WRITE ON: THE SWEEK 16.

BRACKET 4

TOPIC: Make your case for whether or not the Kobe-Shaq rivalry remains a hot topic or has it lost its luster two seasons after the two parted ways.

CRAWFORD vs. KOUTROUPIS

What becomes a rivalry most?

KINON CRAWFORD III

47

North Hollywood

Office clerk

The anticipation of things to come? The endless hype, no matter how unnecessary? The intense battles between two mighty adversaries?

Or is it the end of aggressions; the forging of peaceful relations?

Ever since The Trade, the Shaq/Kobe has been on the front burner during nearly every discussion of the NBA season. Who's going to say what; what's going to happen when they meet; how will they react? With all that drama taking place, it's no wonder that everybody drooled like newborns whenever the subject arose. Buzz, however, does not make a great rivalry. Is it becoming? Well, it might make the main course, but it's only potatoes, not the steak.

The media, searching for the Next Big Story, jumped on this like a pack of wolves. Shaq, fully stocked with cute quotes and witty one-liners, kept the hype machine fueled up and ready to roll over anything (including good sense). It is a measure of the hype when seemingly half of all of the stories about Kobe or Shaq included something about their counterpart. The problem here is that this was mostly media driven, with reporters continuing to broach the subject despite its irrelevance. Is it becoming? In an Oscar night ensemble, this isn't even the borrowed diamond necklace. It's the fancy hairdo, not the Versace gown.

Rivalries. The intense battles of two legendary warriors. The drama of closely matched combatants going toe-to-toe, giving their best, and bringing out the best in each other. Russell-Chamberlain. Ali-Frazier. Bird-Magic. Red Sox-Yankees. With these things in mind, the Shaq-Kobe rivalry doesn't really stack up. Different positions, twice-yearly meetings, no championship battles (yet), make this much to do about very little. Is it becoming? If rivalries are blue suits, this is a pair of brown shoes.

Since this was mostly a one-sided affair, with Shaq yakking and Kobe ignoring, the end of this thing went as it should have. Taking his cues from Pat Riley and Bill Russell, Shaq stepped to Kobe and extended the olive branch. Kobe responded in kind. Now, with all of the garbage out of the way, these two megastars can get to work creating a rivalry where it counts: on the court. Not in the newspapers, not in the magazines, but on the hardwood, where legends are made and legendary battles are won. Is it becoming?

The old girl never looked better.

End of a rivalry, if that's what you call it

YANNIS KOUTROUPIS

17

Corpus Christi, Texas 

Student at WB Ray High

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal were one of the best duos of all time. Though their relationship was full of turmoil, together they won three straight championships, a feat only Bill Russell's Celtics and Michael Jordan's Bulls accomplished. When Shaquille made his departure from LA, the media tried to make it seem like there was a rivalry between him and Kobe Bryant. However, there's never been much to keep this ``rivalry'' going.

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, now they had a rivalry. From the first time they played against each other in the 1979 NCAA Championship game the two brought out the best in each other. Magic was out shooting 500 jump shots a day and working out like he was a five foot walk on at North Carolina, because he knew Larry was. After their collegiate career, they faced each other countless times in the regular season, and three times in the NBA finals. They had some of the best performances of their entire careers against each other. Going head to head so many times and playing in big games is what made their rivalry so great.

In just their four regular season match ups, Kobe and Shaq haven't lived up to expectations for two rivals. Kobe's had impressive numbers, but he's only been able to win once. While Shaquille's won the other three meetings, he's hardly been the dominating force that we've grown to expect during rivalry games.

In previous rivalries, Shaquille O'Neal's off the court antics have been just as instrumental in building the rivalry as his play on the court. With David Robinson, he made up a story about how David snubbed him for an autograph when he was a teenager. In the 2001 finals Shaq called Dikembe Mutombo's defense that won him Defensive Player of the Year ``flopping.'' With Kobe, he's refused to acknowledge him or even speak his name. Kobe hasn't done much for the rivalry either, treating it like its no big deal. The lack of acknowledgement of a rivalry between the two of them led to media outrageously suggesting a fight may break out, to try to add some lust to the diminishing rivalry.

Shaquille burying the hatchet with Kobe officially ends their rivalry, letting us focus on the real rivalries: Kobe vs. Wade.... and if Tuesday's dunk exchange was any indication of the future, Shaq vs. Bynum.

CRAWFORD 4, KOUTROUPIS 0

DELANIAN vs. HARRIS

A Hollywood story

ALEX DELANIAN

20

Los Angeles

Student at USC 

When the already irrelevant Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal feud came to a symbolic end on Monday, basketball fans in Los Angeles and beyond acted as though two warring nations just signed a historic peace treaty.

