Jack Isenhour

Dennis Rodman

Since I was a kid, I had always prided myself on my discipline in the things that really mattered-in the weight room, on the court (forget the refs), defense, rebounding, in how I play the game. Off court was my business; but suddenly things had changed.After the motorcycle accident, my agent, Darren Prince, was so worried about my partying that he called in the cavalry, my former bodyguard, Wendell "Big Will" Williams-a six-foot-four-inch, 400-pound black man to whom people, including Dennis Rodman, tend to listen. Wendell was coming out of bodyguard retirement to make sure I did what I was supposed to do when I was supposed to do it. He started out strong at the Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas. It was exactly a week after the Treasures motorcycle crash. Despite my usual protests-"I don't want to do this. This is bullshit. It's not gonna help my career"-that afternoon Wendell managed to get me, sober no less, to this series of round-robin interviews with every radio station in America. This went on for hours before the actual awards show that night, and Wendell wouldn't let me drink. Afterwards, it was like I'd just run a marathon, and I went out by the pool to relax with a cool one while he went upstairs to shower. When Wendell got back down, I was wasted. This was all new to him. In the three years since he'd worked with me, I'd started spending much more time with my friend, Herr Jdgermeister, and this was his first time to see Dennis Rodman, Daytime Drunk.Darren was on my ass. Wendell was on my ass. My best friend, Thaer, was on my ass. Even my wife, Michelle, was on my ass. Anyway, after the motorcycle accident and my skid-row-drunk performance at the Radio Music Awards, ESPN satdown Michelle for an interview. "I'm done. I'm ready for a divorce," she told the interviewer. This from a woman who has "Mrs. Rodman" tattooed just above her butt in letters about an inch high.By the end of October 20

I Should Be Dead by Now

A behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a country music masterpiece

George Jones, Billy Sherrill, and the Pretty-much Totally True Story of the Making of the Greatest Country Record of All Time

He Stopped Loving Her Today

When George Jones recorded "He Stopped Loving Her Today" more than thirty years ago, he was a walking disaster. Twin addictions to drugs and alcohol had him drinking Jim Beam by the case and snorting cocaine as long as he was awake. Before it was over, Jones would be bankrupt, homeless, and an unwilling patient at an Alabama mental institution. In the midst of all this chaos, legendary producer Billy Sherrill-the man who discovered Tammy Wynette and cowrote "Stand by Your Man"-would somehow coax the performance of a lifetime out of the mercurial Jones. The result was a country masterpiece. He Stopped Loving Her Today, the story behind the making of the song often voted the best country song ever by both critics and fans, offers an overview of country music's origins and a search for the music's elusive Holy Grail: authenticity. The schizoid bottom line-even though country music is undeniably a branch of the make believe world of show biz, to fans and scholars alike, authenticity remains the ultimate measure of the music's power.

Jack Isenhour

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