Irrelevance Is in Eye of the Beholder

Since Irrelevant Week is celebrating its 25th anniversary, it is no longer irrelevant. The last pick in the NFL draft is, of course, the honoree and will be feted again in June in Newport Beach.

This year’s recipient of the Lowman--as opposed to the Heisman-- Trophy is Mike Green, a two-time Division I-AA All-American safety from Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La., who was selected by the Chicago Bears.

Paul Salata, a former USC and San Francisco 49er end, is the creator of Irrelevant Week, and such functions as the “Beer Can Regatta” are staples of the event.

“They said they would treat me like a king, so I’m looking forward to having fun with them before I get back to the business of making it with the Bears,” Green said.

Not much chance of that, but, for a week at least, he’s No. 1 not No. 254.

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Trivia time: What is the record for consecutive games won in all NBA playoff series?

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The way it is: Dave Kindred in the Sporting News, commenting on controversial John Rocker: “Through all this runs the bottom-line truth: The Braves are selling baseball, not social commentary. They care not what’s in Rocker’s mind, but what’s in his arm.

“I’m reminded of Pat Kelly, once an Oriole outfielder and born-again Christian who said to his manager, Earl Weaver, ‘You got to walk with the Lord, Skip.’ To which Weaver said, ‘Hell, I’d rather you walk with the bases loaded.’ ”

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More Rocker: Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “I don’t know why we should be afraid to admit that at least one of the reasons Rocker has received so much applause this spring is that bigotry is alive and well in America.”

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The real hustler: Dave Cowens, the Golden State Warriors’ new coach, grew up in Newport, Ky., across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Cowens was asked whether he watched the Reds and learned to hustle by emulating Pete Rose.

“I always thought,” Cowens told Art Spander of the Oakland Tribune, “that Pete Rose emulated me.”

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Excuses, excuses: Michael Holley in the Boston Globe, on Coach Rick Pitino and the underachieving Boston Celtics:

“Listening to Pitino talk about how things are going to get better is like listening to a student explain a report card full of Cs and Ds. It will be better next time. Next week. Next semester. Next year.

“It was the teacher. The principal. A misunderstanding. The budget. The lockout. The training facility. Youthfulness. Something.”

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Mr. Humble: Charles Barkley to the Houston Chronicle on his retirement: “Nobody has had a better life than me. Every night I pray and say, ‘I don’t know why you chose me, but thanks.’ ”

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Trivia answer: 13, by the Lakers, who won the last two games in 1988, then the first 11 in 1989.

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And finally: Drago Pavlovic is an exchange student from Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He promised his mother when she agreed to let him come to the United States to finish his final two years of high school, he would earn a basketball scholarship to a Division I school.

Pavlovic, playing for Cornell High in Coraopolis, Pa., made good on that promise. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported he has accepted a scholarship to Long Beach State.