Jr. High Redux

I woke up this morning and thought I was reliving junior high. It was during these formative years that the primary news story was the O.J. Simpson murder trial and brown sugar cinnamon Pop Tarts were a staple of my diet. Every night my family would watch the NBC Evening News with Tom Brokaw and get the day's rundown of the trial even if we were sick of it. It was also the biggest story in the hometown Sacramento Bee every single day. I don't think the attention paid to the trial was only in California but maybe it was. As sad as it is the day I remember most vividly from junior high was the day Simpson was acquitted. We watched the verdict in Mrs. Watanabe's Algebra class and then spent the rest of the day discussing the matter.

Back to this morning. I turned on MSNBC and there was Dan Abrams waiting for Simpson to walk into the courtroom and I was eating Pop Tarts. I'm sure no one is crazy enough to remember but it was the Simpson case that put Abrams on the map. Many people probably don't even know who he is today but he is a prominent legal talking head for MSNBC and even has his own evening show. Seeing Simpson walk into the courtroom like a cagey veteran was impressive. I can't imagine how nervous I would be if I was being charged with multiple felonies and meeting the judge to determine bail. Simpson was so calm and just going through the motions. It seems like he is in his element wearing a jumpsuit and sitting in the defendant's seat in a courtroom. Who could blame him though? He has gotten away with murder in the past so what's a silly charge of kidnapping, armed robbery, etc.? It seems the evidence may not be nearly as strong this time around either. I mean, how could it be?

The last thing that struck me was seeing the prosecutor, Marcia Clark, from the Simpson murder trial walk out of the courtroom (see now and then). I'm convinced it's not the same person. I guess over the course of 12 years a lot of cosmetic work can be done. When someone is her age they usually don't look better 12 years later. At least naturally. And this isn't to say she was all that attractive today but certainly better than in the mid 1990s.

(Photo from Jae C. Hong/AP Photo.)