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Kobe Bryant Fined $100,000 for gay slur

Fining someone for swearing is beyond stupid.

No it isn't. The League wanted to send a message that they will not tolerate players making such comments to their refs. And it wasn't simply swearing. It was a completely uncalled for insult to a ref's sexual preferences.
 
The team has the right to fine him, and its exercise of that right does not bother me. Kobe's actions affect the image of the team itself. They damage the team's legitimate objective to portray itself as a professional organization comprised of athletes who conduct themselves in a sportsman-like manner.
You really expect a bunch of goons to conduct themselves as gentlemen ?
Considering their pay (far, far too much), I think I might...
But watching, in person, pro sports is for the wealthy.
When will this madness ever end ???
At this point in time, I think the fine was appropiate...
The pro teams and colleges must upgrade their "image"
The goons must go !
 
Apparently, Kobe is deciding to appeal the decision.

Full Disclosure: I am a huge Kobe Bryant fan and I think he is one of the greatest players to ever play the game, and is currently the greatest player still active.

However. He needs to stop being a bitch. You said something that was uncalled for, now take responsiblity for your actions and pony up. 100k is chump change for the highest paid player in the league.
 
Apparently, Kobe is deciding to appeal the decision.

Full Disclosure: I am a huge Kobe Bryant fan and I think he is one of the greatest players to ever play the game, and is currently the greatest player still active.

However. He needs to stop being a bitch. You said something that was uncalled for, now take responsiblity for your actions and pony up. 100k is chump change for the highest paid player in the league.

See I have to hate Kobe based on principle, but that is just because of him being a Laker and me being a Celtics fan. However he said on ESPN, which I found funny, that you just appeal it because it is what you do in situations like this.
 
Apparently, Kobe is deciding to appeal the decision.

Full Disclosure: I am a huge Kobe Bryant fan and I think he is one of the greatest players to ever play the game, and is currently the greatest player still active.

However. He needs to stop being a bitch. You said something that was uncalled for, now take responsiblity for your actions and pony up. 100k is chump change for the highest paid player in the league.

kobe could play some ball, but as a person? meh.
 
kobe could play some ball, but as a person? meh.

I think there's some truth to this. It's really hard for us to know the real Kobe Bryant as a person, though because he hides behind a carefully crafted media image especially when he's doing pressers and interviews.
 
This isn't about the legality of Kobe Bryant's gay slur. This is simply a debate as to whether or not you agree the fine was appropriate, and whether you think what he said was a big deal or if it is being blown out of proportion.

I can understand why the league is doing what it is doing. However, when the mics capture sound, how often are people penalized for throwing out the s-word or the f-word?

As an aside, a few weeks ago there was a campaign by a student group on campus to eliminate the word "retard" from speech. I was like, seriously?

Oh, you have no idea how serious this is. Trust me. It's a big thing in the Mental Health community, and nearly as big in the Special Education field. Everyone seems to be gung-ho about it.
 
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little excessive... i think it would be different if he made a huge scene and said it for the entire world to hear, then yea it would be appropriate. I think the fine should be reduced drastically, and maybe a public apology.
 
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I can understand why the league is doing what it is doing. However, when the mics capture sound, how often are people penalized for throwing out the s-word or the f-word?



Oh, you have no idea how serious this is. Trust me. It's a big thing in the Mental Health community, and nearly as big in the Special Education field. Everyone seems to be gung-ho about it.

I'm not...word has a nice ring to it and I feel it gets the point across and better communicates the message, lol.
 
You really expect a bunch of goons to conduct themselves as gentlemen ?
Considering their pay (far, far too much), I think I might...
But watching, in person, pro sports is for the wealthy.
When will this madness ever end ???
At this point in time, I think the fine was appropiate...
The pro teams and colleges must upgrade their "image"
The goons must go !

"Goons"? Christ, man, have you seen the way most people play sports? It's certainly the same tension.
 
I'm not...word has a nice ring to it and I feel it gets the point across and better communicates the message, lol.

