Columnist Ron Kantowski: Rodman won’t hoop it up against Rattlers

Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2004 | 9:35 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Provided he doesn't fall off a Harley, which is what happened the last time he was in town, Dennis Rodman may still return to the basketball court in Las Vegas this week.

But it doesn't appear as if he'll be playing. Basketball, that is.

The Worm was scheduled to wriggle into the All-American Sports Park as the newest member of Long Beach Jam, which will provide the opposition for our American Basketball Association team, the ... um ... uh ... Rattlers (I knew it would come to me) tonight and Wednesday.

While the Rattlers continued preparing for Rodman's arrival on Monday, an Associated Press story said he would not play in Las Vegas after straining his calf in a game Sunday night.

"It's not even an injury," said his agent, Darren Prince.

So is Rodman just pulling our leg by making up an injury about his?

"He just feels like he's straining his calf a little bit. He knows his body better than anybody," Prince said.

Madonna, it could be assumed, would be a close second.

Rodman, his hair dyed in the Jam's orange and blue colors, pulled down 14 rebounds in his ABA debut Friday night in front of an announced crowd of 4,373 at the Long Beach Pyramid.

The crowd got ripped off -- literally. But it had nothing to do with Rodman. During a timeout, Hulk Hogan, seated in the stands, got up and tore his yellow tank top into shreds.

Rodman supposedly is trying to get back into shape, either to reconcile with Carmen Electra or to make himself available to any NBA team that could use a guy who still knows how to block out.

"Dennis is in 90 percent shape and the ABA will help him get in 100 percent basketball shape," Prince said last week. "Our ultimate goal is to be signed by an NBA team by the all-star break in mid-February, if not sooner."

Prince said he talked to the Rattlers about Rodman doing his basketball rehab here but decided against it, given that his client supposedly has been trying to clean up his act.

"We decided Las Vegas is not the best place for Dennis to be, especially being sober for two months," Prince said. "Dennis wanted to stay close to home in Newport Beach and play in Long Beach. We appreciated the offer and wish the Rattlers the best."

Added Jam president Steve Chase: "One of our main reasons for signing Dennis is that he has been clean and sober for several months, is in great shape, and is completely focused on basketball."

But here, he'll only be talking about it. A press conference has been called for 7 p.m. Wednesday, during which Rodman, if he shows, will talk about his basketball future and/or scaring up a party at the Palms after the game.

Like the league itself, the news conference would appear to be tentative at best.

Around the horn

They should have just renamed Sunday's NFC championship game the Beehive Bowl, given all the former Utah and BYU players and coaches that were part of it. For Carolina, there were former Utes Steve Smith, Jordan Gross, Kevin Dyson and assistant coach Mike McCoy. (Which only goes to show that Ron McBride could recruit talent, but couldn't coach it.) For Philadelphia, there were ex-Cougars Chad Lewis, Reno Mahe, Justin Ena and coach Andy Reid. And former Utah assistant Brad Childress was the Eagles' offensive coordinator. ...

The crowd at Saturday's All-American Classic college football all-star game at Sam Boyd Stadium left in the same taxi, but the game's founder, Darry Alton, is confident the game can improve in stature with the addition of "10-12 heavy-hitting All-Americans" which he hopes to attract next year. Alton is a nice guy, but apparently more naive than that Jim guy from "American Pie." He could bring the Playboy All-American team here next year, along with Miss September, October and November, and nobody would buy tickets. Our town has trouble supporting legitimate sports so to expect it to embrace a passe endeavor like a college football all-star is about as realistic as the turf on which it was played. ...

I don't know where the curious custom of exchanging helmet decals at college all-star games started (probably the Blue-Gray game), but the guys wearing the Michigan, Yale and Penn State helmets at the All-American Classic apparently weren't participating. The Yale guy apparently was smart enough to know how ridiculous his helmet would look with decals plastered all over it in NASCAR fashion, while Joe Paterno doesn't even allow a Penn State decal to be affixed to a Penn State helmet. And defacing that beautiful Michigan helmet would have been a crime, akin to having Da Vinci autograph the Mona Lisa or putting mud flaps on a Testa Rossa.

Give new UNLV baseball coach Buddy Gouldsmith and his staff some peanuts and Crackerjack for finishing what former coach Jim Schlossnagle started. The Rebels' 2005 recruiting class was ranked No. 8 in the nation by Baseball America. That was one slot ahead of TCU, to where Schlossnagle unexpectantly bolted last spring. The only programs ahead of UNLV were Texas, Miami, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Alabama and Florida, which more or less resembles the bracket at Omaha in any given spring.

Thanks to Bill Walton, it was a dog day afternoon at Cox Arena in San Diego Saturday. Walton, whose son, Chris, plays for San Diego State, brought his Labrador retrievers to the Aztecs-Rebels game. But the dogs were well behaved. Like UNLV's perimeter defense, they spent most of the game asleep.