Rehab

Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre said he was forced into rehab by the NFL and would not have told the league about his problem with painkillers had he known that would have happened, according to a published report. Favre, the league's MVP last season, said "I'd have never" told the NFL of his Vicodin dependency had he known he would have been forced into drug rehab rather than face a fine of four weeks' salary, according to Sports Illustrated. On May 14, Favre began a 46-day stay at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kan. Favre always had indicated his admittance to the program was voluntary, but Sports Illustrated said the ultimatum came three weeks after he had flown to Chicago to see a group of doctors retained by the NFL to discuss his Vicodin dependency.

LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Brad Lidge, the Phillies' closer sidelined all season by elbow and shoulder problems, allowed two singles but no runs in one inning in his first rehab appearance with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. Lidge, who pitched the first inning against Hagerstown, threw 15 pitches, nine for strikes. "That actually felt really good to get out there and the first time pitching in real competition since the postseason last year," he said. "I was definitely pleased by the results.

"As you might imagine, I was stunned and devastated to realize that winning our time slot every week for six years and having a loyal global audience meant nothing. " - Jane Seymour, blasting CBS for canceling "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" No time for burgers or parades this Memorial Day weekend for bad boy Charlie Sheen, who's been busy living on the edge these past five days. And no cold frosty ones, either, since he concluded his escapades by checking into a Malibu, Calif.

Uh-oh? The Phillies say there is no cause for alarm. But Ricky Bottalico's rehab schedule at Triple A Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre has been pushed back again, the team announced last night. The disabled closer was supposed to complete a back-to-back pitching stint last night for the first time since arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur from his pitching elbow April 27. That plan was scrapped after a phone call from Red Barons manager Marc Bombard and pitching coach Gary Ruby yesterday afternoon.

High on the agenda for a Phillie with a serious love of baseball was a round of pillow talk. Closer Ricky Bottalico, who Monday underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow for the removal of loose bodies and a bone spur, lit up the clubhouse, as usual, before the Phillies lost to the Houston Astros last night. Kidding this guy. Agitating that guy. Moving from spot to spot. Bottalico gladly showed everybody his swollen, still-stitched elbow and updated the writers on his status.

TATTLE TAKES one half-day off to attend to the stress knots in our back and Lindsay Lohan goes and checks herself into rehab. Maybe third time's the charm. "The Insider" says it broke the news that Lindsay has entered the Cirque Lodge drug and alcohol rehab in Sundance, Utah. Sources say she'll be there at least 30 days, which strikes us at least 150 days too few. You know how people say there are criminals who want to get caught because at least in jail they get three square meals and a bed. Get a load of Cirque: It was named one of the country's top rehabs by . . . Town & Country magazine.

A Common Pleas judge ruled yesterday that construction can continue on a Southwest Philadelphia halfway house while the city compiles evidence to prove why the work should stop. The ruling by Judge Charles Mirarchi Jr. was the latest in a series of court battles involving the state, the developer, the city and residents who oppose the opening of the halfway house on 54th Street near Woodland Avenue for prisoners with nine months or less to serve on their sentences. After residents claimed the minimum-security facility would only add to the neighborhood's crime and drug problems, the state backed away from its plan to house prisoners there and the city Department of Licenses and Inspections rescinded its permit to build there.

Unable to shake the drug demons that derailed his once-dazzling career, Dwight Gooden made a startling decision yesterday: He would rather go to jail than face temptation on the streets. The former New York Mets and Yankees pitching great admitted in a courthouse in Tampa, Fla., that he hasn't beaten cocaine after a two-decade struggle. He then picked prison instead of returning to rehabilitation and staying on probation, which would have meant the threat of a five-year jail sentence loomed for any slip-up.

SO WHEN DOES this whole Lindsay Lohan soap opera merely become one long, sad joke? Sounds like yesterday. Lindsay, the once-adorable moppet turned train wreck (car wreck might be more apt), was barely home from rehab long enough to open her mail when she was arrested again for allegedly driving drunk. Police hauled her in about 1:30 a.m. Pacific time (mid-afternoon Lindsay time). To make matters worse, police also found cocaine in her pocket - we told you she also needed an ankle bracelet for her nose.

HEY, Mel Gibson, what are you doing this summer? Going to rehab. Yup, in a move that's probably as much about image rehab as it is about kicking the sauce, Gibson's rep, Alan Nierob, told the Star, "He is in a program of recovery at this time. " The Star also spoke to Mel's neighbor, Chris Prentiss, who coincidentally is co-founder of the Malibu celebrity treatment center, Passages. (Celebrity treatment must be big business if Prentiss can afford to live in Gibson's neighborhood.