OFF THE MARK? In Dallas, Kevin Blackistone writes that
after the Mavericks released F Dennis Rodman on Wednesday,
"we learned a few things" about prospective team Owner Mark
Cuban. Blackistone: "Cuban doesn't have a future in
politics. He's a horrible spinmeister. ... [But] his desire
to be one of the boyz apparently doesn't affect his ability
to act like a boss when need be." Blackistone adds, "My
faith in Cuban could be renewed only more if he'd just
admitted his Rodman experiment was a failure" (DALLAS
MORNING NEWS, 3/10). Cuban, on releasing Rodman: "I'm the
first to admit that I'm not going to be perfect. I'm also
the first to admit that I want to give us a chance to win.
The one thing I didn't want to do was look back, see that we
were one game short [of the playoffs] and say, `We should
have brought Dennis in'" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 3/10).
Rodman was asked if he regretted criticizing Cuban for being
around the players too much: "I didn't make no mistake. You
don't have to be in the huddle, you don't have to be in the
locker room every minute. ... I don't care if your worth
$100 billion dollars, get out" ("Fox Sports News," 3/9).
NOTES: In N.Y., Peter Vecsey writes that Nets President
Michael Rowe, GM John Nash and coach Don Casey "will be
excised" after the season and the new management team will
hire their "own people" (N.Y. POST, 3/10)....In Providence,
Bob Dick reports that Bruins President/GM Harry Sinden "in
all likelihood ... will retain the role" as team President
next season and "concentrate on the business end" of the
franchise, while day-to-day team operations "will be turned
over" to Assistant GM and VP/Hockey Operations Mike
O'Connell (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 3/10)....The Warriors had a
franchise-record crowd of 20,136 at the New Arena last night
for their game against the Lakers (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/10).
...The WCHL Falcons introduced Owner Charles Davenport and
Davenport "vowed to keep" the team in Fresno. Davenport
introduced William Davidson, whose National Sports Services
(NSS) firm has been hired to run" the Falcons. NSS manages
three minor league hockey teams (FRESNO BEE, 3/9).