In reality, it had as much impact as the declaration of a new Canada-Switzerland maple syrup embargo.

The duo's relationship had been overhyped from the second Kobe donned the purple and gold and bought into his own hype. As their friendship deteriorated, a potentially dominant partnership met an early end.

A person with any knowledge of storytelling knew exactly how this Hollywood melodrama would end.

Kobe meets Shaq, Kobe likes Shaq, Kobe and Shaq get together, Kobe and Shaq have a honeymoon, Kobe and Shaq have a falling out, Kobe and Shaq go through a bitter divorce, Kobe and Shaq reconcile, embracing each other on the Staples Center floor like a couple of lovestruck soul mates.

If this sounds familiar, it's because you've seen it hundreds of times, and yes, it was this nauseating every time.

The only reason this alleged feud ever existed is because the media realized how few interesting stories there are in today's NBA 7/8 sorry Mr. Stern 7/8 and perpetuated this fantasy of the two most recognizable basketball stars in the world 7/8 sorry Mr. James 7/8 hating each other's guts.

Hyped up as a bitter rivalry, the truth of the matter is that these two giant egos simply couldn't exist on the same team. Sure, there was animosity, but this is the NBA we're talking about. You know, the league where a ticking time bomb is the biggest trade rumor of the winter, a guy named Kermit once threw the most vicious punch this side of Catskill, New York, and these same two feuding superstars once won three championships.

After Monday, the potential Shaq-Andrew Bynum feud is already ten times more interesting than Kobe v. Shaq ever was, if only for the fact that without Bryant's efforts for peace -- on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no less -- Bynum may have been on the opposite end of a legendary O'Neal haymaker. Assuming he missed Brad Miller's self-defense lesson, the results could have been disastrous.

The already fading interest in the Kobe-Shaq storyline is now extinct, for all our sakes.

Now, we can return to more urgent NBA news, like why Von Wafer is still on an NBA roster.

Kobe-Shaq rivalry: Gone with the win

GEOFF HARRIS

49

Sherman Oaks

TV writer

All things come to an end. Good and bad.

Jessica broke up with Nick. Martin said goodbye to Lewis. And Cain finished off Abel with a mighty thud.

For the Lakers' dynamic duo of Kobe and Shaq, their personal relationship ended two years ago, when Shaq packed his bags and moved to Florida.

But their rivalry grew to epic proportions, fanned by the NBA's P.R. machinery.

However, judging from their most recent confrontation Monday night - in which the Lakers beat Miami 100 to 92 - that supposedly once-fiery enmity is no more.

They haven't quite become the politically neutral Switzerland of the hardwood, but they're approaching it.

Even Kobe, speaking on camera, labeled the contest as, ``just another game.'' No longer was it the War of the Roses. It was merely two good NBA teams battling it out.

The rivalry ended with a rapprochement of sorts. On the urging of his coach, The Big Diplomat (aka, Shaq) took the giant step toward peace and normalization. He shook hands with Kobe, while Kobe was stretching during pre-game warm-ups.

And then it became a veritable love-fest. The two captains met before tipoff. There was a mighty hug, followed by an exchange of pleasantries that would have made Martin Luther King, Jr. proud on his birthday.

But NBA Commissioner David Stern and his marketing machine undoubtedly didn't want the Kobe-Shaq rivalry to go out with a whimper. They wanted a bang. Because the bigger the bang, the bigger the bucks.

You see, competition between two superstars is good for business. It's a P.R. man's delight. Easy to promote. Easy to fill seats. Easy to bring eyeballs to the screen. As stellar TV ratings in games between Lakers and the Heat over the last two years can attest.

Viewers adore dramas, particularly personal ones, like Magic versus Bird. And the NBA had one, albeit less classy and less about the game, in Kobe and Shaq.

Even Monday's promising undercard between Lamar Odom and mouthy Gary Payton failed to materialize.

Now the only hope David Stern and his P.R. suits have for a marketable rivalry is the one between 33-year-old Shaq and 18-year-old Andrew Bynum, who exchanged elbows - not hugs - during the game.

Until then, peace and harmony reign between Kobe and Shaq. And TV audiences will instead have to satisfy themselves by watching reality shows, like NBC's ``The Biggest Loser.''

TIED 2-2

Congratulations to all four of this week's writers for learning one of the first rules of sports column-writing - when you have nothing interesting to say, just rag on ``media hype'' and the league ``PR machine.'' Crawford wins because he can turn a phrase and because of his positive ending about Shaq and Kobe ``creating a rivalry where it counts: on the court.''