‘Tyson Portrait’ Is Champion of Sports Hype

There’s no hype like sports hype, like no hype I know.

Take NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol’s brainstorm in having former President Reagan join Vin Scully in the TV booth for the first inning of Tuesday’s Major League Baseball All-Star game, for example.

True, the ratings were down from the 1988 All-Star game, but they might have been even lower without the heavily promoted Reagan, who at one point delivered an incisive “whoops,” then later shrewdly observed: “Uh oh.” You knew you were in for a long inning when, in response to Scully asking him how he felt being there, Reagan went to his notes. That josher.

For years, Muhammad Ali was the absolute monarch of sports hype. As the Jaws of sound bites, he spewed irresistible rantings in advance of his fights--verbal muggings of his opponents in front of the camera that found their way into sportscasts only because they made good television. It was the perfect union of Ali’s hunger for promotion and TV’s hunger for spectacle.

Although Ali has passed from the boxing scene, another master is at work, someone whose proficiency at sports media manipulation is now unsurpassed.

On a syndicated TV program carried Saturday afternoon by KCBS-TV Channel 2, he was movingly praised by Arsenio Hall as . . . “an inspiration.” Hall continued:

“He is proof that with hard work, clean living . . . and honest doings, you can turn your life around from anywhere. And he’s proof to any kid, no matter where you are and no matter what you’re into right now, if you do it right, you can reach the top. And you can live with pride, dignity and success . . . clean!”

Albert Schweitzer? Lech Walesa? No. Hall was speaking about none other than fight promoter Don King.

On a TV program co-produced by King.

Whoops.

The name of the program was “Mike Tyson: Portrait of the People’s Champion.”

Its co-producer was Tyson.

Whoops.

On Friday on HBO, Tyson will defend his title against Carl (The Truth) Williams.

The promoter of the fight is King.

Uh oh.

King, who apparently charms the media because he’s outrageous and has stiff gray hair that stands at attention, has been called lots of things in his colorful career. But this may be the first time he has been publicly identified as an “inspiration.” It kind of choked you up.

So did the other accolades in this squishy, syrupy program, one that bore quasi-news trappings but whose primary intent was surely to glorify, not illuminate.

King’s wizardry and firm guidance could be detected in “People’s Champion,” which was obviously designed to advertise Tyson’s title fight with Williams. The hour was less documentary than egomentary--an unrelenting, unchallenged celebration of Tyson and, to a lesser extent, King, who, according to the prevailing sports winds, has a strong desire to become Tyson’s manager.

King is already Tyson’s adviser and constant companion. The two are together in public so often--they were also featured last week on NBC’s “Friday Night Videos”--that you’d think they were joined at the hip.

Or perhaps the wallet.

Written and narrated by Roy Firestone, “People’s Champion” did succeed at showing Tyson in a rare light. Here was a sensitive Tyson who spoke of himself humbly and did nice things for the retarded and others. It was a refreshing perspective on a man who has received so much bad press.

On the other hand, you might question the humility of someone who allows himself to be shown doing these nice things in front of a camera so that they can be included in his own program about himself.

Or allows King to let it happen.

There is surely a move afoot to soften Tyson’s image following the spectacle of his stormy relationship with his former wife, actress Robin Givens, and the recent release of a sometimes critical biography of Tyson by his former friend, Jose Torres. By airing this program, KCBS played right along.

“I can be a complete jerk,” Tyson said. “There are a lot of things about me that I don’t even like.” You wanted to know what things? Try another program.

On this one, the orgy of flattery was such that calling Tyson merely nice sounded almost like a criticism. There was nothing even remotely negative here.

Not only were Torres (whom Tyson has called a “traitor”) and such key figures in Tyson’s life as Givens, his estranged manager Bill Cayton and his fired trainer Kevin Rooney omitted from the program, they weren’t even mentioned, as if they never existed.

Who hasn’t had it up to here with Tyson vs. Givens? But to do an hour about Tyson and not even say her name?

If any of the above rejected an invitation to take part in the program, that should have been noted. Most of those who did take part were celebrities, ranging from Eddie Murphy and Frank Sinatra to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp, all of whom predictably had wonderful things to say about King or Tyson. Just as those twin inspirations King and Tyson had wonderful things to say about each other.

“This is a guy who would do anything for anybody who needs help,” Arnold Schwarzenegger said about Tyson. Needing help the most are the stations that aired this program and, in effect, collaborated with King in promoting Tyson vs. Williams.