“The only thing that you can get into without a lot of trouble, is a lot of trouble.” ~ Bill Cosby
I have a lot of great stories and memories of growing up in Philly. I’m still in touch with many people from my old neighborhood, and we get together a few times a year. I’ve never lived anywhere else, and I will probably be a life-long Philadelphian.
I was recently recounting some memories of listening to Bill Cosby records, back in the day at my friend Mike’s house. Cosby’s legendary stand-up albums were loaded with Philly references, and extremely funny. I’m sure Mike and I could recite them from memory – bits like Noah (What’s a cubit?) and Hofstra (Please do not touch certain areas of your body while on the playing field!). Today, I sent Mike a text asking, “Why is there air?” – naming a classic Cosby routine. His immediate response should have been, “To blow up basketballs and volleyballs!” Instead, it was just one word… “Sad.”
Cosby is a Philly guy. He grew up here, graduated from Temple University and has always been an outstanding ambassador for the city. Philadelphia has many famous sons and daughters, but few have been held in such high esteem. That is just one of the reasons that the current news about Cosby is so astounding for many Philadelphians.
The attention span of the public is very short. Cosby had similar allegations against him many years ago, that probably were silenced with cash and quickly forgotten about. Similar accusations against other “icons” like Kobe Bryant and Ben Roethlisberger are buried deep in the recesses of our minds. We don’t want to hear bad things about people we admire, and we certainly don’t want our “heroes” brought down.
That word is in quotes for a reason. Through many speeches and interviews, Cosby urged parents to be the hero to their children, versus relying on celebrities and athletes to fill that role. He also championed discipline, respect and family. In his famous “Pound Cake” speech in 2004 at the NAACP Awards, Cosby talked about kids respecting their parents saying, “And something called parenting said, ‘If you get caught with it (stealing) you’re going to embarrass your mother.’ Not ‘You’re going to get your butt kicked.’ No. ‘You’re going to embarrass your family.’”
Cosby routinely called out comedians for working “blue”, something he never did. He chastised many others for various perceived irresponsible behaviors. And he advised countless college graduation classes to take up the mantle of responsibility themselves, and not to blame others when things don’t work out.
Has there ever been more layers of irony? Practice what you preach, Mr. Cosby.
More allegations are coming out every day… women previously silent now emboldened by time and camaraderie with fellow victims. There are no arguments being made for his innocence and interestingly, no one is demanding his head on a plate. As women continue to step forward, the situation grows even more mind-numbing. But sadly, there are probably more not coming forward who will continue to bear their pain in silence. Publicly or privately, his victims will not see their attacker pay for his crimes because they happened so long ago. In the end it may only amount to a loss of income, a slap on the wrist for someone as rich as Cosby.
So when my friend Mike replies with the word “sad”, I get it. I’m sad that this idiot’s behavior may reflect badly on my city. I’m sad that my fun memories of listening to his comedy are forever tarnished. And mostly, I’m sad that so many women will carry the memory of being violated by an animal.
Bill Cosby’s level of celebrity, and the irony of his self-righteousness have made his fall from grace unprecedented. Has anyone ever fallen so far? I’ve been asking this question for a few days now, and have yet to get a good answer. Anyone???
Icing The Kicker – The practice of calling a timeout seconds before the ball is snapped on a field goal is bush league. It very rarely works, but I do laugh riotously when it backfires on a coach. Come on, guys… grow the hell up!
Officials – There are seven officials on the field during an NFL game. SEVEN!!! It’s amazing to me how they aren’t tripping over some of the 22 players on the field!!! I do not think that officials are bad, but I do believe that instant replay has reduced their effectiveness. Nothing is sadder than watching the play end and the obvious uncertainty on the face of the officials, afraid to commit to a call. While I’m all for accuracy and getting the call right, the current system is a detriment to the flow of the game and needs a major overhaul to be a workable solution. And why does the ref have a microphone when a hand signal should explain everything (as in every sport on the planet)? And another thing… yellow flags are stupid.
I was up very early this morning. I typically don’t set an alarm, being fortunate to have a pretty accurate internal clock on regular work days. But for some reason I woke up at 5:00, tossed for a while then started scrolling through my phone at 6:00.
I woke up in Montgomery the next morning. I slept some, but CNN was on my television all night. A local merchant was standing on the street outside his business that morning, handing out small plastic American Flags. I still have it. Somewhere.
My friend said that this is the first anniversary that she has felt such uncertainty. Like any good parent, she was worried about her kids. The 9/11 terrorist winning again. I told her to ask yourself why… because of the constant news and information about it? (Here is when directed her to my 
I have been asking this question a lot over the last several months. Where do you get your news, and how do you know it’s real? Information is flowing fast and furious, like no time in our history. Surely it can’t all be accurate just because it’s in print, on television or on the internet.
to get all of the information I needed. I asked why those sites, and the answer was “Because they check their facts.” What a relief!! So I asked… “How do you know that they check facts?’ The reply came quickly… “Because I read about them on another site.” Now, I’m not saying anything bad here about my friend, because he falls victim to the same trap that we all do.
It gets better… let’s make it simpler. Recently I’d seen rumors flying around about the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) intentionally suppressing proof of vaccine-related cases of autism in African-American boys from reaching the public. I went to my trusted soothsayers for urban legends – Snopes. com. I was satisfied when I read that the CDC rumor was false. Whew! Faith in my fellow man restored! Until… I go back to the Google page and see an article titled “