The popularity of martial arts turns the sweet science sour

So the movie “Redbelt” hit theaters Friday, and mixed-martial-arts champion Randy Couture has a role in it. This is more evidence of mixed martial arts putting pressure on boxing as America’s favorite form of one-on-one combat.

Climbing

•Kobe Bryant: He won the MVP award and was the only unanimous All-NBA selection.

But, to put this in perspective, how crazy is it that for as great as Bryant has been, he’s about three MVPs and two NBA titles from being one of the five greatest players in Lakers history?

I’ve got Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, George Mikan, Shaquille O’Neal and Jerry West ahead of him at this point — so he’s got to get past at least two other players. But he’s got plenty of time, and I think he can crack that list.

•Brett Favre: David Witthoft, a 12-year-old from Connecticut, has finally decided to change shirts. He wore a Favre jersey for 1,581 straight days, according to reports.

His mom washed the jersey every other day — and thank God for that, had he not taken the jersey off at all, that might have gotten dangerous.

Anyway, there is no way my mother would have let me wear the same shirt for four years. No way. You could have told her she was going to get $1 million for every day I wore it, and she’d have taken it off my back the next morning and banked a $1 million check.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.

Holding steady

•Cowboys: Dallas QB Tony Romo finished 4 shots off the pace in a U.S. Open qualifying event. So if he ever competes in the Open, it won’t be this year.

Also, the Cowboys are going to be the focus of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” this year. It will be the second time for the Cowboys to be featured on the show.

•Larry Bird: The Pacers promoted David Morway to general manager. He’s going to help Bird, the Pacers president of basketball, make personnel decisions.

What Bird really needs help with, though, is picking endorsements. Bird, the Celtics’ Hall of Famer, has a new pair of kids’ shoes out — Skechers Bird 33s. The ad features a computerized version of Bird dribbling around a bunch of giant shoes that apparently are trying to defend him and the slogan, “The legend returns for a new generation.”

What was wrong with Converse?

•Hockey: The stars came out for the Rangers, but it didn’t help. The Olsen twins, May Anderson, Tim Robbins and Matt Dillon were at New York’s final home game of the year, a 3-0 win over the Penguins on May 1. That was the only game Pittsburgh lost in the series. And in the grand scheme of things, winning one game in a seven-game series is like spitting at a forest fire.

Slipping

•Joe Montana: The Smoking Gun Web site reported that Montana is suing his ex-wife and a Texas auction house. Among the items Kim Moses and Heritage Auction put up for sale, according to the complaint, were love letters, his Notre Dame ID card and their marriage certificate.

He’s seeking $75,000. If you ask me — and nobody did, but I’m telling you anyway — that’s not nearly enough.

To reach Greg Moore, send e-mail to gmoore@kcstar.com