3 Things I Learned from “The Last Dance” Episode 3

The third episode of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary following the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls aired on Sunday night and gave the audience a background on the most colorful player of that team, Dennis Rodman. 

The audience was taken on a deep dive into the third part of the three headed beast that was Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Rodman throughout the second 3-peat of the decade. 

An unprecedented look into the life that is Dennis Rodman and how one of the wildest personalities in sports history became one of the greatest defenders in NBA history. 

Rodman saved the Bulls from demise in 1997/1998

During the 97-98 basketball season the Bulls were missing one of their most poised pieces for their success, Scottie Pippen. Pippen had surgery on his foot just before the start of the season and missed the first 35 games while rehabbing.

The Bulls, being reigning NBA champions, were off to a rocky start of 8-7. They needed help in a big way and that came in the form of Dennis Rodman. His aggressive defense and unstoppable rebounding galvanized the team back to its winning ways. 

By the time Scottie Pippen returned the Bulls had taken back control in the East. Jordan, Pippen and Rodman were playing together again ready to go and capture their second three-peat of the decade.

Rodman’s Mid-Season Vacation

Once Scottie Pippen returned during the 97-98 season Rodman needed a break. He was the backbone of the team along with Jordan that helped the team continue winning in Pippen’s absence. 

This is the personality that encompasses Dennis Rodman. Following the return of Pippen, he asked Coach Phil Jackson for a vacation in the middle of the season. Jackson consoled in Jordan on his opinion of the vacation. Jordan knew the personality they were dealing with and it was not a good idea.

Reluctantly Jackson granted Rodman a 48-hour vacation from the team. Rodman went straight to Las Vegas for his vacation. And as Jordan predicted the so-called vacation lasted well over 48 hours and was exactly what he needed to help the team. 

Rodman Before the Bulls

Dennis Rodman was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 1986 out of Southeastern Oklahoma State. With the Pistons he went on to win two NBA titles in 1989-90 before his time with the Bulls. 

He was a part of one of the toughest defensive teams around. They used their physicality and brute force to beat teams into submission. This physicality was especially evident in the Eastern Conference Finals back-to-back years against the Bulls.

The physically different type of basketball played back then was shown by this team. Their “Jordan Rule” defense is unlike anything that has every been heard of. The idea was do not let Jordan near the rim, if he gets close hit him to the ground…hard.

It is crazy to see that Rodman, someone Jordan speaks highly of as a teammate and friend, was once trying to hit Jordan as hard as he could. Before the Bulls he was one of the greatest on court foes Jordan faced in that Piston’s team. 

Profile Pitch Ideas

  1. Alison Johnson, Women’s Lacrosse – Alison has been an impact player since she stepped on campus. She won conference freshmen of the year and player of the year in each of the first two seasons. Searching for a third 1stteam all-American honor her junior season took a turn. Just about halfway through the season her dad had a heart attack. Things did not get any better, they only got worse. She pushed through the season and still had a great season winning a national championship. That season meant much more than just winning a national championship for her. The whole team rallied for her. She was set on playing one last season for her number one fan and then pandemic struck. Now she is left with the choice of entering the next stage of her life or playing the sport she grew up with her dad by her side. 
  2. Abbey Fortin, Softball – Attended her first three years of college at Long Island University at Post. They were division two as well and rivals of Adelphi. The angle is to understand what it was like being at the LIU Post during all the discussions that the school might end up going division one. What was the attitude like and how it felt that your last year of school was going to get ripped away. Find out why she chose Adelphi and not to stay at LIU and play division one softball for her last year. 
  3. Emily Turney, Softball – Comes from a very small part of Massachusetts, Martha’s Vineyard. Have to take a ferry just to get to Martha’s Vineyard. Find out what made her want to go so far away from home. It is a big jump moving from a small town in Massachusetts to being just 15 minutes outside of one of the biggest cities in the world, New York City. Was that a big influence on choosing Adelphi? Find out why Adelphi was the choice and how it came into the picture of being a place to continue the academic and athletic career. 

Life Without Sports

Life without sports is a bleak and dark world. Every day is a new struggle of finding a new way to pass the time. Whether it’s working out, watching television shows, movies there really is not enough to do in the day that fills the void that sports has left in my life. I cannot help but make a sports reference when I say, I am on both sides of the ball in this situation. Not only are there no sports going on in the world my senior season of college baseball was cut short after nine (out of 50) games. You go through the whole preparation for the season and then it gets ripped away from you. That was the worst feeling I have ever experienced being told you cannot finish the last season of your college career and on top of that there are no sports even at the professional level. Opening day of the Major League baseball was supposed to happen on March 26thand it was weird not watching the Yankees opening day for the first time in what feels like forever. The MLB network replayed the USA World Baseball Classic games from 2017. I watched those and that was a reminder of how much sports bring people together. Re-watching the championship game and seeing the joy on the players faces while winning with USA across their chest is why every fan tunes into any sporting event. There is no replacement for sports and the joy they bring everyone in the world. The sports world has tried to reach out and show highlights and reruns of great games, but it does not do any justice to watching live games, with unknown outcomes and rooting for your team to win a championship. Learning to live without sports has been the hardest part about this whole thing. Sports is way more than just watching them or playing them the interactions, it brings between me, my friends and my family. My family would sit around and discuss sports all the time. Especially me and my dad we would breakdown every game I played and also every Yankee game as we’d sit around the TV and watch the games. The social interactions I have with all my friends and teammates has been lost without sports as well. Usually at this time I’d be sitting around my house with six of my friends and teammates and whether we’d be discussing sports or not wouldn’t matter. The only thing we’d be sure of is that we were all there together having memorable times all because of sports. Sports brought all of us together and are the reason we have lifelong friends now. But without sports we were ripped apart and told we cannot live out the rest of our season together competing and enjoying every moment. We still stay in touch like we would had the season gone on normally, but it isn’t the same. We were supposed to get the chance to say goodbye to each other and also be able to go and interact with one another any day we want to. Instead we are all locked up in our houses confused in these times without the one outlet that has been a constant in our life and helped us through all of our tough times whatever they may have been. All we can do now is wait just like the rest of the world and hope one day soon sports are back. Sports need to come back because no sports has a much larger effect than just not being able to watch or play the game each person loves. 

