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We've Lost Another Great American Hero

Everybody matters. Kobe’s just the most notable among those lost in the crash today. Service men and women get special recognition in my book, but let’s please not make light of the nine people lost in that crash this morning just because one of them was well-known for his particular profession that you may not care for...
 
Everybody matters. Kobe’s just the most notable among those lost in the crash today. Service men and women get special recognition in my book, but let’s please not make light of the nine people lost in that crash this morning just because one of them was well-known for his particular profession that you may not care for...

It just pisses me off that every channel on my fucking TV is flooded with Kobe, and these guys barely got a mention at the tail end of the nightly news.
What they were doing means more to this world and the people in it than every point he scored.
It says a lot about our screwed up priorities.
Sure, RIP Kobe and the nameless insignificant others.
 
Servicemembers, who face certain death and horrific injuries on the line of duty, deserve all of the recognition for their sacrifices. Celebrities? When the fuck have they have to lug around 200+ pounds of gear in sweat soaked clothing, cramped in vehicles that are either scorching hot or bone chilling cold, and every second of their time they do not know when the next pile of trash in the street may be an EFPIED that sends musket ball sized globules of copper plasma through their bodies at 7000 feet per second?... Or a sniper's bullet to come out of nowhere and red mist them? When the fuck have ANY celebrity have to go through a danger on that level? They do not deserve shit. They already got their audiences, fan bases, and media/merchandise deals and that is enough. And people wonder why I get livid any time I talk about celebrities and their faggy "life problems"...
 
These are the guys that should be making the kind of money basketball players make.

We don't do it for the money or fame or freebees. I personally do it because I wanted to bring home someone who may not have made it home. I was a volunteer firefighter and paramedic in NJ. I left a 6 figure a year job as a lineman and fiber optic splicer at Verizon to join as a fuzzy private.
 
It just pisses me off that every channel on my fucking TV is flooded with Kobe, and these guys barely got a mention at the tail end of the nightly news.
What they were doing means more to this world and the people in it than every point he scored.
It says a lot about our screwed up priorities.
Sure, RIP Kobe and the nameless insignificant others.
Lots of people died today with zero news! I think our great soldiers should get their due first on the podium and the pay scale!
 
I skipped over this thread thinking that Tucker had lost his marbles calling Kobe an American Hero.
I clicked this morning to verify my beliefs and the world hasn't turned fully upside down.

There's probably more reasons that people signed the line than can be counted. I don't think that seeking fame and fortune will make that list.
Peace to the families of those young men that knew and signed the contract anyway.
 
It just pisses me off that every channel on my fucking TV is flooded with Kobe, and these guys barely got a mention at the tail end of the nightly news.
What they were doing means more to this world and the people in it than every point he scored.
It says a lot about our screwed up priorities.
Sure, RIP Kobe and the nameless insignificant others.

I don’t disagree with you at all on the obvious and extreme bias the MSM has towards hyping the importance of celebrities. However, your last sentence (to me) reads: “If you aren’t prior service and you die, then fuck you.”

Stay classy, Tucker... ?
 
How
I don’t disagree with you at all on the obvious and extreme bias the MSM has towards hyping the importance of celebrities. However, your last sentence (to me) reads: “If you aren’t prior service and you die, then fuck you.”

Stay classy, Tucker... ?
How you get that is beyond me, you sure you're not reading something else?
 
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It just pisses me off that every channel on my fucking TV is flooded with Kobe, and these guys barely got a mention at the tail end of the nightly news.
What they were doing means more to this world and the people in it than every point he scored.
It says a lot about our screwed up priorities.
Sure, RIP Kobe and the nameless insignificant others.

How you get that is beyond me, you sure you're not reading something else?

See the bolded portion of his quote above. Maybe he’s only referring to celebs, but it doesn’t appear that way based on his single-letter reply.
 
