It’s Not a Sensory Overload for KO’d

Amateur boxer Derek Underwood of Wasilla, Alaska, was asked by the Anchorage Daily News what motivates fighters to climb into the ring. “There are a million reasons not to do this and not one good reason to do it,” he said.

“But when you step into the ring, every single one of your senses is completely alive. There is nothing more raw. It’s the highest high you’ll ever have.”

Of course, the hangover can be the lowest low.

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Trivia time: Arizona’s Danny Baugher, with a 48.4-yard average, leads the nation in punting and is shy by less than a yard of the Pacific 10 Conference season record. Who holds that record?

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A league of her own: A study in England reveals that women know more than men do about soccer. It might not be the same case here with our national pastime. For example, a good friend of mine once turned to her husband during a World Series game and asked, “How come all the umpires are named Al?” Seriously.

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Endless bathroom wait: There are 28 nations competing in the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships at Huntington Beach Pier. Funding has been an issue for many, but the Costa Rican team has a friend in Robert August, who starred in “The Endless Summer” and is a part-time resident of the Central American country.

August also has a small, two-bedroom home in Huntington Beach and has invited eight athletes plus coaches and officials to stay with him until the nine-day contest ends with medal rounds on Sunday.

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Not suitable: NBA Commissioner David Stern is behind a plan to institute a dress code for players entering and exiting arenas. Writes Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press: “The only thing that could upset players more is if Stern made them listen to country western music.”

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Unlikely spokesman: The 76ers’ Allen Iverson said in the Philadelphia Daily News of the dress code: “It sends a bad message to kids. If you don’t have a suit on when you go to school, is the teacher going to think you’re a bad kid?”

To this Albom responds, “Wait a minute, did Allen Iverson just use the words ‘it sends a bad message to kids?’ Wait a sec ... Mrrpghszzip! OK, I’m back.”

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No fun: High school football referees in Texas have been unusually quick to call penalties for excessive celebration and Brice Cherry of the Waco Tribune believes they’re spoiling the fun.

“Besides,” she writes, “if a high school player catches a long TD pass and then breaks out a Sharpie and autographs the opposing defensive back’s jersey while simultaneously chatting with his mom on the cellphone and performing the opening act of ‘Riverdance,’ how can we blame him? All he’s doing is acting like a professional.”

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Trivia answer: Kirk Wilson of UCLA set the record in 1956 with a 49.3-yard average.

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And finally: From Jay Leno: “Last weekend there was a three-day sumo-wrestling tournament in Las Vegas with 20 of the top sumo wrestlers from Japan. And the crowd was overheard saying, ‘I’ve never seen people so fat.’ And those were the sumo wrestlers talking about Americans.”