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or not - the jury’s still out there. For what he forwent in college years, he earned in experience and explored various commercial options - from endorsements to his latest arts in animation and poetry that earned him an Academy Award in 2019! Commercial sports are now organized and are played to make money as entertainment events. Sport has become big business; society has more time for leisure, spending power, expansive transportation networks and availability to media outlets and forms. Sport and sports personalities are ‘commodities that can be bought and sold’ and it is the market that is the driving force in sports development. I can also not gloss over the inequalities that take place in sport - be they discrimination racial, social or other form of inequality, prejudices and perceptions drawn to certain individuals or people because of their roots. This is still prevalent in the very arena of sports that’s supposed to equalize and show us the best talents. Ours is to overcome this increasing sportsmanship and striving to uphold universal integrities - utopian it might seem, but nothing is impossible. In his passing, kobe bryant showed us the impact and influ- ence of sports and its place in society. there are many instrumen- tal objectives and les- sons realized through sports. their value maybe underesti- mated but whether you’ve been in sports as a fan, athlete or remotely involved, sports literally re- shapes the very foun- dation of our world. I’ll end this with two of the many quotes from the late Kobe Bryant, (His definition of Greatness) “...is to inspire the people next to you. I think that’s what greatness is and should be. It’s not something that lives and dies with one person, it’s how can you inspire a person to then (in turn) inspire another. And that’s how you create something that I think that last forever, that’s our challenge as a people, to figure out how our story can impact others and motivate them to create their own greatness” ...And finally; “There’s a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something, there’s a choice you have to make. We all can be masters at our craft, but you have to make a choice. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that. Family time, hanging out with friends, being a great friend, being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be. There are sacrifices that come along with making that decision.” Richard Wanjohi is a marketing enthusiast with interest in research and sports. You can commune with him on this or related matters via mail at: RWanjohi@gmail.com or check his tweets @rwanjohi. www.sboresearch.co.ke WE COVER IN GREAT DETAIL To get an in-depth detail on the retailers -what Brands they are stocking, stock levels, sale movements, all round retail census and audits plus everything in between - get in touch with us. We’ve got retail covered in great detail. t: +254 20 214 56 68, 210 1916/7 e: research@sboresearch.co.ke SBO Research @SBOResearch