Why Sports Matter: A Kobe Bryant Tribute

I sit here writing this at 1:45 in the morning when I should be packing up my apartment for my next big move. It's been more than 24 hours since Kobe's tragic passing. It still feels unreal to me that a legend, icon and genuine human being who had such a high standing morally and ethically is gone. I'm still crying over this tragedy.

I unfortunately was never able to witness Kobe in person. I watched games constantly though as a kid. I'll never forget watching his final game when I was a senior in college, at Pawpurrs in Athens, Ohio. I cried when I realized that we would never see Kobe in a Lakers uniform again.

But it's what he did in his short retirement that does more. That impacts more. That is what he should be remembered for more than his stat line.

I got on YouTube and started watching Kobe on talk shows after his retirement; Kimmel, Fallon, Ellen etc. You could tell how passionate he was about his family, his daughters and his next step. Many of these talk shows would ask him basketball related questions, because how can you not? It's Kobe. However, it's his answers about the small details of the sport of basketball that really have me reflecting on the game.

I started dribbling a basketball when I was just 4 years old. It was a pretty instant attraction for me. I would spend time in my alley, shooting hoops with the guys on my block. I asked my dad to get us a hoop so I could shoot at the house. I asked my parents to help me better my game with camps and travel teams. I spent countless hours on the court, trying to find the jump shot I could never perfect.

I stopped playing when I was in high school for a combination of reasons. I had a back injury, some concussions and I had a coach who made me stop loving the game. So I found my love for writing and storytelling and wanting to highlight athletes and sports. It was through my newfound love of sports journalism that I found my love for the game again, but it wasn't for my initial reasons of love for basketball.

It was for something new. Something transcendent.

Basketball is one of the few sports that is a team sport and an individual sport at the same time. In football, you need all 11 guys to be at the right spot to get things right. However, in basketball, you need a full team to show teamwork and selflessness to get the ball to the right spot, the right guy, the right shooter.

And that right guy needs to be in the right physical, but more importantly, mental state to be great. That's what Kobe embodied. His accolades alone are immense. However, there are many people that have achieved something more or damn near close to it. It's his mental state that he had on the court that made him special. He had the right mind set. The Mamba Mentality.

That's something that you can only experience in basketball. Basketball is a sport that tests your mental strength more than anything else. You can miss one shot and be cold all night because of your mind being hung up on missing one shot. Or you can make one shot and go off for 40+ points because you got the confidence on that first field goal.

That's if you let that happen.

Then there's the defensive competitiveness that tests you mentally. That's what made me fall back in love with the game. I was never the biggest scorer. That was not my strength. However, my defense was what I would pride my game on. I was ferocious, tenacious, sometimes dirty, to stop someone from beating me. Those times I would get beat would force me even more to stop them the next time around.

I'm now on the sidelines as a professional, shooting or reporting on games and I would get all types of hype for a steal instead of a bucket. I remember what that feeling was like when I played. It's a subtle flex that can give you confidence. Or when I would see a block. There is no better feeling than seeing someone come at you with full confidence, wanting to get that two or three points, and you come out with the absolute stop, bringing that person to the floor and getting possession back.

It's a constant mental battle that only you can win. You can be hot all night and then get absolutely bodied. And you still have to find the inner strength to get down the court, forget what just happened and hit the shot. That's confidence that no person can teach you. No coach can help you with. No teammate can challenge you with. It's your own battle that you need to control, which takes an incredible amount of mental strength.

That growing confidence is not cockiness. It's not arrogance. It's the constant pursuit of wanting to get better, something that Kobe taught every time he stepped on the hardwood. Something that you can only find in the sport of basketball. I played other sports growing up, but nothing hit home for me like the court did.

Basketball saved my life. That sport, that discipline, that constant desire to grow, to better myself, to be a better teammate, everything that that sport encompasses. It saved my life. It was one of the few things that gave me confidence, because I saw the kind of confidence Kobe had on the hardwood. I wanted to emmulate that on and off the court. I try my best to do that now with my own personal life.

That is why sports matter. That is why I get beyond angry when I hear the statement, "Sports don't matter. They're just entertainment. Athletes are too glorified now. Just dribble. Just catch. Just throw. Just hit the ball."

No.

The reason Kobe's loss is larger than many is because of the way he used a sport to teach a lesson. The way he used a jump shot to explain confidence. The way he used being blocked to explain getting up after a failure. The way he used an assist to show how to lift other people up. It was something so simple that taught absolute life lessons that if a parent, teacher, adult, family member, anyone further along in their age said, you would brush it off.

Thank you Kobe.

Thank you for showing that sports do matter. Thank you for showing what the sport of basketball can do for someone. Thank you for being a voice for the downtrodden. Thank you for being a pillar of hope for the city of LA. Thank you for your writings and Academy Award winning short film that just hits differently now. Thank you for impacting my generation to where we would yell "Kobe" after any shot. Thank you for being an inspiration to a little six year old Chicago girl who tried to hit a fader on the right wing. Thank you for the Mamba Mentality.

