I cringe when print sport writers and talking sports people misuse certain words, again and again. I won't get into "misnomer" today, but that's a common culprt. They also mangle "ridiclous." Guy makes a three-point shot and announcer says, "That shot was ridiculous." He/she means, I guess, it was terrific, [...]
I listen to many interviews with athletes and lately I notice a new construction. I'll give two hypothetical examples. 1) My teammates and myself played well. 2) The game went badly. It was the fault of my teammates and myself. I think that covers it, although you may have more [...]
I frequently read something like this: "I thought to myself the dog had turned green." Forget about the green dog and concentrate on "I thought to myself." When I think, it's always "to myself." So why include "to myself" in the sentence? "I thought" would suffice.
Here is an exchange that took place Wednesday between Jim Harbaugh and reporters courtesy of 49ers public relations: Getting back to Baldwin, is it realistic he could step up and win that number two receiver spot by the first game given how short his time has been here, to get [...]
Here is the opening to my Monday column about the WBC semifinal between Japan and Puerto Rico: SAN FRANCISCO -- Let's end the suspense right at the top. Puerto Rico defeated Japan 3-1 in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic Sunday night at AT&T Park. OK, that's out of [...]
It is always an event when 49ers GM Trent Baalke speaks to the media. Today, he spoke. Well, not really. He issued a statement. So let me rephrase the above. It is always an event when the media-shy Baalke issues a statement. He issued a statement after signing safety Craig [...]
While I'm on the awesome subject of Awesome, here's what I wonder. Is there any word in addition to awesome that you would like eliminated from our collective vocabulary for just one day? And please keep it clean.
I would like to propose Anti-Awesome Day. For one day, no one would be allowed to say awesome. If someone says awesome, he or she must donate ten bucks to his or her favorite charity. Recently, I went to a restaurant and ordered a burger and the waiter said awesome, [...]
This is about the word "gay," and how its meaning has changed. I bring this up because I'm reading "Out of Africa" by Isak Dinesen (Baroness Karen Blixen), a masterpiece of nonfiction. Please don't confuse the book with the movie "Out of Africa," based on Blixen's life but a sappy [...]
Lowell Cohn, retired columnist for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, covered sports for almost 40 years and never ran out of things to say.