The DailyGrind

SPORTS: Kobe's Beef Continues to Simmer

As if trying to contend with Duncan, the prospect of an invading Eastern power and his unyielding urge to exorcise the ghost of Shaq from all consciousness isn't enough, Kobe Bryant may now have the angst of his wife to deal with. Again.

Internet rumors of the league MVP's ongoing dalliances with an 18-year-old Laker Girl are about as rampant as his scoring binges have been since the fight for the West began two weeks ago.

Count Vanessa Bryant among those who's seen and heard enough. Her boil reached a fever recently when she came face-to-face with what she termed an "unethical" ESPN reporter while sitting courtside in The Alamo.
 
In a truly 'pot-calling-the kettle-black' moment where the issue of ethics, or lack thereof, seems concerned, Vanessa, her two young daughters in tow, erupted: “F*** you! How dare you write about me and my daughters schedule. F*** you! You f****** bitch. You have no journalism ethics.”

Seems the writer had dared to attempt to chart Vanessa's indulgent lifestyle, triggering a meltdown on par with that displayed by her superstar husband upon his being told prior to the season that his team responsibilities, though quite vast, do not include GM duties.

In lieu of diamonds, Kobe's MO for appeasing Vanessa the last time his name hit front street related to such sordid matters, Bryant has ordered his attorneys to file a cease and desist letter against the blogger who first broke the naughty details.

True, not exactly eight carats, but then again silence is golden.

-Glenn Minnis

 The DailyGrind

SPORTS: Mike Tyson, This is Your Life 

Word on the street is the new film chroniciling the often indulgent lifestyle of former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson makes for must-see TV.

The documenttary styled-expose played to rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival recently, ending with Tyson being serenaded with numerous standing ovations in appreciation of all the brutally honest testimony he offers, much of which was gathered while he was in rehab just last year.

"I’ve lived a wild and strange life," admits Iron Mike. "I’ve used drugs; I’ve had physical altercations with dangerous people; I’ve slept with guys’ wives, they wanted to kill me. I never thought I'd live to this age (41). It’s just a miracle.”

Kind of the way the then 20-year-old Tyson took the heavyweight division by storm back in the day, blitzing Trevor Berbick in less than six minutes to secure his throne.

"I wanted to throw every punch with bad intentions," Mike says of the fateful night. Yet another evening he recalls just as vividly centers around his 1991 encounter with an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant that ended with him being convicted of rape.

"I thought the conviction was wrong," he still contends. "I've been abusive to women, but that was unfair."

Indeed, the James Toback featured film leaves you wondering what could have been. So, just how will you choose to remember the Tyson legacy?

-Glenn Minnis

 TheDaily Grind

SPORTS: Barkley's Ramblings on Gambling 

May 18, 2008, 08:32 PM EST

Even with a habit that by his own recollection has left him some $10 million in the hole, Charles Barkley's argument has always been he doesn't have a gambling problem because he can more than afford to cover any expense his impulsive spree's may incur.

And now a Las Vegas Casino is intent on calling him on his marker. The Wynn Casino has put Barkley's transgressions on blast by threatening to sue him on four felony theft or bad check charges, each of which could net the former NBA star anywhere from one to ten years in state prison.

“It's my mistake,” admits Sir Charles. “I'm not broke and I'm going to take care of it. I've been gambling 20-years; I've never had this happen. It's my fault, I let the time lapse. I screwed up.”

On that, the two parties can agree, but everything else seems a crapshot. Barkley contends casino officials never contacted him before going public, they insist countless overtures went ignored.

Either way, how many convinced the need for intervention in Sir Charles' kingdom has reared its ugly head?

-Glenn Minnis

The DailyGrind 

SPORTS: Fly Clothes to Foreclosed

Man, karma’s a bitch

That’s not to say Latrell Sprewell is deserving of the fate he now shares with countless other Americans by virtue of having his home foreclosed on. But, then, we are talking about a baller who easily made in the neighborhood of $40-50 million over the course of his 13-year NBA career, then thumbed his noise at the chance to earn at least $21 million more by defiantly retorting “I’ve got my family to feed” when Minnesota offered him a three-year extension back in 2004.

These days, as the walls have all but closed in on the man who once made Madison Square Garden seem like his own private den in leading the Knicks to only their second Finals appearance over the last two decades in 1999 , one can only wonder if Spree harbors any regrets.

For all this comes on the heels of Sprewell’s 70-foot, $1.5 million yacht being auctioned off by U.S. Marshals just last January. And that family Spree was so adamant about? The mother of at least four of his kids sued him to the tune of $200 million last year, alleging he broke their long-term cohabitation agreement.

Yes, Spree, style and swagger can be viewed as virtuous, but even the good book warns: “Waste not, want not.”

-Glenn Minnis