Lakers Now a Dynasty

Now that the confetti has fallen, bottles were popped and tears were shed, the Lakers are once again the NBA champions, and without Shaquille O'Neal. The Orlando Magic fell seemingly without a fight in Game 5 and some are questioning whether they were the best team in the Eastern Conference to face the Lakers.

Nathaniel Sligh, senior business management major, wasn’t pleased with the outcome of the game, but gave credit where it was due.

“Even though I didn’t want the Lakers to win or go to the NBA Finals at all, I feel that Kobe Bryant did a great job leading his team,” Bryant said. “He was able to take control of the game when he needed to as well as delegate tasks to his team.”

One can't seem but wonder if the outcome of the series would have been the same if the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers, would have beat the Magic as predicted. Everyone had Kobe and LeBron facing off in the finals, even Nike, which used commercials of Kobe and LeBron puppets to promote the two going to battle for an NBA title.

I'm sure we would all agree, unless you're a die-hard Magic fan, that a Kobe and LeBron matchup would have been more entertaining than the quickly subdued Orlando Magic. The Magic fizzled out quicker than Master P's basketball career, playing like they were just content with being in the Finals instead of having the Lakers hunger to win.

While Dwight Howard reevaluates his position with the Magic and prepare for next year, Kobe Bryant is in his glory after winning his fourth NBA title. Bryant led his team to winning their fourth title in the past ten years as well as solidified himself as an immortal in sports, silencing all critics who claimed he was incapable of winning without Shaq.

"It was like Chinese water torture," Bryant said in reference to his discontent with critics saying he couldn't win without Shaq. "I would cringe every time. I was just like, it's a challenge I'm just going to have to accept because there's no way I'm going to argue it. You can say it until you're blue in the face and rationalize it until you're blue in the face, but it's not going anywhere until you do something about it."

Although both have taken their jabs at each other in past seasons, it seems they have finally found a common ground being away from each other.

O'Neal acknowledged Bryant on his Twitter page saying, "Congratulations Kobe, you deserve it. You played great. Enjoy it my man enjoy it."

The Lakers have solidified the team as a dynasty without the assistance of two star players, but one. With Bryant and the tandem of the core players who played major roles this season, the Lakers are prepared to be a force in the NBA for years to come. Now that the cloud of O’Neal and the doubts that Bryant couldn’t win without another star player have been removed, Bryant has placed himself in a position to be considered one of the greats in sports history.

Shock of Playoffs

Upsets in sports are inevitable, but no one saw the upset of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James not facing each other in the finals.

Keeping up with the NBA playoffs this year has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. Being a die-hard hometown fan, of course I was crushed when the Bulls didn't take the series against the Celtics but as a Chicago fan you get used to the phrase "Wait until next year." We've actually all been brainwashed to believe this optimistic phrase year after year. Most of us are still waiting for a ridiculous Billy Goat curse to be broken.

With all of the commercials and advertisements playing the role of the Oracle, it was almost a certainty that King James and Kobe were going to face off for the ultimate prize in the NBA. Some even questioned whether the entire playoffs were fixed to have the two best players in the NBA compete, which would ultimately boost ratings and mean more revenue for the NBA. Although this would have meant more revenue for the NBA, the Orlando Magic defied all the corporate big wigs and fans rooting for a Kobe/LeBron matchup.

Capturing the Eastern Conference title, the Magic have positioned themselves to be a force in the finals as well as for years to come. With young players that have a drive and passion to win, the Magic may be a force for the Cavaliers and King James to reckon with even in the distant future. Dwight Howard is gaining more experience as he goes along and is averaging over twenty points and fifteen rebounds in the playoffs and is emerging as a powerhouse of the NBA to the likes of Bill Russell, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Charles Barkley.

The strong supporting cast of Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, and Hedo Turkoglu are becoming more unified and providing their opposition match-up problems as a result of the height advantages of Magic players.

The Lakers have their work cut out for them come Thursday night on their home court. Orlando has become the Cinderella team that no one expected to get this far. The NBA now has to pull the Kobe and LeBron commercials and replace LeBron with Dwight Howard. Might not sound as appealing, but the Magic have earned their place in history.

Under the Microscope

What does it take to have adoration, fans, money and endorsements stripped from you? Kobe Bryant, Michael Vick and Sammy Sosa can definitely give the answer to this question, but it seems like an unprecedented amount of athletes are being added to this list of asterisks and shame in recent years.

