April 11, 2024

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle:

A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 6 comments

Cancer is a real killer.

Leave it to Dershowitz to make it about himself by saying that OJ would always be remembered for the moment of acquittal.

Simpson is fortunate that things played out in the pre-internet era. You can imagine the freeway pursuit streaming live with folks hollering at the LAPD and CHP to quit backing off and crowd the hell out of the white Bronco since OJ was in the back seat threatening to kill himself.

OK, making it about sports: one of the best games of my adolescence was the 1969 Rose Bowl and the whupping that Ohio State put on OJ's USC squad. OSU was supremely prepared on both sides of the ball. I was a big Rex Kern fan at the time, and he mystified the TV production crew with his ball handling and fakery. OJ's fumble was a high point among a host of USC turnovers. The whole game was quite satisfying, especially with the national title on the line.

posted by beaverboard at 12:56 PM on April 11, 2024

The 'not guilty' verdict brought on a wave of white anger over a black man getting away with murder of a beautiful white woman that I will never be able to unpicture. At least from what I witnessed in the South, but I'll bet it wasn't too different up there in northern Michigan. And Norm McDonald's first couple of jokes aimed at OJ were humorous, but boy oh boy did he ever lean hard into that topic. I was just waiting for the n-bombs to eventually come out, but much to his credit, he kept them bottled up. Good for him?

posted by NoMich at 02:09 PM on April 11, 2024

I'll give OJ credit for accepting his lot in the draft and going to the Buffalo Bills.

The decent Bills teams of the mid-1960's had given way to sheer wretchedness by 1968-69 and the first few teams OJ played on were awful. They became competitive in the early 70's only to suck again by mid decade.

He ran for huge season totals whether they were 9-5 or 2-12. A hard working professional.

In 1969, the combined AFL-NFL draft was only a couple of years old and OJ would have been the perfect trailblazing player to pull an Elway-Dickerson-Eli Manning move and declare that he wouldn't play for the Bills if they drafted him. But he went where he was chosen and ran his ass off even though opponents knew he would be carrying the offense every Sunday.

I suppose that's the reason that NFL bigwigs have felt comfortable letting him remain in the HOF despite everything else.

I lost track of who has his Heisman. Maybe Fred Goldman does. He got OJ's mama's piano among other things in the civil judgment.

posted by beaverboard at 03:47 PM on April 11, 2024

On a lighter note, it's amusing to google the Masters Day 1 leaderboard and see all the players listed by the usual first initial, full last name ("J. Spieth").

All except one: 2 time champion Bubba Watson listed with both full names.

Someone out there likes mac & cheese and confetti cake.

posted by beaverboard at 05:49 PM on April 11, 2024

My daughter would be at that dinner in an instant.

posted by NoMich at 09:23 PM on April 11, 2024

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