FanHouse ABA

Dennis Rodman may want to be voted into the Hall of Fame, but he's not making it easy on himself. No, I'm not talking about another high-profile incident that may taint his reputation (if that's still possible), but rather his resistance to simply hanging up his sneakers. From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:

The Moe the merrier for the Rochester RazorSharks?

The American Basketball Association's defending champions are negotiating with former NBA star Dennis Rodman to play in one of the final two regular-season home games (Tuesday or Thursday of next week) as the team's celebrity "13th Man."

Rodman might not score more points than popular bar owner Moe Alaimo did last Thursday night in his cameo appearance (two), but he'd probably grab more rebounds.

As we mentioned last month, a player needs to stop playing professional basketball for at least five years before he can be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Granted, the Worm hasn't appeared in an NBA game since the 2000 season, but he's since had stints in the ABA, the British Basketball League as well as a game in Finland. I don't know if appearing as the "13th" man for an ABA team technically resets the clock for eligibility, but if so I hope his over-whelming need to be recognized now won't outweigh common sense.

(via Ben Maller)

Since my constant calls for an ABA FanHouse have fallen on deaf ears, let's just put this here in the NBA section. The town of Syracuse is getting an ABA Franchise, and they are going to call them the Syracuse Bullies.

It's kind of a dumb nickname, but it is the ABA, the home of the Slam, the Shockwave, the Silverbacks, the Frenzy, the Undertakers (!), the Noise, the Nighthawks, the Buzz, the Tropics, the Ripknees, the Veneno (Spanish for "Poison," so it's dumb in two languages), the Miracles, the Aces, the Riverhawks, the Kebekwa (okay, that's kind of awesome), the Ballerz, the Razorsharks, the Heatwave, the Rollers, the Bounce, the Tycoons, and the Favre-approved Wranglers.

So it's pretty standard fare for the ABA, but ... the dumbness of the name isn't the issue here. The issue is, according to the director of Jenna's Foundation for Non-Violence, is that the name glorifies the practice of "bullying," and that it reinforces the notion to children that it's cool to a bully.

I'd think that any little dork out there that goes to a Syracuse ABA game and comes away with the idea that bullying is cool will have that notion dispelled for him very quickly at school the next day, when his head's being jammed into a toilet by that kid Bruce who was kept behind two years.

I'm kidding, I'm kidding ... please don't give anyone a swirlie. I'm with Jenna's Foundation on this one. Bullying is a serious issue out there, and with all the other dumb things you can name an ABA team, why pick one that even might do a little social damage? Bullies are not cool. What was their back-up choice, the Syracuse Wife Beaters?

My recommendation? Harken back to these days.