IT’S stunning that such intense heat has been felt by Texas Gov. George W. Bush for alleged drug use in college, 30 or more years ago, when, in the same week, the national news media ignored a far more tangible drug story about another state’s nationally renowned governor.

While Bush’s alleged drug use of long ago became a major issue, the governor of Minnesota was pandering to widely acknowledged and suspected illegal drug users in order to both promote and enrich himself.

At what point will the national news media wake up, do a modicum of research and begin to expose Jesse Ventura as a fraud, as a terrible joke? At what point will news people provide the real news about the governor of Minnesota and cease celebrating him as warm, fuzzy novelty act?

Jesse (The Steroid Enhanced Body) Ventura said at a news conference before his WWF pay-per-view appearance last week that, unlike what’s done in Oregon, he would not allow the drug-testing of pro wrestlers in Minnesota because such testing without probable cause is unconstitutional.

But there is no industry that shows greater probable cause of illegal drug use than pro wrestling, and Ventura knows this better than anyone entrusted to a publicly elected office.

Consider that as late as 1993 Ventura told interviewers that 90 percent of pro wrestlers regularly use illegal drugs, especially steroids. And there’s no indication that such drug use in pro wrestling has decreased since then. Ventura, who knows a natural body from a ‘roided one, knows this, too.

Consider why pro wrestling organizations, including the sleazy WWF, for which Ventura performed last week, assiduously avoid performing in Oregon. It’s because the state does drug-test wrestlers. Ventura knows this, too. He knows far more than the “probable cause” for Oregon being bypassed by pro wrestling.

Consider that pro wrestlers have a long and ongoing history of dropping dead from drug overdoses and drug-related ailments. Ventura knows this, too.

Consider that Ventura, well into adulthood, was a steroid user in order to advance his pro wrestling career, a career that provided him both the fame and fortune to be elected governor.

But Ventura, who campaigned on an anti-special interests platform, served his and the WWF’s special interests by jumping into the ring while declaring that there’s no probable cause to drug-test pro wrestlers.

But the news media won’t go there. They’ll investigate and debate what Gov. Bush may or may not have done 30 years ago, while ignoring what Gov. Ventura did and said as recently as last week. Gov. Ventura, after all, is a fun story and no one’s much interested in ruining anyone’s fun. *WHILE I’m quite sure that Bobby Valentine knows more about baseball than I, why is it that I know the importance of running to first base but Valentine’s Mets don’t?

Mike Piazza and Rickey Henderson still linger near home plate after putting balls into play. The other night, Rey Ordonez showed that he, too, is in no hurry to get to first base.

In Ordonez’ case, Howie Rose, calling the game on FSNY, provided some odd logic by stating that it’s OK for Piazza to stand and stare at long fly balls, but not for Ordonez, because he’s not a power hitter. Hey, Howie, when the ball smacks against the wall and the batter’s just beginning to run, it doesn’t matter who hit the ball.

And how does being a power hitter justify Piazza and Henderson continuing late starts on fly balls that they think will be caught?

Meanwhile, the Mets have taken themselves out of two one-run losses this season by not running even moderately hard. And there’s no reason to believe that it won’t happen again.

Valentine has indicated that Henderson and Piazza’s penchant for lingering instead of running is more a media issue than a baseball issue. Again, he knows more baseball than I ever will, but if he cares to debate the merits of running to first base, especially in the midst of a pennant race, I’m available. *THE Mets, who expect taxpayers to help build them a new stadium, have, in recent seasons, demonstrated that they’re not much interested in selling the public tickets to quality games without attaching those tickets to the sale of additional, less-desirable games.

While the Mets might call this “creative marketing,” others would call it “gouging” or even “extortion.” I know I would. Might this not be an abuse of baseball’s antitrust waiver? Perhaps it’s time for the state attorney general’s office to look into the matter and offer its opinion.

Then again, come the postseason, should the Mets qualify, it will be interesting to see if Fred Wilpon and Nelson Doubleday provide New York’s elected officials and media big shots with special-invite ticket access the way George Steinbrenner does during the Yanks’ postseason. *WAIT ’til the NFL’s latest foolish stab at a replay rule is at work during hurry-up offenses in the last two minutes of each half, when only the replay official can stop the game for a review. The guy won’t know whether to hit the brake or the gas, making for wildly arbitrary, on-the-fly justice.

If he stops the game for a review of a call that’s sustained, the game will be radically altered because a team with no timeouts was given a chance to huddle up. What would’ve been a spiked ball to stop the clock and bring up fourth down becomes third down and plenty of time to chat.

If he doesn’t stop the game, evidence that should’ve led to a call reversal can and will show up after the game, causing all kinds of nasty fallout.

Another element of the human condition will be at work. If the replay official stops the game during a hurry-up offense, he’ll be that more eager to reverse a call in order to justify his decision to alter the game by stopping it.

What a mess this is going to be, primarily because the NFL and the public are operating under the misconception that replay rules are supposed to eliminate or greatly reduce bad calls. And that won’t be the case. It’ll just shift the blame, as it did from 1986-91, to a different level, while creating a new, but highly predictable, set of officiating problems.