Mike Tyson is returning to the ring. Please ... contain your excitement.
He anncouned this week that he will fight Kevin McBride this June in Washington D.C.
Yes, that Kevin McBride.
I, for one, won't be watching. The V-chip in my television would blow up.
How smart is this McBride guy by the way?
True, Tyson isn't as fearsome as he used to be. And, he doesn't have the same pop with his punches or the elusiveness that made him the youngest heavyweight champion.
But what he does have is his psychosis.
For McBride this is a little like fighting a girl.
If you win, who cares? You beat up a nut job.
If you lose, you might get eaten.
What does the Sultan of Insanity have to lose at this point?
His dignity? Doubt it.
His livelihood? Heck, you can always fight in Amsterdam.
His freedom? Been there, done that.
Tyson is a man playing with the house's money.
I can see it scrolling across the bottom of a news ticker right now:
"Tyson earns TKO after eating opponent, wearing skin as a coat."
Alright, maybe I'll tune in.
On another note...
A second player was named in Major League Baseball's new drug test identification policy.
So, who is it?
Barry Bonds? Albert Pujols? Adam Dunn?
Nope.
It's ... drumroll please ... Jorge Piedra.
Yes, that Jorge Piedra. Looks like Bud Selig got his man.
C'mon, is this a joke?
First you give us Alex Sanchez and now Piedra?
For the record Piedra has whopped three career homeruns and that's playing his home games at Coors field. I could get a dinger at Coors if the wind was just right.
But Sanchez should've seen it coming. The 5-10, 180-pound leadoff hitter for the Devil Rays doubled his homerun production last year.
From one long ball in 2003 to an astonishing two in 2004.
Unless the MLB starts coming up with a couple of names of guys who have either: A) played more than 40 games in the majors or B) aren't bigger than Earl Boykins, then the whole process will become a farce.
Say what?
Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal said racism is the only reason he can see for NBA commissioner David Stern trying to raise the draft age limit from 18 to 20.
O'Neal, who left Eau Claire High School at 18 and entered the NBA draft, said recently there was no reason to institute such a rule and the only conclusion that could be drawn was racism.
O'Neal is wrong.
"As a black guy, you kind of think (race is) the reason why it's coming up," O'Neal told ESPN.com. "You don't hear about it in baseball or hockey. To say you have to be 20, 21 to get in the league, it's unconstitutional. If I can go to the U.S. Army and fight the war at 18 why can't you play basketball for 48 minutes?"
Racism has nothing to do with the league's decision. It's about business.
The reason for Stern's push for an age limit is not racism as O'Neal would have it appear.
Stern's move is an attempt to salvage his already diluted league from a further influx of inexperienced, ill-prepared and ill-advised group of 18-year-olds.
For every Lebron James there is a Korleone Young.
For every Amare Stoudamire there is a Kendrick Perkins or an Ousmane Cisse or Ndi Ebi or Desagana Diop.
Yes, that Desagana Diop.
These are guys that were told about the NBA riches and passed up college only to sit at the end of a bench for three years until their rookie contracts and careers quickly ran out.
But those spots on the end of a bench weren't empty, there were league veterans who had to be cleared out of the way to make room.O'Neal needs not to look past his own bench to understand the importance of college in the development of players.
Other Ford columns:
- Will the Memphis Grizzlies make the NBA playoffs?
- Sports top ten list in celebration of Letterman
- Nobody's talking... log on to our new blog and let us know what you are thinking
