CITY SLICKER: Today is draft day in...

CITY SLICKER: Today is draft day in the National Football League (C3). But it doesn’t always turn out the way players expect. Mike Petko, a former standout linebacker at Servite High, was drafted high by the New England Patriots in 1991. But he never played pro football, due to a shoulder injury at Nebraska. . . . He now manages a car dealership in western Nebraska and works on his father-in-law’s ranch. The difference between making a tackle and pulling a new calf into the world? “There’s 69,999 less people watching,” Petko says. “Both are exhilarating though.”

MELLOW ERIC? Now that former Rams runner Eric Dickerson’s career is over, he seems less bitter about past disputes. . . . On a TV talk show last week, a caller asked about his former feud with Rams owner Georgia Frontiere. Dickerson explained that Rams exec John Shaw was actually in charge. And Shaw, says Dickerson, has changed: “Now John wants to solve problems instead of making problems.”

DISTINGUISHED: Carlos Fuentes is a political activist in his native Mexico, but in the United States, he’s known mostly for his novels. His bestseller “The Old Gringo” was turned into a Jane Fonda movie. . . . Fuentes speaks at Chapman University Monday, as its “Distinguished Writer for 1994.” His visit is part of Chapman’s yearlong celebration of Latino culture. Part of its package: Students can see “The Old Gringo” movie free on campus tonight.

HOT PIPES: When Plummer Auditorium opened in Fullerton in 1930, its crown jewel was its Grand Wurlitzer theater organ, one of just two in the U.S. But in later years it was rarely used and wound up in sad disrepair. All that’s changed now. A renovation project completed by local organ aficionado Robert Trousdale has it better than ever. . . . The inaugural concert for the organ--Lyn Larsen at the console--is at 2 p.m. today. Says a spokesman: “The sound is beautiful! It’s amazing all it can do.”

TODAY: Moliere’s “Tartuffe” at 2, Irvine Valley College, 5500 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. Info: (714) 559-3333.

WEATHER: A chance of early showers, otherwise variable cloudiness. Highs: mid-60s. Lows: mid-50s. (B16)

--By Jerry Hicks, with Mike Reilley and Val Tkach