The posting accuses Lakers owner Jerry Buss of pursuing a long-term rebuilding strategy contrary to what he told Bryant would happen when Bryant was a free agent three years ago.
"The more I thought about the future, the more I became convinced that the Lakers and me just have two different visions for the future," Bryant writes. He also notes that winning is "in my DNA," an unfortunate choice of words for someone whose image was shattered by an accusation of rape.
What's really surreal is that the same message was posted at the end of last month. Is Kobe living "The Surreal Life" or "Groundhog Day"?
The posting isn't on the Web site anymore under the original date but here's a TrueHoop item about it dated May 30. The Associated Press and others are reporting on the blog item as though it were new.
It's possible Bryant wanted to restate his desire to escape the Lakers after a reported meeting with Buss last week in Spain. It's also possible that someone over at kb24.com screwed up some coding and made the old item reappear with a new date.
But I think I speak for the American people when I say: Yaaarrrrrrghghghgh!
There's a house in New Jersey where Amelia Earhart, Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison live. Kobe: Move in for a while, would you? You don't have to stay for long like Jimmy Hoffa did. Just till Halloween or so. We really don't need to hear from you again till then.
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Vin Scully can make silence sound good [PERMALINK]
Los Angeles Angels slugger Vladimir Guerrero stepped up to the plate Friday representing the tying run with one out and the bases empty in the top of the ninth inning against Los Angeles Dodgers closer Takashi Saito.
Vin Scully was at the microphone for the Dodgers TV broadcast. "Here comes Vladimir and this oughta be something," he said just before Guerrero swung and missed at the first pitch.
"Oh-and-1," Scully said. "Boy, when you get a matchup like this, Guerrero and Saito, I think the best thing to do is shut up. Just, uh, you concentrate, and I'm gonna have some fun myself."
Scully was then silent through Ball 1 in the dirt, Strike 2 on the outside corner and the rising crowd noise as Saito kicked and delivered the 1-2 pitch. As Guerrero swung and hit a fly ball to left-center field, Scully said, "Slider," and when Juan Pierre caught it, "Two out."
He'd been silent for 56 seconds, an inconceivable eternity on the broadcasts of 29 big-league teams. After reviewing the play Scully said, "Boy, there was a moment there with the crowd on its feet, roaring. Great confrontation."
Yeah, even without the announcer telling us how great it was while it was happening: "Listen to this crowd!"
Nice to be respected once in a while.
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Next: In the proud tradition of Bruce "The Mouse" Strauss ... [PERMALINK]
The voice-over on the TV commercial for Saturday's UFC event in Belfast intoned, "In the proud tradition of Irish warriors, the Ultimate Fighting Championship invades Northern Ireland."
Huh? What proud Irish warriors ever invaded Northern Ireland?
It was proud -- I guess, or maybe they were just bored -- Norman warriors who invaded Northern Ireland in the 12th century. Or was the commercial referring to the proud Irish warriors who were defeated by the English army in the 17th century?
Some kind of IRA reference? The IRA didn't invade. It was an insurgency.
I know, I'm overthinking this. The idea with ads like that is to just say random stuff that sounds good if you say it in a tough-guy voice. Still. Hearing that made Saturday one of those surreal days for me and my family.
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About the writer
King Kaufman is a senior writer for Salon. Visit his column archive. You can e-mail him at king at salon dot com or visit his MySpace page.
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