NBA Finals -- Dennis Rodman A Disgrace To Sports

Dennis Rodman a champ? Not in my book!

Each game I watched as Rodman did everything in his power to cause the Sonics to lose their focus and their concentration, to "get them off their game."

Rodman's tactics of taunting, pushing, hitting, confrontational staring, and his "poor-me" theatrics are a disgrace to the sport. But it goes much deeper than that. He is a symptom, and a signal we cannot ignore.

First, I would like to address this man who blithely tells us that he's just doing his job by "getting inside people's heads." Sorry, Rodman, your hollow words do not justify your unethical behavior and your obvious lack of respect for others. To you, winning is all that counts, no matter the costs. The costs are dearer than you know.

What are sports all about, anyway? Are they just about who can win the most games? Who can make the most money? If they were, I don't think there would be millions of sports fans across America and around the world rooting for teams and individual athletes, supporting them in times of victory as well as defeat.

What is it, then, that we truly enjoy about sports? I believe that, for most people, it is the skills of the players and the determination, motivation, and focus that enables them to do their best - in a sportsmanlike manner.

Obviously Rodman is not a good sportsman. Indeed, he is the antithesis of the definition.

When he pulled his stunts in Seattle, I fully expected to hear

booing from the stands. Instead, there was silence. And then I realized that Rodman gets away with his atrocious actions because there are no consequences; no one in power calls him on it. Nor do the fans (the ultimate power in sports) call him on it. In fact, by all appearances, his behavior is condoned - even his book, "Bad as I Wanna Be," is a best-seller! He's as bad as he wants to be because no one calls him on it, because there are no consequences.

Do you really want your kids emulating Rodman and others like him? Do you want them treating their peers and teachers with such flagrant disregard and disrespect? Do you want them treating you like that? Perhaps they already do.

Certainly, there are more harmful role models out there to emulate than Dennis Rodman. But it is not too late to turn back the tide. Each person can make a conscious decision to reward decent, responsible behavior whenever and wherever we see it. We can teach our children that freedom without responsibility is not freedom, it is simply the few running roughshod over the many. Only with responsibility can there be true freedom for all. Vivian Kent, Bothell