the man has everything fame riches hot wife child cars houses championships endorcements WHY? why would he do something so stupid? The fact that he is a dumb ass is why I will never respect him.
I will await the evidence to be put before a court. However, I am somewhat prone to believe that Kobe did not rape the woman and that it was consensual sex. Also, if she was bruised or cut etc....the DA would have filed charges much faster. I think the fact that they took their time, and the fact that Kobe has admitted he had sex with her changes everything. Now, it is up to the state to PROVE that Kobe raped her against her will, and if there are no witnesses and no bruises etc....it is just her word against his, and as a juror, I could never convict someone under that circumstance. We shall see, but my inclination is that this is a woman who did something and then regretted it. Who knows....it will make interesting TV though. DD
I guess he's trying too much to be like his idol M.J. First he sounds just like him in interviews, second he rips off all his moves and now..... he's a womanizer just like he was. Except that Kobe faces the possibilty (I doubt he will ever see the inside of a jail cell) of jail versus a big payoff to a disgruntled lover.
WIth or without all those things, he's still a man. He's still a temptation having, mistake making human being. Which is why I don't understand why people put athletes on pedastels and then become suprised when they do something stupid. Just because these people can do great things on the court doesn't mean they are somehow above or better than Joe Smith on the street.
Kobe is much better than Joe Smith Personally I love when celebrities admit to adultery. Just more proof that there is no such thing as the sanctity of marriage.
Remember Kobe's first statement. Something to the effect... 'You guys know me... I shouldn't have to say ANYTHING.' At first he tried to rely on the goodwill he's built up by claiming that people know him and he shouldn't have to say anything. Now his tuned has changed since the DNA evidence came up. Now he has plenty to say. I'm not saying he's guilty, or that he's not guilty. Just that he's already changed the kind of dialogue coming out of his mouth. Here are a couple of scenarios of the way it could have happened both in favor of Kobe's guilt, and in favor of Kobe's innocence. Scenario 1(the Kobe is guilty, but doesn't believe he is and the girl has no real bruises or cuts): The girl was flirting with Kobe, Kobe put the moves on her, and she was in a laughing manner denying his advances. Kobe says come on you can't be serious, wouldn't you want to say you've had sex with 'the' Kobe Bryant, heir to Jordan, 3 time NBA champ etc.? The whole time Kobe is kissing and caressing on her. The female is nervous, and scared. She freezes up, and since she's stopped saying verybally saying 'no' Kobe assumes consent, and has sex with her. The girl feels horrible, is upset, feels violated etc. In Kobe's mind, he isn't guilty of rape. Scenario 2 (Kobe's innocent): The girl, who does have character witness from neighbors, friends, family, co-workers etc., has recently broken up with her b-friend. She's normally 'not that kind of girl'. She may even be proud of the fact that she doesn't sleep around. But when the NBA star comes into contact with her, and maybe gives her the eye, she thinks she'll just have some innocent fun. She flirts with Kobe, and having the star flirt back with her is a boost to her pride, or low self esteem, or injured ego, due to the rough break-up. Things start getting physical in a romantic sense, and she gets caught up in the moment. Somewhere in the back of her mind she doesn't really want to have sex, but in the moment and the passion, she goes ahead and has it. After it's over Kobe is dismissive of her. She feels hurt, guilty and can't believe what she's done. She is can't reconcile her behavior with her standards, desires, feelings for her ex-boyfriend or whatever. She ends up rationalizing by saying it was rape. Once the lie is started, and in order to keep in character with the other actions of her life, she sticks to her story, knowing that DNA evidence will back her story up to a certain extent. There are other variations that have come to mind, that would make the verdict go either way.
Good grief Outlaw! You sound like one of Marge's ugly twin sisters with that bitter take. There are lots of happily married couples who would dispute your claim. By the way, I think the fact that she went up to his room after her shift (around midnight?) makes her case hard to prove beyond reasonable doubt. I don't know what she was thinking - but I do know that Kobe thought he was getting some.
