Nel's blog has had more action than it's had in months!
Mike, You're right...
I wrote that blog on monday morning, and I had just heard the story on the radio... before most of the facts came out. But a few points to keep in mind:
-I didn't mean to imply I think Kobe's a rapist, but I blogged regarding how serious the charge is and how devastating this could be on his image, regardless of whether the allegations are true or not. Very often in these high profile cases, it's the court of public opinion that matters far more than what's proven in the courtroom. Just being accused of this sort of thing is a disaster for him, and it's going to take a long time for him to clear his name regardless of whether he is actually guilty or not. So no, he's not Mike Tyson, but I was saying the public could be quick to jump to that conclusion. Think about Sammy Sosa... he used a practice bat once by mistake, and he's still getting booed everywhere he goes. But we're way beyond corked bats here.... I didn't mean to crucify Kobe, but the public's going to do it to him anyways and this taint won't go away for a long time.
- And it's true the Sherriff's department ususally goes through the district attorney to obtain a warrent, but in this case they went through a a judge -- a judge who found probable cause after reading an affidavit from the investigators. That doesn't necessarily mean there's a bias. Obviously Kobe's lawyers want to create the impression of a bias, but we all know how legal technicalities have gotten athletes off the hook before (read, OJ)... that's their job. Let's just say you need a certain amount of evidence for a judge to issue an arrest warrant for sexual assault and demand $25 000 in bail. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what kind of evidence we're talking about in this sort of case. Unless he had really sweaty palms and left a handprint, I don't think he just fondled her.
-But you're right. Everything we're talking about right now is mere speculation, and I agree that I probably shouldn't have written that first blog based on such bad information. We should just wait for the facts to come out. Lost in all this is the fact that we know neither of the two people in this case (aside from what we read in magazines, which is a pretty poor judge of character), and that we're dealing with two human beings who's lives have suddenly been shattered. If she really was assaulted, we're dealing with a victim who's traumatized and devastated, and who's going to be accused of being a goldigger for the rest of her life -- even if he's found guilty. Her reputation will forever be ruined....Some Kobe diehards will even insist things like "she asked for it" -- as if such a thing were possible. But if Kobe's innocent, imagine how horrible it must be to get accused of something like this.... and how his life might never be the same; even if he clears his name, Kobe-bashers will only insist he got off cause he's a celebrity.
But yeah, i agree that all this talk about it before things become apparent only feeds the hype machine, and that I shouldn't have brought it up like that. There are no winners in an allegation as serious as this.
-Anyways, that's it from me on this story... How you doing man? I'm back in town this weekend.... are you free?
Mike, You're right...
I wrote that blog on monday morning, and I had just heard the story on the radio... before most of the facts came out. But a few points to keep in mind:
-I didn't mean to imply I think Kobe's a rapist, but I blogged regarding how serious the charge is and how devastating this could be on his image, regardless of whether the allegations are true or not. Very often in these high profile cases, it's the court of public opinion that matters far more than what's proven in the courtroom. Just being accused of this sort of thing is a disaster for him, and it's going to take a long time for him to clear his name regardless of whether he is actually guilty or not. So no, he's not Mike Tyson, but I was saying the public could be quick to jump to that conclusion. Think about Sammy Sosa... he used a practice bat once by mistake, and he's still getting booed everywhere he goes. But we're way beyond corked bats here.... I didn't mean to crucify Kobe, but the public's going to do it to him anyways and this taint won't go away for a long time.
- And it's true the Sherriff's department ususally goes through the district attorney to obtain a warrent, but in this case they went through a a judge -- a judge who found probable cause after reading an affidavit from the investigators. That doesn't necessarily mean there's a bias. Obviously Kobe's lawyers want to create the impression of a bias, but we all know how legal technicalities have gotten athletes off the hook before (read, OJ)... that's their job. Let's just say you need a certain amount of evidence for a judge to issue an arrest warrant for sexual assault and demand $25 000 in bail. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what kind of evidence we're talking about in this sort of case. Unless he had really sweaty palms and left a handprint, I don't think he just fondled her.
-But you're right. Everything we're talking about right now is mere speculation, and I agree that I probably shouldn't have written that first blog based on such bad information. We should just wait for the facts to come out. Lost in all this is the fact that we know neither of the two people in this case (aside from what we read in magazines, which is a pretty poor judge of character), and that we're dealing with two human beings who's lives have suddenly been shattered. If she really was assaulted, we're dealing with a victim who's traumatized and devastated, and who's going to be accused of being a goldigger for the rest of her life -- even if he's found guilty. Her reputation will forever be ruined....Some Kobe diehards will even insist things like "she asked for it" -- as if such a thing were possible. But if Kobe's innocent, imagine how horrible it must be to get accused of something like this.... and how his life might never be the same; even if he clears his name, Kobe-bashers will only insist he got off cause he's a celebrity.
But yeah, i agree that all this talk about it before things become apparent only feeds the hype machine, and that I shouldn't have brought it up like that. There are no winners in an allegation as serious as this.
-Anyways, that's it from me on this story... How you doing man? I'm back in town this weekend.... are you free?
posted by Anonymous at 1:01 PM
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