Hook, Line & Stinker : Dennis Rodman May Be Aptly Called the Worm, but It Is Us Who Have Taken the Bait

When the Lakers visit the Chicago Bulls tonight in a star-filled potential NBA championship preview, the focus will be on one man.

Every move will be dissected. Every mannerism will be examined.

He’ll raise his eyebrows, we’ll nudge our friends.

Michael Jordan? Shaquille O’Neal?

We just hope they don’t block our view of a selfish, profane, rebel-with-a-screw-loose named Dennis Rodman.

Which says something pretty disturbing.

And not about Dennis Rodman.

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The basketball bosses who have spent so much time disciplining the great rebounding and defensive forward for the Chicago Bulls have it all wrong.

It is not Dennis Rodman who should be censured.

It is the rest of us.

It is Chicago’s SportsChannel, so aghast at televising his profanity-laced live postgame interview last week that it aired it again, twice.

Without bleeping out the profanity.

And one morning at 7, just in time to reach the ears of youngsters preparing for school.

The Bulls suspended Rodman for two games. SportsChannel took on celebrity status.

It is not Rodman who should be censured, it is the rest of us.

It is the thousands who watched that SportsChannel interview and silently approved. Three airings, all that foul language and--according to the network--not one complaint.

Rodman showed up at a Chicago-area rock concert during his ensuing suspension, introduced the band, and received the loudest ovation of the night.

It is not Rodman who should be censured, it is the rest of us.

It is parents who helped his recent book become a national No. 1 best seller for eight weeks by buying it for their children, despite the crude language and sexually explicit dialogue.

It is parents who have helped his jersey become the second-hottest gift item in Chicago to Jordan’s jersey, buying it for their children even though this is a man who once physically assaulted a referee.

It is parents who have made a role model out of a man whose media guide biography contains the name of his favorite rock band, but not his daughter.

It is not Rodman who should be censured, it is the rest of us.

It is companies like Kodak and Pizza Hut, which are trying to sell their products with a man who once quit on his team during a playoff game.

It is companies like CKE Restaurants Inc., the Anaheim owner of Carl’s Jr., that is using Rodman in hamburger ads, even though chairman emeritus Carl Karcher is a noted conservative.

It is every media outlet in the English-speaking world--this one included--that has helped turn a down-and-out troublemaker into a hot corporate commodity.

Who is laughing not with us, but at us.

This is not about Dennis Rodman’s colored hair. Or nose ring. Or tattoos. Or about how he took the floor at the Sports Arena earlier this month wearing painted nails.

This is not about his tendency to dress in drag, or talk openly about a confused sexuality.

So what? Many great figures have been there, done that.

This is about Rodman’s insistence on taking his rebellion several steps further, to a place where he hurts others, crossing the line from diversion to detraction.

This is about how, with every step in that direction, he becomes more celebrated, more popular, richer.

He already has a cable TV show and will soon appear in a movie.

Who knows, if he sends a referee to the hospital, or shows up naked at center court during the Bulls’ playoff run, maybe he could run for Congress.

This is a man for whom a head butt is a career move.

A couple of years ago, understanding that rebounding and defense and playing hard rarely make a man famous, Rodman made a conscious decision to become something that does.

And we have bought it. Every last vulgarity.

Do not say you will look for him on TV tonight because you want to see him pull down a rebound. Do not say it.

You will look for him because you want to check out the color of his hair. The size of his latest tattoo. And whether or not he will attack somebody.

You will watch him for the same reason you slowed down on I-5 last week to watch the cops clean up after that accident.

All the while, you will be ignoring the greatness of others around the league who are truly role models in a civilized society.

David Robinson? Too nice. Karl Malone? Too bald.

If you want different, perhaps nobody in the league leads a more unusual off-court lifestyle than Hakeem Olajuwon, complete with extended days of religious fasting and an arranged marriage.

Why is he not as popular as Rodman? Because he never hurts anybody.

“We like rebellion here” said John Unger, a manager at The Sports Authority sporting goods store in downtown Chicago. “Michael Jordan, anymore, he’s too quiet. Rodman is not afraid to say stuff. His jersey does very well.”

All of which says more about society than it does about Rodman.

“The bad thing is, we don’t listen to what it is saying,” said Don McPherson of Boston’s Center of the Study of Sports in Society. “So many people love Dennis Rodman because they are confused with issues of identity, where they fit in with this world.

“These days we have a definite problem with communicating with each other. Dennis appeals to all the people who feel lost.”

McPherson said he also appeals to those who are tired of trying to do the right thing to find their way home.

“Dennis lets them know, they can do the wrong things and still make it big.” he said. “People like that.”

The first sign that some are growing tired of this attitude recently was voiced by Jordan and teammate Scottie Pippen, who openly wondered if Rodman was taking the game seriously.

There is growing concern that his off-court antics can eventually destroy the final year of one of basketball’s greatest dynasties.

Then again, I recently phoned the local library to see about checking out his book, “Bad As I Wanna Be.”

The librarian said there was a copy that should have been available, but wasn’t.

Somebody, perhaps figuring they could be as bad as they wanted to be, checked it out and never returned it.

* WHAT TO DO?

For a sports editor, Dennis Rodman is the ultimate Catch-22. C4