Firestone Lands Knockout With Tyson

Roy Firestone has done nine in-depth interviews with Mike Tyson, most recently one in Phoenix this week that will be shown on ESPN tonight, 7:30-8.

“You can say a lot of things about Tyson, but one thing for sure, he is not a phony,” Firestone said after returning home to Toluca Lake. “What you see is what you get. He’s not concerned about how he comes across.”

No question about that.

Asked by Firestone about having to register as a sex offender in a sheriff’s office, Tyson says, “I don’t get embarrassed. I have no dignity in that perspective. . . . There is nothing but ladies in the sheriff’s office. So the lady said, ‘What did you get convicted for to be here?’ I said, ‘Rape.’ . . . I said, ‘It’s rape. They said I raped somebody.’

“Afterward, all the ladies came and hugged me and kissed me. I signed their autographs.

“Anybody that’s a sophisticated adult and they’ve seen the situation that’s happened, they know that’s bull. . . . Yeah, I raped her. Give me a break, OK.”

Tyson, calling Evander Holyfield “the royal Christian” and “Moses,” claims Holyfield trained to butt him.

Of his psychological treatment, Tyson says, “In all actuality, I’m very fragile. And that’s why I strike out so much, because I’m fragile and easily hurt.”

AN ‘UP CLOSE’ LOOK

There is speculation that Firestone, after a four-year absence, may return to his role as host of the daily “Up Close” show now that Chris Myers has departed.

“I don’t mean to be evasive, but all it is is speculation,” Firestone said. “I haven’t called anyone at ESPN to talk about it and no one has called me.”

Firestone’s contract expires Dec. 31 and the topic figures to come up during negotiations.

Meanwhile, ESPN continues to try people out for the job. Sean Salisbury concludes a successful two-week run today with Tony Gwynn. Salisbury was particularly good Wednesday with John Robinson.

Matt Johnson, Salisbury’s teammate and roommate at USC, says, “Football was a detour from what Sean was really meant to do, which is broadcasting.”

Andrea Kremer gets another shot on “Up Close” next week. A decision on a permanent host is expected to be made next month. Our guess is that it will be Firestone.

THE SPARK IS GONE

Just when we were starting to get used to Sparky Anderson, Disney has dumped him from the Angel telecasts on Fox Sports West.

And what was wrong with Jerry Reuss on the Channel 9 telecasts? Reuss is also gone.

Their replacement, former Angel Rex Hudler, may turn out to be an excellent commentator--he’s always entertaining on the “Jim Rome Show”--but word is both Fox Sports West and Channel 9 executives were not pleased that their hand-picked guys were let go.

Anderson and Reuss were classy about it. Anderson said he understood because Disney wanted one commentator for both outlets and he wouldn’t travel. Reuss said, “What I’ll miss most is working with Steve Physioc and the crew.”

Disney planned to announce the change next week, but Hudler mentioned it as a guest on Rome’s show Wednesday.

SHORT WAVES

CBS has continually reduced George Seifert’s role on “The NFL Today,” and now he is on hiatus until the playoffs. It seems CBS is convinced he is going back to coaching. . . . Although ABC isn’t saying anything, there seems to be some substance to rumors that Sterling Sharpe will replace Dan Dierdorf in the “Monday Night Football” booth next season. . . . After Denver and Miami lost Sunday, Al Michaels and crew were having a tough time last Monday promoting this Monday’s game, which otherwise would have been huge. Dierdorf resorted to saying, “It’s a rare opportunity to see John Elway and Dan Marino lock horns.”

The ninth ARETE Awards for Courage in Sports, taped Nov. 4 in Chicago, will be on ESPN Monday, 7-8 p.m. In a particularly emotional moment, Al Joyner and Jackie Joyner-Kersee accept the ARETE Life Award in honor of Florence Griffith Joyner’s memory. Among the other honorees are Casey Cook of Ventura, a blind and partially deaf triathlete, and distance runner Paul Reese, 81, a cancer survivor. . . . The long-running Chicago show, “Sportswriters on TV,” is about to go off the air because of the lack of a major sponsor.

