So here's one that is not Rams related but oddly I have two OJ events and this is one of them.
My uncle was a season ticket holder for the raiduhs when they were playing in LA. He was also a business associate of Al Davis - but that is a whole other story. So we were down in LA in '93 for my Grandmother's funeral and my uncle asked if we all wanted to go see the Raiders/Chiefs game. Of course I jumped at the chance. I could actually go and watch Joe Montana play without wanting to punch someone. Never would have ever thought that was possible. I also really wanted to go watch another NFL game in the Coliseum as I had so many fond memories watching the Rams there with my dad.
So we head to the Coliseum and drive around for about 20 minutes trying to find a place to park that looks like both the car will be safe and so will we after the game. Yikes. This was nothing like going to a Rams game. When I used to go to Rams games, everyone was milling around in white and blue or yellow and blue and had smiles on their faces. They looked like fans going to a FOOTBALL game. There was no angst or trying to look like a badass. You were going to go eat hot dogs and cheer for your team. Here we were in regular clothes driving through a sea of black jackets and hoodies with everyone trying to look like they were going to make you their bitch. What a sad sight.
Anyway, we paid a guy to park on his front lawn
and walked to the stadium. When we got in there we had pretty good seats. Right about the 50 yard line and back about ten rows. The odd thing was that the endzone seats were packed and here we were in some of the best seats and we had room to sprawl out in the sun.
So the game gets going and we are spending more time watching the endzone seats because about every five minutes or so, a fight would break out and a sea of LA's finest would converge on the stands, drag a guy or two out and then head back over to the aisle where they would simply wait until the next fight. There was far more action going on in the stands than on the field.
Near the end of the first quarter this guy comes walking down the steps. He looks like someone just dragged him out from under a bridge. He had on an old pair of jeans and a really tattered Raiders jacket. As he passed by, we realized it was James Gardner (Rockford Files for all you old farts). So he goes down to the front row and sits down by himself. Then, about 20 minutes later another guy comes walking down the steps. He's dressed to the nines and has a bunch of bling on. It's OJ fucking Simpson. He heads down and sits next to James Gardner and they proceed to sit there and BS like old friends. No one tried to get either one's autograph or bug them in any way.
7 months later - a Ford Bronco scene.
. God this is depressing.