"I Just Wanted To Get My Stuff Back"

When I was a kid, one of my prized possessions was a 1974 O.J. Simpson football card. You see, O.J. became the first running back to ever rush for 2000 yards in a single season in 1973, which was listed on the back of the 1974 card. Pretty cool, considering teams only played 14 games back then. Little did I know that 20 years later in 1994, the same O.J Simpson would be accused of killing his wife, go on a live-on-TV car chase (on the eve of my wedding day, no less), and become one of the more bizarre personalities in our culture. Simpson beat the murder rap (nudge-nudge, wink-wink), and has remained a free, yet increasingly nuts, man over the years. In fact, O.J. continues to search endlessly for the "real killer" of his wife. There is no doubt that if the "real killer" is lurking on one of the countries finest golf courses, O.J. will catch him.

Even though he is endlessly searching for killers, it has come to my attention that O.J has found the time to conduct a "sting operation" in Las Vegas. You see, Simpson was informed that some individuals had some of Simpson's sports memorabilia, and were preparing to sell it. Simpson decided to take matters into his own hand and "get his stuff back." Simpson, and some "friends" he met at a cocktail party decided to pose as buyers to gain entry to the hotel room of Bruce Fromong, a sports memorabilia collector (the individual who "had Simpson's stuff") Now, Fromong is accusing Simpson of armed robbery (probably a trumped-up, bunko charge, just like the murder). Here are some details of the incident from CNN.com:

Bruce Fromong, a sports memorabilia collector, was one of the alleged victims. He said "absolutely" two of the men with Simpson had guns and were pointing them at people in the room.

Fromong said Simpson was screaming at the people inside the room and pointing at items saying "That's mine, that's mine, that's mine."

He described the incident as "a home invasion-type robbery."

Wow - weird. Who would have expected this type of behavior from Simpson, ex-football player and star of "Capricorn One?" Police said that Simpson is fully cooperating with their investigation, and is claiming that he was simply claiming what was rightfully his. Here is O.J.'s account of what happened, according to CNN.com:

Simpson, 60, said he had been told some of his personal items were for sale, things he hadn't seen in years or that had been stolen. Among those, he said, were photographs of his family and himself as a child and photographs and negatives Nicole Simpson took.

Simpson said he came into the room with a group of friends, one of whom was posing as a potential buyer. The friends helped him carry items out.

But, he said, there were no guns, and it was not a robbery. "What would you have done?" he asked. "I'm O.J. Simpson. Who am I going to rob?"

Simpson said he did raise his voice at the sellers and harsh words were exchanged -- "possibly" threats, he said, but no one was hurt. He said he was in the room only a matter of minutes.

Simpson went on to say that he was trying to recover the items for sentimental reasons, not monetary. Check out this next passage from the CNN account:

The ex-football star said he wanted his things back but it wasn't because of their monetary value. He said he has "never, ever, ever" sold any of his personal items, although he has sold his Heisman Trophy, autographs and participated in memorabilia shows.

OK, wait. He has "never, ever, ever" sold any personal item - except for his Heisman Trophy?" That is like someone saying "I have never, ever, ever done drugs except for that time I smoked crack." I just don't know what to believe.

Well, I'm sure that "the truth" will come out soon, just like it did after the murder trial. Justice always prevails in these matters, you know.

And I still wish I had that 1974 O.J. football card. I'm sure it's worth a lot. I'd like to send it to O.J. before he shows up at my house "to get it back."

Peace,

Jeff