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Monday, July 6, 2015

LA Lakers Woes.

It's a shame for all Lakers fans not only to witness the Lakers become the second best team in their home town, but largely irrelevant in the current Free Agency scramble.  Sportswriters have criticized Kobe Bryant for his huge ego and lack of willingness to shed some of his stardom and share the light with others.  I categorically disagree.  I don't mean to say that Kobe Bryant's ego isn't bigger than the LA Metropolitan area -- it is indeed.  The problem isn't something that Kobe could have solved by changing his attitude alone.  The problem began several years ago when Kobe signed a $134 Million dollar contract to remain a Laker for the remainder of his career and in doing so pretty much assured the Lakers would fall to obscurity with a contract that would prevent them from reloading in the waining years of his contract.  Even though the Lakers are not afraid to venture into NBA luxury tax territory to spend money on the talent that they need to compete, they must do so carefully or risk years of rebuilding.  True that hindsight is 20/20, but I envisioned this scenario playing out when Kobe's contract was first announced.  That said, I never could have predicted that Kobe would be unable to play hoops for fully 2 seasons with his various season ending injuries, but certainly such risks and the necessary mitigations need to be factored into contractual decisions.  In this respect, Kobe's ego clearly did doom the Lakers.

What passes for journalism on the web?

I am at a loss for what passses for jounalism on the web.  While I may need to shift my attention to other sources.  a great amount of the news that I peruse is found on Yahoo.com.  I have been saddened there to see articles missing very basic facts, such as the date of a reported news event or even the location.

With substandard reporting like that, what's the point in reading, especially if you anticipate that the information will be grossly incomplete.  What is the author thinking?  Perhaps in the rush and commotion to break the story first and generate the small coin that is likely paid to a beat journalist reporting for Yahoo, the facts really don't matter; what matters is getting the headline right, with the necessary level of punch and grab.

In 1839, Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote the familiar adage, "The pen is mightier than the sword." It appears that the pen could use a sharpening!