Quote:first search results are about murders that happened there. Sounds fantastic!

Why would anyone want to watch a show starring a convicted rapist tending to a bunch of filthy pigeons ?

.
(I forgot to post this it was in the 3/3/11 USAToday ,
nice to see JC mentioned. I love the description of the area/town)


Mike Tyson goes
another round, with
homing pigeons


Updated 3/3/2011 3:41:04 PM |

By Gary Levin, USA TODAY

JERSEY CITY ? Former boxing champ Mike
Tyson calls the Ringside Lounge a home of
sorts.

The boxing-themed bar, in a rough stretch
of this industrial town across the river from
Manhattan, sits next to a gym where he'd
trained with pal and owner Mario Costa. Out
back, through a narrow alley, is Tyson's
Corner, a pungent coop with hundreds of
pigeons ? fancy roller pigeons, to be breed-
exact.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/televisi ... 11-03-03-tyson03_ST_N.htm

The show was really well done, I am looking forward to watching this weeks episode!

i saw the show, it is pretty interesting

Mike Tyson's home picketed by PETA day after his pigeon racing show debuts on Animal Planet TV; he says his beloved birds are healthy and pampered

Thursday, March 10, 2011
By TONI-ANN CERBO
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

"Taking on Tyson," the new Animal Planet TV series that features former boxing champ Mike Tyson engaging in the ancient sport of pigeon racing, has ruffled the feathers of some animal rights advocates.

About 20 members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protested outside Tyson's home on Monday.

Lisa Lange of PETA told The Jersey Journal that 60 percent of the pigeons never return from races that could be as long as 600 miles.

"These animals are not racing because they enjoy it," Lange said. "It's out of desperation that they make it back.

"The birds race their hearts out in order to get home to their life mates and become lost in storms or have their necks wrung for failing to beat their competitors' time."

Tyson's winged racers are housed in a coop, Tyson's Corner, behind the Ringside Bar and Lounge on Tonnelle Avenue in Jersey City, and that's where the TV show is filmed.

PETA had no immediate plans to protest at the Ringside, Lange said.

Tyson said yesterday the PETA protesters have nothing to worry about.

"They're well taken care of. They have plenty of food, fresh water, and vitamins daily," Tyson said about his birds.

"I've always loved breeding and raising pigeons, ever since I was a child," he added. "I care deeply for their well-being and they have provided me with tranquillity throughout my entire life."

The show, featuring the self-proclaimed "Baddest Man on the Planet," debuted Sunday night and shows Tyson and his flock engaging in non-wager matches. The pigeons hit speeds of 50 mph and travel up to 600 miles.

Deone Roberts, sport development manager of the American Racing Pigeon Union, argues that pigeon racers are true animal lovers.

"The racers spend money and time giving their birds very distinct diets to keep the birds healthy, such as oyster shells to help digestion, and certain minerals are given in their water," she said.

James "B," a pigeon racer who lives in Jersey City, praised the pigeons.

"They're smart," he said. "People used them as messengers in both world wars . They go by sight, hearing, scent, and have a magnetic field of the earth that they follow. They're beautiful."

The "Taking on Tyson" series continues Sunday on Animal Planet at 10 p.m.

Sounds to me more like a plot for an episode of "Animal Hoarders"

http://animal.discovery.com/tv/confessions-animal-hoarding/

Mike Tyson ready for debut of Animal Planet reality series set in Jersey City

Friday, March 04, 2011, 1:06 PM
By The Associated Press

It's not hard to find Mike Tyson ? it's just difficult to get there.

Start out at Madison Square Garden, the epicenter of boxing for years, and catch the first train to New Jersey. You'll leave behind the glittering lights of New York City, slip quietly beneath the Hudson River and pass right by the quaint neighborhoods of Hoboken.

When you get to Journal Square, start walking, toward the Pulaski Skyway and past St. Peter's Cemetery, the overturned gravestones a tired reminder that Jersey City has seen better days. At the intersection of Tonnelle and Manhattan avenues, step inside the dimly lit Ringside Lounge, the aptly named hangout for fighters and their fans.

Ask for Mario Costa, the owner of the joint, whose slicked-back hair and ever-present cigar give off a certain "Sopranos" vibe. He'll take you around back and make the introductions.