RADIO DAZE

Steve Mason’s last day at KXTA (1150) was Wednesday. Dodger public relations director Derrick Hall, who dabbled in radio at Arizona State, has joined John Ireland for a two-day stint. Former KABC staffers Steve Edwards and Eric Tracy are reunited today from 1-3 as Vic “The Brick” Jacobs is on vacation and the “Karl Malone Show” is on hiatus. Ben Maller and Dave Smith move to mornings on Monday for three weeks as Ireland prepares for marital bliss. The plan is for Maller and Smith to eventually go to middays, as operations manager Mike Thompson continues to experiment. On Dec. 28-29, Mark Walberg and Mark DeCarlo, formerly of TV show “Studs,” get a tryout.

Robinson, the new Nevada Las Vegas coach, joins Larry Kahn and Mike Lamb on a national broadcast of Saturday’s Las Vegas Bowl, which can be heard on KLSX-FM (97.1). . . . The morning show on XTRA (690), with Salisbury, John Fricke and Julie Browman, celebrated its one-year anniversary Thursday. Included was a nicely done retrospective put together by production assistant Krystal Fernandez. A good thing about this show is that the hosts have a good time without being vicious. . . . The “Morning Muscle Crew,” with K.J. Sala and David Achord, on Rancho Cucamonga’s KMLS (1510) moved to middays on Thursday.

IN CLOSING

The first question about the basketball exhibition in Atlantic City, N.J., Saturday night at 6 is: Why is Showtime televising it? Jay Larkin, Showtime’s executive producer, calls it simply “a programming opportunity,” and adds, “We’re taking a hard position that we have no position [on the labor situation].”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Dec. 12-13, including sports on cable networks:

SATURDAY

*--*

Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Figure skating: Keri Lofton Classic 7 3.7 10 Golf: Presidents Cup 2 2.4 8 Triathlon: Ironman World championship 4 2.3 8 Tennis: Smash Hits charity event 4 1.5 5 Horse racing: Hollywood Futurity 2 1.5 4 Boxing: Enrique Sanchez vs. Nestor Garza 34 1.4 4

*--*

*--*

Cable Network Rating Boxing: Fernando Vargas vs. Yory Boy Campas HBO 2.2 Prep football: Mater Dei vs. Long Beach Poly FSW2 1.4 College basketball: Nevada Las Vegas at UCLA FSW 1.3 Special: Heisman Trophy presentation ESPN 1.3 Hockey: Vancouver at Kings FSW 0.9 College basketball: Maryland at Kentucky ESPN 0.8 Rodeo: PRCA National Finals at Las Vegas ESPN 0.6 College football: Division III championship ESPN 0.5 College basketball: UNC Charlotte at North Carolina ESPN2 0.4 College basketball: Michigan at Duke ESPN2 0.3 College basketball: West Virginia at Villanova ESPN 0.3 College football: Division II championship ESPN2 0.1

Cable Share Boxing: Fernando Vargas vs. Yory Boy Campas 4 Prep football: Mater Dei vs. Long Beach Poly 3 College basketball: Nevada Las Vegas at UCLA 4 Special: Heisman Trophy presentation 3 Hockey: Vancouver at Kings 2 College basketball: Maryland at Kentucky 2 Rodeo: PRCA National Finals at Las Vegas 1 College football: Division III championship 2 College basketball: UNC Charlotte at North Carolina 1 College basketball: Michigan at Duke 1 College basketball: West Virginia at Villanova 1 College football: Division II championship 0

*--*

SUNDAY

*--*

Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro football: Dallas at Kansas City 11 12.2 29 Pro football: Denver at New York Giants 2 10.2 25 Pro football: Chicago at Green Bay 11 5.0 12 Soccer: Necaxa vs. Chivas (Guadalajara) 34 4.6 12 Golf: Presidents Cup 2 2.6 6 Hockey: Kings at Mighty Ducks 9 5.0 12

*--*

*--*

Cable Network Rating Share Pro football: New York Jets at Miami ESPN 7.0 13 Rodeo: PRCA National Finals at Las Vegas ESPN 0.4 1 College soccer: Stanford vs. Indiana ESPN 0.2 1 Pro basketball: ABL, Chicago at Columbus FSW 0.1 1 Hockey: IHL, Las Vegas at Long Beach Ice Dogs FSW2 0.0 0

*--*

WEEKDAY RATINGS: Monday--Pro football: Detroit at San Francisco, Ch. 7, 13.1, 22.

Note: Each rating point represents 50,092 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.