See the bolded portion of his quote above. Maybe he’s only referring to celebs, but it doesn’t appear that way based on his single-letter reply.

Im pretty sure @Tucker301 was talking about the likely, other famous or whom thought they were famous people, in the helo with him. I won’t say they are insignificant as imo every human life is significant but I think you are reading into his statement wrong. He is simply saying that they shouldn’t be up on a podium especially when compared to those who have made real sacrifices or contribute real tangible things to society. I’m not saying that Kobe didnt make real contributions to people’s lives by any meana as I have no real way to verify what he did or didn’t do. However, I agree that America has it completely backwards in more or less worshiping these people when in the end they are no more important than anyone else and imo less important than those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for basically nothing in return and for people they do not even know. But as Doc said, those that have done it, are currently doing it and so forth don’t do it for the money or anything else. Yes, it bothers some of us at times as it seems wrong but in the end it’s a choice that some of us make and imo is deserving of the utmost respect. Carry on.
 
See the bolded portion of his quote above. Maybe he’s only referring to celebs, but it doesn’t appear that way based on his single-letter reply.
Huh, how about the thought that people die everyday with little notice by others, but because this guy was good at bball his death floods the media with hours and hours of coverage. I guess some of us see things differently. If Kobe touched your life in a positive way good on him. It's the emphasis on one life versus another that turns some of us off.
 
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There are celebrities who pass all the time, most notably Carol Channing and Doris Day in 2019 with barely a mention. But we have a crack ho singer Whitney and a a silver spoon adulterer nba player Kobe and they get all the pomp and circumstance. Makes no sense.
 
Huh, how about the thought that people die everyday with little notice by others, but because this guy was good at bball his death floods the media with hours and hours of coverage. I guess some of us see things differently. If Kobe touched your life in a positive way good on him. It's the emphasis on one life versus another that turns some of us off.

I’m not worried about Kobe. I’m sure he left an impression on many people’s lives both good and bad. I’m referring to the others on board. The pilot, Kobe’s kid, etc. Their life is no less valuable. Apparently the pilot was an amazing guy who was a friend to everybody he met, and had a big effect on many people’s lives as well. It just felt like Tucker was sweeping that guy and the others under the rug for the simple fact that they weren’t vets (as far as I know), which seems awfully cavalier for people he knew nothing about, and for human life in general. If I’m wrong in that interpretation, he’s welcome to tell me...
 
@Basher , is there an address to which the sarcasm decoder ring should be shipped?
The EXACT point of my facetious closing line was that every single life has equal value and weight, and that the fact that none of us would have ever given this crash any attention, had we otherwise heard about it at all, were it not for it taking the life of a celebrity, is a scathingly sad commentary on our modern culture.

Forgive me for not using a :rolleyes: to wave you in on that one.

Now I've gone and wasted my K :sneaky:
 
Go eat a bag of dicks @Basher! Fuck Kobe Bryant! He died in a fucking accident, on his own airline, flying in shitty conditions...why? Because he didn't have a care in the world and wanted to get to the girls basketball tournament in time. Sad, yes. Tragic, yes. No one is celebrating. Lots of us have a dark sense of humor, because while we didn't know this basketball player we do know Death personally. Posting jokes in bad humor, too soon, is a coping mechanism for a lot of people and moral outrage at it looks stupid.

What is really disgusting is the media reaction to his death, including yours, like he is somehow worthy of national adulation because he was good at putting a rubber ball in a net ringed hole. "Kobe Bryant, and everyone else on that helo", says it all.

Those soldiers volunteered to suffer, and to be scared, and to place themselves in real danger of being mutilated or killed, but even if they survive to have their souls burned for all time in the crucible of war, why? For money? For fame? For your adulation? So faggots can say, "Thank you for your service", to them? No. For God, for Country, and for YOU! They were killed by an enemy of America, and really an enemy of all free people everywhere; an enemy who would slit your throat just as soon as look at you. THEY are ACTUAL heroes, who had actual courage. They were not media created pretend ones like this basketball player, who worked hard at a sport and was given fame and fortune for it, and that continues to be lauded and celebrated from all corners.

