Vantage Point: Toronto

To whom it may concern,

I’ve thought extensively about how to write this post, but was never happy with what I drafted but here it goes anyways…

Goodbyes are one of the most difficult parts of life. Every time you close a door, you open a new one in turn you also enter a new room, or in this case I move back to my old room at my parents’ place, as for the time being I’ve decided to move back home to Vancouver.

I’ve been asked a lot on why I made this decision more than halfway through my journalism degree at Ryerson University. Those of you expecting a long winded explanation just because I love to write are going to be disappointed as the explanation is simply because it just felt right.

Whenever one embarks on a journey, it’s human nature to idealize the process and more importantly the goal. I guess that’s what happened when I set off to my studies at Ryerson; I assumed that being accepted to “the best journalism school in Canada” would lead me to a life of journalistic prestige. Then reality hits, you see that things aren’t what you thought they would be and you back track. Now I may be back home and some people may view it as a step backwards but I view it as seeing familiar things differently with the knowledge of knowing that what’s best for others is not always what’s best for myself.

The most influential person of my time in Toronto told me that the best thing for a student is to know what he wants to do with the rest of his life; the next best thing is know what he doesn’t want to do. I didn’t know what that meant initially, as it sounded like a backhanded compliment; but with time I embraced the meaning of that message. I mean who really knows what they want to do at 20-years old? Some might think they do but then change their minds later in life, I’m just changing my mind now.

When I look back at my two and a half years at Ryerson, I won’t remember the countless hours in the editing suites, attempting to pass a CP style test for the third time or trying to figure out why (insert piece of equipment here) is refusing to work today when the assignment is due in two hours. I’ll remember all the laughs, the struggles and experiences that transformed me from a boy to a man.

“We started from the bottom now we here.”  -Drake

One love,

Gabriel “Gaber” Lee.

Part 1: http://thegaber.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/dear-mr-bryant/

Part 2: http://thegaberintoronto.com/2011/12/26/dear-mr-bryant-part-ii/

Dear Kobe,

On our way to lunch a couple weeks back, my friend Josiah and I (both life-long admirers of your craft) began to ponder what makes you greater than your colleagues, who also make their living by playing a sport millions across the world consider a hobby.

I asked Josiah what his thoughts were on the subject, despite having come to a conclusion a night ago while I had the same debate internally.

I needed confirmation from someone who has not only watched basketball for as long as I have but idolized Kobe to the same degree as I.

After about five minutes of dead-air, he shrugged and said “I don’t know man, that’s a tough one.”

So I launched my pre-prepared ramble onto him, praying that it made a lick of sense.

I believe that your greatness is derived from your opaqueness. The ethos of Kobe Bean Bryant is perfectly tailored to suit what you want the public to see.

What do we really know about you besides the obvious? Let’s go down the list.

We know that you’re a five-time champion, you’re hyper-competitive, you’re the best two-guard since Jordan and you’re the father of two beautiful daughters? Check and check.

But what else?

In a generation where players are more than eager to shed parts of their personal lives through social media you’ve gone the opposite route and merely use Facebook to further the Kobe Bryant brand instead of letting us inside the life of Kobe Bryant the man.

Just as the World Wrestling Federation protected Hulk Hogan’s brand by only allowing him to appear in big matches, you’ve done the same by keeping your life as private as possible. It’s pure genius. It keeps us wanting more. 

Josiah quickly chimed in that in comparison to you, he stated that athletes who overexpose themselves to the public such your teammate Ron “Metta World Peace” Artest and Chad Johnson bring themselves down to our level, they become almost like our friends while you retain your invincibility cloak.

In University English class I learnt that the most important moment to an audience that is consuming a piece of satire is when it recognizes that what they’re watching is satirical; once that moment strikes, everything is viewed differently.

In a way your career has been a lengthy piece of satire. Your PR team has ensured that the moments in which you’re humanized come few and far in between. But those moments do eventually come to the light and unfortunately for you, they tend to be maligned moments you’d never share with us fans if you were given the choice.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 9 years since the rape consensual sex case in Colorado tarnished your reputation temporarily. I was too young to understand what you were doing was wrong. I read about it on the cover of USA Today while on vacation in Las Vegas, I asked my parents what was the issue, but they refused to explain in detail.

So when you hosted a press conference with your wife by your side, and delivered your carefully packaged apology I bought every word like any naïve teenager would. 

But time (and winning) heals all. Your image recovered year by year, win by win, Kobe face by Kobe face to the point where your jersey was once again the led the league in sales this past year. Tiger Woods and LeBron James followed the path that you blazed: coercing the public to forgive through delivering victories that satisfy them viscerally.

Nine years later, when WWE’s A.W. character used your rape trial as a punchline to taunt an opponent, no one even flinched. The narratives was how dare you joke about that rather than I can’t believe he did that to a girl. 

That was then and this is now. Thus, when I received a phone call from my aunt in Hong Kong asking if I’ve seen him the photo of my idol partying, I knew it couldn’t be good news.

According to my aunt, photos of you topless at a nightclub with two women flanking you began to surface the internet. I Googled it after she hung up and found out it was true. This time I didn’t need my parents to explain to me the context of the situation.

 Your carefully sculpted reputation was once again at stake.

But the difference between this scandal (and your on again and off again divorce) and the rape trial was this: you were afforded the opportunity to immediately correct your wrongs off the court by your memorizing play on it (lighting Nigeria up for 16 points in 11 minutes of play, scoring 20 points in a half against the Kangaroos). As I stated before, winning heals all and in the summer of 2003 there were no games for you to make the fans forget about your wrong doings.   

However, it sure is interesting to note the difference between where you want the public to think you are at 4 a.m. (seething over a loss while studying game film alone in your hotel room) in contrast to where you actually are at 4 a.m. (unleashing your Black Mamba onto female victims).

It’s unfair to expect you not to have a social life when you’re the one of the most recognizable basketball players of all time spending two weeks at the grandest sporting event of all time. It’s an unfair standard I hold you to, but it’s you who set the bar that high thus making it impossible to lower.

I suppose it’s a wakeup call. A reminder that no human no matter how hard he or she tries is free of imperfection, but you’re the closest thing the human race has to immortal and for that I’ll love you unconditionally for. 

Sincerely, 

Gaber