Hold on, Dennis, Cavalry’s Coming

So Dennis Rodman is the talk of the town. Ah, where do I begin? Do I start with the Bill Plaschkes and Mark Heislers of the world? Do I start with the fans who make Viewpoint their second homes and write self-flattering vitriolic commentary merely for the purpose of seeing their names in print?

Some have made utterly rude comments about Dennis’ lifestyle. And some have vowed to become ex-Laker fans to “protect” their children from the ghastliness of Rodman’s appearance, when oafs like Charles Barkley don’t get nearly the same kind of cynicism.

The fact is that Rodman, along with Kurt Rambis, has injected life into the Lakers and (gasp!) has even taken on a new identity with the Lakers--that of a leader! Doggone, Dennis even coaches the team on occasion, something Harris rarely did. He’s playing defense, tying up opposing power forwards, doing the dirty work underneath the basket, creating outlet passes to bring back the fastbreaks of olden times and, most important, grabbing those rebounds.

No Laker player on this roster in recent years has wanted to do any of those things. Thank God for Dennis Rodman, and shame on Jerry West if it’s true that he didn’t want Rodman on this team.

As of now, the Lakers are doing great, and it remains to be seen how long it will continue, but for now it’s time to give Dennis a break.

JOHN ROWE

West Hills

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A little perspective, please. Dennis Rodman’s off-court behavior--coloring his hair, tattooing his body, wearing dresses, going to professional wrestling shows, gambling at legal casinos, showing up late to work or going on a bender and waking up to find he’s married--is admittedly odd when taken all together. But come on, with the possible exception of the dresses, most of the men in Southern California have done one or more of these same things at one time or another.

Would it be preferable for Rodman to spit in an opposing player’s face like Bill Romanowski? Or maybe beat his wife like Wil Cordero? Or assault his coach like Latrell Sprewell or Kevin Greene? Or father a half-dozen illegitimate kids like Shawn Kemp or Evander Holyfield? Perhaps he should take steroids like Petr Korda, then claim he doesn’t know they got into his body. Or he could really go big time like those guys in Salt Lake and bribe someone to get something he wants! Dennis Rodman may be odd, but he’s not in the same league as these guys.

RICHARD IMAMURA

Los Angeles