Kobe just spoke to the media.  We'll have the complete audio of his comments posted later, but here's the gist of what he said.

I got a chance to ask him if he regretted any of the things he said during the off-season:

The way that it all came out and the way everything blew up, absolutely," Bryant said.  "I think if there was a way to do it diffrerently, we all would have done it.  That being said, the way that things have been handled the last month and a half or so has been great for us."  Kobe added that there was never any doubt that he would report to training camp on time (thanks for waiting so long to tell us by the way).

I felt that the most newsworthy thing that Kobe said was that Lakers owner Jerry Buss was kind of "out of the loop" in running the team the last two seasons, but moving forward he will be "back in the mix" as Kobe said.

Also, to clarify what I posted that Bynum said earlier, according to Kobe, while they didn't speak verbally, Kobe says they did text back and forth and that Kobe apologized for what he said and that Bynum was cool with that.

An interesting behind the scenes note ... the players all assembled before they took the floor here just after 10 a.m. ... everyone except Kobe.  Some of the players were wondering where he was and if he was going to show up.  They just didn't know at that point, as we didn't know when all the players took the court, except Kobe.  For the record, Kobe took the floor here at either 10:34 or 10:35 a.m. depending on who's watch you were looking at.

With Kobe not there at first, Phil Jackson said, and I'm roughly paraphrasing here, that he asked the players if they needed to address Kobe's comments, and most of them said no, not really, and that they weren't really offended by what he said.

Check back later for the audio of all the highlights from media day.

Kobe Bryant just showed up at media day. He's currently taping promos while being trailed by a phalanx of cameras. We'll keep you updated.

All players here ... except for Kobe.  He might show up any minute.  He might not show up to media day and meet the team at the airport.  Who knows?  As always with the Lakers ... stay tuned. 

Andrew Bynum just spoke to the media about Kobe's comments during the offseason.  Bynum says he hasn't seen or spoken to Kobe since the infamous amateur video surfaced.

He took the whole Jason Kidd thing in stride saying, "Who wouldn't want the opportunity to get Jason Kidd?"  However, he went on to say about the Kobe video "I wasn't really that upset, but I thought it was kind of messed up."

I'll keep you posted, especially if Kobe shows up.  Bynum did say about Kobe's whereabouts today "We don't even know where he's at right now."  Who knows what that means?  No need to panic yet, but again ... stay tuned!!!

Grady Little's comments are regularly cryptic, causing you to read between the lines closely. I just got back upstairs after listening to some cryptic comments, one not so cryptic one, and one that was really bizarre.

I'll start with the non-cryptic one. Little, usually as sparse with words as people like me are free with them, was very candid before Thursday's game with Colorado in reviewing the state of the Dodgers.

Little said that in reviewing the season in his head, he counted "18 games we should have won that we didn't". With the Dodgers at 80-78, adding 18 wins would make them 98-60. A pretty staggering difference, isn't it? That would give them the best record in baseball by four games over the Red Sox and Indians.

Little, as most managers do, reviews every detail of those games in his head, from what the players did, to what he and the coaching staff did, to "how we were after the game ... how I was after the game".

I got the feeling that Little has been genuinely humbled by this season, perhaps more so than any year he's ever managed, and feels he did not do an acceptable job. Whether or not that is acceptable to Dodger fans is another issue.

Little did commit an unintentionally priceless verbal faux pas when he was discussing his relationship with General Manager Ned Colletti. He was talking about how they were on the same page, saying that when things are going well, they celebrate together, and that when things don't work out "we don't sleep together". This slip up naturally caused the media hordes to simultaneously go into convulsions, and even Grady got a good laugh out of it before correcting himself and saying that he and Colletti both don't sleep during bad times.

On to the cryptic stuff...

Little was asked if a team can have too many young and talented players coming up all at once, i.e. this year's Dodgers. Little answered with a rhetorical question, and I'm paraphrasing ... what hasn't happened since 1988?

As any Dodger aficionado knows all too well, 1988 was the last time the Dodgers won the World Series.

"The course they've taken since '88 hasn't worked ... During that period of time there hasn't been as much of an influx of young players as now," Little said.  "We're trying to win a World Series."

He went on to relate that the last time the Dodgers did that was in the early to mid 70's, when the nucleus of the future pennant winners of '77, '78, and '81 were coming up.

