He Used a Remedy That You Can Relish

Terrell Owens is now a member of the Baltimore Ravens, but don’t expect him to change. He’ll be the same fun-loving, high-energy wide receiver who once smeared mustard on an injured shoulder in his early days with San Francisco, according to Clipper trainer Jasen Powell, who worked for the 49ers in the late 1990s.

“One day during the off-season, I was about to go to lunch, and T.O. wanted me to bring back extra mustard packages,” Powell said. “I asked him why? And he told me, ‘My grandmother always told me that mustard on an injury makes it heal faster. It’s an old Southern remedy.’

“I thought he was joking. But the next day, he came into the training room with mustard wiped all over his shoulder.”

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Trivia time: Which player was not an NBA rookie of the year: Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Chris Webber, Kevin Garnett or Mark Jackson?

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White Chocolate: Near the end of a recent lopsided home victory for the Long Beach Jam at the Pyramid, fans chanted for Coach Earl Cureton to put Randy Gill, a.k.a. White Chocolate, into the game against the Las Vegas Rattlers. And when Cureton did, Gill did not disappoint the American Basketball Assn. crowd.

The street-ball star put on a show with no-look passes and length-of-the-court alley-oops. He scored 12 points for the Jam.

“The kids all like him because does tricks with the ball,” said Jam teammate Corey Gaines, a former standout at Loyola Marymount and a five-year NBA veteran. “The stuff he’s doing, people have been doing on the playgrounds for years. But it’s really popular now.”

Gill and the Jam will play in the ABA championship game Tuesday at the Pyramid.

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Can you dig that? World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon announced this week that Pete Rose would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame at the WrestleMania pay-per-view event this month in New York.

Rose participated in three WrestleManias from 1998 to 2000 for WWE. “He has a deep, abiding respect for what we do,” McMahon said.

Rose will be paid for his appearance at induction. He’ll be presented by Kane, his 300-pound WrestleMania nemesis.

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Timid roar: Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post on free agency with the Washington Redskins: “Standard operating procedure for the Redskins: lions in spring, lambs in autumn. The best possible phone call you can receive if you’re a free agent is a call from the Redskins the first day of the free-agent period in March. It means you’re going to the bank, big boy, which is a damn good consolation prize if you’re not going to the playoffs.”

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Trivia answer: Kevin Garnett.

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And finally: Randy Hill of foxsports.com on baseball’s steroid problem: “While players continue dealing with steroid questions, MLB is concerned that the steroid problem has trickled down to the mascot level. According to sources in big, fluffy costumes, Florida’s new mascot will be Bully the Marlin, while the Anaheim Angels are hoping for a karmic upgrade from the Rally Gorilla.”