by Nick Brower | Mar 6, 2018 | SPORTS
Did anyone actually think retirement would stop Kobe from winning? The soon to be hall of famer added to his legacy this weekend at the Oscars. Bryant took home the Oscar for “Best Animated Short” for his writing role in “Dear Basketball”. A shiny new Oscar will now find its home on Kobe’s mantel next to his five NBA Championships, a season MVP, a pair of Finals’ MVPs and four All-Star Game MVPs just to name a few. Disney animator Glen Keane shared the award as he brought Kobe’s poem to life. The poem was written in 2015 and served as part of Kobe’s retirement announcement. The poem tells the story of Bryant’s love affair with the game and the struggle to let it go. One line reads, “This season is all I have left to give. My heart can take the pounding, my mind can handle the grind. But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.” Kobe cites his 11 year old daughter Gianna as one of the driving forces behind turning the poem into a film. She told him, “Dad, you always tell us to go after our dreams, so man up”. Bryant seems to be settling into retirement just fine as he has found a new passion in writing. He is currently working on a series of novels and said, “I wake up in the morning, I can’t wait to write, I can’t wait to get to the studio”. People doubted him at first but he said that this Oscar was just the validation he needed to dive head first into his second career. And if Kobe brings the same passion and obsession we saw in his basketball life to writing, I see nothing but success in his future.
Others were not so thrilled with Kobe’s win. Hollywood is going through a transformative period in which sexual harassment and assault is being brought to light and hopefully eliminated from the industry. Bryant is infamous for an incident in June of 2003 when a 19 year old hotel employee accused Bryant of raping her. The case never made it to court after a whirlwind of media attention led the woman to decide not to testify. This Oscar win for Kobe seems to fly directly in the face of movements like Time’s Up and #MeToo. While I do not condone or encourage such behavior, I just do not see the connection to this film. What Kobe did was wrong, and he has since apologized and settled the case in civil court. This incident was almost 15 years ago and has nothing to do with the film being recognized. While this definitely wasn’t a win for the anti-sexual harassment movements, I wouldn’t call it a loss either. These movements are focused on making workplaces and life in general safer for women and free of discrimination and abuse. Tarnishing a film for something that happened and was publicly acknowledged 15 years ago does not help accomplish these goals. Should we forget what Kobe did and what happened to the woman involved? Absolutely not. But we also should not let a single event define an entire lifetime.
by Nick Brower | Mar 2, 2018 | SPORTS
Brandon Williams becomes the third player to decommit from the Wildcats’ program this week in the wake of the Sean Miller scandal. This leaves the school with zero commitments for the next season. Williams joins Jahvon Quinerly and Shareef O’Neal (Shaq’s son) who have now decided to play for Villanova and UCLA respectfully. FBI reports of a wiretap surfaced last week that allegedly have head coach Sean Miller discussing a $100,000 payment to secure the commitment of former recruit Deandre Ayton. Miller has told the media that he has not “knowingly” violated any NCAA rules and will continue to coach. The scandal seems to be scaring recruits away as they don’t want to get caught up in the possible storm coming. I can’t really blame them. There are plenty of high quality programs around the country where these players can shine and try to avoid the mess of corruption. That might prove harder than we think though, who knows how comprehensive this FBI report is going to be and just how many programs will be implemented.
by Nick Brower | Mar 2, 2018 | SPORTS
Brock Stewart and Yasmani Grandal got crossed up in the third inning of today’s spring game between the Dodgers and White Sox. Grandal was expecting something soft and low when Brock Stewart buzzed a fastball high in the zone. Grandal was not able to recover and the pitch caught home plate umpire Tony Randazzo in the mask and collarbone. Randazzo immediately hit the ground and was clearly in pain. No one can blame him, a 90+ mph fastball doesn’t feel good hitting you anywhere let alone in the face. The 19 year vet was helped off the field by the stadium paramedics and taken off in a golf cart. Randazzo is one of the league’s best, umpiring 10 playoff series, including two World Series, and two All-Star games. There has been no word on his condition yet, but we’re all wishing him the best.
by Nick Brower | Mar 2, 2018 | Uncategorized
Russell Wilson saw some game time today at Yankees’ spring training. Wilson pinch hit for Aaron Judge in the fifth inning against the Braves. Wilson would go down with a swinging strikeout after seeing six pitches. The Super Bowl quarterback showed some good bat speed. His best cut came at first pitch fastball that he just missed and fouled straight back. Wilson day was short as he did not see any time on defense, coming out of the game immediately after his at bat. The Yankees really seemed to be rooting for him as everyone was up on the dugout railing for his at bat. Both the Yankees players and Wilson have said they have enjoyed having Russell in camp and both parties have learned a lot from one another. If this is all we see of Wilson this spring I’m sure he’ll be headed back to a locker room full of jokes in Seattle. Not the best showing by any stretch, but I could definitely name a few NFL quarterbacks that would look way worse out there. I mean, Wilson was a fourth round draft pick in the MLB back in 2010. Nobody is calling him Bo Jackson, but no one will ever be able to play both sports like Bo did. Stick to football Russell, cause you might not be a slugger but you are one hell of a quarterback.
by Nick Brower | Mar 2, 2018 | SPORTS
Angels’ two way star Shohei Ohtani had his second start of the spring this morning in a “B” game against the Brewers. A “B” game is a common occurrence in the spring as teams split up their rosters and play two games in one day in order to get more players more opportunities. Ohtani was brilliant in his 2 and 2/3 innings. All eight outs he recorded were via the strikeout as he faced 12 batters total and threw 52 pitches. His fastball was in the upper 90s and he had much better command of his secondary stuff then in his first outing. While it is still a small sample size, Ohtani has proved he has dominant stuff and this last appearance shown great improvement as he is adjusting to the MLB. It looks like he’s going to figure it out real soon, and hitters should be on notice.