Well, then that brings the total number of athletes that you can possibly respect to a grand total of 17 (NHL and WNBA athletes not included).
this makes you happy? what was your home life like growing up? (you don't have to answer that question..seriously..but I'm betting your parents weren't happily married...correct?) my marriage is sacred to me...it's sacred to my wife. people make mistakes, outlaw. but it doesn't change the nature of the relationship for people who are deeply committed to their relationships. in fact, the fact that so many people are able to patch up their marriages after these events is evidence of that.
I can kind of see where outlaw is coming from. He's told he can't marry someone he loves and people often throw around the phrase "sanctity of marriage" when they argue against homosexual marriages. If I put myself in his shoes, I can see where I'd take pleasure in seeing this "sanctity" diminished by heterosexuals.
I understand where he's coming from...but it's almost like he's rooting for marriages to fail so he can make a counter-argument. That's just really sad to me.
It's sad to me, but moreso because he's nearly forced to have to feel that way. Imagine the government telling you that you couldn't marry your wife for some reason. While I don't think you'd want other marriages to fail so it would help your cause, I wouldn't blame you if you did.
but he's ultimately attacking the very institution he's kept from which he's hoping to gain entry to. sounds more like sour grapes than anything else. if marriage is so meaningless, then why aspire to it?
Well, back to the topic. Can't you imagine a very possible rape scenario? Hate to really think it through, but here goes. (her mind). "Oh my god, Kobe Bryant wanted me to bring something to his room! This is so ****ing cool! He's cuter in person than on TV. I can't wait to tell my friends about this. ... Whoa. He's just wearing, like, a T-shirt and boxers. Wow. This is so personal! ... Oh my god, Kobe Bryant thinks I'm hot. Is this the coolest or what? Does he want to kiss me? No way. ... I'm making out with Kobe Bryant! This is exciting but kind of scary." ------ okay, I'll stop there, but it's very believable that soon after that, she figures she wants it to stop. Something like, nobody gets under my shirt on the first date sort of thing. I mean, she's 19 years old from rural Colorado, okay? Very believable. *If* Kobe's guilty, that's where he forced himself on her. She says No, who knows how loudly or how physically. It's so incredibly sad, but what I've sketched makes the most sense to me. I just do NOT see why she'd lie about rape to make a buck, and then surrender her chance to get a huge Kobe/Lakers payoff out of the public eye. I'm serious. There's just some horrible grey area where Kobe was thinking "how could she not want me?" and she's thinking "he's hearing me say no, isn't he?" I think, if this scenario is accurate, Kobe having the world on a string has totally warped his head. How could it not? Okay, end ramble. I freely admit that I have no idea what really happened, but this makes sense to me. PS -- as for outlaw, I'd vote to give him every break. I cannot believe the patience and honesty he has shown on this board in threads relating to sexual preference and marriage. Just amazing.
The prevailing argument, for people who are against gay marriages is that it is a sacred institution and allowing it same sex marriages kind of chips away at that sacredness. So I guess Outlaw is pointing out the hypicracy of society using that argument against gay marriages when the sacredness of the institution is violated many times by the people who are allowed to be married.
b-bob --- you're right...outlaw is a good guy. i guess it just offends me at some level because the statement extrapolates out to MY marriage. that just bothers me.
okay, I get it, I get it. Maybe you guys should start an "outlaw" thread. He would be honored. Anyone else have a Kobe comment?
DD- Man I hope the world doesn't work like this. So if you rape someone and there are no witnesses (or at least noone that will testify against the rapist) and there are no bruises then the person gets off? Again I think you points are valid but just because there is no witness or bruises does not make the situation ok (he could have threated her or told her if she fought back that his bodyguards woudl take care of her, etc). All a woman has to do is say no. If he was worried about his reputation or getting charged with rape he should not have commited adultery much less with somone he didn't know. At least if he was bangin an acquitance or a prostitute he would have known there would only be aminimal chance of this happening. He put himself in the bad situation, let him get out of it. God knows he has enough money to do it.
A friend of mine who is a huge NBA fan made a unique suggestion to me this morning. He said that, since the trial is going to take place during the season, and since he will be under the media microscope because of the charges and the trial, maybe Kobe should sit out the upcoming season. What do you think about this?
I'm betting the prosecutor didn't make this decision to prosecute merely on a he said, she said. He likely knew of her problems with drugs as well. My guess is there's some additional evidence which we aren't aware of yet.
