On The Air
by Laura Nachman
Bucks County Courier Times
June 18, 2004

This week is the tenth anniversary of the O.J. Simpson low speed chase.  KYW sports director Beasley Reece has more than a passing interest in the date.  Reece was friends with Simpson when they both worked for NBC Sports in the early 90's. 

"He was the big guy there," Reece said of Simpson's position at the network.  The two former NFL players both were avid golfers and became friends when they covered the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain in 1992. 

"We had breakfast together every morning, played golf, and had dinner several times. He was the greatest celebrity I ever met.  He loved being a celebrity.  He lived life to the hilt.  When I was with O.J. in Barcelona, he had just gotten divorced from Nicole (Brown Simpson).  We would joke with O.J. about how much alimony he'd have to pay.  O.J. laughed and said he'd have to get five jobs.

He was nothing like the brooding, jealous husband that was portrayed in the trial.  Women flocked to him.  He was living the jet setter lifestyle, and frankly was too busy traveling to have time to stalk somebody," Reece recalled.

Reece, who hasn't spoke to or seen Simpson since the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in 1994 said, "Intellectually, with the DNA evidence, I believe he must have committed the crimes, but the guy I knew couldn't have done something like that."

Coincidentally, KYW sports reporter Garry Cobb also has ties to Simpson, as both are alumni from USC.

Father's Day
Viewers are familiar with Donovan McNabb's mother Wilma, from their soup commercials. Now, McNabb's father, Samuel, will get some airtime for an interview on Comcast SportsNet Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

Jeremy's Spoken
Tonight is the last night to catch Jeremy Roenick's week long gig as a guest host on "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" on Fox Sports Net at 11 p.m.  Since host
John Salley's NBC summer series "Come to Papa (no relation to Gary) " isn't setting the ratings on fire, unfortunately he won't be giving up his day job.

Having a Ball
"The NBA Finals" did well in the ratings for ABC, as first three games were the top shows of the week.  While Shaquille O'Neal and San Antonio Spur Tim Duncan were seen in commercials, former media superstar Kobe Bryant was nowhere to be seen in the ads.

Flagrant Foul
ABC analyst Tom Tolbert's salute to Bed, Bath, and Beyond with his blue checkered suit on Sunday night's broadcast of the Pistons/Lakers game made Piston Rip Hamilton's "Phantom of the Opera" mask seem like GQ.