NU athletes learn fromO.J.’s acquittal
By Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter
Many Nebraska athletes were sur
prised by the acquittal of O.J. Simpson
Tuesday, but said they could learn
from the eight-month trial.
Nebraska basketball player Erick
Strickland said the case of Simpson, a
Hall of Fame football player, already
had taught him a lesson about how he
conducted his life as an athlete in the
spotlight.
“You have to be carefulStrickland
said, “because you never know what
could happen to you. The more you
stay out of the public eye, the better
off you are.”
Larry Townsend, a Cornhusker
defensive tackle from San Jose, Ca
lif., said he learned from the case
about how impartial the public is to
ward famous athletes.
Townsend said he was happy with
the outcome because he thought
Simpson was innocent.
Strickland said he wouldn’t have
been able to convict Simpson because
too much of the prosecution’s case
was based on unproven evidence rather
than solid facts.
“I thought they were going to con
vict him,” Strickland said. “I was in
between on their decision because I
had some reasonable doubts about
that. The evidence they gave me was
not based on full knowledge that he
did it.”
Strickland said he felt former Los
Angeles detective Mark Fuhrman’s
testimony was what killed the
prosecution’s case. Fuhrman testified
early in the case about finding a bloody
glove on Simpson’s estate that matched
the one at the scene of the murders of
Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown
Simpson.
While on the stand, Fuhrman said
he never used racial slurs, but later a
tape was played for the jury where
Fuhrman used racial epithets.
Defense attorneys used the tapes to
portray Fuhrman as a racist and give
him a motive to plant evidence in the
case.
“I think if a police officer can get
up on that stand and take an oath and
completely lie, then he could (plant
evidence),” Strickland said. “It’s pos
sible, and that’s what blew it for them.”
Strickland said he was worried the
Simpson case might cast a bad image
on athletes. Simpson was a former
college and professional football
player.
“I think violence is everywhere;
it’s not just the athletes,” Strickland
said. “I don’t like the stereotype that
all athletes are like that. I’ve heard
over campus that athletes are violent
or troublemakers, and that’s not nec
essarily the case.”
Huskers to play Jayhawks
From Staff Reports
Nebraska will attempt to extend its
winning streak to 13 against Kansas as
four Big Eight matches are slated for
tonight.
The Comhuskers, ranked No. 1 in
the country, play the Jayhawks in a
7:30 p.m. match at the NU Coliseum.
Iowa State plays at Kansas State; Okla
homa is at Missouri.
Colorado, which has lost four in a
row, takes a break from Big Eight play
with a match against Colorado State,
where Katherine Pettit, the daughter
of Husker coach Terry Pettit, verbally
committed Monday.
Nebraska is 2-0 and on top of the
conference. The Nebraska-Kansas
match will pit Pettit against his former
player, Karen (Dahlgren) Schonewise.
Schonewise, an All-American at Ne
braska in 1986, is in her second year
as coach of the Jayhawks. She still
holds the Nebraska career record for
solo blocks with 132.
Athlete who was near O.J. chase
voices disappointment with verdict
By Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter
Erica De Vitis felt a stronger
r ' *•* \ Hi connection to
the O.J;
Simpson verdict
than most
people in Ne
braska.
De Vitis, a
freshman on this
year’s Nebraska
soccer team,
De Vitis was exlreme,y
close to the
Simpson case last year.
On June 17,1994, De Vitis was
driving on the interstate to her home
in Irvine, Calif., a city about 45
miles south of Los Angeles. Upon
arriving at her home, she learned
she was just a few miles ahead of
the most watched chase in the world
involving O.J. Simpson.
Because of her close proximity,
De Vitis said she had felt a close
ness to the Simpson trial unlike
most other people who paid close
attention to Simpson’s acquittal on
Tuesday. She also said the proxim
ity made it harder for her to accept
the verdicts. * *
De Vitis wj> n$t pleased after
watchingthejury’sdecision on tele
vision at the Hewit Athletic Aca
demic Center. *
“I’m upset because I think he’s
guilty,” Die Vitis said. “It’s sad be
cause he’s spent over $ 1 million on
the trial and was able to come up
with a not guilty decision.”
De Vitis said reaction was mixed
among the more than 100 athletes
who stopped what they were doing
to watch the announcement of the
decision.
Many people in the crowd, De
Vitis said, were angry and disap
pointed with the decision. She said
one of her friends was so upset that
she was unable to eat.
But De Vitis said some people in
the Hewit Center crowd did cheer
and were happy with the decision
of the 12-member jury.
“It’s hard to believe (Simpson)
could go home right after all of
what has happened.”
But if Simpson had been con
victed, De Vitis said, there would
have been rioting in Los Angeles.
She said the year-long coverage
of the case was much more intense
in California than in Nebraska.
“People aren ’ t into the trial here
like they were into it in Califor
nia,” De Vitis said. “Friends and
parents of friends were really into
it. I think with the people in Ne
braska, the case really didn’t mat
ter to them because they didn’t
live in it.”
Hawks sign ex-Buffalo Boyce
ATLANTA (AP) — Tuesday,
the Atlanta Hawks signed Colo
rado guard Donnie Boyce, second
round draft choice guard, of Colo
rado, to a two-year contract.
Terms were not disclosed.
Boyce, 6-foot-5 and 195 pounds,
broke his leg in the first round of the
1995 Big Eight tournament. He left
Colorado as the Buffaloes’ leading
scorer with 1,995 career points.
He averaged 18.5 points, 6.5
rebounds and four assists as a se
nior. February, in his final game
against Nebraska in Lincoln, Boyce
shot a game-high 28 points in the
Colorado win.
Research gave
him a future
American Heart Mi^k
Association
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