The Juice. Collision Update. Jet Blast. Sport.

Was The Glove Too Tight? The Navy is Quiet.  It Is a Concrete Wall.  Sports Not.

It was twenty-two years ago and I remember exactly where.  A non-descript hotel lobby in San Francisco after a long flight from Atlanta and a quick meeting at Moscone Center.  I glanced up at a TV and there was a live ‘breaking’ news broadcast with a helicopter’s film crew peering down on a white Bronco.  With no sound, many other guests and I could only make out the text scrolling at the bottom of the screen.  The rest of the story and the subsequent 1995 trial is embedded in my mind, along with visions of O.J. Simpson running through and by defenders when he played at USC and with the Buffalo Bills. The subsequent acquittal is a story for another time.  What I really don’t recall is why O.J. is in prison now?  In September of 2007, O.J. learned that a good amount of his memorabilia was in a hotel room at the Palace Station in Las Vegas.  He decides to gather a posse, burst into the hotel room and at gunpoint, steal the memorabilia.  On October 3, 2008, exactly 13 years to the day after O.J. was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and Ronald Goldman – O.J. was found guilty on ten separate charges.  He was sentenced to 33 years with eligibility for parole starting this October.  Many think he will be granted parole which I find ridiculous based on the ten charges and a 33-year sentence.  If his name was John Simpson instead of O.J. Simpson would there even be a chance of parole after nine years?  No way.

Does anyone have an update on why the U.S. Navy ship and the Philippines tanker collided weeks ago resulting in seven U.S. sailors deaths?  The U.S. Navy has been very quiet on this one.

I am very fortunate that the father of a longtime friend had a home on St. Maarten.  I visited there a few times – a beautiful island that is split between the Dutch and the French.  We always found lots to do and see, usually stayed away from Orient Beach, and enjoyed the year-round sunshine and beaches. Bret’s father was nice enough to take us to restaurants, mostly on the French side, all of them way out of our budget – just a fantastic experience.  What I never understood, with the beauty and the beaches of the island, why many people hung out at the beach right next to the airport?  The fact that one of the runways was less than 200 feet from the beach always made me wonder why people picked the ‘runway’ beach to sunbathe.  His father once showed us why – people, unbelievably, would gather at the end of the runway and hang on to a pole to experience the jet blast from the aircraft take off.  Maybe my sense of adventure was limited but in no way did that look fun, never mind safe to me.  Over the years, there have been some reported injuries when the jet blast blew people off the pole backwards but never one resulting in death, until last week.  Any death, especially by accident, is never to be taken lightly, but what was a 57-year old woman (and her family) thinking when they decided to experience the jet blast?  Neglecting the posted warnings, the woman was blown off the pole backwards and slammed her head against the concrete barrier a short distance away.  Very sad and unfortunate for so many reasons and more importantly it is time for government officials to shut down that jet blast experience.

The Hawks and the Falcons are still dormant.  The Atlanta Braves are the Atlanta Braves, and Atlanta United is on a break until this Friday…..so much to the applause of many – no sports comments this week.  Well…maybe one:  kudos to Roger Federer for becoming an eight-time Wimbledon champion, his 19th major.

Adios and Have a Funday Sunday!!