The latest names to be added to the list of asterisks and shame are Alex Rodriguez and Michael Phelps. Two highly regarded young athletes in their prime lives changed at the release of a picture and the issuance of a statement. Although these individuals are human and will make mistakes like any other, the crimes they committed have the potential to tarnish an entire generation.

Before the steroid plague in Major League Baseball and illegal drug usage across the field of sports, Americans expected their poster boys to be exempt from such activities. In recent years star athletes have given fans a reason to be doubtful that monumental accomplishments were achieved as a result of pure skill. Making mistakes are human and should be forgiven as a result of the person being apologetic but the individuals who are in the limelight are held to a different standard. Even though human, these celebrities are thrown into the fire whenever the slightest mistake is made on their part and rightfully so.

When athletes such as Michael Phelps and A-Rod sign their names to lucrative contracts that will pay them millions in endorsements and salaries, they do much more than just add their name to a paper overloaded with contractual jargon. When they sign their names they become a role model.

According to Webster's Dictionary, a role model is defined as a person whose behavior in a particular role is imitated by others. So this is the problem. When you have athletes who sign their names over to be role models to kids across the country as well as the entire world, the young fans are going to imitate all they see their role models portraying.

The mindset of kids who see picture of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana or see Alex Rodriguez admitting to using performance enhancing drugs is being tarnished with thoughts that these crimes are acceptable as long as an apology is issued shortly afterwards. The mentality of this generation, which believes in having a competitive edge at all cost and using illegal drugs in order to have a good time is acceptable, will carry over into the next generation if the actions of this generation are not changed.

How do we want America portrayed to the rest of the country? These athletes have certainly not been a role model according to Webster's definition or most of American's definition. Before signing their name to the dotted line, athletes should know exactly what they are getting into. Instead of being dazed by the money, fame and stardom, they should all be thinking about the effect they will have on the future.

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Election An Educator For All

Despite of all the excitement that is being displayed worldwide in light of Barack Obama being elected president, there are still individuals who are bitter and making it evident that racism still exists in our country.

As a user of Facebook, I've read many other users' distasteful remarks about Barack Obama and their reluctance to acknowledge a milestone in not just black history but the history of the world. Freedom of speech is and will always be a right to Americans; however, some of the comments I viewed on Facebook went past freedom of speech and stepped into the area of racism.

Just like misery, ignorance loves company. The comments made by these individuals were hurtful towards not only African-Americans but the entire country. One individual made remarks regarding a long gone stereotype of Blacks saying he was,"Drinkin Malt Liquor, quitting his job tomorrow, applying for welfare and now officially supports Obama! Yes We Can." A female was quoted as saying "They only voted for him because he was black" and another person expressed remarks saying "All the hunters gather up, we have a n*gger in the White House." This last comment was made by a college football player with the Texas Longhorns and was dismissed from the team, and rightfully so, immediately after the team officials were informed of his comments.

So the million dollar question is what have we learned from this election? Of course African-Americans have come a long way from being enslaved, limited to certain areas, and stereotyped as lazy and ignorant but what have we actually all learned from this election. Although Blacks are still belittled and labeled as a minority, this election has educated many African-Americans as well as other races on the politics in America. We have all learned whether black, white, Asian, or Latino about the politics in America and we also have realized that unfortunately, racism still exists in our country. America has broken through many barriers dealing with terrorism, racism, economy, and technology over the years but our country will never be perfect. This doesn't mean strives towards perfection should not be made because progression will make life easier for Americans but my point is that racism will always exist. It will subside over time, but will always be evident.

As a first time voter, and friend of many first time voters, I realized the appeal that Obama has to encourage young and old to become knowledgeable of the politics in America. Being completely honest, his appeal to many may be that he is an African-American but let's not take away the facts that he is a highly qualified and intelligent choice for our countries highest position which is much more than I can say for his predecessors. I am much more knowledgeable of the politics in this country and foreign policy as a result of this election and my colleagues share the same sentiment. Even if people voted for him solely based on the fact that he's black, Americans dug deeper and educated themselves on many of the issues that might have otherwise been ignored.

More than ever before, I am proud to be an African-American male. There is a sense of pride amongst all African-Americans as a result of President Obama's success and we as Americans have broken down yet another barrier in our country. To all those parents who express to their children on a daily basis that the sky is the limit and they can be whatever they aspire to be, you can use an example from now on. This rags to riches story is not a fairy tale but a reality, even thought it produced the ultimate fairy tale ending with a black man being named President Obama.