Oh, great. It’s only 2003 and we already have the Trial of the Century ready to go. Only instead of just seeing this one covered exhaustively on CNN, Court TV, Fox News, MSNBC and all the network news, we’ll also get to see it on ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports Net and probably the Golf Channel somehow.

I remember the day in 1994 when O.J. Simpson fled the authorities in his stupid white Bronco. I was driving somewhere and turned on the radio, expecting to pick up the action midway through a Twins game. Instead, they were broadcasting non-stop radio coverage of this idiotic low-speed car chase. &uot;Huh?&uot; I thought. &uot;Who cares?&uot;

Thus began my total annoyance with the last hoopla-driven Trial of the Century this country was subjected to. It’s not like somebody being accused of murder is no big deal, and it’s not even that I disagree that a celebrity’s involvement makes it more of a story. But continuing live coverage of a marathon car chase &045; on the radio, no less, possibly the worst medium for covering a car chase? It was a sign that this case was going to be way over-covered every step of the way. Which it was.

Now, just a few years later, we had dozens of satellite trucks from all over the country parked outside a courthouse last week for a hearing at which basketball star and accused rapist Kobe Bryant said exactly two words. Even a police reporter on his first day at work could have told you that nothing of any consequence was going to happen at that hearing, but that didn’t stop the media circus.

I am not looking forward to this. He hasn’t even entered a plea yet and already I’m tired of hearing about &uot;Kobe.&uot;

By the way, how annoying is it when somebody gets so much tabloid appeal that they are referred to only by their first name? I’ve noticed that dreadful actor &uot;Ben&uot; has recently joined this first-name fraternity, thanks to his engagement to dreadful singer &uot;Jen.&uot;

Anyway, back to &uot;Kobe.&uot; At a time when we have much better things to be worrying about &045; how about war, terrorism and a broken economy, for starters &045; how does &uot;Kobe&uot; become the top story on a TV &uot;news&uot; show like Good Morning America? Why do the news stations need to spend hours analyzing a meaningless court appearance: What did it mean that his wife didn’t come? What did it mean that he was being courteous to his female lawyer? What did it mean that he pulled up in a Ford Bronco? (That last one really kills me, no pun intended.)

Of course, it gets covered because people love a scandal. They love it even more when a celebrity is involved. And you just can’t beat it if that celebrity is at the top of his profession, something that even &uot;O.J.&uot; didn’t have going for him when he cut his ex-wife’s head off (oops … &uot;allegedly&uot; cut her head off).

You could say this media circus thing is your basic chicken-and-egg scenario. The public obviously eats this stuff up, or the media wouldn’t be covering it so ridiculously. But to some extent, is the public consuming it only because there is such a smorgasbord out there? We’ll probably never know. But I’m guessing there wouldn’t be too many complaints if the &uot;Kobe&uot; case was undercovered.

Of course, that’s something else we’ll never know. If there’s any word that isn’t going to apply to this case, it’s &uot;undercovered.&uot; And I may have to go undercover myself, probably deep into the frozen plains of Siberia, to avoid hearing way too much about this case.

Dylan Belden is the Tribune’s managing editor. His column appears Sundays. E-mail him at dylan.belden@albertleatribune.com.