This is Tyson these days, a TV personality, movie star, international ambassador ? even if he's not sure what that entails. An entirely new generation knows nothing about the heavyweight era that he once dominated, or the prison sentences and tabloid tales. The only crime they connect to him is robbery ? every scene he stole during the smash hit "The Hangover."

His new show on Animal Planet, titled "Taking on Tyson," debuts Sunday night at 10. The focus is on Tyson's passion for pigeon racing, but it also brings viewers to places such as Jersey City and people such as Costa, who have stayed beside him through life's turmoil.
"People are going to see what they want to see ? they make their own images and perceptions," Tyson said during a break from filming last fall. "I can't make anybody have an opinion about me. Only thing I can do is treat them the way they'd want to treat me."
_
Iron Mike looks into a steel gray sky and goes quiet, watching a pair of brown pigeons swoop and spin, climb and dive. They look like ballerinas unencumbered by gravity.

"That one's just a baby. Look at him learning to fly," Tyson says, pointing to another that looks no different from the other two. "He's scared to tumble. He doesn't know how yet."

These aren't your everyday rats with wings, those dirty pigeons you find under a highway overpass or pecking around for grain in the gutter. These are called "tumblers" or "rollers," specially bred and cared for, birds that Tyson has been raising since he was a kid.

Tyson got into pigeons by tending those owned by others in his Brooklyn neighborhood. It turns out that raising pigeons is a common pastime in some parts of the city, and Tyson fell in love with the winged creatures almost immediately. He claims he never got into a fight until someone threatened his birds, so in a way, the pigeons also pushed him into boxing.

He kept the birds after going to the Catskills to train with Cus D'Amato, then continued to care for them after D'Amato died. Parts of the coop that he keeps behind the Ringside Lounge are taken from the coop he had back then, the doors and some of the lumber.

"This is always here," Costa says as he chews on his cigar, waving at the rickety wooden structure, housing dozens of birds and big enough to walk in comfortably. "Mike will go on tours and do his movies and his shows, but when he comes back, these are always here."

The coop is on a slab of concrete, down a narrow alley between buildings. But if you climb the metal fire escape nearby, then hop across the rooftops ? being careful where you put your feet ? you can find another small coop that houses only a handful of birds.
These are the racing pigeons, the ones that are the focus of the show.
Tyson acknowledges that he's a novice in the sport, but that's the reason Animal Planet has been following him. The network wants to see how the one-time "Baddest Man on the Planet" can stack up against people who have been breeding and training racing pigeons for years.

The sport was introduced in the United States in the late 1800s, and has grown to the point where there are about 15,000 registered lofts, according to the American Racing Pigeon Union.

Trainers bring their birds to a central location, sometimes several hundred miles from home, and outfit them with electronic timers. Then the birds are released and fly back to their coop, with the time recorded when they pass through the door. That number is factored into the distance traveled to determine their speed, and the fastest birds are declared the winners.

There is big money in pigeon racing. Breeders spend thousands of dollars on birds, and some competitions award up to $50,000 ? not to mention the betting that takes place on the side.

Then there are the bragging rights, and to Tyson, those are more valuable than money.

"Slowly but surely, I'm gaining a name in the business, and I'm very grateful for that as well," Tyson says. "It's competitive, but it's all in love."
___
Tyson made a name for himself by knocking out anybody with enough chutzpah to stand across from him in a boxing ring. The youngest fighter ever to win the heavyweight title, he was so dynamic that folks would tune in just to see how long it'd take for him to win.

Things began to come unglued, though, after he was upset by Buster Douglas in February 1990. The following year he was accused of rape, and in 1992 he began serving what would end up being three years in prison. His comeback included biting off part of Evander Holyfield's ear, saying he wanted to eat Lennox Lewis' children and quitting against journeyman Kevin McBride.

That was the last time he fought professionally, despite financial trouble that forced him to file for bankruptcy. Today, he doesn't miss the sport one bit.

"Best thing that happened to me was to retire from boxing," he says. "I just didn't want that no more in my life. It was just too chaotic."

It seemed that Tyson was destined to fade into oblivion, like so many ex-fighters before him. But then something remarkable happened, something that brought him back into the spotlight.

