Tank's Take July 25, 2003

Court TV

The trend of athlete in legal trouble is not old and it is not going away anytime soon, but the coverage is beginning to overwhelm the coverage of actual action on the field. Specifically this means the case of Kobe Bryant, which is months away from trial but a major part of every show on ESPN as of late.

As with any case Kobe Bryant is innocent until proven guilty. However, he is not a victim here, and nobody should not feel sorry for him. Athletes have to understand they are targets and cannot go sleeping around with every woman who comes up to them. Some of these women often called "groupies" are out for money and other are out to get famous. With the amount of exposure and money made by today's athletes they walk around with a bull's-eye on their back, and for them to not understand that and sleep around indiscriminately is just asking for trouble.

The fact is this is not the first time Kobe Bryant has had an affair, and if his wife believes him then she is either gullible or in denial. His press conference last Friday was quite pathetic and probably ill advised. His confession of an affair turns this into a he said she said case and until more evidence is presented that all it is.

This means any talk about the case is getting old and boring. Unless the court announces something or evidence is brought out in the public all talk should cease on this subject for the sake of Kobe and the 19-year accuser.

The life of the accuser has been turned upside down; several places including the Internet have published her name face and other private information. In this country anyone who is claiming to be raped has the right to remain anonymous, that's how it's always been that's how it should always be.Some had suggested it is unfair that the victim be anonymous and while the press comes down on Kobe. However it is one of the pitfalls of being famous. Celebrities have to understand they have a reduced expectation of privacy, since it is a double edged sword, because being a celebrity can often give them a get out of jail free card.

Weather or not Kobe did it right now is irrelevant and that gets at the heart of the matter. Nobody knows anything so they are saying the same thing over and over again. Until the trial begins speculations should be kept minimal so both Kobe and the accuser can get a fair trial.

While the Kobe case has gotten a sickening amount of coverage the most interesting and perhaps most tragic case involving the disappearance of Baylor University Basketball Player Patrick Dennehey, may be close to being solved, as his teammate Carlton Dotson has been charged with murder.

Prior to being arrested Dotson reportedly confessed to the murder. If in fact that is true, lets hope he does the right thing and lead police to the body. The Dennehey family deserves closure, since there now appears no hope for a happy ending. Until the trial or Carlton Dotson explains why he did it we will not know why he killed his teammate. However, now he has the opportunity to do the right thing, and allow Patrick Dennehey to rest in peace. If he fails to cooperate now, then prosecutors in Waco should seek the death penalty. Its bad enough 2 lives have been destroyed now its time to at least bring closure for the sake of all involved.

While it seems ESPN has had enough coverage of actual trials involving athletes they seem unsatisfied so last Thursday they decided to put on a mock trial of Pete Rose with Alan Discherowitz and Johnnie Cocherane serving as the lawyers. Two lawyers that immediately come to mind when one thinks about how sneaky and deceitful lawyers can be.

From their ESPN had a 3-hour trial with witnesses from the world of baseball including Jim Palmer, Hank Aaron, Dave Parker, and Bill Lee. In addition experts in the field of compulsive gambling also testified. The whole idea was a little compulsive, and tedious with the judge announcing recesses for a commercial break.

The jury made up of cross-section of fans seemed to have their minds made up before the trial and Rose won by an 8-3 vote while 11 of the 12 jurors, whose deliberations were shown live making it 4 hours thought he bet on baseball. The whole show was pointless and tedious, and looked phony. The fact is this kangaroo court changed no minds the only thing that were changed that night were channels away from ESPN.

Lets hope ESPN stops wanting to be Court TV soon, so we can see more highlights and less lawyers. There is already too many lawyers on TV from the Lacy Peterson trial to those wanting to start frivolous lawsuits against Fast Food restaurants and make life less livable. However, their will probably be more sports and court shows which may even lead ESPN to launch the Sports Court Network, which of course will be a sure sign of the apocalypse.

Hero of the Week: Ben Curtis who went from unknown to British Open Champion, weather or not the 26-year old from Ohio will ever win another major is irrelevant. He has written a true storybook with perhaps the greatest upset in the history of golf. Even if he never wins another tournament he has won a Major Championship unlike golf's two most famous choker Colin Montgomery and Phil Mickleson, who should have a match play exhibition for the title of best golfer without a major. Then again they both will probably figure out a way to lose.

Geek of the Week: Former New York Mets Owner Nelson Doubleday who went on a drunken tirade ripping his former business partner Fred Wilpon, and his son Jeff who now run the Mets and several players. Doubleday may have been right on several points, but the way he went about making the points made him look bad. At times it best to remain silent, when many of the decisions made to bring player's like Mo Vaughn who he openly criticized in, happened with him there. His ranting only makes things worse for a franchise that needs to rebuild and just makes an already ugly situation for the last place Mets worse.