— OJ Simpson has passed away at age 76.
He was a Pro Football Hall of Famer, a great running back.
He was acquitted of double murder in 1995; his ex-wife and a male friend of hers, after he was arrested following a slow-paced car chase on national TV.
He was convicted of armed robbery in 2008.
The trial in 1994-95 was a huge deal on TV; prosecutor Marcia Clark wound up as a celebrity guest on the Hollywood Squares, and she lost the trial.
While the trial was going on, a friend of mine who is a lawyer told me that OJ would never get convicted; he was correct.
In any event, my dad and I bet $3 on the verdict; I had guilty, my dad had not guilty. When they announced when the verdict would be announced, I drove over to his house, and we each threw $3 on the floor. When they said “not guilty” my dad jumped off the couch, scooped the $6 off the floor and jogged out to the kitchen to tell my mother he won $3 from me.
One bet I didn’t mind losing; just hearing his laugh was worth it.
— NFL schedule gets released next month; obviously the Chiefs play at home on Thursday night in Week 1, but this year, Packers-Eagles are playing on Friday in Week 1, with the game taking place in San Paolo, Brazil, the NFL’s first-ever game in South America.
— Chiefs’ WR Rashee Rice faces eight criminal charges, including aggravated assault, after he and another driver caused a chain-reaction accident in Dallas on March 31. Rice was driving a Lamborghini, the other driver a Corvette.
— Tuesday night in the NBA, Golden State Warriors made 26-41 3-point shots in their 134-120 win over the Lakers in Los Angeles. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were a combined 16-23 behind the arc.
— Jrue Holiday agreed to a 4-year, $135M contract extension with the Boston Celtics; Holiday is shooting 43% on the arc this season, 62% on corner 3’s, which makes his more valuable.
— HBO’s great comedy program Curb Your Enthusiasm ended Sunday night; 120 episodes over 12 seasons. Great comedy is hard to do; they did it for 12 seasons, stretched out over 20 years.
— Famous birthdays for April 12th:
Mike Garrett, 80
Ed O’Neill, 78
David Letterman, 77
Andy Garcia, 68
Jerry Goff, 60
Paul LoDuca, 52
Brad Miller, 48
Claire Danes, 45
— As I type this, they’re talking on the Orioles’ TV broadcast about the possibility of MLB eventually going to a slightly smaller baseball, like the ones they use in Asia. The recent rash of injuries to pitchers has MLB looking for an answer to the problem.
— Royals 13, Astros 3
Royals sweep Houston, have now won seven games in a row.
In the first inning, Kansas City scored 9 runs on 11 hits.
— Mets 16, Braves 4
Mets led 7-0 in the third inning.
— A’s 1, Rangers 0
JP Sears got 19 outs, allowed only four baserunners.
Seth Brown’s 2nd inning homer was the game’s only run.
A’s won four of their last five games, after a 1-7 start.
— White Sox 3B Yoan Moncada is out 3 months or so with an adductor strain.
— Field for the Maui Classic basketball tournament in November:
Gonzaga, Kansas, Marquette, Purdue
Syracuse, Tennessee, UCLA and the host school, Chaminade.
— DePaul has hired former Butler coach LaVell Jordan to be its general manager, a new term in college basketball. Acquiring players is a real thing in college sports; it is now a miniature version of pro sports, for better or worse.
— There have been 61 head coaching changes in D-I college basketball, with Kentucky figuring to be #62, if/when they find someone they want who also wants them.
Kentucky is now negotiating a 5-year deal with BYU coach Mark Pope, a 1996 Kentucky alum who played two years for the Wildcats. Pope was 77-56 coaching Utah Valley, 34-24 in WAC games, then he went 110-52 in five years at BYU, 49-29 in conference games.
