Say Goodbye to Iron Mike

Mike Tyson failed to answer the bell for the 7th round in his fight tonight against Kevin McBride. It's another addition to the sad story that has become the life of Mike Tyson. The fight followed an identical pattern to how Tyson's fights have gone as his career has gone on. Tyson went for the KO early, looking to end it with one punch. When Tyson couldn't drop his opponent early, he began to resort to dirty tactics, which didn't work. Tyson is 38 years old, basically fighting to work his way out of the debt he is in to Don King. Now that he can't beat a Top 20 fighter, even if he is still in debt, Tyson needs to hang his gloves up.

I'm sure when I grow older and I become a parent, God willing, my kids will ask me about the great athletes I got to watch when I grew up: Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Wayne Gretzky, Tiger Woods, Roger Clemens, Lance Armstrong, and others. In addition, I'm sure they'll ask me about Mike Tyson. What I'll say about Tyson is he was the most intriguing athlete I had ever seen. Before the advent of HBO, Showtime, and pay-per view, the big title fights could be seen on ABC or ESPN, and I remember watching Tyson work his way up through the ranks, knocking fighter after fighter out, in the 1st round nevertheless. He captured the imagination of the sporting world. Muhammad Ali, the Greatest of All Time, never caused a man to stagger and fall three times with just one punch!!!!!

You have to wonder if he would've stayed on top if Gus D'Amato and Jim Jacobs, his first group of advisers, were able to stay alive a little longer. It's hard to believe, but Mike Tyson was not involved with Don King from the beginning. D'Amato and Jacobs, two boxing veterans, along with his trainer Kevin Rooney, provided Tyson with a solid upbringing and background. But once they were gone, Don King swept in like the Big Bad Wolf. Since King has moved in and taken over, Tyson has never had a real boxing trainer. The biggest example of this was his fight against Buster Douglas when the Tyson we know now first appeared. His trainer used a CONDOM, yes a condom, to try and reduce the swelling on Tyson's face. It wasn't filled with ice, just cold water. That's really all you need to know about the last 15 years of Tyson's career.

Now, Tyson is only good for a memorable quote or interview. Tyson is never afraid to speak his mind, made even more compelling since this comes from a guy who was forced to earn his GED while in prison. But, as I think most people do, when Tyson enters the ring, we all hope we get to see just a glimpse of what he was 20 years ago, arguably the most dominant athlete of his time. There was a time when Tyson was more popular even than Jordan, Bo Jackson, John Elway, and every other great athlete of that time. But tonight, I, and the rest of the sporting world know, that day has long since past.

And here's what else is going on:

• The NCAA Baseball Super Regionals are underway and three teams have punched their ticket to the College World Series: Nebraska, Tennessee, and Florida. The most intriguing series is Arizona St. vs. Cal St. Fullerton, the defending national champs. Fullerton won the first game on a controversial 9th inning balk when the ASU pitcher didn't come to a complete stop when intentionally walking a Fullerton hitter. After watching the replay, I still can't believe the umpire made the call, I think it was the wrong call. To their credit, the Sun Devils bounced back tonight with a 6-2 victory to force a deciding 3rd game tomorrow.
• I must admit, I had the Bombardier Jet 500 on my channel flipback button to see what Danica Patrick would do tonight. After starting 3rd, she decided to run conservatively on the fast Texas Motor Speedway, finishing 13th. Thomas Scheckter won the race. The best moment of the night was Dan Wheldon (remember him, the actual winner of the Indy 500) wore a shirt that actually said, "I won the Indy 500".
• Annika Sorenstam leads the McDonalds LPGA Championship by 5 heading into tomorrow's final round. If she can hang on tomorrow, she's halfway to the Grand Slam. Michelle Wie is tied for 3rd, 7 behind, along with Big Ben's woman, Natalie Gulbis.
• In the Dauphine Libere, it was a wild day of cycling as Santiago Botero bounced back from his bonking on Mont Ventoux to win today's stage into Morzine, vaulting him back into 2nd place overall. Inigo Landaluze, who took the overall lead away from American Levi Leipheimer yesterday with a solo breakaway effort, did enough to keep a 59 second lead over Botero. And while Lance Armstrong fell to 4th overall, 1:47 behind, he began to look his usual dominant self, riding the "hors-categorie" Col du Jeux-Plane with ease, leading the charge up the mountain, then chasing down Alexandre Vinokourov when he tried to get away. The race concludes tomorrow with 7 climbs of the short Cote de Dormancy before finishing in Sallanches. Two words Lance: "DON'T CRASH!!!!!!!"
• Afleet Alex won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse in 29 years to win the Preakness and the Belmont in the same year. To sum up what everyone outside of Belmont Park thought about the Belmont, "WHO CARES???????"

10 days until my birthday, 21 days until the Tour.