Dennis Rodman in Elmira to coach team this weekend

Nothing about Dennis Rodman’s arrival in Elmira came close to the speculative chatter during the hour-long flight delay from Detroit to the Corning-Elmira Regional Airport on Thursday.

What was he going to wear?

Will he dye his hair Bulldog red?

Is he going to make a spectacle?

Nope.

Dressed casually with a T-shirt, hat, sunglasses and workout pants, the only thing that did live up to the hype was his very presence to coach the Elmira Bulldogs in this weekend’s two-game series at First Arena.

“Glad to be here for the first time in this corner of the world, Elmira. Tomorrow night is going to be a good time. It will be a good show,” Rodman told a group of reporters inside an airport conference room. “I’m going to try and show people I have a different character than the one you see on TV. I’m a cartoon character on TV.”

Had Rodman never done anything off the basketball court, his agreement to be a guest coach of the Bulldogs today and Saturday would still be trumpeted by local sports zealots. In his 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association, Rodman led the league in rebounding seven times, won two Defensive Player of the Year awards and was a member of five championship teams.

However, Rodman became iconic in pop culture with outrageous attire, hair color and tattoos. His nightlife, lovelife and even a stint in rehab became fodder for the mass media – and he basked in the camera lens.

So everyone wanted to know what people can expect in his pro coaching debut today against the Garden State Rebels.

“You guys want me to do some real cool stuff, right? To me, I get very emotional at basketball,” he said. “For the kids, I will get involved in all that stuff – autographs and pictures and stuff like that. I will get animated, just like everything in my life. That’s what you can expect.”

The Bulldogs ownership and First Arena management were getting a little emotional, too, prior to his arrival.

Team owner/head coach James Schutz said he “was banging my head against a wall for the last three years to figure out how make some money” with the nomadic team. Having already played at Corning Community College, the Chemung County YMCA and, currently, Elmira Southside High School, Schutz wanted to get his team into First Arena – the largest venue in the Corning-Elmira corridor. Despite the Bulldogs’ high-scoring style of play and success (only three losses in the last two seasons), attendance has been scarce, and Schutz has paid a large portion out of his pocket to keep it going.

Paying Rodman to coach the Bulldogs convinced First Arena general manager Robbie Nichols to cover up the ice for two nights.

“I thought it was a great idea, I thought it was a home run,” Nichols said.

Pre-order ticket sales have been “a disappointment” according to Nichols. He said the main reason is people weren’t sure Rodman would show up, given his freestyle nature.

That’s why there was a collective sigh of relief Thursday night when the 6-foot-8-inch Rodman walked into the conference room.

Rodman gets appearance offers all the time, but he found Schutz’s pitch to be a new, unique experience – which is saying a lot for a guy that’s done it all.

“You always see me on TV right, always see me doing some real crazy stuff. That rehab show? I’m the sane one. I love to teach people to do certain things. I’ve got four kids – I’ve got four daughters and two step-sons,” Rodman said. “It ain’t about the coaching, it’s about making these kids right here happy and keeping them out of trouble and always giving them something to look forward to.”

A teammate to giants like Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, David Robinson and Bill Laimbeer, Rodman was also a student of Phil Jackson and the late Chuck Daly. He wants to impart what he learned to the Bulldogs.

“Do your thing, do your job. That’s one thing Phil Jackson always told me and my good friend, my good compadre, Chuck Daly – bless his soul – always told me good things come to people that wait in this league,” he said. “One thing these guys need to know is it’s up to you to make it. It’s up to you to go out on that court and do your job. It ain’t about other people, it’s about you doing one thing – go make money, have a good time and support your family.”

As far as a budding career directing players and drawing up a hybrid of the triangle offense, don’t count on it.

“Coaching? Hell, no. That’s way too much stress. When you’re a parent, you’ve got little egos, but today mind-wise and development-wise with kids from 5 to 10 is a bitch to deal with,” he said. “But guess what though, even with a husband and wife it’s tough. How do you develop that core skill and then go off to work and try to coach 12 guys with egos from hell? This right here is good, two of these every once in a while, great. But a lifetime? Hell, no.”

Corning Leader