ENOUGH SIMPSON : ACTIONS FOLLOWING ACQUITTAL IN MURDER TRIAL PROVE HE'S NOT WORTHY OF ATTENTION.

Byline: Sally Ann Stewart

WHEN the news hit that the lawyers in the O.J. Simpson civil suit had argued their final statements to the jury, there was just one thought: Thank goodness. Maybe now, everyone will shut up.

Just for a minute. That's all I ask. Because if everybody would just stop their yapping, maybe somebody could key into what everyone's been squabbling about for three years. And that is O.J. Simpson, a man whose biggest cause, whose guiding light in life, has always been himself.

Apart from our sick and silly obsession with whether he slashed his ex-wife and her friend to death, why have we given this man the power to pit neighbor against neighbor? Why are people calling talk radio and crying over him? Why are people afraid Los Angeles will erupt in riots over this guy? None of it computes, because Simpson isn't worthy of a drop of this constant stream of emotion.

This is a man who said that a monogamous relationship, to him, was sleeping together when you happen to be in the same city, but when you're away, we, heck, what do you expect? This is a man whose friends whisper that he cheats at cards. And this is the same man who pleaded ``no contest'' to charges of beating his then-wife, but now claims that it was 5-foot, 6-inch, 129-pound Nicole who beat him - a 6-foot 200-pounder - regularly and he kept a list of all the beatings he endured to boot.

In like columns, many learned and thoughtful writers often make cases for their causes by showcasing statistics or pronouncements from queens or senators. This is not that kind of column. We're talking playground justice here. Every red-blooded American child knows that when another kid heaps blame, excuses and havoc on all the other kids in the sandbox, that nobody wants to play with him anymore. So why are we grown-ups spending all this energy on somebody like Simpson? Why don't we all just take our toys and go play somewhere else?

Perhaps a small confession is in order. I covered the Simpson criminal trial, every gut-wrenching photo, dismissed juror and lawyerly outburst. That's how I know that any speck of social significance has been wrung dry months ago and I suspect many keep up with Simpson hubbub only because it's a convenient cocktail chat replacement for talking about the weather.

Admittedly, advocating a Simpson moratorium is easy to say and hard to do, when people are angry over what they see as injustice. Some are angry because they think Simpson got away with double murder. Others are furious because Simpson was acquitted and the rest of the world is getting away with acting like he wasn't. But incessantly arguing about it is unlikely to persuade anyone to adopt a different point of view.

Since the beginning of this case, people have jumped on every single blood drop and said, ``See?'' This proves he's innocent!'' Another bunch of folks, jumping on precisely the same drop, insists it underlines his guilt.

In either case, it's not like O.J. Simpson is the only thing in our world that could use a little outrage. How's about we focus for a moment on schools with leaky roofs or families with angry kids? Why does Simpson get to hog the outrage?

Maybe because it's easier. Hey, nobody is expected to do anything about the Simpson mess, except yap about it. But the school with the leaky roof - well, it needs a hammer and nails and maybe a politician brave enough to back a new tax - is so much easier to ignore. Oh, the injustice of it all!

For now, let's set aside any arguments over DNA, wall thumps and practicing golf swings in the dead of night. Let's focus merely on Simpson's behavior since his acquittal on criminal charges, a little more than a year ago. If Simpson's truly a modern Job, the content of his character may be judged by the way he meets the considerable challenges facing him: A happy-go-lucky public image now in shreds, his home mortgaged to the roof, his child writing a murder mystery and pinning it on him.

This is the way Simpson faces up to his life. He gets out of jail after some 16 months, during which time he complained regularly about not seeing his two young children. His first post-jail phone call is to his girlfriend. He didn't call his kids until the next day. And when he did see them, he sold the reunion photo right to a tabloid.

Not a shock. Simpson had assigned his children low priority before. Two days after the murders, for which Simpson was charged, he made a phone call to try to locate his missing golf bag, before he called to talk to his two children, who had been sleeping in their home while, just outside their front door, their mother's throat was slashed so deeply that her spinal cord showed.

Simpson promised a post-criminal trial interview, no doubt in part because the guy who helps run that network had been a true friend, who made jailhouse visits and public pronouncements of innocence. A few hours before the cameras roll, Simpson bailed out.

Simpson admitted he ordered his secretary to write a letter to his ex-wife about her tax liabilities. When a lawyer suggested that Nicole felt threatened by the letter, Simpson blamed the secretary for writing too harshly.

A lawyer asked how Simpson cut his fingers around the same time that his ex-wife and her friend were stabbed to death. Simpson blamed it on his son, suggesting that then 6-year-old Jason might have done it during those leisurely hours when they were ``wrestling'' before attending Nicole's funeral.

Oh, let's just all get over it already. This man doesn't deserve our energy. Face it: If the shoe - Bruno Magli or not - was on the other foot, he wouldn't fritter away one moment of an otherwise perfect golf day by thinking about us.

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Photo: Sore subject: Not talking or thinking about O.J. Simpson is easier said than done.