Bulls F DENNIS RODMAN has filed a petition to have his
marriage to actress CARMEN ELECTRA annulled. Electra's
publicist CINDY GUAGENTI said that the couple had agreed to
end the marriage (USA TODAY, 11/24). A friend of Rodman said
the "bizarre flip-flop" was because Electra wouldn't sign a
postnuptial agreement (N.Y. POST, 11/24)....Univ. of Houston
basketball coach CLYDE DREXLER is profiled by NEWSWEEK's Mark
Starr, who writes that Drexler "is on a rescue mission," and
his hiring "has already proved a marketing masterstroke."
The school's "Come Glyde with Clyde" campaign has helped sell
out Hofheinz Pavilion (capacity 8,479) for the entire season,
including new $15,000 luxury boxes and $1,000 courtside
seats. Drexler's base salary, which was $5.5M last year with
the Rockets, is $150,000 (NEWSWEEK, 11/30).....N.Y. TIMES
sportswriter GERALD ESKENAZI has written, "Gang Green: An
Irreverent Look Behind the Scenes at Thirty-eight (Well,
Thirty-seven) Seasons of New York Jets Football Futility"
(Simon & Schuster, $25). Eskenazi: "I believe the Jets are
the most famous bad franchise in sports. But that doesn't
mean they are a team that cannot be enjoyed, even loved"
(N.Y. TIMES, 11/22).....MA-based THE GIVING BACK FUND
received a $50,000 grant from THE FORD FOUNDATION. The grant
will assist the fund in alliances with the player's
associations in the four major sports (The Giving Back Fund).
