Cheering Tyson, Booing Faulkner

I’m writing this on Friday evening, about 24 hours before Mike Tyson’s celebrated return to Las Vegas and several hours after Shannon Faulkner’s celebrated departure from the Citadel.

Not that the two events have anything in common or say anything about America in 1995, but let’s juxtapose a few developments from each case . . .

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* Tyson, 29, spent three years in prison and returns as something of a hero to millions of people. Faulkner, 20, spending nearly as long trying to get admitted to the Citadel as Tyson served for rape, departs as something of a troublemaker to millions of people.

* Tyson took his appeal of the rape conviction all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case. Faulkner needed the intervention of two Supreme Court justices to get her into college.

* Tyson’s supporters say he’s entitled to make a living. Faulkner claimed she was entitled to get an education at the state-supported college of her choice.

* No state has denied Tyson’s right to a boxing license, despite his rape conviction. Faulkner was being kept out of the Citadel solely because she is a woman.

* Tyson no doubt was cheered Saturday night when he entered the arena at the MGM Grand Hotel. Faulkner’s announced departure from school also was met with cheers and the honking of horns on the Citadel campus. “This is a great day to be an American,” one cadet said.

* The National Organization for Women says it will picket Tyson’s appearance Saturday night. NOW had supported Faulkner’s efforts to break the Citadel’s all-male admission policies.

* They wanted to throw a parade for Tyson in New York when he got out of prison. Faulkner’s home has been vandalized and she had received death threats after announcing she wanted to attend the Citadel.

* For taking on a single male opponent Saturday night, Tyson is called a warrior. For taking on 2,000 male opponents, Faulkner was called a troublemaker.

* While Tyson was in prison for rape, some supporters sported signs saying, “Free Mike Tyson.” While Faulkner was trying to get into college, some opponents sported signs saying, “Save the Males.”

* “He’s the savior of pay-per-view,” a Showtime executive says of Tyson. “His release gave new life and blood for the cable industry.” A lawyer for Faulkner says: “It’s very hard for her. She’s a 20-year-old girl, and it’s hard to anticipate what happens next.”

* Faulkner doesn’t know what her next move will be. “Today has been the hardest day of my life,” she said Friday. “The past 2 1/2 years came crashing down on me in an instant. I know my life is going to be miserable for a while.” Tyson, meanwhile, has signed a multi-fight contract that will make him tens of millions of dollars. “I’m just some guy from the gutter who was able to make good,” Tyson says.

* At a chiseled 220 pounds, Tyson’s opportunity to make millions wouldn’t be possible without his physical attributes. Partly because of her physical attributes, Faulkner loses the opportunity to attend the college of her choice.

* On Faulkner’s first day as a cadet, she was ostracized. For Tyson’s return to the ring Saturday night, an MGM spokesman predicted the presence of “more than 75 top-name celebrities. It will be perhaps the largest turnout of celebrities I’ve seen at a fight in five years.”

Oh, well.

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Shannon Faulkner will survive without the Citadel. I haven’t crusaded for her in the past, but aren’t things out of whack when a convicted rapist is cheered while an aspiring college student is booed?

“I’m intending to do my thing,” Tyson told USA Today. “You know what I do.” As a boxing fan, I certainly do. And I have no problem with Tyson being allowed to do his thing.

It’s just that Faulkner shouldn’t have had to go through legal hell just to go to college. “I don’t think there is any dishonor in leaving,” she said Friday. “I think there is dis-justice in me staying and killing myself just for the political point.”

Mike Tyson, claiming to be the victim of a fouled justice system, will make $100 million within the next few years. He’s back, because the American sporting public wants him back.

As for Shannon Faulkner, well, she’s just a kid who thought she had a right to go to college. Another Citadel cadet put it all in perspective: “It’s unfortunate for her, but it keeps this place the way we always wanted it.”

Amen, brother, and hallelujah.

I’ll bet you anything the young man is a huge Tyson fan too.