yuhoo22

me too junkster

yuhoo22

but only on Kobe!

yuhoo22

I guess I picked up PW from you also Junkster

yuhoo22

Junkster

Just spreadin' the message of PWin' and RWin'

Junkster, whose the minister of these catagories

dom

Jordan made it look good.

Junkster

And remember how Gatorade tried to cash in by making Gatorade gum?
Man, I remember buyin packs of those for tennis, just so I could do the Jordan strut.

Junkster, who doesn't chew gum much anymore

dabuda

jordan made a lot of things look good...esp with that tongue hanging out

also when jordan made a game winning shot he has this expression on his face of will and determination

but when kobe makes a game winning shot he looks pompous, like he expected no less

Junkster

pompous, what a great word for Kobe...
I really hated him this year after the western finals...

q: Who would you like to face out of the east, Indiana or Detroit?
Kobe: It doesn't matter... bring it on.

I just wonder if someone just won't smack him upside the head...
Game 3, time to see who brings it... will the Lakers start rolling? Will Detroit bounce back or fall flat? Is the Laker mystique too much to stop? What comical line will Shaq pull? Will Kid Rock be there, dressed like trailor trash? Will Big Ben sport the 'fro?

Junkster, whose questions will be answered this afternoon

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:pee: Lakers

I hope the Pistons win it.

jlukja

When's the last time any athlete responded to that question with, "Oh, _____ , I definitely would rather face _______ than ________" There are reasons not to like Kobe but that question is not one of them.

As far as your questions go, my answers are: no, bounce back, yes, who can ever tell with Shaq, yes, yes, and yes.

Junkster

Oh, that question was totally blown by Kobe...

Most atheletes would say something to the effect of "oh, it would be tough either way... ____ has great defense and ____ leads/coaches the team well, ____ also won't be an easy match up. It should be a tough battle"... yea, I can imagine someone JUST saying "it doesn't matter" as in they just have to do what they have to do, but to add, 'bring it on'? What are you, in a dance off?

Kobe the pompous... I like how that sounds...

Junkster, who thinks jlukja's other answers are funny... yes, yes, maybe, no...

TinkySD

Yall should just keep drinking your hatorade! It's the same expression...the belief that you will make the shot and the cajones to be the one to want to shoulder the burden.

Junkster

I love my hatorade... keeps my hate going strong!!!
I know, there are alot of Laker bandwagoners... I mean fans, out there, and I do admit that Kobe, just based upon his athletic ability and knowledge, is the best right now, and has the potential to be the greatest... I just don't think he's endeared himself to the public much.

Junkster, whose part of that public

jlukja

I saw the movie, some future (and present) hotties there.

Junkster

Have you seen the South Park episode with that dance-off? It's hilarious... the kids don't understand anything, while the parents and chef are like "well great job, now it's on... it's on" and lines like "we'll bring it"...

Junkster, who loved that episode and the Passions episode

TinkySD

I've been a fan of the lakers since the show time days! Kobe is unstopable when he's on but he can often be a little out of control. Still, at the end of a game there is no one I'd rather have taking a game winning shot.

What I do find interesting is all the people with so much love for Jordans persona. This is the same guy that had such a compulsion for competition he would get into fights with teamates in practice, not run the plays the coaches called, bet tens of thousands of dollars gambling and was so arrogant about his abilities he thought he could move on to play other sports at the highest level.

I just don't see how the things Kobe does are all that much different. Maybe it's the media? Then again I have no reputation points so maybe it's just me!

Junkster

Oh, Tinky, I'll hook you up with points...

Oh, MJ was not a perfect person by a long shot, heck he even had a mistress a long time ago... But he conducted himself much more carefully than Kobe. I just think Kobe was thrown into the NBA lifestyle with no real preparation and knowledge of how to deal with people.
And it is sad that people hate such a great athlete, but I expect more from them when I give them my hard earned cash for their big contracts. I want personality, I want leadership, I want mystique, I want the whole package...

Junkster, who can only think of a handfull of people to take the last shot in a game

jlukja

Did a search on Bring It On and ran across this pic. I had to share. Gabrielle Union. She is gorgeous.

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That's exactly it, Junkster. For as much money as these people are making, they need to exhibit a certain level refinement in their attitude, even if they have to fake it.

Speaking of money...it's always bothered me that athletes make so much, yet soldiers at war, policemen, firemen, the large marjority of doctors, and medical researchers don't make jack in comparison. I think giving your life for a country, protecting the lives of others, and looking for the cure to cancer, AIDs, and diabetes should get a little more respect.

Junkster

I have another point of view on professional athletes and money... since my brother aspires to be one...

I know alot of older tennis players, guys that won Wimbledon, were number one in the past... And now at their advanced age, the tolls on their bodies start to show. I know a guy that can't bend his left knee, there's just a screw driven in to hold the thing together. Another has skin cancer because of constant exposure to the sun. I met Rick Barry in a charity tennis match and we played tennis together... the guy can barely move without some sort of pain.

Athletes pay with their bodies for 10 or so years of service, and then they are expendable for the sport... which leaves them those years to make the earnings needed to last their lifetime, along with the medical costs coming down the road. So, it's unfair to say that NBA league minimum is more than what the president makes... the president isn't forgotten and tossed after his term, an athlete usually is.

As for the salary, yea, some are pretty rediciulous (A-Rod isn't worth that much), but I say... better that the performers get paid then the owners who don't do jack squat for the team besides take profit from it (LA Clippers anyone?)

Junkster, who thinks caps are needed in all sports

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Hmm....that's an interesting point. I agree that team owners are paid too much for what they do. Also, if the athletes didn't spend so much money on the extravagant lifestyles, they would have plenty of money left to retire on. I mean...do you really need 10 different cars each with $10K in rims, another $50K in custom interior, and $20K in stereo equipment only to never drive them? Plus, these are mostly $100K+ cars to begin with. A little less extravagance on their part and the salary caps would be easier to swallow.

