THE ELEVATOR

Wednesday, May 10, 2006 | 7:29 a.m.

Mike Metzger

Ernest Hemingway wrote that the only true sports are auto racing, bullfighting and mountain climbing, and that the rest are just games. Well, if he were still around, he might toll his bell to include death-defying backflips on a motorcycle over the fountains at Caesars Palace. Hey Mike, this Red Bull - or whatever energy drink you prefer - is for you.

Kurt Busch

Every time the NASCAR champion from Las Vegas does something wrong, it makes headlines. And when he does something right, the print is usually smaller than the bottom line of an eye chart. So here's one for the magnifying glass. Busch donated a hood off his Miller Lite Dodge that helped gross more than $200,000 at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind fundraiser, at which he signed hundreds of autographs for the appreciative children.

Paul Tracy

Another Las Vegas racer with an aggressive streak showed a kinder, gentler side away from the track by shepherding cancer victim Nathan Crookston around the pits at the recent Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in California. "Nathan had a huge smile on his face all day," Tracy said upon discovering there are worse things in life than a one-lap penalty for rough driving.

Ricardo Mayorga

Not once, not twice but three times and out in his fight against Oscar De La Hoya. In the run-up to the bout, the chain-smoking, beer-swilling Mayorga said he was going to do nasty things to De La Hoya's wife after stopping her husband's heart and detaching his retina. I guess he left his scalpel on the barroom floor.

Ron James

The Gladiators' coach was fired, supposedly because his team underproduced. But with every final score looking like the Penn Relays, how does one tell?

Throwing your hat in the arena

Let's see, at last count there were not one, not two, but three new sports arenas on the drawing board for Las Vegas. But zero financing plans explaining how they will be built.