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Sports hot stove grabs headlines

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Also by Mike Ackerstein:

Wisconsin hits road for Milwaukee (December 12, 2007)
Heisman pressures could tackle Tebow (December 10, 2007)
Wisconsin's home streak dead at 28 (December 10, 2007)
Poor ball control haunts Badgers (December 10, 2007)
Badgers put on show against Terriers (December 4, 2007)

by Mike Ackerstein

Monday, November 5, 2007

Think sports fans are above the kind of gossip and backstabbing that have become ubiquitous with Hollywood tabloids and “The Hills”? Think again. Trade rumors, driven by the same motives of inside information and voyeurism that make tabloids and reality TV so popular, are like crack to sports fans. The constant speculation and so-called “inside information” fueling these rumors is what happens when Sports Illustrated meets Us Magazine, when ESPN meets Perez Hilton and when Bob Costas meets Ryan Seacrest.

Take a look around and see for yourself how much a part of life sports rumors have become. Heck, take a look in the mirror and see how much a part of your life they’ve become. The media makes big deals out of little (or nonexistent) things, and yet, we as fans flock to them, constantly checking to see if the next big trade is actually going to happen or not.

Somehow, this reality never really hit home until now. But reality has finally hit me harder than a theoretical David Ortiz-to-the-Yankees rumor, and it hurts.

It was NBA star Kobe Bryant, and the latest speculation about what jersey the current Laker will finish the season in, who allowed me to realize the power and influence of the trade rumor. It’s only fitting that it was Bryant who opened my eyes to it — after all, Bryant is the athlete who’s had the most rumors swirl around him for the longest amount of time.

From his first trade (for Vlade Divac two weeks after Bryant was drafted) to his sexual assault trial, to the feuds with Shaquille O’Neal and Phil Jackson, to the present situation, Bryant has always been a source of attention and speculation.
Now, the star is all people want to talk about when it comes to the start of the NBA season. Starting at the end of last season, it’s been a different story every week for the superstar in his latest saga: a trade out of Los Angeles. Kobe wants out of Los Angeles, Kobe wants to retire as a Laker, Chicago’s actively pursuing him, Chicago isn’t interested in him, Dennis Kucinich wants him as a running mate”

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