A SIDEWAYS GLANCE : RODMAN JUST KEEPS ON SPEWING.

Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News had this to say about Chicago Bulls bad boy Dennis Rodman and his 12-minute diatribe before Saturday night's Bulls-Sixers game:

``Among the topics in his entertaining fillibuster, he roasted Allen Iverson for his constant shooting, ripped the Sixers for putting Iverson with Derrick Coleman and Jerry Stackhouse, took all young players to task for putting scoring ahead of winning, blasted the NBA for cracking down on physical play and not letting players complain about officials' calls and, of course, talked about himself.

``In glowing terms, naturally.

``On Philadelphia 76er Allen Iverson: `Iverson wants to come in here and thinks he's Jumanji, that he can control the whole forest and the wilderness. One of us will have to flatten him on his butt. I think that's what most of these young players need to have, is (someone to) straighten their butts out. They come in this league, making all this damned money, thinking they don't have to do anything. Just go and be flashy. You've got to learn about the game.'

``For all those who thought the Sixers were wrong taking Iverson with the No. 1 pick last June and not a more conventional point guard like Stephon Marbury, Rodman wholeheartedly agrees.''

`They have no chemistry. There are a lot differences between a lot of players on that team. Everybody wants to shoot the ball. Everybody wants to have the ball. Everybody wants to be in the spotlight. They all want to be stars. They've got to understand they need to have roles, like we do.'

On the other bad boy, Charles Barkley - who scratched official Jack Nies and drew blood and a two-game suspension - Rodman says he would have received a stiffer penalty:

`Charles Barkley does more trash-talking than I do in this league. And he gets less punishment. I'm the black cat, the black sheep in this business.'

``But what Rodman really takes issue with is that officials are getting more and more difficult to approach, while putting up with less physical play.

`When things got physical before, they used to break it up and say, `OK, let's play.' Now you can't say nothing. You can't do nothing. The refs are so uptight, they won't let you say anything.' ''

Sioux Falls finish as ultimate road warriors

Maybe playing the NAIA Division II championship at a neutral site wasn't such a good idea - for Western Washington.

Sioux Falls, which played 10 games on the road this season to reach the title game, beat the Vikings 47-25 for the Cougars' first national championship.

``It's fun going somewhere, seeing the scenery,'' Sioux Falls coach Bob Young said. ``This will be a much easier trip home.''

Saturday's game at Jim Carroll Stadium was the first of a three-year deal by the NAIA to hold its championship at an off-campus site.

The Cougars (14-0) actually played 12 games away from the Sioux Falls campus, counting one in the University of South Dakota's Dakotadome.

``I'm proud to bring a national championship back to Sioux Falls,'' Young said. ``We're a small institution (fewer than 1,000 students) to be talking national championship because you have to have numbers to be in a game of this caliber.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Navy player J.D. Gainey, wearing an oversized cowboy hat, horses around with teammate Clint Bruce at an Aloha Bowl beach party. Navy will play Cal on Christmas.

Associated Press