THE SWAGGER: It seems like the LeBron James vs. Kobe Bryant debate is all over the sports world today. Heck, I wrote my column about it just two weeks ago. But since Kobe's 61- point slashing of the Knicks and LeBron's almost triple-double performance in New York, the blogs have been going crazy. It is safe to call this relationship between the two players an official rivalry. And rivalries are one of the best things about sports...
A man is approached by four plain-clothed officers on the streets of New York City and is told to stop what he is doing and to put his hands up. The officers briefly question this young man, who is 23-years-old and a recent immigrant to America. The young man is confused and reaches for his wallet to show his identification. As soon as the young man makes this move, one of the officers shouts "Gun!" and the officers quickly fire 41 fatal shots into his body.
He saw his father murdered by the machete of a Mau Mau rebel when he was 13 and he forgave the killer. A genetic ailment lay dormant for much of his life, then sprung itself upon him, impairing his motor functions, but he kept teaching. One of the few professors brave enough to dole out a deserved D+, he was unfairly called a fascist, and he still gave students the chance to rewrite. Richard Kroll was tough and fair.
THE SOCIAList: Most of us weren't good enough to get into UCLA or UC Berkeley. Most of us had no shot at schools like Stanford University or Yale University. Some of us have boyfriends or girlfriends that attend those schools. Some of us grew up diehard fans of the University of Southern California or UCLA sports. I don't care. Quit representing them on campus.
As we've seen from recent world events, extremist ideologies never lead to or create anything good. The mantra "everything in moderation" applies to more than just food, sweets and booze these days, as taking an idea too far can also poison a mind. Most notable are radical interpretations of religion. It seems we'll now have to add "animal rights" to that list as well.
