Scorecard

Dennis and the Five-Ring Circus

The campaign to name Dennis Rodman to one of the remaining two spots on the U.S. Olympic team has begun. It is built partly on lingering guilt over his not having been added to the Eastern Conference roster for last month's NBA All-Star Game. Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson says that Rodman's "work ethic" is worthy of being displayed on the world stage. And Rodman's teammate Michael Jordan backdoored the Worm into worthiness by saying, "If they took Charles [Barkley for the Barcelona Games in 1992], they can certainly take Dennis."

We disagree. The breast-beating about Rodman's not making the All-Star team had at least minimal merit, but the idea that he deserves to be an Olympian is ludicrous. He is a one-dimensional player with a history of divisiveness.

Rodman deserves praise for his rebounding, and he has received it in these pages (SI, March 4) and elsewhere. He has become a prime example of a phenomenon that his former Detroit Pistons teammate Joe Dumars once described as follows: "I've gotten so much attention for being called underrated," said Dumars, "I've become overrated." Rodman does one thing extraordinarily well, but it is just one thing. All-Stars and Olympians should be made of more diverse stuff. And though Rodman's indefatigability helps him collect rebounds at the same rate that Imelda Marcos collected footwear, he is not the only player in the NBA who works hard. If "work ethic" were the benchmark for Olympian status, then we should be measuring 5'11" Dallas Mavericks guard Scotty Brooks for a red, white and blue uniform.

Rodman simply hasn't earned the honor. It has nothing to do with his leather-laden wardrobe, his choice of off-court diversions or the color of his hair. (Actually, the possibility that Rodman might unveil a stars-and-stripes dye job would be a good reason to send him to Atlanta.) During his two seasons as a San Antonio Spur he embarrassed his coach and teammates by ignoring them during timeout huddles, showed up late for practice and games, and openly quit on the court many times when things weren't going his way.

Rodman is a superb complementary player on a superb team, which is exactly what he was when his Pistons won championships in 1989 and '90. That doesn't make him an Olympian.

Congress at Work

Republicans and Democrats may haggle over things like health care and budgets, but when it comes to football, party lines dissolve. Indiana representatives Dan Burton, a Republican, and Andrew Jacobs, a Democrat, are cosponsoring a bill that would mandate the use of instant replay to review controversial calls in pro sports. They joined forces after the Indianapolis Colts lost 20-16 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC title game with the help of a blown call that gave Pittsburgh a touchdown.

The bill is called the What Really Happened Act of 1996. What's really happening, though, is that neither Burton nor Jacobs has nearly enough to do.

Found but Still Lost