Goodbye, O.J. (finally)

Though it received far less attention than his spectacular acquittal of murder charges in the mid 1990s, football legend O.J. Simpson was convicted earlier this month of crimes associated with an armed robbery.

Sentencing won't happen until early December, but if Simpson gets the maximum sentence, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. Given the power of celebrity in our country, I don't expect that to happen, but it is a possibility.

There was lots of irony associated with Simpson's conviction. He was convicted on the 13^th anniversary of his Los Angeles murder acquittal. The robbery he was convicted of occurred on September 13. The jury that convicted him deliberated for 13 hours, and the trial itself lasted 13 days, according to the Associated Press.

Based on that, superstitious people could use this information as evidence that the number 13 really is bad luck. However, critics of Simpson might say that it proves just the opposite.

Even after all these years, Simpson still manages to provoke powerful emotions. For those who believe he was guilty of those murders, the robbery conviction brought satisfaction because he will be put away.

However, supporters of Simpson (and, yes, there are a few) believe the jury didn't allow him to get a fair trail because they were out to even the score for what happened last decade.

Those people have a point. I agree that if I had been considered for that jury that I would have had a hard time remaining impartial.

I believe Simpson killed his ex-wife and her friend, but that is just an opinion. He was acquitted by a jury of his peers, and I concede there were parts of the trial that could have caused the jurists to have a reasonable doubt about Simpson killing them.

There really isn't much more that can be said about Simpson that already hasn't been said. His fall has been about as far as one man can fall in a lifetime. He went from beloved athlete to social pariah in the blink of an eye.

Still, I can't help but remember the Simpson I thought I knew in my childhood. When I was growing up in the 1970s, Simpson was the athlete most kids wanted to be.

When playing football in the backyard, I'm sure I wasn’t the only boy who daydreamed that he was Simpson running for a touchdown in the snow of Buffalo.

He was a sports god. For better or worse, athletes are important role models for young people. Some athletes may protest that they are not, but there isn't anything they can do about it. It comes with the territory.

And Simpson was one of the biggest. When he wasn't running on the football field, he was appearing in movies and in commercials. He was a true American success story.

Of course, the fairy tale didn't come true. He proved that he is like the rest of us. We are all capable of doing really awful things, but most of us don't take the final step like Simpson did.

If nothing else, he is a cautionary tale. He made the fatal mistake of thinking he was smarter than everybody else and could charm his way out of any situation.

However, none of us are as smart as we think we are when it comes to these matters.

Pride always proceeds the fall whether somebody is famous or not.

It has happened for centuries and will continue.

If that doesn't make you humble, I don't know what will.