Dennis The Menace

Who in Holy Hell gives a damn whether or not Dennis Rodman likes Kim Jong Un?

Or if he thinks North Korea is a wonderful place to buy a summer home?

Dennis Rodman was, and continues to seem like, an idiot.   He may be able to dribble (in more ways than one...) but aside from that, he contributes nothing.

He was a championship basketball player, he dyed his hair, he slept with Carmen Electra (okay...I'll confess to being jealous about that one...) but what has he really done?

Has he worked on the myriad diseases plaguing the planet?  Has he invented anything that makes our lives better. Has he worked for world peace? 

Well, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt about that last one. 

We can all agree that North Korea represents a threat to the world and that the way in which the dictatorship there treats its' people is reprehensible, but it's hard to believe that Dennis Rodman went there because he thought he could contribute to the international diplomatic dialogue. 

Maybe he did but it seems like a stretch, if you ask me...which you didn't but, hey, this is my blog and I'm opining if you don't mind, which, if you do, you can just hit delete, which I hope you don't because I need all of the readers/followers that I have, and more, to be honest with you...

Trash talking is one thing but meaningful and tactful conversations between world leaders is another.

Sending Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to shoot hoops with a friendly country in the hopes of cementing our cultural and commercial relationships is understandable.  Lew Alcindor was a kind and gentle man who was always a reticent participant in the spotlight of Lakers' basketball.  Ask your grandfather who Lew Alcindor was...he'll know.

Dennis Rodman was grandstanding showoff who craved the attention so much that nothing was beyond his self-aggrandizing self-promotion.  From wedding dresses to endless tattoos to more piercings than an archery target, he treated us to one spectacle after another during his career and afterwards.

Magic didn't do that nor did Larry nor, Michael nor any of the hundreds of other stars enshrined in Springfield (...Massachusetts...the home of The Basketball Hall of Fame...not the home of the Anderson Family of "Father Knows Best"...although it was that too... and the capital of Illinois as well...and a town in New Jersey, near Morristown, Madison, Chatham and Jockey Hollow...)

Rodman, alone among the greats, sought to make himself into a carnival attraction.  And this is the man who North Korea gets as an example of Western culture and American prowess in particular?

It's fine for a leader to have a crush on a celebrity.  Senator Patrick Leahy is a Deadhead and Governor Chris Christie has a man crush on Bruce.  Good for them.

Kim may have fantasies about American basketball heroes.

But why does it have to be Dennis Rodman?  Why not Grant Hill or David Robinson or Patrick Ewing. Even Reggie Miller would be better.  At least his courtside antics with Spike Lee were born of a passion for the game and for winning, not just for creating an image designed to garner more and better endorsements.

Who's next?  Charles Manson?  Bernie Madoff?  OJ...?

Oh...they're in prison?

Pardon me...