Everyone knows O.J. Simpson’s relentless pursuit of “the real killers” takes him to plenty of golf courses.

The question is: Has Las Vegas become the wanted-to-be-author of “If I Did It"’s new getaway of choice?

Several of my playing partners in a round at the excellent Badlands Golf Club became convinced of this after finding several balls stamped with “Juice” and the Nike logo on them out in the desert. If you’re playing Badlands, you’re going to be spending a lot of time looking for balls in the desert. O.J. or not.

These Juice balls became the status symbol of the day. You just had to find a Juice ball or you were lacking. And no one dared risk donating them back to the desert. I just didn’t have the heart to tell the guys I was playing with that Nike came out with a Juice ball.

Why did Nike do this? I don’t know? Maybe the geniuses under Phil Knight wanted their brand associated with O.J. (Because that’s exactly what’s happened). Or maybe they just want to prove they could waste even more money on an ad campaign even lamer than their golden girl Michelle Wie’s record.

I know the official line is that the ball’s for those who want a little more juice on their shots and that it’s play off the steroids furor in baseball (also hilarious). But it just means O.J. to most people. You want funny?

Funny is all the golfers who know think Nike is endorsing O.J. Simpson. Including several in Vegas who are no doubt showing off their Juice balls to cocktail waitressess. Now that’s a funny on Nike.

The real O.J. could have still been at Badlands too. You know he’s playing Nike Juice.

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