O.J. is Out of the Can! Well, Almost. . .

As I sat and tried to watch television this afternoon, my programming was (rudely) interrupted! I thought it was going to be an impeachment announcement but no. . .it was for the parole hearing of Orenthal James "OJ" Simpson. I watched out of boredom and was oddly surprised at the way he spoke to the parole board. It was almost as if he knew he was getting out. The final kicker for me was watching the "victim" in this case declare that OJ was, and still is, a friend of his and all but pleading for Simpson't release. Weird.

Here are some more details courtesy of TMZ:

The NFL Hall of Famer learned his fate Thursday after Nevada’s Board of Parole Commissioners deliberated for a half hour and made the determination. The earliest O.J. can be released from Lovelock Correctional Center is October 1.

The panel included the chairman and 3 commissioners. The board brought up O.J.’s 1995 acquittal, but only to say it did NOT factor into their decision.

No one testified against O.J. at the hearing … and Bruce Fromong, one of the victims in the armed robbery, testified supporting O.J.’s release. O.J. said Bruce has already accepted his apology.

O.J. has served 9 years of a maximum 33-year prison sentence after he was convicted of armed robbery in 2008. You’ll recall he was attempting to retrieve some of his memorabilia in Las Vegas but said he had no clue the crew he was rolling with was armed.

The 70-year-old apologized for the role he played in the robbery. He said he offered no excuses during his 9-year stay behind bars and would have no problem with any parole conditions imposed on him.

I don't know how I feel about this one. On one hand, he's definitely served his time for the crime he committed but on the other. . . never mind. I'm not going to bring that up. I guess somebody somewhere will be throwing him a welcome home party in October. . . OK.