Before I get started on Reggie Bush and shame I have a few things to catch up on.
As you know I’m on vacation. One Zohn reader advanced the theory that the Press Democrat made this a forced vacation because of recent blogs I’ve written. It’s an interesting theory which happens to be incorrect. I’m in LA right now for my son’s graduation from UCLA, a planned event. Next week, my family goes away to celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary, a planned event. In fact, because of my recent blogs my blog hits (hittage) were enormous. Thanks, everyone.
Part 2. Someone wrote that I use “I” too much in my writing. I don’t know of any rule that says a columnist, one whose name appears on his column, can’ t use I. But OK, for the rest of this entry I will write in the third person.
Cohn wonders about about Reggie Bush. What is Bush feeling now that he got USC banned from postseason play for 2 years? If Cohn got his school banned he’d feel guilt. Cohn went to Lafayette College as an undergraduate and Stanford as a graduate student. He loved both places and never would want to hurt them. Does Bush feel this way? Cohn wonders.
If Bush has a conscience he should feel guilty for hurting his school. Athletes don’t seem to feel guilt or shame these days. They talk about taking responsibility. Cohn does not know what this means. He understands the shame of not wanting to show your face, and the guilt of a bad conscience. He thinks guilt and shame are appropriate in some instances and he hopes for Bush’s sake, he feels one or both right now. He is not confident Bush will feel guilt or shame. He believes Bush is a phony.
Cohn also thinks Pete Carroll got off easy. He left his football program in a mess and got a big-bucks job in Seattle. He got rewarded for whatever he did — if in fact, he did something. Cohn always heard Carroll is a good guy. Is he?
Cohn is thinking about something else. On Friday he drove to LA on 5. When he got over the Grapevine he turned on KNX AM, the CBS affiliate down here and listened to the traffic report. They refer to their freeways as the 101 or the 405 or the 5. In the Bay Area they call freeways by number, 101 or 580 or 5. Cohn wonders about the difference.
He thinks about things like this. He does not have a good mind for abstractions. His kid Iggy can tie Cohn up in knots in arguments involving concepts. Cohn is more comfortable asking questions like: “Why is that man wearing blue socks with brown shoes?” Or, “Does that man realize he forgot to shave half of his upper lip?”
Cohn is comfortable in the here and now. He wondered about “the” and the freeways. He did not object to “the.” He wondered at what geographical point Californians start saying the. Is it at Fresno? Bakersfield? Is there a town where the people in the north part omit the the and the people in the south include the the? He wondered about that and wished someone could tell him where the the begins and when it happened in the first place.
On the news he also heard a court threw out evidence against Barry Bonds. Cohn figured they’re never going to get Bonds even though he almost certainly cheated. Cohn wonders when enough is enough. That’s Cohn for you.
