Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Kobe And A-Rod Pep Talk

This may have been one of my favorite headlines and stories of all time.  As far as my personal sports tastes go, this article might as well have been titled "Hitler offers pep talk to Darth Vader after destruction of first Death Star".

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/8514604/kobe-bryant-los-angeles-lakers-offers-pep-talk-alex-rodriguez-new-york-yankees

I love the idea of Kobe giving a pep talk to anybody.  The biggest asshole of an athlete since Michael Jordan?  The guy who constantly calls out/belittles teammates and ex-teammates alike in the press?  The guy whose inability to co-exist with Shaquille O'Neal and Phil Jackson (granted, you should probably place close to equal blame amongst all three of them) ended up destroying the best NBA dynasty in years?  I'd love to hear Kobe's words of inspiration, especially when a couple of days earlier, he was reacting to A-Rod being pinch-hit for (when he was currently hitting .130, and keep in mind the guy who pinch-hit for him hit two homers to tie and win the game) with quotes like "I don't like that. That's not good for the chemistry of the team. I'm going to have to call A-Rod."

I love it.  Damn, Kobe and A-Rod make it easy to hate on them.  Wouldn't change a thing.
Top 10 people Kobe probably told A-Rod to blame for his slump during their "pep talk":

1.   Shaq
2.   Joe Torre
3.   Derek Jeter
4.   Cameron Diaz
5.   Smush Parker
6.   Baby Jesus
7.   Mitch Kupchak
8.   All female employees of the The Lodge & Spa at Cordillera
9.   Phil Jackson
10. Madonna

***************

Speaking of the Yankees, this has been about as enjoyable as a baseball postseason can be without the Red Sox being involved.  Tons of exciting games, walk-off wins, the Yankee fans hating on their team like they just went, ahem, 69-93, instead of being in the middle of a playoff run....I'm digging it.  And now that the Yanks are on the brink of elimination, I can sit back and fully enjoy the playoffs-- which is something I usually can't do until I know it's not possible for the Yankees to end up with a championship.  Remember when I broke down who I hated more, the Yankees or Duke?  Nowadays, it's not even close.  I hate Kentucky more than Duke these days (because of Calipari) and my hatred of the Yankees remains as high as it can be.  Go Tigers!