KOBE, MJ, and TWITTER: A Weird Mix

Outside of the United Center where Michael Jordan is permanently
dunking over people.
(photo courtesy of Ed Mancia)

Felipe M

We asked our sports' panel about live tweeting.  Here are their thoughts.

Kobe Bryant was live-tweeting his 81-point performance which was re-aired last week on NBA TV. Which sports’ figure, past or present, would you like to see live tweet their paramount, career event?

Here’s what the panel wrote:

• “Keeping it current, I would love to have Raul Ibanez live tweet his game tying HR & Walk-off HR against the Baltimore Orioles in the 2012 ALDS.”—C. McLain
• “Marshawn Lynch—“Beast Mode” against the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs.”—Dan P
• “Araon Rodgers’ 2010 Super Bowl run.”—Johnny J
• “I would love to have seen Michael Jordan live tweeting about the D.C. Wizards at MSG vs the New York Knicks on March 9 2003. A 39 year-old Jordan scored 39 points in 43 minutes of action.  The Wiz were battling for a playoff spot in Jordan's final year. He out-played the combined effort of everyone in that game.  I watched this game while it was happening on NBC, MJ wanted to win the game so bad, but Latrell Spreewell & the Knicks ended up winning.  The most impressive effort I have watched during a basketball game.”—Donny R

Very interesting choices and Dan's choice is one of the funniest videos out there.  Is it racist?  That's for Daniel Tosh to decide.  

I had a hard time coming up with one event I would have liked to have seen be live-tweeted.  So I will share five instead:

• Michael Jordan playing with the flu at Utah in the NBA Finals.
• Kerry Wood’s 20 strikeout game.
• Peyton Manning and Ray Lewis playing a game of chess… or at least live-tweeting the last game they will every play against each other. 
• Patrick Kane live-tweeting the game-winning goal to clinch the Stanley Cup Championship for the Chicago Blackhawks.  Also, live-tweeting how he celebrated afterwards would be just as, if not more, interesting.
• And staying in the NHL, the greatest hockey game I have ever watched was on March 26, 1997 between the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings.  Not a fan of the goonery, but one can’t deny the raw emotion and the venom that was spewed throughout this hockey game.  Just figuring out who would be best qualified to do a live-tweet is proving to be difficult.  Do we go with the captains, Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman? Or do we ask guys like Kris Draper  and/or Darren McCarty to give us their take while countering with Claude Lemieux for the Avalanche?  How about the goalies, Patrick Roy and Mike Vernon who most likely had the best, on-ice view of the whole scene before they got involved with the fighting?  What about the coaches?  So many potential candidates.   

Speaking of Kobe, the Los Angeles Lakers, fan or hater question: how happy/mad are you about their season so far?

The Lakers are so bad, that even "die-hard" superfan,
Jack Nicholson is leaving games early and getting
ready for baseball.
(Source: Mike McCann, Field of Fotos)

No one has gotten more glee out of the Lakers’ struggles this season than me.  I’m a Laker-hater and thinking about them literally makes my blood boil.  Yes, Kobe Bryant has back-to-back games of 14 assists, but with all that talent, it is an absolute joke that they’re not living up to the hype.  With that being said, let’s see what everybody else thinks of the Lake Show this season.

“I’m mad!  I wanted to see some competitiveness in the playoffs. It won't be as intense if Kobe's not in it.”—Johnny J

I think these playoffs will be more competitive than ever.  It is almost near unpredictable to forecast what will happen tomorrow in the NBA, let alone what will happen in the playoffs.  One thing is for sure, however, and that is that come playoff time, the stakes are raised a bit higher and the games get more intense.  Besides, there’s plenty of storylines in the NBA outside of Kobe and the Lakers.  The playoffs will be fine.

• “They were purple and bold, but now about to fold--in 2013.”-- Dan P
• “Hater and happy because, like in actual chemistry, when you mix elements that don’t sit well with each other, the whole experiment explodes.”-- C. McLain
• “If I cared any less, it'd still be too much.”-- Donny R

So the panel was harsh on the Lakers and rightfully so.  It was reported by David Schuster on WSCR THE SCORE 670AM that Kobe was still sitting an hour-and-a-half after the game against the Chicago Bulls by his locker stall, just pondering and trying to figure out what to do with the Lakers.  We give it up to Kobe: he’s a true professional, he cares about winning, and he tries every game.  

But knowing his past as a spoiled, child-like, NBA player, all of these recent struggles couldn't have happened to a more qualified person. 

So it’s safe to say that PATHOLOGICAL HATE will continue to hate on Kobe and the Lakers.

How do we fix the Lakers besides making Kobe Bryant the team's de facto point guard? Dan Plotsky has the answers.  Read Part I and Part II. 

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