RIP Kobe Bryant

Breaking news like this often exposes reporters and their irresponsible behavior. The upside to being right about that before it is actually confirmed is simply not worth the risk of losing credibility and looking like an idiot.

 

No idea. I would be curious as well.

A few years ago a pilot colleague invited a few of us on his plane for a spin around the area. I trusted him but I don't like small aircraft, having flown on a lot of them in college for trips home and such, and balked. If I'm on your plane I want you or your guy to be doing that full-time all the time and for a living, not something that's of the hobby. And I'd like to know how old that aircraft is. A helicopter shouldn't be nearly as old as the dude who owns it.

 

Other than this take, I’m in 100% agreement with you. Cmon, he wasn't putting her in harms way anymore than we would have had we had the means.

still not a good man.

 

It's BYH. I was afraid he would feel like he had been forgotten if nobody did.

 

I apologize, that wasn't directed at you. It was more of a reaction to that gawdawful The Ringer piece, which has to personalize everything because Bill Simmons. You were with your family and learning about the Kobe news in bits and pieces via your phone, Shea? Congratulations. It's 2020. So was every fucking other person in the country. And it took an NBA star and his daughter dying in a helicopter crash to remind a 38-year-old man of the inherent fragility of parenthood and how not every family gets to experience the best-laid plans for growing old and happy together? Every other Dad's been thinking about the former since day one, and he's the luckiest guy on the planet re: the latter.

 

One of my college jobs was working in the offices of a music-oriented attraction. When Bitsy Mooneytwitter* was hospitalized after an accident, we were mobbed by people who wanted to bring her presents, food, flowers, etc. For the first day or two, we simply turned people away. Then we found out they were creating a security nightmare over at Baptist Hospital. Her rep told us to accept everything but the food and explain that it would be given to people in various units. If someone had not had a visitor, they got flowers. New parents who weren't surrounded by family got the quilts and afghans and so on.

When people called to ask what happened to all of that stuff and would they hear back from Mooneytwitter, I decided not to lie. I had a statement from her management thanking everyone for the thoughts and prayers and explaining that she could not possibly accept everything people brought and felt it was better to share the wealth. A few fans took it well. Many were very upset because they'd brought gifts specifically for Bitsy. If Bitsy wasn't going to get the teddy bear or braided rug they brought, they wanted it back. Yes, it was exactly as much fun as you can imagine.

It was during this period that the Saturday late show ran very, very long. We usually got a lot of calls from people who could tell it was cut off before it was over because their local affiliate had something scheduled. I was worn out. Sometimes high emotions from fans gave the Friday and Saturday night shifts a Fort Apache vibe. At about two in the morning, we got an angry Bitsy fan. She was calling from the deep South and had a contralto-molasses voice that sounded like your Grammama's friend who was described to you as "trailer park genteel, bless her heart."

She could not get past the idea that the rag doll she made for Bitsy was given to someone in pediatrics at either VUMC or The Baptis'.

"You mean to tell me that I spent all that time creating a beautiful doll and not only will I never get a thank you from Bitsy, you are not even sure where it is? No, ma'am. You get me my doll back! I'll sue you people. That doll was meant to comfort Bitsy"

At the time, my boss, Jennifer M. was seated next to me, listening in. She hit critical mass and took over the call.

"Hello? Ma'am? This is Jennifer. Yes, I am a boss and yes I will spell my full name for you. That doll is being hugged by someone who is probably scared and in pain. She might not ever know who you are, but she knows that doll helps make things a little better. I promise you she is appreciating that doll far more than Ms. Mooneytwitter ever would. In fact, instead of trying to reach out to a celebrity who doesn't even know you exist, why don't you try to help someone who needs it?"

The caller hung up on her, er, us. Jennifer took moment to do some deep breathing. We sat in the dimly lit office and didn't say anything, just listened to the security guards report in downstairs. Finally, Jennifer spoke.

"That was wrong. I presumed I had the right to tell that woman how to feel. I don't. You and I and everyone else at the complex knows Bitsy Mooneytwitter is a jerk. Still, that woman gets a lot of enjoyment out of feeling some connection to her. For her, this was a chance to give back and get some reflected shine in the process. Sometimes you have to let people have their illusions, however we might feel about them."**

She's right. I've kept that in mind when dealing with fans of all sorts. Most of them still make me shake my head.

*Do I really have to say that isn't her real name?
**Jennifer is one of the best bosses I had the good fortune to report to.

 

They just started up their Twitter again tonight. And theres is nothing on their website -- no tributes, no nothing. Just a picture of the annoucement to postpone the Clippers game. It's really wierd how they've handled this whole thing, especially for a big market / always in the eye of the public franchise

 

#girldad is all over the place.

 

It ain't just America. A sampling of top soccer salaries worldwide:

Lionel Messi makes $80 million a year
Cristiano Ronaldo makes $64 million per
Neymar makes $70 million per
Paul Pogba makes $20 million per
Andres Iniesta makes $30 million per
Alexis Sanchez makes $21.5 million per
Kylian Mbappe makes $20 million per. He's 20.
Mesut Ozil makes $20 million per
Oscar makes $26.5 million per to play in China in a league I've never heard of
Gareth Bale makes $33 million per
Mo Saleh makes $15 million per

 

Late last night, the Lakers finally addressed it.

 

As a proud girl dad, I was tempted to join in. But I worried some pervs were out there surfing hashtags and looking at the photos.