>>>>At this point we have almost become inured to fallen sports idols. If the charges are true, that he killed her with intent, this will be the worst one yet.
>>>
>>>I dunno. Worse than OJ? It's hard to remember, but seems to me he was a golden boy to the public before Nicole's murder. (Of course, maybe I just remember it that way because I was a big fan of "The Naked Gun.")
>>>
>>
>>OJ is exactly the analogy I thought of. He was hugely adulated and was one of the most highly paid commercial pitchmen, prominently with Hertz. I was talking with Robert Green the day after the murders and mentioned OJ being arrested. "Arrested?" Robert said. "I'm sure they just want to talk to the husband as a matter of course." It was unthinkable that someone as wealthy and famous as OJ Simpson would commit murder.
>>
>>The trial was over 15 years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday. At the time I was working at home, working around the live telecast of the trial. Judge Ito, Marcia Clark, Johnnie Cochran, the rest of the "dream team." Kato Kaelin, the most famous houseguest in history. He was guilty, guilty, guilty. His blood at the murder scene. The victims' blood in his car and in his home. Motive, means, opportunity. No alibi. (He claimed he was practicing golf pitches in his back yard, after dark). One thing that probably helped save him was that the murder knife was never found. My guess is he dumped it into a trash can at LAX. He flew out of LAX that night for a promotional appearance in Chicago. Who rummages around in airport trash bins?
>>
>>Oh, and the footprints at the murder scene. They were matched to an expensive Italian brand. Only a few dozen were sold in the U.S. and there was a photo of OJ as a sideline reporter wearing that kind of shoes. Nicole had given them to him as a Christmas present.
>>
>>The defense won that trial at the jury selection stage. They got the jury they wanted. There is a long history of suspicion of the LAPD among the black community, with reason. The defense didn't need to prove that OJ was framed by the police, they just had to suggest it. That was enough. Take your DNA and stuff it.
>>
>>You hear it a lot that OJ got away with murder. I'm not sure that's true. Yes, he was found not guilty in the criminal trial. But he was found guilty in the civil trial (and probably still hasn't paid the money). In the court of public opinion most people think he did it. He went from being one of the most popular people in the country to a pariah who couldn't find golf partners. He's paying, all right.
>
>Simple rule Mike. Sportsmen are not heroes, iconic figures or someone to set your moral compass by. Unless you know them personally all you know about them is through the medias distorting lens. Sportsmen/women are good at their chosen sport. end of story.

Yes, agreed. This case proves it. Still, they have the power to disappoint us. If we follow sports at all -- which of course we do not have to -- certain athletes inspire us and strike us as good people, the kind of people we would like to know. The American football player Peyton Manning comes to mind. If Peyton Manning was charged with murder it wouldn't be any more shocking than this.