Sunday, October 12, 2008
Quick, Sports, "Hunt's Grunts"

Truth Be Told

We find ourselves saying our goodbyes to the salad-dressing guy and the dude who ran through airports...

By Hunt Archbold

As America readies itself to say hello to a new president, we find ourselves saying our goodbyes to the salad-dressing guy and the dude who ran through airports. Certainly, both Paul Newman and O.J. Simpson had lasting impacts on our culture far deeper than their contributions to the world of athletics and cinema, because as with this presidential election, the truth always surfaces in the end.

You may not be old enough to remember, but long before Newman was peddling spaghetti sauces and such, he was one of the finest actors of the second half of the 20th century. And you might not be old enough to remember, but long before Simpson was being acquitted in the trial of the century, he was one of the finest football players of the second half of the 20th century.

Even before that raw December day in 1979 when O.J. played his final NFL game at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, his career as an actor was taking flight. He was already the face of Hertz Rent A Car, memorably racing through an airport terminal while an elderly woman cheered him on, “Go, O.J. Go!’’ in a ubiquitous TV commercial. He was running again, this time in a white Bronco, on that Friday evening in June of 1994. But will you remember years from now what you did or where you were the Friday night the truth finally caught up with O.J.?

Thirteen years ago in that Los Angeles courtroom, the jury’s verdict of “not guilty’’ for the savage murders of Nicole Simpson Brown and Ron Goldman was witnessed live on television by more than half of the U.S. population, making it one of the most-watched events in American TV history. Subsequent polls indicated that most black Americans felt justice had been served, with white Americans holding the opposite view. And yet when Simpson was convicted earlier this month of kidnapping and armed robbery charges, in what was essentially a dispute between a bunch of hoodlums over some memorabilia, the story was at most a blip on the radar, with the nation focused squarely on the upcoming election and an economy on the verge of collapse. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 5, and Simpson quite possibly will say goodbye to freedom for a long, long time.

The first O.J. case polarized America along racial lines, but that divide is no longer as deep. In fact, in about three weeks or so, this country very well could elect president a man who checked the “multiracial’’ box in the 2000 U.S. Census and refers to himself as black. Whether you think Barack Obama will be our first black president or our 44th white one, what’s most important is the understanding that your vote comes from the truth within your own self, and not from some outside source.

After last week’s debate in Nashville, I flipped around several networks to gauge their viewer poll results as to who won the debate. At CNN, it went: Obama, 54 percent; McCain, 30 percent; and Undecided, 16 percent. At Fox, it was McCain with 84 percent! And I couldn’t even stomach MSNBC, because Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann wouldn’t shut up. The point here is that the average American has no idea how his/her cultural, social and political lives are controlled by the media that he or she chooses to consume. Search for real facts. Read the transcripts of the debates. Make a decision for yourself, not based on what focus groups of undecided voters say. Take your vote seriously. It belongs to you, and no one else.

As for Paul Newman, who died last month? Well, whether he liked it or not, he belonged to us all. There’s no denying the mark he left in Hollywood. And his sports legacy, both on the big screen and within the auto racing world, is indelible. I remember years ago attempting to interview the Thrashers’ Patrick Stefan. He could barely speak English, and finally after several awkward minutes struggling to communicate with the Czechoslovakian teenager, I blurted out, “Slapshot,” referring to Newman’s 1977 cult-classic hockey flick, and Stefan’s eyes lit up. “Old-time hockey coach!” he responded. And from there we found our common ground.

Men wanted to be Newman, and women wanted to be with him. But instead of being a megastar with a blowhard ego, Newman knew the truth about what it means to be a man. He was a humble humanitarian; to date, his Newman’s Own food company has donated more than $175 million to charitable causes established by him and others. And when I think about his life in comparison to O.J. and all these lying, venal Wall Street and political snakes, I can only wish that Newman had brewed his own beer in addition to those dressings and sauces, because I’d sure pop one open and toast to him now.

Happy times … and I’m putting on the foil, Coach. SP