IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY: As we've previously discussed and a truly tremendous ESPN 30 for 30 film recounts, June 17, 1994 was about as crazy as crazy gets. Does anyone here not remember where they were?
Bonus: USA Today tries to find Al Cowling's white Ford Bronco; CNN tracks down the key participants in the murder trial. (Gosh, I remember what a big deal it was when we had Christopher Darden! speaking at The Law School.)
We were coming out of The Crow, decided to stop in at a bar for a drink and wondered what the heck was going on with the screen of the Knicks game.
ReplyDeleteI was sitting in my apartment with my best friend from high school, who at the time worked for A Current Affair. (deedledeedledeedledeedleWHOMP!) She and I had just moved into the apartment together for the summer. We watched the chase, and about 5 minutes in, she looked at me and said, "guess I'm not going to be seeing you much this summer." She was right.
ReplyDeleteI spent much of that afternoon and evening drinking beer in Santa Cruz with one of my best friends ahead of his college graduation. Although I had no particular interest in the basketball game (and do not remember any of the other sports events discussed in the documentary, save by being reminded of them here), it was sort of funny how at first folks in the bars were annoyed by the fact that OJ Simpson was interrupting the basketball game, but soon were annoyed that the basketball game was interrupting OJ Simpson.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I remember was shouting a lot about the whole situation when finally some old guy stopped us and said, "Why do you want to free the Jews? What happened to the Jews?"
"The Juice."
"Oh. Yes. Free the Juice!"
I was home the summer after my Freshman year in college so I watched the Bronco chase with them. One of the best stories I heard from during the trial was from a friend in school here in L.A. who was both taking college classes and working in a restaurant 20 hours a week, so the amount of time she spent paying attention to the case was about zero. One day, two people come into her restaurant and she seats them at a table right in the center of the place. A woman at a table in the back calls her over and says to her "I bet they'd love to be at a table where they'd be a bit less noticeable, we're happy to switch if you want." My friend was like, "What? Why? Who are they?" And it was Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden. So she rushes over and asks if they want to move and apologizes for seating them where she did and starts explaining that she's in school and hasn't been paying attention and Marcia Clark said something along the lines of, "We're fine right here. And GOOD FOR YOU for not knowing who we are."
ReplyDeleteAnd that old man's name was Miss Emily Litella.
ReplyDeleteI was working for a major news organization, and had just ended my shift, but was hanging around the office so I could watch the end of the Knicks game. As a result, I got dragged into editing the story, since I was another available body. I remember some pompous TV announcer -- I think Bob Costas -- apologizing for breaking away from the game to show the Bronco chase, and somberly reverting to the cliche about how this "reminds us that sports are unimportant." And I thought: No, this is unimportant. I don't care what happens to O.J. But I DO care, a lot, what happens to the Knicks.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember where I was. I don't think I even saw it, but I don't remember for sure. I do remember where I was when the verdict was read, but not the car chase. This was right around the time when I was just starting to pay attention to current affairs and the like, but I think the chase slipped by me.
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