ARod and Kobe: Sports' Biggest Punks

Sure, there's smog, traffic, crime, and a brutally high cost of living, but please forgive me if I don't quite understand why ARod and Kobe are working so desperately hard to get out of our country's two biggest media markets, off two of the world's most famous teams, and away from situations they, and they alone, created. Oh, wait, I do understand, they're weak. Bryant and ARod wanted these teams. Bryant wanted to be the man. He wanted a team that he, and he alone could rule. During his free agency he kept the Lakers, Phil Jackson, and Shaq twisting on a hook, and, through his inaction, made an entire organization bend to his passive aggressive will. He even had the luxury of assisting in the search for his coach. What happened? Being the man turned out to be too hard. He couldn't carry the load he pined for. Instead, rather than displaying even a fraction of the stoicism that defined Kevin Garnett, and a number of other players who carry the mantle of leadership, he acted out like a petulant child. As it stands, now not only is Kobe asking for a trade, but apparently, behind the scenes unwilling to go to a team that trades too much to get him. Kobe Bryant, an unparalleled talent wants something unparalleled: a no risk situation that allows all of his whims to be met. He wants to play on a contending team, made up of all star caliber teammates, to help him shoulder the responsibility without stealing the spotlight. Kobe would be even more galling if there hadn't already been a superstar who set this particularly galling precedent. Alex Rodriguez has explored the best of every conceivable world. He has shared the relatively dim spotlight of Seattle with, at the time, a superstar of equal renown. He didn't win. He became a free agent and abandoned teams with a better chance of winning for the relatively minor distinction of having the largest contract in pro sports. A record that will be forgotten (and inevitably broken) a long time before the fact that ARod will, in all likelihood, never win a championship. From there he was traded to the most storied franchise in baseball history. He was traded to a team of superstars, to the biggest stage of them all, and failed, repeatedly when it mattered most. ARod went to New York to win a World Series. His tenure, while statistically significant, has been a failure. Where to next Alex? My money is on a California team where baseball is a nice diversion, the weather's beautiful, and winning is appreciated rather than expected. ARod and Kobe are cut from the same cloth. They are men groomed from early childhood to be great. They are athletes who've mined, cultivated, and explored their talent with passionate dedication. It's too bad that between the two of them they can't come up with one set of balls.