Lost amid the world's unwavering attention to the crisis in Kosovo and concern over the global impact of the new European currency, a hardworking, if relatively unknown, basketball player quietly retired last week. This fellow, Mike Jordan, had a somewhat successful career toiling for the Chicago franchise, the "Bulls," of the National Basketball Association.

After spending some time digging through the clutter on the Internet, I managed to piece together a few things about this unheralded hoopster. In addition to struggling on the basketball courts, Jordan spent a period of time as a minor league baseball player. Never much of a hitter, Mike spent many at bats "swinging at air," which likely led to him being called "Air" Jordan by his friends and teammates.

The type of journeyman athlete who so often slips through the cracks, Jordan managed to eke out a 13-year career in the pros, despite lacking many important basketball skills.

Through hard work, "Air" overcame his almost complete inability to dribble and his penchant to run while carrying the ball. Inspired by this plucky underdog, NBA officials even went so far as to make an unofficial change to the rule book. Apparently traveling is a thing of the past.

In addition to opening the door for players unable to master the fundamentals of the game, Jordan served as a role model for physically challenged athletes in all sports. Though he never discussed it during his rare interviews, "Air" obviously suffered from some sort of horrible mouth disorder.

With his tongue flapping uselessly against his cheek, this gallant survivor could have inspired so many more people, if only someone had noticed. But with all of the sports highlights programs focusing primarily on hockey players and lacrosse stars, the world paid little attention to this inspiring athlete.

Even in announcing his retirement, Jordan was overshadowed by some of basketball's bigger stars. For some reason, at the same time Mike had his press conference, the entire media decided to do stories about "the greatest basketball player ever."

I found the subject matter of these stories a little odd, as Larry Bird retired years ago. Some newspapers also featured headlines referring to the retirement of "the greatest athlete of our time," which surely frightened New York Rangers fans. It seems a lot of papers have retractions to publish, since Wayne Gretzky has no plans to hang up his skates quite yet.

Though Mike Jordan never made more than $38 million in a season, he must now face the cruel reality of life without basketball. Perhaps some local business could recognize the value of unassuming sports heroes like "Air" and cast him in a commercial.

Most kids have no idea who Jordan is, and many are too consumed in their studies to even follow the NBA. An advertisement encouraging kids to "be like Mike" might fail miserably - but just maybe it would reach a couple of them. Maybe a few more children would strive to become heroes like one unlikely basketball player from Chicago.