Most Intellectually Aggressive Poetry of The Weekend

Wesley Gibson said...
What up DV,

I tend to read more than I comment unless I have a particularly strong opinion. Thanks for introducing me to Ron Paul by the way. I'm still a Barack Obama guy but I can appreciate the Ron Paul sentiment. Really, I agree with pretty much everything he says except the problem is that he'll just delegate the right to govern all those things (mary jane, drug prosecution, etc.) to the states so it won't have any practical benefits for blacks (cept they'd be in state prison instead of the feds which generally allows 50% time served instead of 85%). That being said, without your posts I would have never listened to him so thanks for that.

On to more important things. Here is my question. How can you NOT be a Kobe Bryant fan? If sports is worth anything to us higher than a regional "rah-rah" rooting interest, then its through our need to see, in a simple and easy to digest form, man transcend the "normal" limitations placed on our achievements (largely by our own minds). To see a man, no different genetically from you and I, kick himself free of the earth, will, maybe even demand of himself an excellence that sets him apart from his peers is inspiring. Say what you will about Kobe's personal life (if anything its his fathers fault for raising him with the "cosby" ideal that our problems are largely behavioral and we're all on equal ground), but the legal troubles aren't what I suspect cause people to hate on him. Rather, its his will. We can watch Shaq dominate with his jovial indifference and not be affected because of his immensity. Ultimately Shaq's size and natural gifts allow us to see him as a freak, a physically gifted being unlike us. He is Goliath and his dominance is expected. But what of David? If Goliath's dominance is easier to accept because of its alien-ness, then how are we likely to respond to a man much like ourselves that separates himself in the same manner? The answer is that Kobe's dominance is monsterous. His single-minded focus calls into question our own dedication. His excellence isn't explainable by size, nor strength, nor an ability to "fly". Its simply a matter of will and as such diminishes us all. There has only been one other figure that reached that plateau of single minded domination. HIS Airness. He was the first and he was exhaulted as a modern day god. For a lot of people, recognizing Kobe's obvious similarities either calls into question their own inability to will themselves to near perfection or shouts down "god" himself. -WG