Fifteen years ago today, O.J. and A.C. went for a little ride

When I think of the anniversary, I recall going to a game at Candlestick the day Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered and Brad Ausmus was catching for the San Diego Padres and still catches for somebody in 2009.

Reminds me that being the nicest player in MLB is more important than talent or production.

 

remember it vividly. primarily 'cause i was pretty much entirely healthy at the time -- the ol' m.s. hadn't begun to wreak its havoc upon my bod yet -- and we had just moved into our first house. sat transfixed in front of our new 27-inch sony tv (it seemed HUGE at the time) viewing knicks-rockets and the bronco.

right up there with 9/11 as the modern "where were you?" moment, a la jfk and pearl harbor. obviously nothing close to their importance but right there in terms of coverage. a good study of modern media and its obsession with celebrities.

 

Me too. I had no doubt he was going to die.
I was still in college and working the night shift, but not in a newsroom. Guy I worked with was a huge NBA fan and brought in a TV to set up in the breakroom. Didn't get a lot of work done that night. I remember the announcement that he was a fugitive and being stunned, and then it all played out on live TV. Fascinating.

 

At a theater in Ohio. I forget what movie I saw, but I missed the entire chase.

I also missed the verdict because my high school civics teacher refused to turn on the TV in our classroom.

 

I was in Muncie, Ind., basically hangin' out at a buddy's house. We were interested in the chase, but most of us really just wanted to watch the NBA Finals.

I'm sure at some point we debated the skillz of John Starks, talked about who we thought the smelliest player in the NBA was (I had already covered some NBA as a part-timer by then, so I was not allowed to give an opinion, even though Oliver Miller always won in a landslide), made fun of one of our friends for owning the Bullet Boys CD, debated the merits of Pearl Jam vs. Mother Love Bone vs. Temple Of The Dog, and eventually smoked cheeba out of these sweet one-hitters my buddy had before hitting Muncie to go drinking.

 

"... Ken Griffey Jr. became the fastest player to reach 30 HRs in a season since Babe Ruth and Arnold Palmer played his last round at the U.S. Open."

Babe Ruth and Arnold Palmer played together at the U.S. Open?

 

I was just completing my second full week at my first newspaper job (started out as a police reporter at a small PM daily in northeast Oklahoma before being seduced by the power of the dark side ).

I remember watching the press conference at work when they announced OJ was a fugitive, but thinking that they'd find him within the hour.

And being pissed off when they pretty much pre-empted the game.

BTW .. may Robert Kardashian burn in hell for disposing of the bloody clothes and knife. Allegedly.

On second thought .. never mind. Just seeing how his daughters turned out and watching his wife hook up with Bruce Jenner is probably punishment enough ...

 

I'd go so far to say that the Chase is the moment that modern American media, especially television, went completely off the rails and began the rapid descent into the high-tech National Enquirer media culture we are left with today.

 

Ah, I remember the night well. I was sitting in the bar of a hotel called "Al Monzo's Palace Inn" in Monroeville, Pa., one of the media hotels for the U.S. Open played at Oakmont. It was a depressing place and a depressing night.

I, too, was sure OJ was going to die that night. Now, knowing what happened since, he should have.

 

I was still in school.

And I was training for my new job with Hertz.

 

I was under water on a submarine in the Bahamas. I'd tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you.

 

AUTEC?