Apple Slices: King's Knockout Punch

NEW YORK, Sept. 2--Don King has a loud voice -- and loud clothes to match.

Just got back from Radio Row in the Garden, where Cabinet members like Spence Abraham and Elaine Chao were doing interviews. But King's voice could be heard booming throughout the hall.

I lack the descriptive skills to convey what he was wearing. A long, flowing denim coat spangled with red and blue, white stars, the words "United States of America" and a bunch of Bush buttons. King was ranting to David Leibowitz of Phoenix station KTAR. I listened for two minutes and couldn't figure out what the heck he was talking about. He jumped from Ferguson v. Plessy to Siegfried & Roy.

King soon predicted, "Bush by a knockout! Bush throws a hard right for America! A right cross from George Walker Bush for four more years to make America better!"

Message: He likes Bush.

The interview was over. Leibowitz didn't get to ask many questions. "You don't have to," he says. "Just wind him up and let him go."

Other reporters surround King, sticking microphones in his face. Eileen Byrne of Chicago's WLS grabs King by the elbow and leads him to her radio booth. It's a jungle out there in Radio Row. Anyone who ventures in there is set upon by a pack of booking sharks. Same with Pat Buchanan, who was holding forth on immigration for a small press scrum when a booker tried to grab him. "I've got to do Al Franken now," he explained.

Next thing you know, I was turning down interview requests.

I see funnyman Mo Rocca doing an interview and try to listen in. But King is to his right, railing about something for Washington's WOL. I can't hear a word Rocca is saying in the radio Kingdom.

Back in the work space. Uh-oh. Don King is on "Crossfire" as I type these words. "Four more years!" he's shouting. There's no escape. Arggghhh!