Kobe Bryant Discussion, Part Two

[lakerz12]

I didn’t know Kobe was Catholic. Just read this:https://www.foxnews.com/us/before-fatal-flight-both-kobe-and-his-daughter-attended-church-priest-says

[Castle Black]

Same, DeMar. Same.

Read on Twitter

[JellosJigglin]

It's interesting to see the variety ways people are dealing with this:
- there are the tearful posts
- there are those who keep searching for the most emotional content
- there are those on a mission to determine how the helicopter went down
- there are some people who don't seem to have much emotion
- there are people trying to undermine their own emotions with logic
- there are people in disbelief

I've been all of the above except emotionless.

This will be my last post on RealGM for a while. I just want to give a heartfelt thank you to the people who have read my posts up to this point. The last 3 days have been so difficult and a complete blur, both as a memory and literally through the tears. I've felt so lonely in the real world as I generally put up a wall, but being able to send my words out into the interweb for people to read has been therapeutic. For that I thank you.

I've gone from negotiating, pleading for someone to tell me it wasn't true, to just trying to register the shock. And today I think I finally went from shock to falling into a depression as reality set in. I've been quiet, somber, just don't feel like being around anyone. I don't like the place I'm in mentally right now. It's dark and painful.

I'm now at a point where I need to step away for a while and just deal with this in my own way. I know most here have been great and mean well, but just coming across a random comment like how they identified Kobe's body with fingerprints is just something I'm not ready to read about.

My parents are at an age where every day is precious. They're hurting now, but I've tried to be positive around them even if I'm fighting back tears myself. My sister, who was more of a distant fan, is also struggling right now. She has two girls, her oldest the same age Gianna was. In other words, I feel a responsibility to the people around me to somehow get my strength back to be there for them. This pain is just festering inside me and I prefer to be a man of action. I don't want to drown in my emotions and not do anything about it.

So with that, I have to say I'm stepping away from RealGM for a while. It might just be a few days, or a few weeks, but I'll be back. To Laker Nation, I love you! To everyone in mourning, one foot in front of the other. The sun will rise tomorrow as it has billions of times before. I have a relative I haven't spoken to in almost 10 years and I'm about to squash that beef. I let myself go healthwise and need to get back in the gym. Going to take some time to get my life right and the best way to pay homage to Kobe is to be the best version of YOU. Relish the journey. So with tears in my eyes as I close this tab, Goodbye all.

[Jayt99]

Every time I'm not distracted by something and I'm alone all I can think about is Kobe and Gigi man. Those videos watching her admire her father you could see how much she loved him. How hard she was working to make her father proud her hero proud and it's cut short. That's what got me the most **** up man. This just ain't right.

[_Game7_]

I cant

[Drygon]

Vince said a lot of great things about Kobe with personal anecdotes

Watch on YouTube

;t=

[ratul]

Well, today still sucks.

[NoStatsGuy]

3 days passed and im still shook.

never imagined the death of a basketball player and his daughter could make me feel like this. I just cant wrap my head around it

RIP Gianna RIP Kobe, hope you are in a better place

[NoStatsGuy]

Read on Twitter

not gonna lie Shaq talking about kobe on TNT was probably the hardest thing ive watched in a while. man this is so crazy

[Dr Aki]

Read on Twitter

[Repeat 3-peat]

Watch on YouTube

Watching Kenny cry was tough to watch, thankful that Rick Fox is okay. Whoever reported that he was on that helicopter should be fired, That's not something to report when you don't the truths.

[karkinos]

Watch on YouTube

[dlts20]

Of course we all feel bad for all the victims and their families ...but at the same time , the pilot is responsible for the flight and taking off when lapd, sheriff , and news media choppers were grounded turned out to be a disastrous decision .

i left out some snippets because i couldnt understand/hear it

i went back to hear it

Question RE: the grounding of Sheriff's helicopters;
NTSB Investigator: "it is an apples to oranges comparison; it's a different helicopter; different operations (4 person helicopters). This [Kobe's copter] is outfitted for more than that. So we have to look at this specific crash." (my interpretation: "were not going to be baited into saying this or that" their aim is to be as objective as possible.

