Sports are like politics in many ways.  In politics most Democrats feel that any idea a Republican comes up with is 100% wrong.  They feel that since a Republican thought of it then there is no way any good can come out of it.  The same goes for most Republicans in regards to Democrats’ ideas.  If a Democrat comes up with an idea, the Republican will think of anything to discredit that idea.  The Republican will take pieces of truth from different sources to explain why the Democrats’ idea is no good.  They will also take a sentence from a quote that will benefit their argument without reading the entire quote and vice versa. 

The media is mostly split as well.  Republican reporters bash Democrats ideas and vice versa.

 

The Lakers' Kobe Bryant. (Winslow Townsend/Associated Press)

Sports reporters are no different.  A perfect example that illustrates the similarities between sports and politics is Kobe Bryant.  You either hate him or you love him.  Very few basketball fans are indifferent.  However, it seems like so many “journalists” have an agenda when it comes to Bryant.  No matter what he does, it is always wrong.  He will never do anything right.  And even when he does something that is incredible these “journalists” will make an argument to discredit his accomplishments.

Case in point:

On March 28, 1995 Michael Jordan broke the record for most points scored in the current Madison Square Garden building in New York.  He scored 55 points.  Here are his stats from that night:

Minutes: 39

Field Goal %: 56.8

3 Point %: 75

Free Throw %: 90.9

Rebounds: 4

Assists: 2

Steals: 1

Blocks: 0

Turnovers: 2

Points: 55

(www.basketball-reference.com)

That game was and is still considered one of the greatest performances in NBA history.  It is heralded as a classic.

On February 2, 2009 Kobe Bryant broke Michael Jordan’s record by scoring 61 points.  Here are his stats from that night:

Minutes: 36

Field Goal %: 61.3

3 Point %: 50

Free Throw %: 100

Rebounds: 0

Assists: 3

Steals: 0

Blocks: 1

Turnovers: 2

Points: 61

(www.basketball-reference.com)

This game was also heralded as a classic.  Unfortunately the “journalists” that called Michael Jordan’s game a “great performance” called Kobe Bryant’s game a “selfish performance”.

They claim that because Kobe Bryant only had three assists during his game it meant he was selfish.  They conveniently forgot to mention that Michael Jordan actually only had two assists during his game.  But this goes back to the Democrat thinking everything the Republican does is wrong.  When Michael Jordan did it, it was considered great.  However, when Kobe Bryant did it, it was considered selfish.

Kobe Bryant was selfish for scoring so many points and not getting his teammates more involved.  On the other hand, Michael Jordan was a basketball god that broke the scoring record and proved why he is the best.  It goes on to show that the media can influence people who are not well informed and don’t see what is really going on.  Fortunately, there are many who can see right through their biased reporting.

Another example:

During the 2007-08 season the Lakers’ starting center Andrew Bynum missed the entire second half of the season (including the finals) due to a knee injury.  It was a tough blow for the Lakers.  Once the 2008-09 season began, spirits were high in Lakerland because Bynum was back from his injury and he would bring his 7-foot, 285 pound presence back on the court.

Unfortunately, on January 31, 2009 Andrew Bynum suffered another knee injury.  According to Bill Simmons aka The Sports Guy here is what Kobe’s reaction to the injury was:

“I found it interesting that Kobe's reaction was more ‘Crap, there goes my title!’ than ‘Oh, no, my teammate is hurt—I hate seeing him in pain!’” (Simmons)

Interestingly enough, Simmons did not state his source.  Where did he get that Kobe’s reaction was that he would not win the title?  We will never know because he did not state his source.

Kobe Bryant’s actual reaction to Andrew Bynum’s injury was the following:

"Hopefully everything will be OK," Bryant said. "We haven't heard the results from the MRI yet, but we're optimistic about it.” (Bresnahan)

That quote makes you think Bryant is more concerned about Bynum’s health than winning a championship.  He also said:

“I feel bad for him because he's been playing so well and he's done a lot of work to get to this point. I feel just really agitated that this happened to him. He doesn't deserve it. He's worked extremely hard." (Bresnahan)

That last quote says it all.  Bryant was more concerned about how hard Bynum had worked to come back from his previous injury only to have this most recent injury happen. 

The only times Bryant ever spoke about whether the Lakers could still win the championship was when reporters asked him that question directly.  They asked if the Lakers could still win the championship without Bynum and he said they can.  He said that with Bynum the Lakers are much better but that without him they are still good enough to win the championship.  Of course, the critics attacked him for that.  Well what did they expect?  Did they want him to say, “No, we can’t win the championship any more.  Without Andrew Bynum we have no chance and we should might as well go home and forfeit the rest of the season.”  That is ridiculous.

So as you can see sports are similar to politics because you have people in the media with agendas to push.  They will praise one guy for doing something and bash another for doing the same exact thing.  Just as in politics, there are very few media reporters that report from the middle without any bias either way. 

As usual, you can count on me to report fairly and consistent.  Please send your comments or questions to gustavo.reynoso@yahoo.com

Simmons, Bill.  “Look at the evidence. Am I really a Kobe hater? You be the judge.” 2009.  ESPN. Feb 2009  http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3896242

Bresnahan, Mike. “Andrew Bynum’s status still a mystery to Lakers.” 2009. Los Angeles Times. 2 Feb. 2009  http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakersfyi-notes2-2009feb02,0,547354.story

Bresnahan, Mike. “Andrew Bynum injures knee in victory.” 2009.  Los Angeles Times.  1 Feb. 2009  http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-grizzlies1-2009feb01,0,1338386.story