Time to put Nordberg on the case

It has become a staple of modern life. Somebody makes news, and somebody else tries to capitalize on it on EBay.

Already for auction: The O.J. Simpson “If I only had a brain” T-shirt, the “When O.J. goes to Vegas, he stays in Vegas” T-shirt, an autograph supposedly signed “just hours before the alleged Armed Robbery,” a dozen decks of Palace Station casino cards -- and an assortment of “Naked Gun” DVDs.

Trivia time

What four players rank ahead of Simpson on the USC career rushing list?

In political news

Fred Thompson, the Republican presidential candidate and former “Law & Order” star, made a campaign stop at the Tennessee-Florida game Saturday.

Comment: It’s always a good idea to have a district attorney on duty at Southeastern Conference football games.

Mum’s the word

Yes, Roger Federer’s pretty good and Tiger Woods made $11.26 million in one day.

How about Lindsay Davenport?

She gave birth to a son, Jagger, on June 10, and won a WTA tournament Sunday in Indonesia, cradling her 3-month-old in her left arm and the trophy in her right afterward.

Dad’s not bad

Woods seemed eager to get home and tell his baby daughter, Sam, about his big day at the office Sunday.

“Hey, I’m sure that she’ll -- she doesn’t understand anything right now,” he said. “I can’t wait until that point in time when she does, when she’s able to understand what her dad does and when she looks back on it and says, ‘You know, he was actually halfway decent at one time.’ ”

Cheating the IRS?

Can Bill Belichick deduct the $500,000 NFL fine for the New England Patriots’ video-spying scandal on his taxes?

The Wall Street Journal found a discussion of just that on the TaxProf Blog.

A dozen tax professors wrote more than 10,000 words to debate the issue, concluding that he can.

Wrote Myron Grauer of Capital University Law School in Ohio: “Because, unfortunately, in this day and age, it probably is ‘ordinary’ for coaches and players in professional sports to cheat and, if caught, to be fined by the league, the fine levied on the Patriots’ coach can be viewed as an ordinary and necessary business expense. . . .”

Volunteer a guess

Tennessee men’s basketball Coach Bruce Pearl filed for divorce after 25 years on Sept. 10, less than a month after Tennessee women’s Coach Pat Summitt filed papers to end her 27-year marriage.

Indelible images from last season: Pearl appearing at a women’s game with his bare chest painted orange to support Summitt’s team, and Summitt returning the favor by donning a cheerleader outfit for a men’s game.

We’re going to guess . . . no.

Mountain man

Marat Safin, the gifted but sometimes confounding Russian tennis player, is part of an eight-person group attempting a monthlong ascent of the Himalayan mountain Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth-highest summit at nearly 27,000 feet.

No word on whether Federer will try to beat him to the top.

Trivia answer

Charles White, Marcus Allen, Anthony Davis and Ricky Bell.

Simpson, who ranks fifth with 3,423 yards, played only two seasons.

And finally

Jay Leno on Simpson’s latest arrest:

“O.J. did promise to keep searching for the real ‘breaker-inners.’ ”

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robyn.norwood@latimes.com