Kobe Bryant died in a tragic accident. They died for NOTHING. Those soldiers died for something, and a big part of that something is you. If you can't see the contrast, and how sick the media culture has become, which was Tuckers whole, well-made point, but you want to focus on this athlete because he's your real hero, then fucking fine. But your comments are simply contrarian bullshit that completely misses the point. Then again, maybe you completely buy in to this whole media driven fantasy, which is also your prerogative.

Mourn away, but keep your preachy bullshit to yourself. You are in the moral swamp with all your media buddies on this one, and there are a million places on the web were you can go and pretend how deeply you care, and preach to the choir and get away with it. I'm proud to say that this place isn't one of them.
 
Pat Tillman > Kobe Bryant

But who remembers Corporal Tillman?

3 fucking days of Kobe Bryant on the news. Holy shit our society is so fucked.

Grow men full on emotional melt down in front of the Lakers stadium, like their mother's just passed away.

@Basher the point @Tucker301 and others are trying to make is this.

If Kobe wasn't on that helicopter, the crash and death of 8 wouldn't have made the news for 3 damn days. If all life if valuable then it sure seems messed up those that we mourn the most.

It isn't taking anything away from Kobe, our frustration is with society.

I once had a chance to get the autograph of a famous person who I held in high regard. That was 25ish years ago. The entire act of getting the autograph seemed very demeaning on both our part. And this was at a meet-and-greet function. So the entire purpose was for him to be with fans and fans to get autographs. 10 minutes after I told myself "never again".

Another example is fucking British royalty. Why any USA citizen would give two shits if some guy and his wife want to move to Canada is BEYOND me. But yet it was shoved down my throat from every direction possible for 2 weeks.
 
Pat Tillman > Kobe Bryant

But who remembers Corporal Tillman?

3 fucking days of Kobe Bryant on the news. Holy shit our society is so fucked.

Grow men full on emotional melt down in front of the Lakers stadium, like their mother's just passed away.

@Basher the point @Tucker301 and others are trying to make is this.

If Kobe wasn't on that helicopter, the crash and death of 8 wouldn't have made the news for 3 damn days. If all life if valuable then it sure seems messed up those that we mourn the most.

It isn't taking anything away from Kobe, our frustration is with society.

I once had a chance to get the autograph of a famous person who I held in high regard. That was 25ish years ago. The entire act of getting the autograph seemed very demeaning on both our part. And this was at a meet-and-greet function. So the entire purpose was for him to be with fans and fans to get autographs. 10 minutes after I told myself "never again".

Another example is fucking British royalty. Why any USA citizen would give two shits if some guy and his wife want to move to Canada is BEYOND me. But yet it was shoved down my throat from every direction possible for 2 weeks.
Rome has to remind the people who the important/those to be looked up to are and obeyed.
Gladiators work for Caesar.

R
 
Approximately 7500 people A DAY die in this country. Among them are veterans, doctors, scientists, educators, and normal hard working Americans. Many of them undoubtedly contributed more to humanity than someone who plays a game for a living. Yet you will never hear a word about their lives. The celebrity worship in this country is sickening and I get Tucker's point 100% and agree wholeheartedly. Kobe's death is sad, but no more so than the thousands of other Americans who died the same day.
 
Go eat a bag of dicks @Basher! Fuck Kobe Bryant! He died in a fucking accident, on his own airline, flying in shitty conditions...why? Because he didn't have a care in the world and wanted to get to the girls basketball tournament in time. Sad, yes. Tragic, yes. No one is celebrating. Lots of us have a dark sense of humor, because while we didn't know this basketball player we do know Death personally. Posting jokes in bad humor, too soon, is a coping mechanism for a lot of people and moral outrage at it looks stupid.

