Rob Lowe Would Really Appreciate This Brat Pack

It’s the era of the brat pack in women’s tennis, as teenage prodigies push their elders out of the way, talking trash to them, one another and everyone else.

ESPN the Magazine’s Curry Kirkpatrick compiled highlights:

Anna Kournikova, on stories she’s hockey star Sergei Fedorov’s girlfriend: “. . . Sure, Sergei wishes.”

Martina Hingis, on her competition: “Rivalries? Look at the rankings. I’m like 3,000 points up. There are no rivalries for me.”

Iva Majoli, after Venus Williams beat her and announced that she could have done it a year before: “Both Williams sisters need to change their attitude. They look at you like you’re nobody. . . .”

Chris Evert, who counsels Hingis, and Pam Shriver, who advises Venus Williams, are trying to smooth the rough edges but concede they have their work cut out.

“What’s a good acronym for this bunch,” asks Shriver, “TABSAW? Teenage Babes At War?

“I didn’t mind when I told Martina I was once ranked No. 3 in the world and she said, ‘You? No. 3?’ Like I was some Martian. But when she goes after Steffi Graf, one of our greatest champions. . . . That’s a bit much.”

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Trivia time: Of the top 20 rushers in NFL history, name the three with five-yard-per-carry averages.

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Loves game, really: Super-agent Scott Boras, often accused of trying to pull baseball down, was a player once, hitting .284 from 1974 to 1977 in the Cardinals’ system, rising as high as double A.

Boras told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he thought he was good, “but my understanding of what a really gifted athlete is came when I played alongside Garry Templeton.”

Boras remembers Cardinal coach George Kissell waking him up at 5:30 on a Sunday morning, announcing:

“Boras, come on, let’s go to church. And then I’ll go hit you some ground balls. Believe me, the way you take ground balls, you need to go to church first.”

Boras, who makes an estimated $5 million annually, explaining his mission: “It’s very easy for any fan to look at what we do as about money. A lot of times, it is.”

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I’ll get back to you: The New York Daily News says the Yankees should pay David Cone’s all-star bonus, although he was passed over, and pick up his 1999 option.

“I’m just concentrating on getting to the World Series, so I haven’t given any thought to that,” said owner George Steinbrenner.

“I don’t think David’s the kind of guy who, in the middle of the season, wants to talk about his contract, the same way I wouldn’t if he weren’t pitching that well.”

Not unless George’s lawyer spotted a loophole in Cone’s contract, he wouldn’t.

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Trivia answer: Jim Brown, 5.2 yards a carry for nine seasons; Barry Sanders, 5.1 for nine seasons; and Joe Perry, 5.0 for 16 seasons in the NFL and All-American Football Conference.

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And finally: ESPN the Magazine’s Tony Kornheiser: “I love all those soccer fans who tell you the only reason you don’t like soccer is, ‘You don’t understand it.’ I understand it, pal. It goes on forever and nobody scores.”