2008 Woodie Awards
Unnecessary Roughness:
Shaq and Kobe should lose recess privileges
Corey Kempf
Issue date: 11/6/03 Section: Sports
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For Better or Worse?
First off, something needs to be said about the New York Yankees and Major League Baseball. With the anti-parity minded MLB, the Yankees are kings amongst peasants. They boast the highest payroll year after year, allowing themselves to bring in huge talent while others are left to hope they find a diamond in the rough and look forward to next season. They are expected to win, but for some unforeseen reason, don't. Sure, they are perennial playoff visitors and made it to the World Series this year, but when they don't produce a ring, it spells disaster for the Yankees, and sweet success for the league.
If the Yankees won the Series every year, there would be an outcry from the rest of the league pleading for a similar salary cap. However, with the Florida Marlins taking care of the Yankees in the Series, there seems to still be no outcry. Should there be? I believe so.
Bad teams will not get better if they can't put people in the stands, and if they can't win, they're not going to put people in the stands. If they can't put people in the stands, they're not going to improve their salary caps and will continue to be a bad team. It's a vicious cycle for those teams and a helpful cycle for those that can compete for titles.
Kobe vs. Shaq Again
Despite recent assurances by Los Angeles Lakers' superstar Shaquille O'Neal that things between him and teammate Kobe Bryant are fine now after their week long verbal battle, it's only a question of whether these two, and new teammate superstars Gary Payton and Karl Malone, can coexist. From the recent tussle, along with all the previous ones, it would appear that this team is as unstable as a Jenga game.
The latest feud began when Shaq ripped into Bryant, saying that he needed to be more of a team player and finished by saying this is "my team." According to the Associated Press, Bryant responded by calling Shaq "childlike," "selfish," "fat," "jealous," and "unprofessional."
First off, something needs to be said about the New York Yankees and Major League Baseball. With the anti-parity minded MLB, the Yankees are kings amongst peasants. They boast the highest payroll year after year, allowing themselves to bring in huge talent while others are left to hope they find a diamond in the rough and look forward to next season. They are expected to win, but for some unforeseen reason, don't. Sure, they are perennial playoff visitors and made it to the World Series this year, but when they don't produce a ring, it spells disaster for the Yankees, and sweet success for the league.
If the Yankees won the Series every year, there would be an outcry from the rest of the league pleading for a similar salary cap. However, with the Florida Marlins taking care of the Yankees in the Series, there seems to still be no outcry. Should there be? I believe so.
Bad teams will not get better if they can't put people in the stands, and if they can't win, they're not going to put people in the stands. If they can't put people in the stands, they're not going to improve their salary caps and will continue to be a bad team. It's a vicious cycle for those teams and a helpful cycle for those that can compete for titles.
Kobe vs. Shaq Again
Despite recent assurances by Los Angeles Lakers' superstar Shaquille O'Neal that things between him and teammate Kobe Bryant are fine now after their week long verbal battle, it's only a question of whether these two, and new teammate superstars Gary Payton and Karl Malone, can coexist. From the recent tussle, along with all the previous ones, it would appear that this team is as unstable as a Jenga game.
The latest feud began when Shaq ripped into Bryant, saying that he needed to be more of a team player and finished by saying this is "my team." According to the Associated Press, Bryant responded by calling Shaq "childlike," "selfish," "fat," "jealous," and "unprofessional."