A little sense might save a lot of pain.(Kobe Bryant's sexual assault case)(Column)

A professional basketball player whose name is no longer important once told a story about a night in a Seattle bar. It was a late night, a beery night. He sat in a booth in a dark corner of the bar. With him was a young woman of striking features and charming intellect. She seemed properly smitten by the NBA star's wit and grace. It became a very late night, a very beery night, one of those nights during which a 2 at 10 is a 10 at 2.

"Where do you go to school?" our basketball hero asked.

"Olympia Junior," she said brightly.

"Olympia Junior College?" our hero said, just to keep the talk going.

"No, no" she said. "Olympia Junior High."

Here an instant-frozen chill of common sense fell onto our hero's brain. It caused him to put aside his beer. It caused him also to dive headlong from the booth. Free from temptation, he began a fast break to the nearest exit. Alone.

If only common sense had worked its wonders on Kobe Bryant ...