Promoter Still Going Strong at 70

The 70th birthday of boxing promoter Don King had Rich Hofmann of the Philadelphia Daily News marveling at King’s enduring influence.

“Have his enemies failed to get rid of King because they couldn’t find a stake or because they couldn’t find his heart?” Hofmann writes.

King’s retort: “Why am I still here? Because I love it. And because I’m the only one who gets anything done.”

Hofmann presses on.

“This isn’t intended as a defense of King’s record in the sport, mostly because defending a lot of what King has done would be akin to defending smallpox.”

Nor is King finished.

He envisions promoting another heavyweight elimination tournament--which, for credibility’s sake, would have to include Mike Tyson.

“You wonder how King will finesse that one when it comes, seeing as how Tyson is currently suing him for the trivial sum of $100 million,” Hofmann writes.

King doesn’t relent.

“Without me being involved, you have no chance of it happening,” he said. “Seemingly, I’m the only one who gets it done. This is not being immodest. This is just a matter of fact.”

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Trivia time: What is the maximum number of letters and spaces allowed in the name of a thoroughbred, as dictated by the Jockey Club?

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TV or not TV: Kendra Davis, wife of Toronto Raptor player Antonio Davis, has worked as an announcer during the halftime shows for the team’s Sportsnet telecasts.

But thoughts of her becoming part of the Raptors’ new NBA TV digital channel might hit a snag, the Toronto Star reports.

Why? The NBA salary cap.

“The thing we’d be concerned about there is the potential for salary cap circumvention,” NBA spokesman Brian McIntyre told the newspaper, though he wasn’t specifically aware of the Davis situation.

Anything in that area would come under scrutiny, McIntyre said.

“It could be another way of sending money to a player disguised as something else,” he said. “We’re looking for a level playing field for all teams.”

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Working stiff: Quarterback Tony Banks, summarily waived by the Dallas Cowboys and picked up by the Washington Redskins to be a backup, learned a little something about the expectation of loyalty in today’s workplace.

“I thought they loved me,” he told the Washington Post.

Sally Jenkins of the Post responds:

“Nobody gets the gold watch anymore--not even in that seemingly most cosseted of jobs, NFL quarterback.

“The average American now can expect to have 9.2 jobs between the ages of 18 and 34, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Banks, 27, is on his fourth team in five years.”

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Trivia answer: No more than 18 letters or spaces are allowed. Among the names that push it: Spinelessjellyfish.

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And finally: Newsday’s Jon Heyman on the prospect of a new Yankee Stadium: “The New Stadium sounds like the most cockamamie plan since the New Coke. Why mess with the best thing going? The Yankees need a new stadium across the street about as much as they need a new shortstop.”