NFC Championship Live Tweets

In class live tweets

Adelphi upended by Pace in Overtime after Slow Second Half

Garden City, NY– Up 42-27 going into the second half the Adelphi men’s basketball team appeared to be in the driver seat on Wednesday night at the Center for Recreation and Sports, but a 29-11 run for the Pace University Setters to open the second half proved to be the difference. The Panthers were unable to bounce back from the slow start in the second half and were upended by the Setters in overtime 87-83.

 The Panthers came out of the gate hot leading by as much as 15 in the first half. Senior guard Austin Beech played a big part in the first half dominance putting up eight points and having seven offensive rebounds. He finished the game with a double-double. Freshmen guard Spencer Foley also added eight points in the first half helping to the 15-point first half lead. 

The second half was dominated by the Setters when they opened up the scoring and never looked back. Led by a 31-point performance from Peyton Wejnert the Setters were able to take their first lead of the game 54-52 at the 9:40 mark.

The physical dominance of Pace was too much for the Panther defense. They got out played in all aspects. The Setters racked up 15 second chance points thanks in part to their 15 offensive rebounds in the second half surge.

The victory was sealed in overtime thanks to the slick shooting of Tyrone Cohen who went 3-3 from beyond the arc scoring 9 points in extra time. 

Coach Dave Duke was not pleased with the players efforts in the second half saying, “We were on the guys the last few days, you have to rebound the ball. They had 20 offensive rebounds and that really hurt us.”

Despite the spotty defense the Panthers offense was highlighted with four players in double figures including Beech, Foley, Ronnie Silva and Chris Coalmon.

Coalmon, one rebound shy of a double-double spoke about how the team plans to bounce back after a tough overtime loss. “We just have to have a positive mind set, people lose games all the time. We have to forget about it put in the past and just move on,” said Coalmon.

The Panthers (18-8, 11-6 NE-10) look to keep that positive mind set moving forward. They play a tough divisional opponent in the University of New Haven Chargers as they seek another conference win. They will be back in action on Saturday February 22ndin New Haven Connecticut. 

Adelphi Gets Big Win and Looks to Continue Winning Ways

NEW HAVEN, CT — The Adelphi Panthers (2-0) won their second straight game of the season yesterday on the road at New Haven Memorial Stadium 24-9 defeating the New Haven Chargers behind a large team effort. They look to keep this momentum rolling into next week as they approach the toughest game of their season. 

Adelphi had a team total of 513 yards of offense despite being penalized 11 times for 119 yards and fumbling 5 times (losing 3). Contributions came from freshman running back Jimmy Roberts and Paul Jones, each rushed for over 100 yards. Junior quarterback Cameron Brown threw for 220 yards and rushed for 40. 

Brown, the first-year starting quarterback was the spark Adelphi needed after falling behind 3-0 early. He led an 8 play, 73-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown rush by Jones. This drive put Adelphi up 7-3 and they never looked back. The defense turned it around after spotting the Chargers 3-points early in the game and not allowing another point until the last minute of the game. 

Jones started off the game hot but struggled to hold onto the ball all game. In his 14 carries he fumbled the ball 3 times. This looks to be an issue for the Panthers as they roll into Southern New Hampshire next week to play the #3 ranked Penmen. 

Next week looks to be the first true test of the season for the Panthers coming off 4 straight losses to the Penmen. This includes an embarrassment of a loss 35-3 last October on the Panthers home field. When asked about the teams’ chances next week head coach Joe Smith was very blunt saying, “Well, if we play this way next week, we might not be productive. We have to find a way to hold onto the ball. New Hampshire is a good football team. They’ll be ready to play.” He also does not see Jones’ ball handling as an issue showing no wavering in the freshmen’s abilities, “Jones is my guy. I’m sticking with him no matter what. No questions asked,” said Smith.

The players are excited for the test as they prepare for the monster in front of them. They understand the odds are stacked against but remain positive. “New Hampshire is a good team. We’ll definitely be the underdogs going in. I’m excited about the challenge,” said the quarterback Brown.

Catch the Panthers in action next week as they look to get another big team win against their toughest opponent yet. 

Career Goals

Ever since I began looking into career paths, I knew I wanted to be involved in sports. I had originally planned to do that via the medical field. Going through the schooling I found that the medical field was not where I would be happy being around sports. Playing college baseball and playing baseball this summer for the Worcester Bravehearts in the Futures League, I realized there are more ways to stay involved in sports. I learned that every experience is a chance to make a new relationship and realized what my new route in life would be. I decided that I will go back to school next fall to pursue an MBA with a specialization in sports management. I have applied to the Adelphi graduate school of business for this opportunity. While continuing my education I would like to pursue an internship as well, whether it be helping out somewhere in the athletics department at Adelphi or with some other sports type of organization. I believe doing this while continuing to pursue an MBA will make me more marketable as I begin to look for jobs in the workforce. I do not know exactly what type of job I would be searching for at the moment but as I become more familiar with different organizations I will understand where I fit in and how I will succeed.

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