Kobe's "act" friday night...how pathetic

I couldnt have said it better...

Jill Porter | Kobe's sudden gushfest over wife enough to make you ill
By Jill Porter
porterj@phillynews.com

NOTE TO would-be wives of sports/political superstars:

Make sure the prenuptial agreement says you won't be a public-relations prop in the event of a sex scandal.

Yes, I'm talking about that sickening display at Friday's press conference when Kobe Bryant slobbered adoring sentiment all over his wife, Vanessa, after he confessed to committing adultery.

"And I love my wife with all my heart. She's my backbone," he said, gripping her hand. Then he spoke to her directly.

"You're a piece of my heart, the air I breathe," he oozed.

"You're the strongest person I know, and I'm so sorry for having to put you through this, putting my family through this."

BARF BAG, please.

Whatever credibility Bryant had with me was obliterated by that self-indulgent display of suspicious spousal devotion.

Bryant's clean public image suggests he avoided the pitfalls of sports stardom before this tragic incident. But when the chips were down, he resorted to the same sleazeball public-relations tactic to stem the damage.

And this was one of the worst cases of exploiting a spouse I've ever seen.

Usually the chastened husband just parades his wife in front of the cameras, ostentatiously holding her hand, satisfied to have her as a visual prop to redeem his wrongdoing.

But Bryant subjected us to embarrassing protestations of love, quite hollow under the circumstances.

Such words are meant to be spoken in private, not uttered in public for personal gain.

Why do powerful men have to hide behind their wives' skirts when they find themselves in trouble? From Gary Hart to Bill Clinton to Kobe Bryant and all the others in between?

It's bad enough to commit adultery - never mind allegedly committing rape - when your high profile invites exposure.

Why add humiliation to betrayal by forcing your spouse to exhibit wounded forbearance in public rather than suffer in private?

Of course, Bryant's wife of two years has a stake in this, too. His plummet from the pantheon of superstars would have a profound impact on her extraordinary life.

Surely, she's willing to do whatever it takes to bolster his credibility when he insists he didn't rape anyone.

And surely, she believes him - along with the rest of the world, from what I can tell.

It certainly seems out of character for the Kobe Bryant the world knows to have done such a thing. But power can beget arrogance, and arrogance can beget recklessness.

He wouldn't be the first person to be revealed as something less than he seems to be.

But this is about what Bryant did to his wife, not what he did or didn't do to the alleged victim of sexual assault.

The public display at Friday's press conference made me gag.

Let it be a lesson to would-be spouses of sports/political superstars: Make sure the prenup says you won't be a public-relations prop in the event of a sex scandal.