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Juice" (his nickname) and "I love you O.J." Fans in his own NFL home of Buffalo also reaffirmed their devoâ€" tion to him in TV interviews Sunday, Now, it is important to remember that Simpson is innocent until proven guilty, but I‘d be surprised if a guilty verdict wasn‘t met with a sea of denials and cries of foul from the "Simpsonites". Legal analysts even say sympathy for Simpson could make it hard for a jury to convict Simpson and hand out the death penalty. While I maintain my It‘s significant to note that "fan" is short for "fanatic" when it comes to sports, art, music or show business. To be fanatic, my dictionary says, is to be "unreasonably zealous" about something or someone. This is foolishness â€" it can only ever lead to disapâ€" Everyone knows that heroes are hard to find. Truth is, you‘re better off not looking. Still, even after the misfortunes of Mike Tyson, Michael Jackson and now O.J. Simpson, many fans they have cloaked these poor mortals in. I say "poor" because the pressures and expectations fans place upon an idol â€" even before the nearâ€" inevitable fall â€" often become unbearable. People speak of their idols as if they know them, learning everything there is to know about them except the simple fact that they‘ll never really know everything. . . "All these idiots can do is yell, ‘Go, 0.J., go,‘ like he‘s going for the gameâ€"winning touchdown," one police officer apparently said of Saturday‘s infamous 0.J. car chase. Some of the same idiots later lined the fence around Simpson‘s house, waving signs reading, "Don‘t jail the It has beert two and a half years since Will Ferguâ€" son was first accused of helping Judi Harris escape from the Grandview Training School for Girls and subsequently having sex with her. The turmoil that he has gone through since then would have destroyed most people. Most people do not have Will Ferguson‘s fighting spirit. For those of you who were away from the planet llltmk.ujuryfoundi‘ergunnnotguflty:f;kll charges stemming from the allegations after a â€" long trial and just three hours of deliberation. The judge in the case said that the verdict was "the only reasonable verdict that could have been reached in this case." Shortly before the verdict was read, his accuser admitted that she was "surprised he was even The case may never have been pursued had Ferguâ€" son not been an MPP and a Cabinet minister. Indeed, the political connections surrounding both the media witch hunt and the police investigation may have and CKCO persecuted Ferguson is staggering Ferguson certainly did not help his case with his attempt to leak Harris‘s criminal record to the media two and a half years ago, the trial proved just how flimsy the evidence was. One of the first witnesses for the prosecution stated that she "hoped" that evidence would indicate that Ferguson was working at Grandâ€" view and on shift when Harris escaped. Her "hopes" were not born out as witness after witness and docuâ€" ment after document showed that Ferguson could not possibly have done that of which he was accused. To take just three examples, he was finished his job at Grandview at the time of her escape, he was someâ€" where else when the escape happened, and all records show that Harris escaped while in the custody of a probation officer. in the end, O.J. is only a man Ferguson is owed an apology If the case against Ferguson sounded implausible only a few rungs below Jesus. Maybe so, once, on the gridiron, but the ladder has since broken. Sitting in his prison cell, no pigskin in sight, 0.J. Simpson is just a man. To continue this Christian analogy, I think it‘s high time we learned to keep those who impress us with their playing, acting or singing on the ground where they belong. The rungs, if they‘re not cracked, are mighty slippery. fierce opposition to capital punishment, I am appalled that Simpson may get a break just because he set some NFL rushing records 20 years ago. Those who are so awed by such feats that they refuse to believe anything bad about the man who pg‘famedthmam‘tdm‘nghhnmfamlfguilty, Simpson needs peychiatric help, not sympathy. Save the sympathy for his dead wife and her friend â€" the Imagine the public response if Simpson‘s wife, Nicole, had killed him. Devoted Bills fans would demand to watch her executed, if not tortured. To them, Simpson is a god, while she‘s only a lowly morâ€" As for the people who suggest that Ferguson‘s acquittal will have an impact on the other Grandview charges, all I can say is that they are wrong. There is quite a bit of difference between the cases. Even Harâ€" ris does not contend that Ferguson "abused" her â€" on the contrary, she says that he did her "a favor.... He got me the hell out of there." The charges against him didn‘t stick because he was not guilty, The accusations against him were, as he stated from the very beginning, "false and unfounded". If other people associated with Grandâ€" view committed any crimes in the course of their duties, the justice system will find them guilty and deal with them appropriately. In conclusion, I would suggest that the Kitchenerâ€" Waterloo Record, CKCO TV and Judi Harris owe Will Ferguson a huge apology for the ordeal through which they have put him (and his constituents). If he proâ€" ceeds with the libel suit that he has filed against them, they may also owe him a lot of money. or with his "jokes" about the subject. On the other hand, Ferguson‘s lack of political judgement while under stress should not obscure the fact that the media demonstrates journalistic ethics only selecâ€" tively. How many times has the Record or the Sun turned down a leak that might have been damaging to the NDP government? Tom Brockelbank I) | 20â€"Piece \(M1H i fl“ s @75 : "10" raee cas / mm am saOVER R‘I‘{‘ PERFORMANC L CENTRE sucniniemserh in itnemnien n mt uie tb iinpewas n on pLUS CRUISE #1, JULY 1st ... At 5:00 p.m., come down to Grandview Public School for fun activities and firework at dusk. CRUISE #2, AUGUST 19th ... Held in conjunction with Board of Trade Retailer‘s Sidewalk Sale. Street closed from 6:00 p.m.â€"11:30 p.m. CRUISE #3, SEPTEMBER 18th ... 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