He Pretty Much Puts the Holy in Holier Than Thou

In an interview with the British Sports magazine Total Sport, former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield was asked:

“Is God telling you to quit?”

Answer: “That’s between God and me.”

Holyfield was also asked to comment on how he squares his religious beliefs with the fact he has fathered multiple children out of wedlock.

Answer: “I can understand how it looks. I can understand why people might think that I’m a hypocrite. But who are they to judge me? I don’t judge anyone else. We all make mistakes; none of us are perfect.

“I have kids from four different women. But I am honest with my kids. I tell them: ‘Your Daddy has made mistakes, but you don’t have to make the same mistakes because you are in a better situation, you have me to tell you this.’ ”

Huh?

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Trivia time: Who holds the record for all-time singles titles in tennis?

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Pitchman on strike: Tiger Woods is on strike, but don’t expect him to suffer much.

Woods was scheduled to shoot a Nike commercial Tuesday at Isleworth Country Club, his home golf course near Orlando, Fla., but it has been put on hold.

TV and radio commercial actors are on strike, and union membership is mandatory for anyone who appears in more than one commercial, athletes included.

The union is seeking a pay hike for commercials that run on cable TV.

According to the Associated Press, Woods’ deal with Nike is being renegotiated and could pay him a reported $80 million to $90 million over five years.

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Add strike: Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra was also affected, canceling a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial shoot scheduled today for Fenway Park.

“Some of these people, that’s their living. You’ve got to respect that,” Garciaparra said Wednesday.

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Not Joe’s style: Some people who knew the late Joe DiMaggio well raised their eyebrows when it came out that among his personal items going up for bid at Christie’s auction house recently was a vanity license plate.

According to Bert Sugar in the Sports Business Journal: “Joe’s brother Dom said that Joe would have been the last person in the world to have a vanity plate.”

It turned out, Sugar reports, that the plate was in fact ordered by DiMaggio’s attorney, Morris Engleberg.

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When Billy met Howard: Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune, speculating on candidates for ABC’s “Monday Night Football” announcing team, throws out the name of Billy Crystal, “who does a fabulous Cosell.”

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Call the Bekins people: Ed Roski, who spent millions of his own money unsuccessfully trying to bring the NFL back to the Coliseum, told the Sports Business Journal it’s not out of the question an NFL team could be playing in Los Angeles this year.

“If we put everything together today [an existing franchise agreeing to move to Los Angeles], a team could be playing in the Rose Bowl this August [while the Coliseum undergoes renovation],” Roski said.

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Looking back: On this date in 1993, Dale Hunter of the Washington Capitals received a record 21-game suspension without pay from the NHL for a blindside check on the New York Islanders’ Pierre Turgeon in a playoff game April 28.

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Trivia answer: Martina Navratilova, who won 167 singles titles from 1973 through 1994.

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And finally: Kevin McHale, general manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves, says it’s not easy to find a big man.

“Realistically, it’s easier to go out and get a guy 6-6 and under because there’s a lot of those guys,” McHale said. “I’ve often said I walk by a lot of street corners. I don’t see 30, 40 7-footers hanging out singing by a barrel. They’re all 5-8.”