http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/line9e_20050709.htm
Rodman runs with real bulls
July 9, 2005
Dennis Rodman, who used to play for the Bulls, is now running with them.
The two-time NBA All-Star, who won five championships -- three with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls and two with the Pistons -- was among those who participated Friday in the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
Known for his tattoos, piercings and outlandish behavior, the 44-year-old Rodman participated in conjunction with an online casino to raise money for multiple sclerosis research, said his agent, Darren Prince.
Rodman finished unharmed, Prince said.
Next year, Rodman wants to complete the run naked on behalf of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, his agent said. Rodman is a spokesman for the animal-rights group.
The running of the bulls is part of the city's nine-day festival to honor its patron saint, San Fermin. The average run lasts about three minutes.
---------------
Appears Rodman is determined to do something naked. He wanted to strip after his last NBA game. I guess he didn't because he never thought it would be his last game.
----------------
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3746160
Dawkins: Guns have always been a part of NBA
Charley Rosen / FOXSports.com
In the past week and a half, two NBA players — Chris Wilcox and Alan Henderson — have been busted for carrying guns.
This seems to be a continuing problem: the unfortunate case of Jayson Williams; charges that at least one member of Allen Iverson's posse was packing; Dennis Rodman's being nabbed with a rifle in his car and so on.
What's going on here?
The easiest rationale is to believe that, since many NBA'ers wear everyday jewelry that's worth more than most civilians earn in a year, and since players have occasionally been mugged, the guns are carried for protection.
Another off-the-cuff possibility is that guns are so popular because the "successful" males in the hood — pimps, drug dealers, hit men, and the like — were packing. So carrying a gun has become a status symbol.
But according to Darryl Dawkins, neither of these proposals is valid.
With the folding of the Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs — the summertime USBL franchise that Dawkins has been coaching so successfully for the past five seasons — Chocolate Thunder has become the best unemployed big man's coach around. Back when he played in the league (1975-89), Dawkins says that about half of the active players all carried guns.
"Sometimes the situation got to be outrageous," Double-D says. "One time a certain big man was teed off because a certain guard wasn't giving him the ball enough. 'People don't pay to see little guys like you dribbling around in circles,' the big man said. 'They want to see me go to work in the pivot.'"
"The guard's response was this: 'Well, I've got something for you.' Then he dug into his gym bag, pulled out a piece and stuck it right into the big guy's nose. 'Listen up,' the little guy said. 'I ain't no play dude. I'm a real gangsta. So if you've got anything more to complain about, I'm gonna blow a hole in the middle of your face.' Needless to say, the big man never did get the ball. I've seen this go down on two separate occasions."
Why, then, is gun-toting so common?
"Lots of reasons," says Dawkins. "When all of us were kids, there were always guns around. And our mamas used to constantly tell us to stay away from guns. ... Now, with everybody out on their own, with mama somewhere else, and with money to burn, it's only natural to do all the things that we were forbidden to do coming up — owning a gun being one of them."
As always, Dawkins has his own way of summing up the situation: "All rappers want to be ballplayers, and all ballplayers want to be rappers. And the both of them want to be gangstas."
Why?
"Because good girls like bad guys," he said.
Dawkins also believes that gun-toting is sharply divided along racial lines. "Only the craziest of white players carry guns," he says. "Steve Stipanovich was one of them. Remember him? His playing career ended when he shot himself in the foot back in 1988. What always bothered me was trying to figure out how he was cleaning his gun with the barrel pointing down."
Dawkins also recalls other white men who were armed: "The trainers. Because on road trips they carried the meal money, the emergency cash and the plane tickets."
What about the situation these days?
"Plenty of guys are still packing, but most of them are smart enough to get permits. Mostly they have .22 caliber or .25 caliber pistols. Just enough to sting somebody who gets too close. I mean, I've heard these guys talking. 'If you don't stop bothering me, I'll bust a cap on your butt.' A lot of guys chose to have their boys do the packing."
