THE LATEST LINE: PLEASE, DON'T BREAK UP THE BULLS JUST YET

I don't know Jerry Reinsdorf. Never met the man and probably never will.

But if I do ever come across the Chicago Bulls' owner, I would simply tell him this:

Please, Mr. Reinsdorf, don't break up the Bulls. Not yet.

Not after they've come off yet another NBA championship season, a hard-fought 4-2 victory over the game but out-Jordaned Utah Jazz.

Not after they've come off their fifth NBA title in the past seven seasons, which ranks them among the greatest basketball teams of all time.

And not after people all over the country are begging for a chance to see if the Bulls can do it one more time.

It all started during the regular season, this talk about Phil Jackson perhaps not returning as the Bulls' coach next year. Then Michael Jordan got into the mix, saying he wouldn't play for any coach other than Jackson.

Then came the talk of the Bulls perhaps not re-signing Scottie Pippen, their other superstar. And then Dennis Rodman, the Bulls' flaky, rebounding fool, kept getting into more and more trouble, bringing up the possibility that he wouldn't be back in Chicago either.

Ever since the Bulls wrapped up their championship a little more than a week ago, the sports talk shows have been flooded with callers wondering just what will happen to these Bulls.

I'm sure there are some people out there -- but probably not a lot of them -- who are maybe getting tired of seeing the Bulls dominate the NBA and would love to have a different champion.

I don't know about you, but I don't think it's boring wondering if Jordan, Pippen and company can do it one more time.

I don't know about you, but I don't think it's boring wondering if the Bulls actually are vulnerable -- we heard that all year, didn't we? -- and wondering just who might knock them off.

And I don't know about you, but I don't think it's boring wondering what color Rodman's hair will be next.

Please, Mr. Reinsdorf, don't break up the Bulls. Let's see if they can do it one more time.

* All those people who are vilifying the organizers of the recent Capaha Field Baseball Camp need to calm down.

I'm sure it was disappointing for all the kids who attended the camp that Ozzie Smith did not show up. But it's not like the camp tried to pull a fast one by duping everybody into believing Ozzie would be here.

Trust me, camp organizers really did plan on having Smith in town for the camp. And from everything I've been able to find out, Ozzie himself was planning on being here. Sometimes things happen beyond our control, but for people to crucify the local camp organizers and Smith for what happened is ludicrous.

The camp is going to make good on Ozzie coming back here in July to visit with the campers, just as he would have done a couple of weeks ago.

And anyway, it's not like the kids didn't get a lot of helpful instruction for two days from some top area coaches. The cost of the camp ($65) was the same last year, when nobody of Ozzie's magnitude was even part of the deal.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian