He will always remain a rapist who was able to pay off his wife and his victim to walk away. That's his legacy.
As a guy who has seven poems published in this year alone, I am a bit skeptical of the praise Kobe Bryant received for his "Dear Basketball" poem. I read it carefully. It has many abstractions and empty phrases. The linebreaks and enjambment aren't bad; but right now it needs better language than just linebreaks and rhythm. Maybe it's my own aesthetic bias, but I really don't like the cliches and abstractions. I appreciate the gym socks concreteness and the concreteness of a trashcan as a makeshift basketball hoop. I am glad this brought some awareness to the art form and I'm no literary critic. I like some stuff other people chide me for liking due to poor aesthetic standards so please don't paint me as some cultural elitist. I think Bryant needs encouragement and criticism, before he gets praise for the quality of the poem. Almost every aspiring poet must experience the sting of criticism, as long as it's not personal. So, it seems the praise he received gave too much credit for appearing like Beat poets or Cummings, which may be coincidental, because poetic technique when done truly well, is never happenstance, but intentional. I mean, if I tried to play basketball, I would fail, because I've never practiced to become good at basketball. The same goes for poetry. It's a craft, like basketball, woodworking or playing the piano, not simply an expression of sincere feeling or personality. But the fact the public is discussing poetry, makes me grateful for Kobe Bryant.
1
Your thoughts, but not hers.
1
Does anyone remember that time when he got away with rape?
2
Over the years it seems like many folks who were around him didn't like Bryant very much. Reportedly not a nice guy or team mate to be around. Micheal Jordan wasn't a great guy either. But they both performed admirably on the court. That's ultimately what counts in the sports/entertainment world. Many other examples of great, and sometimes not so great, athletes, entertainers who are awful people. Who knows what the guy is really like but from afar I didn't like him much either. But he worked harder than most to get where he is. He's earned a certain level of respect and consideration for his many accomplishments.
1
Professional athletes, unlike arm-chair types in front of the tv, have opportunity to serve a Role Models for young kids. The 'rape thang' aside, Byrant's no Derek Jeter. When he was doin' werk, Never once heard him to promote kids to pick up books.
My son's grandfathers were/are his role models. As well as some teachers and coaches along the way.
Its questionable parenting to encourage your children to have professional athletes as role models - especially today when they lead lives that skew their values and ethics.
Its questionable parenting to encourage your children to have professional athletes as role models - especially today when they lead lives that skew their values and ethics.
There would be no division
If Kobe had landed in prison
Instead of doin werk
The criminal + first class jerk
Would be doin time
Which is fine
Havin done the crime
He mistreated girls like b******
And left her + all in stitches
When he's gone
Life will go on
Kobe my dear
Take A long walk
Off the S.M. Pier
If Kobe had landed in prison
Instead of doin werk
The criminal + first class jerk
Would be doin time
Which is fine
Havin done the crime
He mistreated girls like b******
And left her + all in stitches
When he's gone
Life will go on
Kobe my dear
Take A long walk
Off the S.M. Pier
1
Its seems utterly foolish to me that a story about the confluence of basketball and poetry would go to print, and no one at the NYT bothered to consult The Peach Basket. Seriously, how much ball does Don Share or any of these other knuckleheads actually watch?
http://thepeachbasket.tumblr.com/
http://thepeachbasket.tumblr.com/
It wasn't a poem at all.
But, rather,
A heart-felt essay
Randomly broken up into stanzas,
Of short lines.
And so, it was made to appear
Like a poem.
But, rather,
A heart-felt essay
Randomly broken up into stanzas,
Of short lines.
And so, it was made to appear
Like a poem.
5
Kobe Bryant is not William Wordsworth.
But that's exactly what they said about Wordsworth's poetry. In fact, this was one of the things that WW addressed in his Preface to 'Lyrical Ballads.'
But that's exactly what they said about Wordsworth's poetry. In fact, this was one of the things that WW addressed in his Preface to 'Lyrical Ballads.'
So Vanadias, are you saying that the passage of time is the only thing keeping Bryant from his place among the great English language poets?
An unbroken line from Chaucer-Shakespeare-Dunn-Milton-Pope-WW-Arnold-Eliot-Auden-Larkin to Bryant?
Hmmm.
On the other hand, I read somewhere once that William Cullen Bryant had an amazing set shot.
An unbroken line from Chaucer-Shakespeare-Dunn-Milton-Pope-WW-Arnold-Eliot-Auden-Larkin to Bryant?
Hmmm.
On the other hand, I read somewhere once that William Cullen Bryant had an amazing set shot.
“If you think of someone breaking off a 30-year marriage, they don’t Instagram it.”
Uhh... people break up over text. Don't be so surprised.
A non-sarcastic kudos to Kobe for the homage. Anything but a press release, and he shows vulnerability that would otherwise be shunned in hyper-masculine pro sports.
Uhh... people break up over text. Don't be so surprised.