It was certainly a thought provoking, head scratching, and yes, cryptic comment. My interpretation in reading between the lines was that Little was saying that between '88 and now, the Dodgers philosophy was to sign high priced free agents instead of growing their young players through the system, and it didn't work out.

Certainly, the Dodgers have had many free agent busts during that period of time, most notably Kevin Brown, Darren Dreifort (because of injury), and the dreaded J.D. Drew. But doesn't that remark/criticism also include the current regime's signing of Jason Schmidt (this year at least, also because of injury)?

Also, when the Dodgers did win that '88 World Series, who was the National League MVP that year? That's right, Kirk Gibson, a newly signed free agent from the Tigers.

It also seemed to me that Little forgot the Dodgers of the early to mid 90's with Karros, Piazza, Mondesi, Nomo, and Hollandsworth winning consecutive rookie of the year awards, culminating in playoff appearances in '95 and '96.

What about the nucleus of the 2004 division winners? Eric Gagne, Paul Loduca, Adrian Beltre, and Cesar Izturis all came up through the system as well.

If Little meant what I thought he meant, he needs a little bit of a Dodger history lesson. That doesn't mean I don't agree for the most part. Teams like the Rockies, the Diamondbacks, and of course, the Angels, are currently experiencing the fruits of what the Dodgers hope to experience in the future.

At the same time, though, the role of veteran free agents is still critical in my opinion ... as long as they are the right ones, i.e. Vladimir Guerrero, not Kevin Brown.

Want to sound off on Little's comments? Do so by leaving a comment of your own.

It's gotten to the point where the Dodgers are too worn out to even fight amongst themselves anymore. I was expecting to feel some measure of tension in the clubhouse before tonight's game against Colorado, but frankly, there wasn't any.

There was, however, an unexpected display of unity (of sorts), as each player was wearing an Olmedo Saenz "Killer Tomato" undershirt before the game. Sigh, if only they had done that before their fatal series in Colorado, perhaps their chemistry issues would have been solved.

As much as I want to blame others first, the Dodgers myriad injuries have been a significant factor, most notably with Jason Schmidt and Randy Wolf. The argument that Schmidt's signing was too much of a risk in the first place is more than a valid one. That obviously falls on Ned Colletti. Wolf, however, had been having a more than decent year with a 9 and 6 record before he went down.

Other injuries that were less significant but still notable included Yhency Brazoban, Hong-Chih Kuo, Chin-hui Tsao, and Jason Repko. All these hurt the Dodgers depth, especially pitching wise, to the point where they had to rely on the likes of the dreaded Brett Tomko, the dreaded Mark Hendrickson, and Roberto Hernandez.

Then, later in the year, the Dodgers had to bring in such last gasp additions as Shea Hillenbrand, Mark Sweeney, and pitchers David Wells, and Esteban Loaiza. Wells was terrific but Loaiza has an 8.53 ERA in four starts, and even worse, the Dodgers are on the hook for his 2008 salary, which is around the neighborhood of $6 million.

Despite these ongoing injury concerns, on July 23rd, the Dodgers found themselves 56-44 and in first place by two games in the National League West. Since then, they've gone 24-33 in a division (and league) acknowledged to be less than spectacular.

On the field, I felt the Dodgers biggest problems were starting pitching depth and the lack of expected production by veterans Nomar Garciaparra and Luis Gonzalez.

Here's what I mean about starting pitching depth.  Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, and Randy Wolf combined to go 49-29.  The other starters went a combined 8-30!

By contrast, the Angels hardly got any contributions from Bartolo Colon because of injuries, and they also saw Ervin Santana plummet to the point that he had to be sent to the minors in the middle of the season.  However, they were still able to win their division relatively easily thanks in part to excellent starting pitching depth.

How much blame should Grady Little get? Last year, when the Dodgers made the playoffs, he was considered a steady, patient, and calming influence. This year, he's being thought of as out of touch with the clubhouse. Undoubtedly he's the same manager this year as he was last year, but it's funny how a team's record can change people's perceptions. However, the perceptions of both years might be true.

Clubhouse chemistry changes each year, sometimes drastically, sometimes subtly. No matter what demeanor or managerial style he has, he failed to mediate and head off the clubhouse's generational gap.

