Stop. Kobe Time. Ohh-ohh. . .Can't Touch This. . .Ohh-ohh. . .

A couple months ago I wrote about Tiger Woods’ return to golf and the quandary about how we should receive him – with forgiveness or scorn. While crafting that post, one of my thought processes was how we can love athletes for what they do on the court, field or course, but may not even respect what they do off it.

For years, I’ve had a slight obsession with Kobe Bryant. Like a little kid, I get a thrill watching take the buzzer-beating, sink the game-winner and move around the court with his patented swagga. Even after his legal debacle, I had to watch when Kobe was on – and once again marvel at his skill almost to the point of admiration. In all fairness, he righted his wrongs and hasn’t been in trouble since – at least not to the public’s knowledge. Oh, and dude changed his jersey number. C’mon.

This all breaks down to me either having forgiven him in a sense or accepted the double-standard of liking an athlete for what he or she does between the lines. I’d like to believe I haven’t lowered my standards . . . but truth is, we can all have our guilty pleasures, can’t we? I just can’t help it – he’s like the Derek Jeter of the NBA in the sense that he comes up in crunch time to make the biggest shots of all – often times in jaw-dropping fashion. All I know is that I’m stoked to see what Kobe has in store against the risen Suns and perhaps beyond.

Coming soon: Why I still haven’t forgiven my college hero, one Dwyane Wade. Or as we at MU called him, “D” or “D-Wade” (I can’t help it the rest of the world is full of copycats).