Fast Break

BASKETBALL

Rodman vs. Globetrotters

For fans who don’t have a rooting interest during the NBA’s All-Star weekend, how about this marquee matchup?

The Harlem Globetrotters, basketball’s goodwill ambassadors, against Dennis Rodman’s Bad Boy All-Stars.

The game is scheduled to take place Feb. 17 in Las Vegas as the second game of a Globetrotters doubleheader. In the first game, the Globetrotters will play a longtime rival, the New York Nationals.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

GU falls from poll

Gonzaga fell out of the the Associated Press’ Top 25 men’s basketball poll that was released Monday.

The Bulldogs (9-4), ranked No. 22 last week, lost 61-54 to Duke in their only game last week, but it was their third loss in four games. Clemson, which had been the only undefeated team not in the Top 25, edged Gonzaga for the 25th spot. The other unbeatens are No. 1 UCLA (11-0), No. 12 Connecticut (10-0) and No. 20 Oregon (11-0).

Washington, which jumped to 14th, is involved in this week’s only matchup of Top 25 teams – at UCLA on Sunday.

PRO BASKETBALL

He escaped from old St. Knick

Jalen Rose is looking for a few good poets.

The well-traveled NBA forward is hosting his second annual Holiday Poetry Contest, asking participants to submit by Jan. 7 an original poem with a holiday theme. The top five poems “will win a surprise autographed holiday gift from Jalen!”

Curious about that surprise autographed holiday gift, the Los Angeles Times throws its poet’s quill into the ring:

On Denver! On Indiana!

On Chicago! On Toronto!

Then over to the Knicks

And right on to Phoenix.

Six teams down

Twenty-four to go

Where will Jalen next stop?

Utah? Seattle? Boston?

Or Orlando?

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Cashing in on renting out

Many of the 250,000 people expected to come to the Phoenix area for three college bowl games in an 11-day stretch will stay in deluxe hotels, rent big cars and eat at fancy restaurants.

Some homeowners are seeing dollar signs instead of fun as they seek a piece of the $300 million in direct spending that is estimated to come from next month’s college bowl games. Their angle: rent their homes to out-of-town football fans.

Tom Stutz, a Glendale resident, can see the stadium from the backyard of his 3,330-square-foot home. He figures an immaculate house close to the game-day action should go for at least $15,000 a week. That’s the minimum Stutz said he could accept and feel comfortable with, considering the inherent risks.