Those Redeem Team Players Just Can't Help Being So Damned Charming

This smartly dressed-looking woman is named Stephanie Stricklen, a reporter for KGW Northwest News 8 in Portland, Oregon. For the past couple weeks, she's been assigned to traipse around Beijing and add a friendly, familiar face to her station's Olympic coverage. And just like track star Kara Goucher, Stricklen had a pleasant run-in with some of the Redeem Team's finest lady scoundrels. Although she doesn't tell the world if one of them tried to pick her up...ah who are we kidding? Thanks to blogger Dwight Jaynes ( who is apparently just watching the world float by) we are directed to this fawning, reflective blog post about Stricklen's individual impressions of some of the players. It appears she is, in fact, open for business:

Kobe is articulate and thoughtful. And, since this has no business in a news story, I can share it here— his skin is so flawless the dude looks like someone airbrushed on makeup. He also told me he is one of the "short" guys as I stood next to him and got a crick in my neck looking up at him. Jason Kidd has this sense of maturity about him. He strikes me as the kind of guy you will quickly learn to respect. He takes practice seriously and is business-minded. He also has very kind eyes. And LeBron? Well, LeBron is nothing but pure entertainment. He had Dwight Howard in stitches (notice the makeshift cape in the photo slideshow?). LeBron was making fun of himself.. making fun of us.. making fun of his teammates.. breakdancing (poorly), hollering, rapping, and generally living life huge. As one guy pointed out to me.. LeBron is young. He has energy. Yeah, I'd say so.

Oh my. I hope none of the Redeem Players slipped on that puddle Stephanie Stricklen left on the court. ****** Spend some time with old people. They love your company. Also? Go empty the dishes from the sink. Fruit flies are everywhere. But... relax tonight. Pop yourself open a Genny Cream Ale and have yourself a fried bologna sandwich. It is Thursday. Be back tomorrow and we'll close out the week — together. Thank you for your continued support of this internet location and some of its affiliates. It's all about Kidd's kind eyes, Lebron's energy, and Kobe's flawless skin [Dwight Jaynes]