arguably hating the underdog, and mamba camps.

Kobe gets love

Wow, reading this article sends my head running in several directions at once. Firstly, let me say that I'm not a Kobe fan. I'm not a constant Kobe hater either. The lengths some people go to hate Kobe is surpassed only by the pedestal the Mamba lovers put him on. These two polarized camps are engaged in a battle that is pushing each other farther and farther from center. Maybe this article is just the latest manifestation of this. It's a strange thing to watch play out, and it must seem unbelievably insane to Kobe himself, who is just playing his ass off the best way he knows how.

What first attracted me to the Kobe article though, was that NBA.com's front page link called him "arguably the greatest scorer ever." Hm. I know it's pointless to still bring this up, but its pretty annoying to throw "greatest ever" around. To paraphrase Kipp from Napoleon Dynamite's response to use of the term, like anybody could ever know that.

My newer beef with the Kobe link is the use of "arguably." Another tired tool used by everyone trying to puff someone or something up to levels they know it really doesn't achieve. It does make things easier though, so I may get behind it. Arguably, Dave McMenamin looks like a leprachaun.

I feel an NBA.com rant coming on. I will control myself, because that rant would need its own blogging community (Unlike Fred Hickman, who as described earlier needs only his own blog, basically to explain whats up with those glasses). I know they're the NBA and they have to do what they have to do, but sometimes it's like they are trying to suck with those articles. Blandness acheived and perfected. The Clyde Drexler post game interview of websites. By the way, although I have not yet succumbed, he is putting me at risk for being sucked into Dancing With the Stars by being on there. I'm not real happy about this. In the interests of fairness, NBA.com does have good box scores, stats, and the Arenas blog is there.

Switching topics, I was watching a little Southern Illinois vs. Kansas today. I have Kansas losing in the Finals in my bracket, so I was a big fan of them today. Then I realized every hoops fan fiber in my body was telling me to root for the Salukis during the game. The underdog, the overachiever, the scrapper. To my surprise, having a bracket filled out has been probably been undermining all of this for years. I'm not in any kind of pool with money on the line. Wow, if a meaningless bracket I filled out on yahoo can alter my behavior so much, my integrity as a real fan of the game has officially been compromised. I have nowhere to go with this topic, I just wanted to share my self-disgust. And of course, I'll continue doing the bracket thing.

Here's an article worth your time, Image paranoia is getting the best of the NBA. Ok, so she arguably gets carried away with comparing the current state of the NBA to period immediately after 9/11. Try not to let that discredit the whole article, there's some good points.

"People who believe the NBA is full of thugs will think that way no matter what. The NBA could play Paul Anka at every arena, ban rappers from NBA games, enforce haircuts and short shorts, but that isn't going to stop hip-hop fans from loving the game.

If anything, the NBA's tactics are only heightening the perception that the league is 'full of thugs.'"

yup.

What else happened in the NBA tonight that I could blog about, hmmmmm. Oh yeah, the Blazers won again without Z-Bo. Another point for the Trade Zach Movement.