Junkster

That's because you only see the 10% of players that make the huge money... think of the Steve Kerrs and Fisher's of the NBA, let alone other non-team sport athletes that have to perform to get paid...

Most NBA players now plan pretty well for the future... look at Sprewell and his auto company, pretty good for a guy that chokes people for kicks.

Junkster, who would also buy such rims if he had the money

jlukja

That's why they get scholarships and a free education. They go to college, get a degree, then they can have a career to fall back on once the playing days are over.

What's that you say? They didn't take advantage of the opportunity?

Though shits I say.

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Hmm...sounds to me like we need to advocate for a better distribution of wealth.

And jlukja is right...if they didn't take the time to get a proper education and have nothing to fall back on when the career ends, then it is their own fault. Education first.

Mokos23

on vh1 yesterday they had the fabulous life of nba hoop stars. man, you should see how much each of their bling bling jewelry goes for!

dom

Hmmm, why don't we get CNN and the other US Networks to fork over a percentage of the advertising revenue they bring in when their viewership spikes as a result of war. Just like athlets get paid with our money, soldiers should get paid with our money as well.

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Soldiers do get paid with our money...our tax money. As for the networks forking over money...I would love to see it, but it would never happen. There are too many things that need to be changed that would never happen.

Junkster

Oh, that's easy for you to say... ever been a student athlete in a DI/DII program?... I was told by my AD (athletic director) "Education is number one, athletics is number two"... while he held up two fingers for education and one finger for athletics... the message for the student athlete is clear; you are a moneymaker for the school, that's what you're getting the scholarship for...

And if you're a full time student athlete, you have to take summer school, winter school, the fifth extra year of school... all just to play a regular seasons worth of sports. And do you think professors cut you slack for it? I got a D in my genetics class because my professor wouldn't agree that travelling to regionals was a valid excuse for me to ask for 2, TWO days more so that I can email him my paper... he wanted a hard copy on his desk by the deadline.

Free education my ass, I had to sweat in the burning sun, break the same ankle twice (I still can't get full leverage on my left ankle), dive on concrete courts so that my scholarship isn't reduced, which would mean I can't attend school anymore... all for a 'free' education? you think that's worth it?!

If you're potential is to be a full-time professional athlete, that's what you go to college for... not a degree, but polishing your skills for the next level. And the school doesn't expect you to get a degree either, they just want the "w" in the win column. you're in the weight room by 6 am, you go to class sweating at 8, you go to practice at 4, you come home to eat cuz you skipped lunch, you go to you're work-study job at 7 and study and set up organic chem lab at the same time, study till midnight, catch sportscenter and go to bed. That's during the pre-season... than you have seasons where you travel every other weekend, so you have to plan everything ahead of time so some prof doesn't screw you over.

I can't say this enough: Student athletes are just tools for universities to make money from boosters and sponsors... they don't care about us graduating... they want their money.

BTW, new rules being passed by the NCAA, saying that you have to graduate a certain percentage of athletes... yea, good luck with that. A kid from the inner city that barely graduated HS isn't going to fly through college, let alone his freshmen year. I've seen basketball players go from star athlete of the school to former student in a split second due to a knee injury. Through my five years in NCAA sports, I'm jilted and sickened at how universities and shoe companies take advantage of young people, than leave them hanging when they don't feel that you're worth it...

Junkster, whose pretty emotional on this subject

jlukja

So you were a student athlete. You obviously worked hard. You graduated. You didn't make the pros but you've got a career going. What I'm talking about are the student athletes who didn't work as hard as you did. The ones who have celebrity status on campus. The ones who get to skate through basketweaving class. The ones who get papers written for them and the prof. look the other way. The ones who don't work at ANYTHING else except their sport. They choose to do that. They take advantage too. Their skills are showcased to the public and they take advantage of that when the move on to the pros. They didn't work as hard as you did so they have NOBODY to blame if they don't take advantage of the opportunity. Nobody forces you to study when you go to college. If you choose not to then you should take responsibility for that choice.

Junkster

Oh yea, I agree. There's no substitute for hard work...
But you take a inner city kid with limited education opportunities, a one track mind... which, honestly, is the only way you become a pro athlete. You have to give up everything else to give your sport your FULL attention. You put this kid in a predominantly white-suburban educated world, with most people telling you that you are a star... you have to think that this is the one ticket you get at making it. You have this one thing, sports, that makes it even possible to say you've stepped on the campus of some school... than you try your damn hardest to make this happen. This is an athletic dream... I remember Pete Sampras saying "I've been working since I was 10 years old in one profession"... people don't see what it takes to be a professional athlete, you have to sacrifice alot... but, of course, the ecstacy of 'making it' is great.

I don't blame the person as much as I do the system. Student athletes are used to make millions for some of these schools, millions, and even the coaches get these big salaries for being a coach who holds a 'degree' in sports education... yea, these administors have degrees too. And yet, students athletes are pushed to their limits for the money that can be made for the schools.

That's why I don't blame athletes for skipping college. Why bother giving your services to a school when you can earn what you're worth now? Kobe, KG, Jennifer Capriati, Freddy Adu... these people are or were ready for the pros at their starting ages, why risk injury and loss of compensation for 'college glory'?

Europeans have the right idea... if you're an athlete, skip college, go to athletic club and refresh your skills for the next level and just learn the minimum of education you will need to lead a life.

I know quoting a rap song is wrong, but it's true what Kanye says... "Drug dealer buy Jordans, crackhead buy crack, And a white man get paid off of all of that"

Junkster, whose believes in minority (I hate that word) rights and activism