A non-sarcastic kudos to Kobe for the homage. Anything but a press release, and he shows vulnerability that would otherwise be shunned in hyper-masculine pro sports.
3
First off, I'm a Lakers/Kobe fan for life. I taught school in LA (in Compton, no less) during the beginning of the Showtime Era I didn't know anything about basketball, and had no real interest, but the highlights on the evening newscasts were just too mindblowing, and my students kept asking my every morning:
"Mr Zinzel, you see those Lakers last night?" Curiously, I didn't watch any actual games until years later
I don't remember ever seeing Kobe until his first AllStar game, and have been a huge fan ever since
- - - - -
A couple days ago, I saw an 'abridged' version of this poem, and thought, well OK, that's nice. I didn't realize that this had been shortened. I just read the full version, and was moved to tears, by the precision, and honesty of his expression.
I'm no fan of traditional poetry which I find to be incredibly boring and stupid
REAL POETS FOR ME ARE: Dylan, Lennon, GrahamParker, Springsteen, & etc.
HOWEVER, I can easily see how somebody who didn't know Kobe and his lifestory could very rationally say the same thing about this "poem"
WHAT I'D REALLY LIKE TO KNOW: What is Phil Jackson's reaction to Kobe's Poem
----
But back to the now:
I've gotta wonder if he is currently in a shooting-slump or if this is the new normal for #24? He has had shooting slumps before
In Philly, he had 11 points in the first 3 minutes, if he would have sat down then, Legend-Restored, and probably Lakers Win
"Mr Zinzel, you see those Lakers last night?" Curiously, I didn't watch any actual games until years later
I don't remember ever seeing Kobe until his first AllStar game, and have been a huge fan ever since
- - - - -
A couple days ago, I saw an 'abridged' version of this poem, and thought, well OK, that's nice. I didn't realize that this had been shortened. I just read the full version, and was moved to tears, by the precision, and honesty of his expression.
I'm no fan of traditional poetry which I find to be incredibly boring and stupid
REAL POETS FOR ME ARE: Dylan, Lennon, GrahamParker, Springsteen, & etc.
HOWEVER, I can easily see how somebody who didn't know Kobe and his lifestory could very rationally say the same thing about this "poem"
WHAT I'D REALLY LIKE TO KNOW: What is Phil Jackson's reaction to Kobe's Poem
----
But back to the now:
I've gotta wonder if he is currently in a shooting-slump or if this is the new normal for #24? He has had shooting slumps before
In Philly, he had 11 points in the first 3 minutes, if he would have sat down then, Legend-Restored, and probably Lakers Win
Kobe's poem is reminiscent of Fast Eddie Felson's prosaic description (in the movie The Hustler) of his exhilaration shooting pool at an extraordinary level. I was just as engrossed with Kobe's poem as I was with Eddie's prose. I was pleasantly surprised at Kobe's gifts of expression well beyond the basketball court. Finding meaning in one's work was beautifully contemplated in Stud Terkel's Working and elegantly expressed in Kobe's poetry from my own perspective.
2
Prosaic? Please. Maybe His Eminineminence could share a reading with you!
Ghost written for sure
"Ghost written for sure."
Ironically, Kobe's ego is of such a magnitude that his inner pride would not allow a proxy to compose such an intimate "ode to myself." (To be academic about it, this poem is formally on "ode," a song of praise, regardless of its free-verse structure.) So I do believe he wrote it himself.
What I grant you though, is that he probably had his poem read and critiqued by folks with more literary chops, including an editor at Tribune, which is fair enough.
Even T.S. Eliot submitted his masterpiece, "The Wasteland," to fellow poet, Ezra Pound, for criticism. And indeed, Pound made many changes, for which Eliot publicly thanked him by dedicating the poem to Pound, calling him "the better poet."
Ironically, Kobe's ego is of such a magnitude that his inner pride would not allow a proxy to compose such an intimate "ode to myself." (To be academic about it, this poem is formally on "ode," a song of praise, regardless of its free-verse structure.) So I do believe he wrote it himself.
What I grant you though, is that he probably had his poem read and critiqued by folks with more literary chops, including an editor at Tribune, which is fair enough.
Even T.S. Eliot submitted his masterpiece, "The Wasteland," to fellow poet, Ezra Pound, for criticism. And indeed, Pound made many changes, for which Eliot publicly thanked him by dedicating the poem to Pound, calling him "the better poet."
4
I assume you're being sarcastic, but this poem is charmingly amateur. No way a professional would write this way.
2
Close: Eliot acknowledged Pound as "il miglior fabbro," i.e. the better craftsman.
This glory craving, egotistical athlete should be retired now. But he won't. Set to make 25 million more this year.
Not to mention sucking up all the attention on his team as he does his "farewell tour around the league.
Good riddance Kobe. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Not to mention sucking up all the attention on his team as he does his "farewell tour around the league.
Good riddance Kobe. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
4
That's better said as Don't let the jail cell door hit you on your way in!