But Dawkins is dismayed at how careless some of the players can be. "They don't respect the danger," he says, "or the harm that guns can cause. I see guys in just about every locker room getting dressed after games and their final accessory is the gun that they stick down the front of their pants. They do this so that the handle shows and everybody knows not to mess with them."
Dawkins, who measures 6-foot-11 and 280 pounds, says that only guards carry guns. "That's because they were smaller than anybody else when they were kids so they always got picked on and bullied by the big guys. Centers, power forwards and some small forwards can get respect without having to rely on a shooting iron."
David Stern take note. Maybe metal detectors in the locker rooms isn't such a bad idea.
Charley Rosen, former CBA coach, author of 12 books about hoops, the current one being A pivotal season — How the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers changed the NBA, is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.
---------------------
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl.../ASSAULT09/TP%
Fight with NBA players 'ridiculous,' witness says
By JAMES RUSK
Saturday, July 9, 2005 Page A12
The altercation in front of a King Street strip club that led to three NBA players being charged with assault was "a pointless fight" that lasted only a few seconds, according to an exotic dancer who witnessed it.
Nicole Stone told the trial of Gary Payton, Sam Cassell and Jason Caffey that as she was leaving For Your Eyes Only on the night of April 13, 2003, "some swinging" occurred between the players and Adrian Cimpian, but it was quickly broken up by the club's bouncers.
After Mr. Cimpian and his girlfriend, Vida Asante, reported the altercation to police, the three players, who were then with the Milwaukee Bucks, were charged with assault causing bodily harm and common assault on two men and two women.
Mr. Cimpian has said he is planning to sue Mr. Payton, Mr. Cassell and Mr. Caffey after the criminal trial.
Ms. Stone, 27, testified the three basketball players arrived at the club after midnight and she made $500 (U.S.) dancing for, and being with, Mr. Payton for an hour before the club closed.
Ms. Stone said that because she had a boyfriend, she had already turned down Mr. Payton when he asked her back to his hotel room.
As the players were leaving the club, Ms. Stone said, there was a discussion between the players and the dancers about "who was going home with whom."
She went to change out of her dancing clothes, and when she left the club with Ms. Asante and Mr. Cimpian, the three players were waiting in a cab parked in front of the club.
The fight started after Mr. Cimpian and Mr. Payton got into a heated argument.
"The reason why it got out of hand was that something was said," Ms. Stone testified.
She said she had not expected Mr. Payton to get out of the cab, but after Mr. Cimpian said something to him, he jumped out.
"I don't know what taunted Payton, but he came out of the car. . . . They were arguing, Adrian and Gary," she said.
Ms. Stone said she was not paying much attention to the argument but recalled Mr. Cimpian saying, "They aren't going home with you."
Just as she heard Mr. Payton say "do you know who I am," she turned in their direction just in time to see Mr. Payton take a swing at Mr. Cimpian.
The club's bouncers stepped in to try to break up the fight, and that was when Mr. Cassell and Mr. Caffey, who had not been involved, got into the melee, Ms. Stone said.
Ms. Asante "grabbed Adrian to pull him away, but by the it's a swinging match. Everyone's going to get hit," she said.
Mr. Cimpian was hit by Mr. Payton, and she and Ms. Asante were hit by errant blows. But it was all over quickly, as soon as people realized the bouncers were breaking it up.
Once it broke up, "everybody went home," she said, verbally underlining each word.
Ms. Stone's account differed markedly from Mr. Cimpian's.
He testified the fight lasted for as long as five minutes.
"The conversation lasted longer than the fight. No way it lasted five minutes," Ms. Stone testified.
Mr. Cimpian said he was pushed to the ground, and hit and kicked by the players to the point he suffered severe injury, including brain damage.
Ms. Stone stood in court to demonstrate that he was crouched in a defensive position, with his knees bent, and his fists in front of his face.
And while Mr. Cimpian said the fight happened 10 to 15 metres from the vehicle, she said it occurred on the strip of sidewalk between the front door of the club and the cab.
As for the altercation being something that merited charges, Ms. Stone said the idea was absurd.
"I've blocked this incident out because I didn't think it would come to this. . . . I find this ridiculous."
