O.J. World is a universe of its own
Sports legend Simpson may be facing serious trouble, but attention still gets paid.
By Stephen Braun
Los Angeles Times
LAS VEGAS — He is older now, grayer around the temples, gimpier in his eroding knees. But in O.J. World, advancing age and even the threat of hard prison time can be momentarily ignored in the intoxicating glare of notoriety.
From the moment O.J. Simpson arrived in the lobby of the Clark County Courthouse for the recent weeklong preliminary hearing into his latest legal scrape, O.J. World was back in business. Imperious behind wraparound sunglasses, he had not reached the courtroom when an admirer squealed her support.
"O.J! We love you!" At the sound of the woman's voice, Simpson wheeled around, eyebrows arching, and raised both hands in a victory stance.
In O.J. World, attention must always be paid. It is a hard-boiled alternate universe where nearly everyone involved -- sports memorabilia dealers, golfing buddies, law enforcement, trial lawyers, debt collectors, tabloid-show producers, reporters and assorted hangers-on -- is after a piece of O.J. And no one in O.J. World appears to want a bigger piece than O.J. himself.
Simpson's return to the limelight last week was a four-day pit stop before a full-blown criminal trial scheduled for sometime next year. The hearing ended with a judge ordering Simpson to stand trial on robbery and kidnapping charges in connection with a September Las Vegas hotel room confrontation that was either a drawn-gun heist -- as prosecutors contend -- or a self-styled legal sting operation to recover his own artifacts.
(Continued here.)
By Stephen Braun
Los Angeles Times
LAS VEGAS — He is older now, grayer around the temples, gimpier in his eroding knees. But in O.J. World, advancing age and even the threat of hard prison time can be momentarily ignored in the intoxicating glare of notoriety.
From the moment O.J. Simpson arrived in the lobby of the Clark County Courthouse for the recent weeklong preliminary hearing into his latest legal scrape, O.J. World was back in business. Imperious behind wraparound sunglasses, he had not reached the courtroom when an admirer squealed her support.
"O.J! We love you!" At the sound of the woman's voice, Simpson wheeled around, eyebrows arching, and raised both hands in a victory stance.
In O.J. World, attention must always be paid. It is a hard-boiled alternate universe where nearly everyone involved -- sports memorabilia dealers, golfing buddies, law enforcement, trial lawyers, debt collectors, tabloid-show producers, reporters and assorted hangers-on -- is after a piece of O.J. And no one in O.J. World appears to want a bigger piece than O.J. himself.
Simpson's return to the limelight last week was a four-day pit stop before a full-blown criminal trial scheduled for sometime next year. The hearing ended with a judge ordering Simpson to stand trial on robbery and kidnapping charges in connection with a September Las Vegas hotel room confrontation that was either a drawn-gun heist -- as prosecutors contend -- or a self-styled legal sting operation to recover his own artifacts.
(Continued here.)
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