Kobe: No Saint, But....

I'm no Kobe Bryant fan.

But I temper my opinion of him and I learn from him and you should also.

Here's why:

He was no Christian saint. He was supposedly a Catholic. Uh, not a practicing one, apparently as he was accused of sleeping with over 100 women NOT his wife after his marriage.

That said, raising 4 daughters to be Catholic - that is, restrained, pious, and conservative, is not a bad thing, especially in these ultra-liberal times.  Note: HE'S NOT ALONE IN THAT, and several other athletes insist their daughters live conservative, measured lives with stable morals. Gee, I wonder why.

Kobe was, DUH, a liberal playboy. Jesus, $100 million contract and an All-Star before the age of 25? The man worshipped himself. Which is always ugly. But predictable. Most people would in his shoes. And the women? I'm disgusted, but most likely many were excited to be with such a superstar like him - note, I suspect some, I know not how many, were NOT anticipating sleeping with him.

Like many playboys he was given so much so young, it went to his head and he became a spoiled rotten prince of a person. I've met some super sexy young ladies who were VILE human beings, and their good looks EVAPORATED in my eyes. They were the sort of people who would treat every relationship like a game, always jockeying for position and leverage. The sort of people to make you happy to die alone.

His sports-nicknames he coined... himself. Egotistical and egocentric. Disgusting.

As he aged it sounded like he was a decent father to his daughters and he mellowed. He matured.

He could've gotten divorced, he didn't.

He set up a charity - he didn't have to do that.

He invested in business ventures, putting over $100 million into new firms. He didn't have to do that.

He admitted that, at least in one case, the woman he had sex with DID NOT view events as he did and was hurt as a result of his actions. Stand up thing to do, but this doesn't justify his actions.

He was clearly an insensitive young man, hyper-stimulated, and prone to expect favors and women, WHICH DISGUSTS ME.

But to be fair, while he had some ugly sides and some ugly actions (which he somewhat paid for), he did do some good things in life and left his earnings to either his family, charity, or business ventures, which is a positive contribution to society.

I only wish more young women looked at him with skepticism and distrust, knowing damn well he was an enriched, spoiled athlete, who expected everything be laid at his feet, including people. The guy should've been playing a few nights, at least, with a split lip and black eye. He certainly asked for it.

Ladies: YOUNG MEN NEED TIME TO MATURE. DO NOT TRUST THEM OR GIVE THEM ANYTHING WITHOUT DISCIPLINE BEING ATTACHED TO IT, TYPICALLY IN THE FORM OF A LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP.

Kobe, after all, is only one-half of the problem.