I'm probably one of the few who actually feels sorry for OJ. He was never taught to be anything but what he is. His mother may have tried to give him consequences but society made sure he got none. We value those with natural talent too much. An athlete is feted and excused from a very young age. You can run fast? Good, run for the school, the team. You can't read or do math? That's okay, you can run, hit, throw or catch a ball. This doesn't start in high school. This starts in grade school with Pop Warner, Little League. How is a young man raised in a neighborhood where the local hero is the corner drug dealer or gang leader supposed to learn the values to behave by society's rules when he is taught the exact opposite?
I've seen this occur over and over and then we wonder and complain when an OJ murders two innocents or a Kobe Bryant rapes a girl and money and fan adulation get them off? Sorry, but OJ behaved according to the rules he learned. Yes, he is to blame but so is society as a whole for allowing him to go from grade to grade, incident to incident, violent act to violent act with nothing more than a mild slap on the hands, if that.
Barry Bonds was idolized not because he'd done anything good for the world, for San Francisco, for baseball but rather because he could hit a baseball. He is getting some vilification for using steroids even though when he used them it was not illegal and certainly not banned by baseball authorities. Being a power hitter, a long-time pitcher, a great runner was and is more important. Until we change our priorities, the OJs, the Bryants, et al. are going to be the norm -- boys who still think they're 5 years old and the rules apply to everyone but them.
The same is true of our entertainers -- always has been, probably always will be.
The rules of the average person don't apply to those with talent. They're told it over and over. Why shouldn't they come to believe it?