What is really disgusting is the media reaction to his death, including yours, like he is somehow worthy of national adulation because he was good at putting a rubber ball in a net ringed hole. "Kobe Bryant, and everyone else on that helo", says it all.

Those soldiers volunteered to suffer, and to be scared, and to place themselves in real danger of being mutilated or killed, but even if they survive to have their souls burned for all time in the crucible of war, why? For money? For fame? For your adulation? So faggots can say, "Thank you for your service", to them? No. For God, for Country, and for YOU! They were killed by an enemy of America, and really an enemy of all free people everywhere; an enemy who would slit your throat just as soon as look at you. THEY are ACTUAL heroes, who had actual courage. They were not media created pretend ones like this basketball player, who worked hard at a sport and was given fame and fortune for it, and that continues to be lauded and celebrated from all corners.

Kobe Bryant died in a tragic accident. They died for NOTHING. Those soldiers died for something, and a big part of that something is you. If you can't see the contrast, and how sick the media culture has become, which was Tuckers whole, well-made point, but you want to focus on this athlete because he's your real hero, then fucking fine. But your comments are simply contrarian bullshit that completely misses the point. Then again, maybe you completely buy in to this whole media driven fantasy, which is also your prerogative.

Mourn away, but keep your preachy bullshit to yourself. You are in the moral swamp with all your media buddies on this one, and there are a million places on the web were you can go and pretend how deeply you care, and preach to the choir and get away with it. I'm proud to say that this place isn't one of them.

Hi, Fig. You and I didn’t learn to read at the same place, apparently. Go back and re-read my posts, but just in case that’s too much work for you:

I DON’T CARE THAT IT WAS KOBE.

The loss of any human life is unfortunate, but I don’t watch sports and couldn’t possibly care any less about Kobe’s profession. He’s not what matters to me. Period. Now, go back and re-read that ten times. Then go fix your false diatribe to reflect fact and reality.

What’s hit home for me on this is that a good pilot died, along with eight others. I’m concerned about the fact that a good man may have made a poor decision that cost him and eight others the ultimate price. Aviation took a heavy hit this weekend, and that hit home to me.

The point I’m trying to make is that the pilot and his passengers are worth no less simply because they’re weren’t killed while serving. That’s it. Kobe’s status be damned. My small community lost a good man, and in so doing, eight others perished as well, and now their families will suffer.

Go learn to read, you troglodyte. Save your insults for someone who needs them. If you’d read any of what I’d posted, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

I’m out of this one. Too many clowns in here for one circus.
 
Oh, and again @Tucker301 , I would have known, because again, this one hit close to home. That could have been me or anyone else I know who flies. Ara was, from the reports I’ve seen, IFR rated and a CFII, and had been granted S-VFR to operate in that area. Smart? Maybe not. Legal, according to the regs? Yep, and he still died. Bad stuff happens to good people, and that’s worth taking note of.

Screw celeb status. We lost a good man with the passing of Ara, and that’s a heavy hit for the heli world. THAT is what I was making a point of.

Later.
 
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Pat Tillman > Kobe Bryant

But who remembers Corporal Tillman?

3 fucking days of Kobe Bryant on the news. Holy shit our society is so fucked.

Grow men full on emotional melt down in front of the Lakers stadium, like their mother's just passed away.

@Basher the point @Tucker301 and others are trying to make is this.

If Kobe wasn't on that helicopter, the crash and death of 8 wouldn't have made the news for 3 damn days. If all life if valuable then it sure seems messed up those that we mourn the most.
Bro get the fuck out of here with your "no one remembers Pat Tillman" bullshit. That shit is demonstrably false. People talk about him all the time.

