Friday, December 05, 2008
The Juice
O.J. Simpson has to serve at least nine years. Convicted on 12 counts. I don't know what he might have been offered in an early plea deal, if an offer had been made & rejected.
In his rambling pre-sentencing statement, as if it would have made any difference, O.J. kept apologizing & saying he didn't mean to steal anything, it was, after all, his stuff, so he claims. The bizarre thing is that O.J. doesn't appear to know why he's going to prison. He thinks he was convicted for attempted theft, like he only tried to swipe a few things he believed were his. Didn't he notice that six of the counts contain the words "deadly weapon," four counts use the word "kidnap," & two counts the words "armed robbery"? Will he now appeal on the grounds that he didn't understand the charges against him?
Even before O.J.'s double murder rap & trial he had become the kind of person one thought of as having "associates" rather than "friends." His movie & TV career hadn't gone anywhere, probably because he had long since ceased to care. Had he even bothered to take acting lessons? A few more years & he might have become bored enough to be a cable sports commentator.
It wasn't smooth sailing for O.J. to USC & the Heisman & NFL stardom. One sees a great tenacity in his football career, a will to succeed. He made himself a superstar NFL Hall of Famer playing for the undistinguished Buffalo Bills in the Cowboys & Steelers decade & going to the playoffs only once, how easy is that?
He existed in a bubble. He was O.J. At first, O.J. seemed to be trying to follow the career path opened by the peerless Jim Brown. But there was no comparison. O.J.'s big smile was a mask. Jim Brown could look & act like a thug, on the field & on screen. O.J. is one.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
In his rambling pre-sentencing statement, as if it would have made any difference, O.J. kept apologizing & saying he didn't mean to steal anything, it was, after all, his stuff, so he claims. The bizarre thing is that O.J. doesn't appear to know why he's going to prison. He thinks he was convicted for attempted theft, like he only tried to swipe a few things he believed were his. Didn't he notice that six of the counts contain the words "deadly weapon," four counts use the word "kidnap," & two counts the words "armed robbery"? Will he now appeal on the grounds that he didn't understand the charges against him?
Even before O.J.'s double murder rap & trial he had become the kind of person one thought of as having "associates" rather than "friends." His movie & TV career hadn't gone anywhere, probably because he had long since ceased to care. Had he even bothered to take acting lessons? A few more years & he might have become bored enough to be a cable sports commentator.
It wasn't smooth sailing for O.J. to USC & the Heisman & NFL stardom. One sees a great tenacity in his football career, a will to succeed. He made himself a superstar NFL Hall of Famer playing for the undistinguished Buffalo Bills in the Cowboys & Steelers decade & going to the playoffs only once, how easy is that?
He existed in a bubble. He was O.J. At first, O.J. seemed to be trying to follow the career path opened by the peerless Jim Brown. But there was no comparison. O.J.'s big smile was a mask. Jim Brown could look & act like a thug, on the field & on screen. O.J. is one.
Labels: in the news, sports