It turned out he was pretty entertaining outside the ring, too.
He was the focus of an award-winning documentary by James Toback, "Tyson," that took a stark, sobering and sometimes cringe-worthy look at his life. Then he appeared as himself in the comedy hit "The Hangover," lightheartedly singing Phil Collins and ripping off a series of hilarious one-liners in the movie about a Las Vegas bachelor party gone awry.

Fans suddenly took notice of him again, and only in positive ways.
He plans to be a boxing ambassador to China, and has appeared on just about every talk show, from Jimmy Kimmel to Oprah Winfrey. He played himself on the HBO hit "Entourage," presented at the 2010 Golden Globes and will be back for "The Hangover Part 2" later this year.

And, of course, there's his show on Animal Planet.
"Tyson's passion for his pigeons takes my breath away," said network President Marjorie Kaplan. "For years, he has been inspired by these birds. ... 'Taking on Tyson' peels back new layers of the remarkable persona and deep humanity of Mike Tyson while also showing us a whole world we never knew existed right on the rooftops of New York City."

Tyson believes he is in the midst of his greatest comeback, one that finds him walking the fine line of success that he once found in the ring.
Indeed, it's not hard to find Tyson ? because he seems to be everywhere.

"I just want to entertain," he says. "Whether it's boxing, acting, being a comedic, edgy ? it's what I've been doing my whole life. I just want to entertain people."

Editor's note: This story was written by AP sports writer Dave Skretta

Driving home today I saw them filming something on top of the Ringside Lounge on Tonnelle. Could be this.

The creativity index just hit zero.

Will it be on Animal Planet because of the birds or Tyson?

They were out filming today.. Saw a chopper circling the area..

Mike Tyson ?Never Hurt Anybody Until Somebody Hurt One of (his) Birds?

It was announced this past weekend that former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world ?Iron? Mike Tyson has agreed to star in a reality show on Animal Planet about the fierce and competitive world of pigeon racing.

The show will be called Taking on Tyson , and it is scheduled to premier in early 2011.

?I may have stopped fighting,? said Tyson, 43, still the youngest man to ever capture the heavyweight crown at 20. ?But I never stopped flying birds. It?s my first love.?

Tyson (50-6-0-2, 44 KOs), who lost three of his final four bouts as a prizefighter, retired after he suffered an embarrassing sixth-round TKO loss to Kevin McBride (34-6-1, 29 KOs) in June 2005.

?Iron? Mike was an extraordinarily skilled and powerful boxer who could have trumped any fighter on a given evening during the prime of his career.

Unfortunately, Tyson is not universally lauded as the great pugilist that he was due to the vicious and bizarre antics that long plagued his life both inside and outside of the ring.

Many individuals simply consider Tyson to be nothing more than a cannibalistic rapist.

This upcoming program, coupled with the humbling look into his life in the critically-acclaimed 2008 documentary Tyson , could drastically alter ?Iron Mike?s? public image.

Tyson was born and raised in the gritty Brownsville section of Brooklyn in New York City.

?Kid Dynamite? became a product of his surroundings, and he turned to crime at a young age as a way to survive.

Despite his gruff upbringing, Tyson was allegedly not violent until a bully messed with one of his beloved pigeons.

?I rushed him and caught him flush on the temple with titanic right hand,? recalled Tyson of the incident that ultimately spawned his livelihood as a boxer. ?He was out cold, convulsing on the floor like an infantile retard. I never hurt anybody until somebody hurt one of my birds.?

Tyson estimated that he currently owns ?a few hundred birds? that stay in two of his lofts in Brooklyn and Jersey City.

The man that Ring Magazine ranked No. 16 on its list of the 100 greatest punchers of all time has decided to team with a trainer named Vinnie Torre to prepare his birds for competition.

Thousands of dollars are routinely wagered on racing pigeons that travel distances up to 500 miles.

?Mike will be the underdog this time,? said Marjorie Kaplan, the head of Animal Planet . ?We?re just lucky to have Mike Tyson to show us around.?

Deservedly, Mike Tyson was once one of the most feared individuals in the world.

However, Tyson appears to be softening with age and he has somehow managed to become an almost likable individual.

Perhaps at his core Tyson isn?t a genuine menace.

After all, Tyson ?never hurt anybody until somebody hurt one of [his] birds.?

now someone needs to make a custom nintendo rom for mike tyson's punch out: anytime you get a hit on him, a bird flies away.