Question: How common it is for a pilot to request to fly under special visual flight rules?
NTSB Investigator: "it is very common. This is not out of the ordinary"


more on that Terrain Awareness Warning System (TAWS)
-reporters tried to bait if this would have prevented the accident; she says there are other variables that are still unknown
-again these investigators are trained to avoid concluding on speculation

At the end of the day, the pilot is the one to blame because that his is job and his responsibility, but I use to work in a private airport and I can tell you that the vast majority of pilots are okay with being grounded and will never insist in flying in bad weather. Vast majority of pilots are lazy and do not want to take on the extra work and stress in flying in bad weather.

What most likely happen is this... The pilot got the bad weather call and was informed he would be grounded, the pilot then informed his passengers of the grounding. A passenger probably got upset and asked or demanded the pilot fly in the bad weather because passengers have to stay on there schedule. There could have been an argument or education from the pilot, but in any regards, the pilot agreed to ask for special permission form authorities to fly in bad weather. This type of exchange happens all the time in private airports.

With that said, life is not black and white but grey and I can't feel any ill will toward the pilot.

I wondered this also. If people remember correctly in the Aaliyah case, the pilot did alot of things wrong but the main reason they crashed is because the plane was loaded to heavy with luggage. He told them that but they insisted on leaving right now, with all of the luggage and it went down immediately after takeoff. Things like this do happen. However, I saw an interview yesterday with a retired ex pilot. He said that he's flown Kobe in the chopper before and never felt pressure from Kobe to fly in hazardous conditions

[alienswon]

My own speculation is that the IPAD was being used to predict where the hills/mountains were using google maps, which is why he first went up high to get above the hills and the clouds, but the cloud ceiling or something happened that made them descend. And the veering to the left while descending could be an indicator that he knew it was in the vicinity. So, although the IPAD was a stand-in for TAWS (again i'm speculating this is why he had one he might not have been using it for this) it wasn't "real-time" because google GPS is just isn't fast enough to rely on.

if any helicopter pilots could confirm this theory.

because i cannot help think that a simple google maps terrain would be a heads-up that there was danger in the area. Which is why i think they flew into the fog confidently because he has used this method in the past to get around fog conditions. The difference is that there is a delay and it is not real-time which TAWS is.

[And1+2]

My own speculation is that the IPAD was being used to predict where the hills/mountains were using google maps, which is why he first went up high to get above the hills and the clouds, but the cloud ceiling or something happened that made them descend. And the veering to the left while descending could be an indicator that he knew it was in the vicinity. So, although the IPAD was a stand-in for TAWS (again i'm speculating this is why he had one he might not have been using it for this) it wasn't "real-time" because google GPS is just isn't fast enough to rely on.

if any helicopter pilots could confirm this theory.

because i cannot help think that a simple google maps terrain would be a heads-up that there was danger in the area. Which is why i think they flew into the fog confidently because he has used this method in the past to get around fog conditions. The difference is that there is a delay and it is not real-time which TAWS is.

I doubt that very much. This helicopter was very sophisticated.

The standing theory now is that the pilot got disoriented while trying to rise above cloud cover, and the helicopter went off axis/tilt during the climb since the pilot was still using visual cues instead of instrument cues. This is apparently an easy and quick thing that can happen to even the most experienced pilots in low/zero visibility and once a helicopter reaches the point of no return off axis, it's basically impossible to ”right it", and it would have fallen chaotically out of the sky into the hillside.

Horrible to think about, because would have been terrifying for everyone inside.

