Columnist Ruthe Deskin: Bryant just the latest to disappoint

Ruthe Deskin

Thursday, July 24, 2003 | 8:17 a.m.

Please, Kobe, not you.

Basketball fans have grown to expect outlandish behavior from the likes of Dennis Rodman and J.R. Rider, but Laker star Kobe Bryant always looked and acted like a gentleman. He wasn't expected to have feet of clay.

Now he has himself in a serious predicament and will have to do some squirming to evade serious consequences from charges of having sexually assaulted a young woman in Colorado.

Bryant is not the first well-known athlete whose private life has been a disappointment to his fans. There aren't too many highly moral players such as A.C. Green, whose private life has made him a role model.

I wouldn't condone Bryant's behavior nor attempt to defend him, but you have to be around some of these entertainment and athletic stars to understand the temptations.

Almost every star has his groupies -- pretty, young girls who aim to romp in the hay with a pro athlete either for temporary celebrity status or with an idea of suing the celebrity.

Wherever you see a "personality" on the scene you will always see a bevy of scantily clad women seeking their piece of the pie.

Years ago I worked at a popular Strip hotel. It was a joke among us ordinary folk to see the "girls" who hung around the big boys. Some of the bosses -- and I am not naming names -- got their kicks from seeing "sugar daddies" with their lasses, who were 20 or 30 years younger, gazing adoringly at them.

It still goes on. There's plenty of fresh game crouching and ready to spring.

When the handsome and dashing Errol Flynn got involved with a young girl in a situation that almost cost him his star-studded place in the movies, he quickly drew back, dismissing the young ladies as "San Quentin Quail."

He didn't exactly ask for an ID card, but he let it be known he preferred ladies who could vote.

However it turns out for Kobe Bryant, there might be a lesson for his peers. And Bryant might be wise to have a little talk with pugilist Mike Tyson or Bryant's basketball friend, Magic Johnson, about such affairs.

As sure as the tide goes out and comes back in again does our nation suffer the bad times and enjoy the good.

The inevitability of recessions following prosperous periods cannot be argued. The legacy left behind by those elected to lead depends on the state of the union. Hence the statement, "Man doesn't make history, history makes the man."

The men and women of the current state legislative session have made history, but not the kind that deserves a hearty "well done."

Sixty-one-year-old Edith O'Malley sent a short essay to the Sun that sums up the frustration of children and parents over the lack of funding voted for the state's education system:

"A small girl was excited and happy about attending school. She couldn't wait for the first day. When she approached the schoolhouse, her mother noticed a sign on the door. The school was closed 'for lack of funds.' "

We hope the very serious situation regarding the state's school system has finally been solved by the Legislature and history has been made by man.

"Don't brag. It isn't the whistle that pulls the train." (Author unknown.)