There are many teams that greatly reflect the leadership, personality, and attitude of their head coach/manager. You can almost physically feel it when you are around the clubhouse or locker room. Examples are Bill Belichick's New England Patriots, Mike Scioscia's Angels, Pete Carroll's USC football team, and Ben Howland's UCLA basketball team.

And gee, what a shock, all are championship caliber teams. These are not teams of drones or brainwashed cult members. They are full of diverse personalities, yet at that same time, they are totally unified in their attitude, approach, and philosophy.

The 2008 Dodgers did not have it.

Little deserves some blame for that, but not all of it in what was admittedly a difficult situation with a mix of veterans either approaching or at over the hill, and not ready for prime time players, and not enough players in their prime.

The main problem I have with Little is his tendency to make odd in-game decisions, particularly as it relates to managing the pitching staff. Exhibit A was that critical Sunday afternoon game in San Francisco a few weeks back, when Little pulled ace Brad Penny in the 8th inning with a 2-1 lead after only 82 pitches, leading to an eventually game-winning home run by the mighty Ray Durham against Jonathan Broxton.

I know many people have recently clamored for the Dodgers to get rid of Little after this season, but I can't go that far yet. He hasn't sold me yet by any means that he's the right guy for the long term, but I don't think they should pull the plug after this season, either. If I were to give him a grade for this year, it would be an incomplete.

This season was the price the Dodgers had to pay for what better be consistently playoff caliber clubs over the next several years. My guess is the organization's approach to 2008 was that this mix would just be enough to make the playoffs in a relatively weak NL West. This explains them not trading away their young star prospects at the deadline for someone who could "put them over the top" as the "final piece of the puzzle". They thought the current mix would be enough, which it darn well might have with a healthy Schmidt and Wolf.

Now, time for chemistry class. One thing that didn't help was that in the Dodgers clubhouse, the lockers of veterans Kent, Garciaparra, and Gonzalez are all right next to each other in the same corner of the clubhouse. It's literally a divided clubhouse with the veterans in one corner, and most of the key young players halfway across the clubhouse on the opposite wall.

Yes, I feel what Jeff Kent said is true. The young players, with the exception of Russell Martin, never seem to be particularly despondent when the Dodgers lose a game, even an important game. This is unfortunately not unique, as I have noticed that many of the Lakers younger players don't seem to be bothered at all after losses.

Kent is all about respect. He doesn't necessarily "love" baseball; he sees it as a job that deserves to be greatly respected. It's great to see how seriously he takes each game day in and day out.

When James Loney responded to Kent's comments by observing that Kent was not a leader, he was right, but Kent has never, ever professed to be a leader. He doesn't see himself as a leader by any means, but at the same time, he feels he deserves to be respected and listened to when he speaks up because of his status as an accomplished veteran ... not as a leader.

So you have an imperfect storm here, young players who aren't going to go out of their way to solicit advice, and a veteran who is not going to go out of his way to offer advice.

Although I didn't approve of Kent airing the Dodgers dirty laundry, at least he didn't single out anyone by name. Back in 2005, when the Dodgers were an even bigger mess than they were now, Kent was remarkably patient with the team's young players. That year, they had to rely on young players even more than this year, but they were much less talented than the young players of the current team. Kent always went out of his way to praise how hard they played, despite the fact that they were collectively not very talented.

So should Kent stay? Yeah, fine. It's not like the young players have the leverage yet to force the team to trade him. If the Dodgers can trade him for something of equal or greater value, fine, but that's unlikely. From a production standpoint, although Kent is up there in years, he pretty much carried the team in July, when he led the Majors for the month with a .447 average. If he starts to struggle next year, the club can gradually have Tony Abreu transition into the starting second base spot. Despite his prickly reputation, Kent is not going to be a clubhouse "cancer" and winning will always be his first priority. He might sit in the corner stewing by himself, but generally he is not going to be a negative clubhouse influence.

It's up to Kent to be more approachable (but don't hold your breath), the young players to be more respectful and humble, and Grady Little to do a better job managing it all in 2008. Aside from that, it's up to Ned Colletti to create a deeper starting rotation in 2008, and to bring in more players, even role players, who are in the prime of their careers. They don't need to make drastic changes, but they need to make correct tweaks to get back on the same page as an organization.