[alienswon]

Marion Blakey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Blakey

A former chairman of National Transportation Safety Board ignores NTSB's recommendation of implementing TAWS in helicopters of more than 6 people after a fatal crash of 12 (in 2005) in the same helipcopter as Bryant. At the time of the recommendation she was the chief administrator of Federal Aviation Administrator (FAA) from 2002-2007.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Aviation_Administration#History_of_FAA_Administrators
2002 Sep 12 2007 Sep 13 Marion Blakey
2007 Sep 14 2009 Jan 15 Robert A. Sturgell (acting)
2009 Jan 16 2009 May 31 Lynne Osmus (acting)
2009 Jun 1 2011 Dec 6 Randy Babbitt
2011 Dec 7 2018 Jan 6 Michael Huerta
2018 Jan 6 2019 Aug 12 Daniel K. Elwell (acting) [21][22][23]
2019 Aug 12 present Stephen Dickson

[The Explorer]

This is just sad

The pals told People magazine that the NBA legend’s 37-year-old widow is surrounded by “a good support system” — but “you can never be prepared for this.”

“Despite their ups and downs, [the couple] were soulmates. She thought of him as her partner for life,” a source said of Vanessa and Kobe, who was killed along with their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, California, on Sunday morning.

Vanessa is “devastated. She can hardly keep it together,’’ the source said. “She can’t finish a sentence without crying. But she is working very hard to pull it together for the other girls. She now has to be the strong one.”

A family friend added, “It’s an extremely difficult and devastating time for Vanessa and the whole family.”

Kobe’s surviving daughters are reeling, too, the sources said.

“He had a special bond with each of them,’’ another friend said of Kobe and his kids.

He was “so proud to see [them] take after not only him and Vanessa but also grow into their own.”

The former LA Lakers star said in a November interview that “being a father is the thing I am most proud of in this world; it’s my greatest accomplishment.”

“I’ve learned so much, but perhaps the most profound thing has been the fierce, unconditional love you have for your children when you become a parent,” he said.

[BlazersBroncos]

This may be out of line, but I cant help but think Gigi, with her basketball talent, her bloodline and the likelihood that she would end up growing up into an attractive woman (Given Bryant and Vanessa are some good looking people) would have had a great chance to become the face of the WNBA. Obvious speculation, but I just cant help but think of that possibility. With old man Bryant there watching her games. Life is such a bummer sometimes.

[Paradise]

This is just sad

The pals told People magazine that the NBA legend’s 37-year-old widow is surrounded by “a good support system” — but “you can never be prepared for this.”

“Despite their ups and downs, [the couple] were soulmates. She thought of him as her partner for life,” a source said of Vanessa and Kobe, who was killed along with their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, California, on Sunday morning.

Vanessa is “devastated. She can hardly keep it together,’’ the source said. “She can’t finish a sentence without crying. But she is working very hard to pull it together for the other girls. She now has to be the strong one.”

A family friend added, “It’s an extremely difficult and devastating time for Vanessa and the whole family.”

Kobe’s surviving daughters are reeling, too, the sources said.

“He had a special bond with each of them,’’ another friend said of Kobe and his kids.

He was “so proud to see [them] take after not only him and Vanessa but also grow into their own.”

The former LA Lakers star said in a November interview that “being a father is the thing I am most proud of in this world; it’s my greatest accomplishment.”

“I’ve learned so much, but perhaps the most profound thing has been the fierce, unconditional love you have for your children when you become a parent,” he said.

That right there is really moving. I’m not going to lie, as a 26 year old. I have commitment issues in my personal life when it comes to women and marriage but I’m going to take some time to re-evaluate.

We often take stuff for granted because we equate money to success but this is why it doesn’t matter regardless. It’s about family, love and enjoying each other’s company.

I know she would’ve deeply regretted life if she didn’t stick it through despite whatever the media or what fans thought him on and off the floor and as men, we have certain women in our lives we put through stress. Regardless of the intention.

Stuff like this makes me really evaluate myself as a grown man.

[Durant Durant]

Did anybody catch Shaq's statement on when he last talked to Kobe from yesterday's TNT broadcast?