The Entourage: More Than Just Homeys on the Payroll

Most of the discussion about the Kobe Bryant saga has focused the alleged victim's shaky character and Kobe's dubious future as a corporate pitchman. But SI's Mike Silver examines the story from an fresh perspective, asking the question: Who was protecting Kobe on that fateful night? Silver interviewed Dennis Rodman's former bodyguard, who puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of Kobe's security team, or lack thereof. Although we fans tend to dismiss entourage members as being diamond-encrusted leeches, a personal security team can be vital to a superstar in the spotlight. According to the article, they put out fires on a regular basis, particularly when they involve sex with unfamiliar women. We're used to seeing athletes get caught while engaging in criminal, sordid or embarrassing behavior, but think about how much more we'd see if it weren't for the 300 pound safety nets shielding them wherever they went.

 
Organized Spontaneity

Fellow blogger has Gary enlightened me to the latest movement sweeping the nation one city at a time: flash mobs. For some reason, I love this idea, in which hundreds of people gather at one random location at a pre-appointed time and just...gather. As one woman said, it's like an organized protest, but without all of the politics. There's something very Fight Club-ish about it and although it is somewhat pointless, I fully understand and appreciate the concept. I'm glad there are people out there who like doing random things. It reminds me of all the stupid stuff me and my friends did in high school (like walking into Hollywood Video and putting all the tapes into the wrong cases) just for the hell of it. It's nice to know that absurdity still has a place in adulthood. I'm going to do my best to find the next flash mob to hit San Francisco.

 
It's Not Exactly Writer's Block...

I'm going to get kind of esoteric here and write about one recent phenomenon that I find rather intriguing: the glaring paucity of posts that I've made since moving back to Palo Alto. Folks, even I'm puzzled by why my once-prolific output has tailed off recently. It's not that I'm too apathetic (I still enjoy writing when I do), too busy (I had a full-time job in LA too) or that there's nothing to write about (the world is as interesting as ever). So I guess it boils down to the fact that now, when I have an idea about something, I actually have real human beings around with whom to express myself, face-to-face (what a concept). I guess what I've learned is that I was really depending this blog as a major source of my social interaction, which is sad and fascinating at the same time. Well, in any case I still like blogging and I have no intentions of shutting down this blog, but from now on I guess I'll be less frequent. But I'll still keep making an effort to write if you still keep making an effort to read.

 
Kobe's fallout

When I first heard the news about Kobe Bryant's today, I was quite surprised that the prosecutors made the charge. Just the fact that a small town in Colorado feels that they have enough evidence to go toe-to-toe with a high-priced team of LA lawyers is quite remarkable- especially since rape charges are so difficult to prove. It will be very interesting to see how they intend to appoach what will be an uphill battle for the prosecution.

As for basketball, it's hard to say how this will affect the Lakers. First of all, the justice system moves at a snail's pace, so we might not see a trial till after next season. In any case, this cloud is going to hang over the team all season and the hecklers will be out in full force wherever they go on the road. So everyone who was ready to hand out title rings to Malone and Payton earlier this week can just hold off on that for a while. All in all, this will be one more storyline added to what's shaping up to be the most intriguing NBA season since MJ's first retirement a decade ago.

 
Ask and I Shall Receive

Well, I got my wish. Dontrelle is an all-star, and to top it off, he takes the place of Kevin Brown of the evil Dodgers?! Ha ha. Karma will surely smite me for reveling in another's misfortune, but it feels good now.

So I am now satisfied with the All-Star teams. Now all they need to do is let that sausage-clad battery victim throw out the first pitch in the game Tuesday.

 
The All-Star Controversy Continues

Rosters for next week's All Star game were announced, and of course there is a travesty to report. Dontrelle Willis, the game's hottest and most exciting pitcher was left off the National League roster by manager Dusty Baker. For all the meddling and the League office has done with this year's game, you wonder why they couldn't have done some puppet-mastering where it mattered, and created a fair voting system. Because the all-star selection system now incorporates input from players, managers and fans, MLB ought to reserve two roster spots that managers may use for obvious snubs like Willis. Instead of this we're stuck with Russ Ortiz and Armando Benitez. And it's not like Willis is all hype: he's 8-1 with a 2.13 ERA. And he's been in the majors less than two months.

The game hasn't had a pitching sensation like this since Hideo Nomo, and many fans, myself included, are dying to see this guy pitch live. Here's hoping an injury substitution will allow us to experience Dontrelle mania.

 
Legacy for Legacy's Sake

Is there a more overrated phenomenon in American culture than The Kennedys? I mean, sure John and Robert were powerful, inspirational leaders four decades ago. But the new book that's making waves, The Kennedy Curse, is just another example of how unnecessarily important the Kennedy name still is. Do we really need to know whether or not JFK Jr. and his wife were having marital problems when their lives ended four years ago? Just let them rest in peace, for goodness sakes (same goes for Jackie O). The media has gone out of its way to turn the Kennedys into an American royal family and it's sad that the public still doesn't know any better.