But most importantly, thank you for being an absolute hero for all people, across the world. Your legacy and legend will never be forgotten.

Because you never forget the teacher of life lessons.

RIP #24.

KarliBell33 & Peanut Tillman

On all of my platforms, my handle for everything for my personal brand is KarliBell33. Many people have asked me what the 33 stands for, and there's two reasons as to why I have 33 on the end of my handle: 1) @KarliBell is not available because someone who's never tweeted has that handle (rude) and (2) that number has been a part of my life since I was a kid.

I could just give you the short and sweet answer, but I'm going to explain it in depth. For those who know me know that I played sports at the competitive/organized level ever since I could walk until about my junior year of high school. Basketball was my main love, travelling all over of the region playing that sport.

The first team I was on that was considered competitve was my grade school team in 4th/5th grade. We were allowed to choose our own number. Because I had the ego I did, I chose No. 1. That ego is still here, but it's in check now. In 5th grade, someone ended up taking that number, because we were getting brand new jerseys. At this time, a certain cornerback by the name of Charles "Peanut" Tillman joined the Chicago Bears. He was my absolute favorite player next to Brian Urlacher on the Bears during this time, and he wore No. 33.

At the time, I chose the number solely based on the athletic ability of Peanut and didn't know much about him. As I grew older and became a bigger and bigger fan of the Bears and of football in general, I started reading about what he's done in the community and for his family.

I remember when news was circulating about how his daughter had to go through some pretty rough times with her health. When he was interviewed about this, I remember seeing someone that wasn't just an athlete; he was a very humble, kind, caring human being that was blesssed with athletic talent. He goes through the same struggles as everyone else, but what struck me the most was his humbleness.

Peanut has always been a great football player. His stats can prove that. However, the impact he's made on the communities he's lived in, especially Chicago, are innumberable. The impact that he's made on me personally as an adult is incredible.

Through his actions, he shows how to lead people and how to gain respect. He showed that egos shouldn't get inflated. Take everything you get as a blessing, because it can be taken from you as fast as it was given to you. He is truly an inspiring individual and just a phenomenal image of great character. Even after his career, he gives back to the community and is still horribly influential to people at all ages.

Now, with him being in the broadcast circle, I look up to him even more. He teaches me new things about the game every Sunday. He's so personable through the camera, and I try to copy my own camera presence off of his. He shows pure confidence and swagger on air, and it's a beautiful combination I wish I had.

I did meet him once when I was about 11 years old at the Chicago Bears convention. I have his autograph on my very first Bears hat that sits in the Bears Alley in the basement of my parents' house. I just remember him sitting there, signing autographs for what seemed like for him hours, but he still had a smile on his face and greeted every fan with enthusiasm and happiness. I would love to meet him again as an adult and, God willing, as a professional.

I know No. 34 is for Sweetness, but No. 33 is for Peanut. It always will be. Thank you Tillman for being such an influence in my life in ways I never expected. Thank you for continuing to spread your message to others through your charity and everything you do for the community. You may not punch out pigskins anymore, but you are punching a phenomenal message and mindset to not only myself but to everyone you meet.

Gone But Not Forgotten: John Malone

Sportsmanship, competition, and basketball: three things that John Malone treasures and showed on and off the court. Just one year ago, Fenwick High School lost a member of the class of 2011, John Malone Jr., in a car accident. Malone was a star basketball player for the Friars, and the game he played is now a memorial to him.

Fellow classmates Leo Latz, Tim Gancer, Joe Dwyer, and Dylan Barnett created the John Malone Memorial Basketball Tournament at Fenwick. It is now in its second year and is still going strong. However, the tournament is not the only way Malone is being remembered at Fenwick High School.

"There is the John Malone 52 scholarship that is academic based. It goes to two incoming freshmen and one current senior; they are each worth $3,000," said Latz.

The fund is sponsored through donations and selling custom made t-shirts at the tournament that has Malone's name and number he wore at Fenwick on the back. In their first year alone, the fund was able to raise almost $4,000.

"The tournament says a lot about the Fenwick communtiy," said Gancer. "Event though you may not have been great friends with him, people still came out to support the family and each other."

The Malone family as well as fellow classmates are hoping for this tournament and scholarship to continue on in the many years to come.

Malone touched everyone's hearts in some way. Whether it was through his warm smile, his humor, or just any memory that someone had with them, Malone defined what a Fenwick Friar is. He treated everyone with respect, kindness, and compassion. John Malone may have physically left this world, but his spirit and presence is eternal and with each and every one he ever had contact with.

Special thanks to Scott Theis, Athletic Director at Fenwick High School, and the Malone family.