Quote:

Mike Tyson gets reality show 


Tue, 03/16/2010 - 11:58 ? Sonya E



Mike Tyson will become part of the ever-growing list of celebs starring a reality show thanks to Animal Planet.



The New York Post reports that Iron Mike will star in ?Take On Tyson,? a reality series about bird racing, early next year. The Animal Planet show will see the former boxer and his birds facing off against New York?s best racing pigeons and their owners. 



"I may have stopped fighting," Mike told the Post. "But I never stopped flying birds. It's my first love." And he seems to have a good stable of winged contenders since owns ?a few hundred? birds penned up in Brooklyn and Jersey City.

Mike might know a thing or two about boxing and flying birds, but he put his pigeons in the care of trainer Vinnie Torre for this competition. The head of Animal Planet thinks that is probably a smart move on Mike?s part since he ?will be the underdog this time.?



Details on the show still aren?t completely clear, but ?Take On Tyson? is set to begin shooting in Brooklyn next month.



this is possibly the funniest thing i have ever read.

Oh no we're in trouble now. 2 lofts and one being in J.C. it may behoove not only Tyson but the rest of the city if he were to be a little more low key about his where-abouts. We had trouble with that 50 cents hoodlum and now this guy.

Mike Tyson reality series takes wing

New York post
By MICHAEL SHAIN
March 15, 2010

Iron Mike Tyson is getting ready to make his debut as a reality TV star.

Tyson, a life-long pigeon keeper, will star in a series about bird racing, The Post has learned.

"I may have stopped fighting," says the former heavyweight champ. "But I never stopped flying birds. It's my first love."

The show, to be called "Take on Tyson," pits Tyson and his birds against the best racing-pigeon owners in New York.

It is set to air on the cable channel Animal Planet sometime early next year.

The headline potential of turning the ferocious fighter into a reality TV star is not lost on Tyson himself, who has never been on a continuing series.


Mike Tyson can show off his life-long love affair with pigeons-- this photo was taken in 1985 -- in a new series, "Take on Tyson," set for early next year on Animal Planet. Tyson will race his birds vs. pros.

"I am a little worried about the sitcom effect," Tyson told The Post over the weekend.

"Mike Tyson and Animal Planet? They don't seem to go together, do they?"

Tyson served three years for rape in the mid-'90s and effectively ended his fight career two years later by biting Evander Holyfield during a bout. But he is now well on his way to remaking himself into a sensitive guy.

He cried on Oprah's show last year and starred in a stunningly candid documentary about his life, "Tyson" (which many in Hollywood believe was robbed of an Oscar nomination).

In a suprising role reversal, it is Holyfield who is in hot water these days (accusations of domestic violence, a ducked "Dr. Phil" appearance) and Tyson who is working for the channel that shows the Puppy Bowl.

The fighter says these days he owns "a few hundred birds" in two lofts, one in Brooklyn and another in Jersey City.
But he has never raced birds before.

"Taking on Tyson" begins shooting next month in Brooklyn, the network says.

For the show, Tyson turned his birds over to a cigar-smoking pigeon trainer, Vinnie Torre, who is getting them ready for the competition.

"Mike will be the underdog this time," says Marjorie Kaplan, the head of Animal Planet.

Tyson began with pigeons, he says, at age 10 or 11 in his Brownsville neighborhood, swiping milk crates for bigger kids who used them as coops for their birds.

"I cleaned cages," he says. "I was their go-fer."
In exchange, "I got the strays."

He kept his birds in a small coop attached to the windowsill of his apartment on Amboy Street for a while, he says, and later in a nearby abandoned building.

"I couldn't fly them off the roof," he explains. "Big kids would come and steal them."

And it was the birds that steered him to boxing, he says now.

"I never hurt anybody until somebody hurt one of my birds," Tyson says.

In the sport of pigeon racing, birds race distances up to 500 miles -- with thousands wagered on the outcome.

Like most reality shows, the drama won't be in who wins -- but among the hard-core Brooklyn characters who work in the rooftop world of competitive pigeon racing.

"We're just lucky to have Mike Tyson to show us around," says Kaplan.

Details are still sketchy, she says.
"We'll film and, when everyone gets back, we'll see what we have," says the network boss.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment ... iMUgCKnB5gP#ixzz0iFfWRy75