11-month spectacle that pitted o.j. s highly paid all star legal team, johnny cochran and the famous, if it don t fit, you must acquit line, against a floundering team of city prosecutors and a tarnished lapd. happening just two years after the l.a. riots and the acquittal of a group of white officers who were caught on camera beating up rodney king, he made a lasting if not so flattering impact on the city, the legal system and the news business. o.j. simpson dead today at the age of 76. joining us now, nbc news senior investigative legal correspondent cynthia mcfadden. she covered the trial. long time columnist for the los angeles time, pat morrison, she covered l.a. during the time and the civil trial, and cofounder of los angeles news service and one of the journalists who followed the bronco from the sky, marieka, who also happens to be my mom. why does this loom so large? part of it is people who were alive at the time participated. 95 million people watched televisio