A SIDEWAYS GLANCE : DADDY DEAREST.

Seems Roger Clemens has the same problem Michael Jordan does: He's just plain ol' dad to his kids, not Roger Clemens the way he is to the rest of us.

``I'll be eating a bowl of cereal in the morning and I'll look up and there are 11 kids in my kitchen,'' Clemens said. ``Koby (his 11-year-old son) will tell them, `See, there he is. Roger Clemens. Wave, Dad, OK?'

``Then he'll say, `All right guys, you saw him. Now can we play ball? I wanna be Mo Vaughn.' ''

Show me the inspiration

The film ``Jerry Maguire,'' about a sports agent, has a bit of Bay Area and USC flavor. One of the movie's key lines, in fact, was spawned by 49ers safety Tim McDonald, a former USC star.

``Cameron Crowe (creator of the movie) came with me to the 1993 NFL meetings in Palm Desert,'' agent Leigh Steinberg recalled. ``That was the first year of free agency, so all the team owners were hanging out in the lobbies and corridors. We were representing Tim and I wanted to make sure he got seen. We paraded him through the halls just like Maguire did with his client (wide receiver Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding Jr.).''

Crowe asked McDonald what he was looking for in this whole experience. McDonald's reply was, ``I'm looking for someone to show me the money.'' The refrain became pivotal to the character of Tidwell, a second-tier NFL wide receiver seeking respect and commitment.