The trial resumes Aug. 15.
Rodman runs with real bulls
July 9, 2005
Dennis Rodman, who used to play for the Bulls, is now running with them.
The two-time NBA All-Star, who won five championships -- three with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls and two with the Pistons -- was among those who participated Friday in the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
Known for his tattoos, piercings and outlandish behavior, the 44-year-old Rodman participated in conjunction with an online casino to raise money for multiple sclerosis research, said his agent, Darren Prince.
Rodman finished unharmed, Prince said.
Next year, Rodman wants to complete the run naked on behalf of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, his agent said. Rodman is a spokesman for the animal-rights group.
The running of the bulls is part of the city's nine-day festival to honor its patron saint, San Fermin. The average run lasts about three minutes.
---------------
Appears Rodman is determined to do something naked. He wanted to strip after his last NBA game. I guess he didn't because he never thought it would be his last game.
----------------
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3746160
Dawkins: Guns have always been a part of NBA
Charley Rosen / FOXSports.com
In the past week and a half, two NBA players — Chris Wilcox and Alan Henderson — have been busted for carrying guns.
This seems to be a continuing problem: the unfortunate case of Jayson Williams; charges that at least one member of Allen Iverson's posse was packing; Dennis Rodman's being nabbed with a rifle in his car and so on.
What's going on here?
The easiest rationale is to believe that, since many NBA'ers wear everyday jewelry that's worth more than most civilians earn in a year, and since players have occasionally been mugged, the guns are carried for protection.
Another off-the-cuff possibility is that guns are so popular because the "successful" males in the hood — pimps, drug dealers, hit men, and the like — were packing. So carrying a gun has become a status symbol.
But according to Darryl Dawkins, neither of these proposals is valid.
With the folding of the Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs — the summertime USBL franchise that Dawkins has been coaching so successfully for the past five seasons — Chocolate Thunder has become the best unemployed big man's coach around. Back when he played in the league (1975-89), Dawkins says that about half of the active players all carried guns.
"Sometimes the situation got to be outrageous," Double-D says. "One time a certain big man was teed off because a certain guard wasn't giving him the ball enough. 'People don't pay to see little guys like you dribbling around in circles,' the big man said. 'They want to see me go to work in the pivot.'"
"The guard's response was this: 'Well, I've got something for you.' Then he dug into his gym bag, pulled out a piece and stuck it right into the big guy's nose. 'Listen up,' the little guy said. 'I ain't no play dude. I'm a real gangsta. So if you've got anything more to complain about, I'm gonna blow a hole in the middle of your face.' Needless to say, the big man never did get the ball. I've seen this go down on two separate occasions."
Why, then, is gun-toting so common?
"Lots of reasons," says Dawkins. "When all of us were kids, there were always guns around. And our mamas used to constantly tell us to stay away from guns. ... Now, with everybody out on their own, with mama somewhere else, and with money to burn, it's only natural to do all the things that we were forbidden to do coming up — owning a gun being one of them."
As always, Dawkins has his own way of summing up the situation: "All rappers want to be ballplayers, and all ballplayers want to be rappers. And the both of them want to be gangstas."
Why?
"Because good girls like bad guys," he said.
Dawkins also believes that gun-toting is sharply divided along racial lines. "Only the craziest of white players carry guns," he says. "Steve Stipanovich was one of them. Remember him? His playing career ended when he shot himself in the foot back in 1988. What always bothered me was trying to figure out how he was cleaning his gun with the barrel pointing down."
Dawkins also recalls other white men who were armed: "The trainers. Because on road trips they carried the meal money, the emergency cash and the plane tickets."
What about the situation these days?
"Plenty of guys are still packing, but most of them are smart enough to get permits. Mostly they have .22 caliber or .25 caliber pistols. Just enough to sting somebody who gets too close. I mean, I've heard these guys talking. 'If you don't stop bothering me, I'll bust a cap on your butt.' A lot of guys chose to have their boys do the packing."
But Dawkins is dismayed at how careless some of the players can be. "They don't respect the danger," he says, "or the harm that guns can cause. I see guys in just about every locker room getting dressed after games and their final accessory is the gun that they stick down the front of their pants. They do this so that the handle shows and everybody knows not to mess with them."