Go eat a bag of dicks @Basher! Fuck Kobe Bryant! He died in a fucking accident, on his own airline, flying in shitty conditions...why? Because he didn't have a care in the world and wanted to get to the girls basketball tournament in time. Sad, yes. Tragic, yes. No one is celebrating. Lots of us have a dark sense of humor, because while we didn't know this basketball player we do know Death personally. Posting jokes in bad humor, too soon, is a coping mechanism for a lot of people and moral outrage at it looks stupid.

What is really disgusting is the media reaction to his death, including yours, like he is somehow worthy of national adulation because he was good at putting a rubber ball in a net ringed hole. "Kobe Bryant, and everyone else on that helo", says it all.

Those soldiers volunteered to suffer, and to be scared, and to place themselves in real danger of being mutilated or killed, but even if they survive to have their souls burned for all time in the crucible of war, why? For money? For fame? For your adulation? So faggots can say, "Thank you for your service", to them? No. For God, for Country, and for YOU! They were killed by an enemy of America, and really an enemy of all free people everywhere; an enemy who would slit your throat just as soon as look at you. THEY are ACTUAL heroes, who had actual courage. They were not media created pretend ones like this basketball player, who worked hard at a sport and was given fame and fortune for it, and that continues to be lauded and celebrated from all corners.

Kobe Bryant died in a tragic accident. They died for NOTHING. Those soldiers died for something, and a big part of that something is you. If you can't see the contrast, and how sick the media culture has become, which was Tuckers whole, well-made point, but you want to focus on this athlete because he's your real hero, then fucking fine. But your comments are simply contrarian bullshit that completely misses the point. Then again, maybe you completely buy in to this whole media driven fantasy, which is also your prerogative.

Mourn away, but keep your preachy bullshit to yourself. You are in the moral swamp with all your media buddies on this one, and there are a million places on the web were you can go and pretend how deeply you care, and preach to the choir and get away with it. I'm proud to say that this place isn't one of them.
You're the one with "preachy bullshit" saying that Kobe couldn't have meant anything to anyone because hes only some sportsball player, and that some PFC is the REAL hero in comparison. (military hero worship is okay I guess but everything else is bad)

I don't even like basketball, I've literally never even watched a full NBA game but jesus fuck it's like no one can comprehend that yes, a basketball player that people all over the world watched and supported for like 20 years, and was one of the best ever, died and made some people sad.

Whats fucking next, "oh my grandma died" "How about you stop bitching about your nana and take a second to mourn the real heroes, THE TROOPS"
And I am a troop before someone tries to call me out as unpatriotic or some shit. You can be sad for both without shitting on each other.
 
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Bro get the fuck out of here with your "no one remembers Pat Tillman" bullshit. That shit is demonstrably false. People talk about him all the time.
Of course there is a group that remembers. But for the majority of adults he has been forgotten. Many remember what he gave up and how he died, but his name has slipped their memory.

I don't recall, ESPN rebroadcasting Tillman's last game played after he passed. Yet that is what ESPN did for Kobe last night.
 
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Of course there is a group that remembers. But for the majority of adults he has been forgotten. Many remember what he gave up and how he died, but his name has slipped their memory.

I don't recall, ESPN rebroadcasting Tillman's last game played after he passed. Yet that is what ESPN did for Kobe last night.
It's not a competition of who got more media coverage, but Tillman got a lot, because it was a fucking giant deal when he died, and a huge scandal when it came out the military lied about his death. It was news for weeks at several different times, had documentaries made about it, 10 year anniversary shows, the cardinals retired his number and wore his number on all their helmets for several games and on the anniversary, the scholarship, ASU naming a bunch of shit after him, the NFL donating a USO center at Bagram, books written about him, the president made a speech in his honor. Pretty sure he has a statue too.

But also thats just how things work, I don't know why people should be just as sad and in mourning right now about someone who died in 2004 than someone who died 3 days ago. People move on. They'll move on from Kobe. I'm not sad that my grandma is dead, because that shit happened 20 years ago.

But idk why the basketball game being replayed is a big deal when I still see boring week and year old CFB games on my channel guide.