Tyson: He’s Hardly a Good-Will Ambassador

Mike Tyson, already in Japan for his March 21 fight with Tony Tubbs, has one thing on his mind.

“I’m not interested in doing any sightseeing,” he told Wallace Matthews of Newsday. “I just want to fight and leave.”

Doesn’t he want to sample Japanese food?

“I don’t eat sushi,” he said. “But it should be OK. They got Burger King there. I’m sure my managers wouldn’t send me over there with nothing but a sushi menu.”

What will he do with his free time?

“No problem,” he said. “I’m bringing along all my karate movies.”

Add Tyson: His record is 33-0. Michael Spinks, his scheduled opponent in June, is 32-0.

Says promoter Butch Lewis: “Somebody’s 0 has got to go.”

From Norman Chad of the Washington Post at the Winter Olympics: “ABC Sports has 1,250 people here, making them the seventh-largest ethnic group residing in Calgary.”

Of Bob Beattie’s “frenetic, frothing, frantic” announcing during Pirmin Zurbriggen’s winning run in the downhill, he said: “It shattered the senses, like having the Rolling Stones play a concert for you in a phone booth.”

Trivia Time: The fastest speed ever recorded by a skier is 70 m.p.h, 90 m.p.h., 110 m.p.h., 130 m.p.h.? (Answer to follow.)

Some miscellany from past Winter Games from “The Complete Book of the Olympics” by David Wallechinsky:

--Hayes Allan Jenkins, 22, of Colorado Springs, Colo., gold medalist in men’s figure skating in 1956, had practiced 40 hours a week, 10 months a year, for 9 years.

--During her competitive career, Sonja Henie accumulated 1,473 cups, medals and trophies.

--When Jean-Claude Killy of France retired from competitive skiing, he came to the United States, where he signed commercial contracts with Chevrolet, United Air Lines, Bristol-Myers, Ladies Home Journal, Head Skis, Lange boots, Mighty Mac sportswear, Wolverine gloves and after-ski boots, and “numerous other companies.”

--Switzerland’s four-man bobsled team in 1952 weighed in at 1,041 pounds, an average of 260 pounds per man. A rule was passed limiting future Olympic teams to 880 pounds.

If you could take one player in the National Basketball Assn. around which to build a team, who would it be?

Jerry Sullivan of Newsday put the question to 10 general managers. Nine of them picked Akeem Olajuwon.

Would-you-believe-it dept.: Danny Ainge made it to the All-Star game for the first time and has set a couple of records for three-point goals this year, but Toronto Blue Jays General Manager Pat Gillick told the Boston Globe: “I still think he would have been a better baseball player than he has been in basketball.”

Bill Gullickson will be pitching in Japan this year. His wife is expecting in the summer, which means their first three children will be born in three different countries.

Oldest daughter Cassie was born in Canada when Gullickson pitched for Montreal. Daughter Carly was born in the United States, when Bill pitched for Cincinnati.

Trivia Answer: According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest speed ever achieved is 132.053 m.p.h. by Graham Wilkie of Britain in 1987 at Les Arcs, France.

Quotebook

Joe Garagiola, on the eternal optimism of Atlanta Braves Manager Chuck Tanner: “If he were captain on the Titanic, he probably would’ve said, ‘Don’t worry, folks. We’re just going to pick up a little ice, and we’ll be on our way again.’ ”