Dawkins, who measures 6-foot-11 and 280 pounds, says that only guards carry guns. "That's because they were smaller than anybody else when they were kids so they always got picked on and bullied by the big guys. Centers, power forwards and some small forwards can get respect without having to rely on a shooting iron."
David Stern take note. Maybe metal detectors in the locker rooms isn't such a bad idea.
Charley Rosen, former CBA coach, author of 12 books about hoops, the current one being A pivotal season — How the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers changed the NBA, is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.
---------------------
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl.../ASSAULT09/TP%
Fight with NBA players 'ridiculous,' witness says
By JAMES RUSK
Saturday, July 9, 2005 Page A12
The altercation in front of a King Street strip club that led to three NBA players being charged with assault was "a pointless fight" that lasted only a few seconds, according to an exotic dancer who witnessed it.
Nicole Stone told the trial of Gary Payton, Sam Cassell and Jason Caffey that as she was leaving For Your Eyes Only on the night of April 13, 2003, "some swinging" occurred between the players and Adrian Cimpian, but it was quickly broken up by the club's bouncers.
After Mr. Cimpian and his girlfriend, Vida Asante, reported the altercation to police, the three players, who were then with the Milwaukee Bucks, were charged with assault causing bodily harm and common assault on two men and two women.
Mr. Cimpian has said he is planning to sue Mr. Payton, Mr. Cassell and Mr. Caffey after the criminal trial.
Ms. Stone, 27, testified the three basketball players arrived at the club after midnight and she made $500 (U.S.) dancing for, and being with, Mr. Payton for an hour before the club closed.
Ms. Stone said that because she had a boyfriend, she had already turned down Mr. Payton when he asked her back to his hotel room.
As the players were leaving the club, Ms. Stone said, there was a discussion between the players and the dancers about "who was going home with whom."
She went to change out of her dancing clothes, and when she left the club with Ms. Asante and Mr. Cimpian, the three players were waiting in a cab parked in front of the club.
The fight started after Mr. Cimpian and Mr. Payton got into a heated argument.
"The reason why it got out of hand was that something was said," Ms. Stone testified.
She said she had not expected Mr. Payton to get out of the cab, but after Mr. Cimpian said something to him, he jumped out.
"I don't know what taunted Payton, but he came out of the car. . . . They were arguing, Adrian and Gary," she said.
Ms. Stone said she was not paying much attention to the argument but recalled Mr. Cimpian saying, "They aren't going home with you."
Just as she heard Mr. Payton say "do you know who I am," she turned in their direction just in time to see Mr. Payton take a swing at Mr. Cimpian.
The club's bouncers stepped in to try to break up the fight, and that was when Mr. Cassell and Mr. Caffey, who had not been involved, got into the melee, Ms. Stone said.
Ms. Asante "grabbed Adrian to pull him away, but by the it's a swinging match. Everyone's going to get hit," she said.
Mr. Cimpian was hit by Mr. Payton, and she and Ms. Asante were hit by errant blows. But it was all over quickly, as soon as people realized the bouncers were breaking it up.
Once it broke up, "everybody went home," she said, verbally underlining each word.
Ms. Stone's account differed markedly from Mr. Cimpian's.
He testified the fight lasted for as long as five minutes.
"The conversation lasted longer than the fight. No way it lasted five minutes," Ms. Stone testified.
Mr. Cimpian said he was pushed to the ground, and hit and kicked by the players to the point he suffered severe injury, including brain damage.
Ms. Stone stood in court to demonstrate that he was crouched in a defensive position, with his knees bent, and his fists in front of his face.
And while Mr. Cimpian said the fight happened 10 to 15 metres from the vehicle, she said it occurred on the strip of sidewalk between the front door of the club and the cab.
As for the altercation being something that merited charges, Ms. Stone said the idea was absurd.
"I've blocked this incident out because I didn't think it would come to this. . . . I find this ridiculous."
The trial resumes Aug. 15.
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