Running With the Ball

Time Warner is expected to get a free ride next Monday in marketing the audiocassette version of “I Want to Tell You,” which for the first time will feature O.J. Simpson in his own voice talking about his time in jail since being arrested in June on suspicion of killing his ex-wife, Nicole, and Ronald Goldman.

Publishing industry sources say that the company, which is releasing the cassette through its Time Warner AudioBooks unit, is so confident that the Simpson media swarm will give the tape endless airplay on television and radio that it isn’t budgeting a penny for ads.

Time Warner declined comment.

The audiocassette--which features letters written to Simpson in jail and his answers--is being released to coincide with Simpson’s trial and the release of the book version by publisher Little, Brown & Co.

According to industry sources familiar with the project, Simpson’s voice will be heard on about one-third of the 90-minute cassette, with a little-known actor filling in the rest of the time. Also heard will be co-author Lawrence Schiller.

A Dated Calendar

The current calendar for the Los Angeles (soon to be St. Louis) Rams is already a collector’s item--or out of date--depending on how you look at it.

For starters, there’s a full-page picture and lengthy biography of fired coach Chuck Knox, and a promise to groups purchasing 25 or more tickets that they will be saluted on the Anaheim Stadium scoreboard. It also includes an appropriate team phone number: (800) 2GO-RAMS.

One feature of the calendar is a favorite play chosen by a Rams player for each month. No entry for “Grab the money and sprint to St. Louis.”

Prickly Problem

One common refrain during the Nixon Administration was that “peace is at hand” in Vietnam.

At the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, “peace roses” were at hand last week in an unexpectedly big way because of a shipping error by a major flower firm.

The library is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the naming of the “Peace Rose” at the end of World War II by planting 50 bushes.

Oregon flower shipper Jackson & Perkins offered to donate the bushes. When the shipment came in, the library discovered it had received 6,000 rose bushes--60 boxes each containing 100 bushes.

“Something obviously went awry,” said spokesman Kevin Cartwright, who says the surplus bushes were returned.

Briefly. . .

Bob (Captain Kangaroo) Keeshan is taping an infomercial selling a device that allows parents to electronically control TV and video-game playing. . . . Finder’s fee: United Air Lines is offering 5,000 frequent flier miles to anyone who helps the company recruit a bilingual flight attendant. . . . The Overpriced Stock Service in Northern California describes Microsoft’s new entry into on-line services as “Bill Gates becomes the phone company--at $5 a month.”