Ha, most of the words have the ring to them. However, I am against it because I think it would do nothing to make the situation better for the people I know. For one thing, it would easily turn a lot of people off by appealing to political correctness. For another, you'll just have another word that will replace it with the same level of disdain. The whole field is about replacing terminology that is either no longer scientifically agreeable or appealing in character. The former makes sense, the last is a fruitless adventure.
 
Ha, most of the words have the ring to them. However, I am against it because I think it would do nothing to make the situation better for the people I know. For one thing, it would easily turn a lot of people off by appealing to political correctness. For another, you'll just have another word that will replace it with the same level of disdain. The whole field is about replacing terminology that is either no longer scientifically agreeable or appealing in character. The former makes sense, the last is a fruitless adventure.

totally agree.
 
It isn't about forcing some one's opinion. It is about the league taking issue with what one of its best known players said to its refs.
Well of course you're right. I made an emotional response. They have a right to do what the want to protect their image.
 
Well of course you're right. I made an emotional response. They have a right to do what the want to protect their image.

Basketball's image is already destroyed. They don't use their own rules, superstars get away with everything, there was a major scandal with the refs and the mafia betting on the sport, fouls get called depending on what the score is. At first I thought basketball was real like wrestling, then I learning it's fake like boxing.
 
Basketball's image is already destroyed. They don't use their own rules, superstars get away with everything, there was a major scandal with the refs and the mafia betting on the sport, fouls get called depending on what the score is. At first I thought basketball was real like wrestling, then I learning it's fake like boxing.

Depends on what kind of wrestling we're talkin bout.
 
The WWE is more real than basketball.
 
The WWE is more real than basketball.

I'm just amused that you used the phrase "real like wrestling," that's all. And that boxing is fake. In my opinion it's the other way around.
 
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The WWE is more real than basketball.

when you have a playoff game where one team is charged with triple the number of fouls as the other, something ain't right. especially when the more heavily charged team is not known for playing dirty/rough. I stopped watching the NBA nearly 20 years ago. I watched a handful of games last year only because that was the only thing that they broadcast on AFN in Iraq.
 
I'm just amused that you used the phrase "real like wrestling," that's all. And that boxing is fake. In my opinion it's the other way around.

boxing is rigged too.
 
I'm just amused that you used the phrase "real like wrestling," that's all. And that boxing is fake. In my opinion it's the other way around.

It's actually a quote from Futurama that Fry says in relation to the Ultimate Robot Fighting League and if you didn't get it, you should feel great shame.
 
It's actually a quote from Futurama that Fry says in relation to the Ultimate Robot Fighting League and if you didn't get it, you should feel great shame.

see, I don't watch futurama lol and that's why I didn't get the reference. I feel no shame, sorry. :2razz:
 
see, I don't watch futurama lol and that's why I didn't get the reference. I feel no shame, sorry. :2razz:

You should since Futurama is one of the best sci-fi shows ever. But on topic I will say that WWE is well more real than the NBA. Both are rigged to essentially the same degree, but the WWE admits it where as basketball continually tries to pass itself off as a legitimate sport. It's a farce and a waste of broadcast airtime.
 
The league is perfectly within its rights to fine Kobe and he should be fined for unsportsmanlike conduct. But the whole idea that because he said "faggot" or whatever makes him a homophobe is silly. I call lame stuff "gay" all the time. I've called someone I thought was an asshole a "fag" once or twice. And I'm don't consider myself a raging homophobe. When I call something gay, I'm not refering to it's sexual preferences, I'm referring to it's high level of lameness. When I call someone a fag, I'm not refering to a man who likes to sleep with other men. I'm referring to an inconsiderate asshole (like guys who ride Harleys!). While homophobes and gay bashers do use those words in a hateful manner to attack gays, most people I know use them in a context that has nothing to do with sexuality.
 
Then it becomes a question of relative riggedness. Maybe it's just me, but Wrestling has a much greater reputation for being fake compared to boxing.

as Ikari said, it's a matter of presentation. Wrestling doesn't pretend to be a legitimate sport. Everyone knows and admits it is purely entertainment.
 
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