The Buzz Is That MVP Looks Like the Barbers

Despite being the NFL’s most valuable player, the Seattle Seahawks’ Shaun Alexander has an identity problem. He is sometimes mistaken for being one of the Barber twins, Tiki or Ronde. Tiki plays for the New York Giants and Ronde for Tampa Bay.

Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, according to the Associated Press, said last week in Honolulu: “They’re triplets.”

Said Ronde: “Shaun was telling us he was in a mall in Seattle and somebody said, ‘Hey, Tiki, what’s up?’ He said, ‘No, I’m not Tiki.’ And the guy said, ‘OK, Ronde, have a good day.’ ”

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Look-alikes, maybe: “We do definitely resemble each other and definitely do all sound a little alike,” Alexander said, “but I’m definitely the tallest, better looking of the three.”

Said Tiki: “Taller, bigger, rushed for more yards. I’ll give him that. But not better looking. I’m better looking.”

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Trivia time: Alexander played at Alabama. Where did the Barber twins play in college?

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All in the name: NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol, in explaining why NBC decided to refer to the Winter Olympics host city as Torino instead of Turin, said, “I was swept away with how that sounded. It just rolls off your tongue.”

Noted David Whitley of the Orlando Sentinel: “So does Sophia Loren, but they’re not renaming Katie Couric that for the next three weeks.”

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Olympian spin: There may be confusion over just how well NBC is doing in the ratings with the Olympics. NBC is using total audience figures, counting everyone who has tuned in at any point. Most media outlets use the average number of people watching at any given time.

Wrote Ron Rapoport of the Chicago Sun-Times: “NBC’s blizzard of ratings-related press releases are pointing triumphantly to the Turin Olympics being the most-watched ‘non-domestic’ Games since Lillehammer in 1994, when the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan saga held a world transfixed. Translation: Barely half as many people watched the opening ceremony as watched the one for the Salt Lake Games four years ago.”

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Reflex reaction: “Some sad news,” said NBC’s Jay Leno. “Figure skater Michelle Kwan has dropped out of the Olympics after suffering an injury. Today, out of force of habit, police arrested Tonya Harding.”

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Truth be told: “Turns out Michelle Kwan is not really hurt,” Leno said. “She just doesn’t want to be on NBC.”

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Outdoor humor: Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times asks, “Why don’t fishing-tackle dealers ever offer rebaits?”

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Looking back: On this day in 1978, Muhammad Ali lost his heavyweight title when Leon Spinks was awarded a 15-round split decision at Las Vegas.

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Trivia answer: Virginia.

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And finally: David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, on the NHL gambling scandal allegedly involving Wayne Gretzky’s wife: “”When the news first broke, I couldn’t make heads or tails out of it. Then I heard that Janet Jones had taken tails.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.