Columnist Dean Juipe: ABC forces a secrecy pact on fighters

Dean Juipe

Friday, Aug. 6, 2004 | 10:18 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Notes today, leading off with one that needs to be kept at least somewhat secret.

It seems as if Las Vegas is home to two world-championship level professional fighters who have reached the finals of a TV series that will be telecast in November. ABC's "The Contender" has been taping fights and will resume taping Aug. 18 in Los Angeles with 16 finalists -- none bigger than a junior middleweight -- who will slug it out with $1 million going to the eventual winner. But the participants are prohibited from publicly revealing their identities until the shows air, and violators have been advised that they not only will be eliminated from the competition but will have to pay a hearty fine if they tell the media too much. So let's leave it at that and wish the not-so-mysterious duo well.

Do you know why a round of golf is 18 holes and not, say, 15 or 20? It's because early players could kill off a bottle of scotch or whiskey with 18 jiggers, or one per hole. ... Just once I'd like to see Greg Maddux set aside the extreme humility he shows in public and pat himself on the back for a job well done. But the great pitcher from Las Vegas, who goes for career win No. 300 Saturday as the Chicago Cubs take on the San Francisco Giants, refuses to say anything other than what's written on his personal script. You watch: Maddux will credit his teammates at the press conference for his 300th win. ... Add Dr. Robert Voy to the list of Las Vegans heading for the Olympics. He's the president of USA Boxing.

With 362 starts since his last PGA tour victory, Las Vegas' Robert Gamez has the second longest streak of any active player who has won at least once on the tour. Only Mark Wiebe has gone longer without a victory, and he's very much a fringe player these days. ... Eddie Cook, once a vibrant young man and Las Vegas resident during his run as a bantamweight boxing contender, is suffering from dementia and living in Georgia. ... Mike Tyson will have the same problem some day if the people around him keep forcing him into the ring. It's almost repulsive the way he's being pushed back into a sport where he's clearly no longer qualified to contend for a valid world title.

Look for a few more runs to be scored in the Olympic softball competition for the simple reason that they're moving the mound back 3 feet, to 43 feet, and thereby lessening the pitchers' incredible advantage. ... There are 531 U.S. Olympians, but none from North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware or West Virginia. California has the most Olympians, with 140. ... Is there any doubt that the Las Vegas Gladiators want to hire Danny White as head coach? He's available after a great 13-year run as head coach of the Arena Football League's team in Arizona. ... Hard to believe that the Pittsburgh Pirates have never had a National League rookie of the year (since the award was instituted in 1949), but they may this year if outfielder Jason Bay continues his robust hitting.

Football games will be nationally televised on at least 25 of the 30 days in November. There's also a streak of 19 consecutive days with at least one game televised between Oct. 28 and Nov. 15. ... Wasn't this the year the Atlanta Braves' streak of consecutive division titles was supposed to come to an end? The Braves have won nine division titles in a row and it appears as if they'll add another one despite the preseason belief that the Philadelphia Phillies were the superior team in the NL East. ... What a disgrace: Roger Clemens had to be ejected from a son's baseball game for objecting to an umpire's call. It happened while 10-year-old Kacy Clemens was playing a game last week. Maybe Roger needs to get in touch with Greg Maddux and learn how to conduct himself in public.

After saying he would "fight for free" just to get a bout (Thursday's Sun), local boxer and former world champion Wayne McCullough signed a promotional agreement with Dan Goossen on Thursday. ... The Roy Jones Jr. vs. Glencoffe Johnson fight will be in Memphis on Sept. 25. Portland (Ore.) made a serious offer to land the light heavyweight title fight, but apparently Las Vegas did not. ... Ex-Rebel Stacey Augmon continues to find employment, signing with the Orlando Magic of the NBA after playing last season for New Orleans. Augmon has 13 pro seasons under his belt, which is a nice run for a guy who is neither physically overpowering nor a big scorer.