why Chris Collinsowrth so automatically thought it wasn't "cool" to be proud of being an American "in this day and age"?

I think this is clearly a reaction to Obama saying he is a 'citizen of the world'. Obama clearly feels being patriotic is passe, Collinsworth is taken with Obama and his image, and Collinsworths thinks we should all (especially blacks) jump on board. He is baffled by Bryant's free thinking.

D

Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.

My husband read somewhere awhile ago that Collinsworth is a conservative and that he despises Olbermann, so he doubts that Chris was trying to get Kobe to say anything bad about our country.

It was really silly for Chris to question whether it was cool or not to be proud of America.  But it was also silly for Warner to bring in some racist angle into this story.

"Apparently Collinsworth was shocked that a black man could be at all patriotic and proud of being a representative of his country."

What???

"Is Collinsworth saying that it is impossible for a black man to be patriotic? Apparently so."

Huh???

Come on Warner.  Playing the race card is something that Barack Obama and Keith Olbermann do.  NewsBusters should be above that.

Turns out Collinsworth gave $5,000 to the Kentucky Republican party in 2004.  He also gave contributions to Kentucky Republicans Rob Portman and Jim Bunning.

Unless he's picked up Olbermann's mental disease since then, I don't think he wanted Kobe to say anything bad about the USA.

Several Olypians from all over the world speak daily about the pride they feel representing their individual countries. Are American athletes expected to represent some World Country? Seems as though some think they should. I am proud of our athletes and I'm proud and often awed by the athletes representing other countries. 

Did you see KB during the Anthem of one of the NBA playoffs, with his hands stuffed in his pockets and chewing gum?Like to have thrown a rock at the tube-and him being the mvp? Hah! That award belonged to #5 if not the team.

And where is the Green represented on the USA? I saw where Ray Allen was at Uconn with his former coach, who is suffering through radiation this summer. 

I refuse to watch. See where the lat dissed Phelps and put him at #6 on a list of greatest olympians? Surprised even an American made the top 5-Carl Lewis. What a bunch of commie lovers, nbc included. 

Is it "cool" in this day and age to be a sissy, American-bashing liberal posing as sports reporter?

If you're Chris Collinsworth, Yeah.

I don't know if Collinsworth is liberal or conservative.  If the former, then Kobe certainly shut him down.  If the latter, then he did a good job of drawing Kobe out.  I played it several times,  just  to watch Kobe's face.

When he is talking about the honor of wearing the USA team uniform, you can see in his eyes that he truly feels what he is saying.  When asked where the patriotism comes from, historically, his demeanor does a shift and becomes more serious describing our country as "the greatest country in the world" that has "given us so many great opportunities."  Then, after Collinsworth questions if it is cool to be patriotic, his face gets really serious and the eyes get glinty as if he is getting angry at the absurdity of the question.  Whether Collinsworth meant it to be or not, it is an inspiring video.

"The future is not set.  There is no fate but what we make for ourselves."

michaelyon-online.com

But when it comes to Chris Collinsworth, I have a hard time taking him too seriously. Remember, this guy's skin was so thin that he basically let Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long run him off the Fox NFL Sunday show a few years ago.

As for his questioning, I could see the initial question but the follow up was where the problem began. From the transcript it seems like he was baiting Kobe to make some type of statement that could be construed as unpatriotic. If that was where he was going, it wouldn't be a surprise...it is NBC afterall!

And for the people taking shots at the 2004 team, like it was said before the players that were on that team deserve to be praised for showing up; they answered the call from USA Basketball, and went to Greece in the face of a lot of anti-American sentiment and in the teeth of terrorist violence in Greece at the time. Many of the biggest names that were invited refused to go out of fear for their personal safety, but guys like Lamar Odom, Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, LeBron James, and Carmelo Anthony went proudly to represent the USA. Too bad so many fans and media back home seemed to take so much joy in their taking the bronze, and it is a shame that these guys are talked about as failures instead of being celebrated for taking the risk and accepting the challenge to play in Athens.

"Apparently Collinsworth was shocked that a black man could be at all patriotic and proud of being a representative of his country."

Um, no. 

I understood what Collinsworth was asking. The NBA, basketball, in America, has been a hip-hop culture, where patriotism is not the most important thing. The most important thing is getting famous and getting paid. It's a surly attitude that has pervaded the league. At last year's Olympics, the feeling was that the NBA players didn't really care if they won or not, because, hey, they're still getting paid and it's just the Olympics. 

This group, with the leadership of Coach K, has worked hard to reverse that attitude, to better represent the USA, in everything they've done at these Olympics. It hasn't been about them, it's been about all of the US athletes. So Collinsworth asks this question so that Kobe can answer in positively to help further this idea of a new, better, Redeem Team.