This Tyson Is Cut Man in the Sport of Real Life

Ira Berkow of the New York Times interviewed Mike Tyson, who is training in Wailea on Maui for his bout June 8 with Lennox Lewis:

“[He] is in training in a gym not far from the Haleakala volcano, which before Mike showed up was the lone volcano on this lush, splendiferous island.

“He spoke about his [older] brother, Rodney, who is an assistant to a brain surgeon in California: ‘We took two different paths in life. I scramble people’s brains and he fixes ‘em.’”

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Trivia time: Who holds the NBA single-game playoff record for free throws made?

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Two of a kind: U.S. Amateur golf champion Bubba Dickerson, on playing two rounds with Tiger Woods at the Masters: “I learned that he’s real patient and he manages his game real well, and he just makes a lot of putts. Other than those three things, he didn’t do anything better than me all week.”

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Just breezing: How helpless were the Colorado Rockies when Randy Johnson pitched a two-hitter against them recently, striking out 17?

“If they wanted to save time and shorten the game,” Rick Donnelly, former Rockies’ coach told ESPN.com, “they could have dragged the infield when he was out there.”

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Why, oh why? Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald has some questions, but no answers. A sampling:

* “Why, after the third out of an inning, does a first baseman, no matter who he is, take out the ball and stare at it like the to-be-or-not-to-be skull in ‘Hamlet,’ as if this were his very first time seeing a thing as magnificent and interesting as a baseball?”

* “Why do tennis players stare at their rackets and fiddle with the strings after missing shots?”

* “Why incessant spitting and crotch adjusting the exclusive domain of baseball players?”

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For what it’s worth: Sports Illustrated listed five college football teams on the rise and five on the decline. The No. 1 team on the rise? USC. The No. 5 team on the decline? UCLA.

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ZZZZ: Prisoners with records of good behavior in Bangkok, Thailand, will be permitted to watch televised World Cup soccer games.

“Allowing model inmates to watch live broadcasts is one measure to make them relax and decrease stress,” said a prison official.

Makes sense. Watching 0-0 ties is better than a sleeping pill.

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Showtime: Jeff Gordon in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “So Anna Kournikova is suing Penthouse magazine, claiming those topless pictures weren’t actually her. Can’t you wait until this case goes to trial and we get to see Exhibits A and B?”

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He knows better: Michael Ventre of MSNBC.com: “The only way to truly stop Shaquille O’Neal is to convince him that he can rap or act.”

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Trivia answer: Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics, 30, against Syracuse on March 21, 1953, in four overtimes.

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And finally: Tom Arnold, host of Fox Sports Net’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” needling TNT analyst Charles Barkley: “Hey, Barkley, congratulations on your sports Emmy. Maybe you can melt it down into an NBA championship ring.”