NOTEBOOK

By MELISSA AUGUST, JANICE M. HOROWITZ, NADYA LABI, LINA LOFARO, BELINDA LUSCOMBE, EMILY MITCHELL, MEGAN RUTHERFORD AND ALAIN L. SANDERS

WINNERS & LOSERS

WHAT BECOMES A LEGEND MOST--AND LEAST: THE WORLD OF CELEBRITY PITCHES

[WINNERS]

JACKIE ROBINSON Fifty years after batting down the color bar, he's boosting the Breakfast of Champions

SENATOR TED KENNEDY He wrote his own role for his debut on TV's Chicago Hope: health-care subcommittee chair

JAMES GARNER No smoke and mirrors as he pushes the patch--he's snuffing out 55 years of puffing

[& LOSERS]

WAYNE GRETZKY His career not yet on ice, the Great One takes heat for puffing on Cigar Aficionado's cover

PRINCESS DI She wants to pull the plug she put in Versace book featuring half-clad commoners and royals

REEBOK The shoemaker is tied up in knots over a celebrity endorsement that was cut from Jerry Maguire

WHO WILL BE THE PRESIDENT'S EYES AND EARS?

Some of the diplomatic corps's cushiest assignments are vacant or will be soon. Here's the latest intelligence from Foggy Bottom about the leading contenders. The resumes, please:

PARIS: With the death of Pamela Harriman, the diplomatic post par excellence is a toss-up between Frank Wisner, the most senior member of the U.S. foreign service, and New York financier Felix Rohatyn. But only Monsieur Felix has the means and Lazard Freres connections to entertain in the grand style of the City of Light.

OTTAWA: Canadians would love to have their own Madeleine--Madeleine Kunin, that is. Trouble is it may be hard for the ex-Vermont Governor to give up her current job by the Swiss Alps for one near the Great Lakes. America's neighbor may have to settle for Renaissance Weekend founder Philip Lader, a good friend of Bill's.

ROME: All roads leading to the Palazzo Margherita are clogged with well-connected Italian-American legislators. The triumvirate of contenders: ex-Arizona Senator Dennis DeConcini, ex-New Jersey Representative Frank Guarini and Pennsylvania Representative Thomas Foglietta.

LONDON: Anglophile ex-House Speaker Thomas Foley is said to have the Court of St. James's for the taking. But the post has one drawback: the stately residence of Winfield House is undergoing extensive renovations. If Sir Thomas is not Britain bound, he could be headed for Japan, where former Capitol heavyweights like Mike Mansfield and Walter Mondale are doted on.

ENOUGH WITH THE MONEY ALREADY

Has a catchphrase ever tasted so sweet and soured so quickly? Since Jerry Maguire was released in December, its signature phrase, "Show me the money!," has been used more than 300 times in newspapers and magazines. David Letterman noted it in his Top 10. Senator Frank Lautenberg uttered it in budget discussions. Lance Alstodt shouted it when he kicked the $1 million field goal during the Pro Bowl. And, now, alas, a rash of new incarnations.

Show me the Armani! --Women's Wear Daily

Show me the funny! --Arsenio Hall, about what he wanted his producer to do

Show me the mommy! --ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, on a review of Mother

Show me the Zamboni! --Al Roker, NBC weatherman, on the ice at Rockefeller Center rink

Show us some mercy.

THUNDER FROM THE MIDDLE

Members of Team 100, an elite group of Republicans who have given more than $100,000 to the party, received an extraordinary letter this week from John Moran, finance chairman of Bob Dole's presidential campaign and former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee. As first reported in the Washington Post, Moran charges that the R.N.C. has been hijacked by the Christian Coalition "and others who are adamantly opposed to a moderate agenda"; that these forces (led by Coalition executive director Ralph Reed) engineered the election as R.N.C. chairman of Jim Nicholson, who "will now be beholden to the far right for their support"; and that as a result, the members of Team 100 ought to be "giving consideration to throwing our financial support to a committee or organization that has a more moderate Republican political philosophy." Saying the Coalition is at a point where it is "exercising significant control" over the R.N.C., Moran suggests that the G.O.P.'s future "is in jeopardy."

HEALTH REPORT

THE GOOD NEWS

--Another strike against STROKES. Doctors have come up with a three-minute exam that can help paramedics spot a stroke at the scene with 90% accuracy. By having patients smile, lift their arms and squeeze the examiners' fingers, paramedics can detect one-sided motor weakness, a hallmark of the ailment.

--Sparing the scalpel. Most babies who develop misshapen, FLATTENED HEADS in the early months of life can avoid corrective surgery by simply wearing special headgear or changing their sleep position.

--Watch for more feminine-hygiene commercials. The FDA will allow over-the-counter sales of Vagistat-1, the first and only topical medication for vaginal YEAST INFECTIONS that works with one dose.

THE BAD NEWS

--Who says one puff doesn't count? If you're a SMOKER trying to quit by using a nicotine patch, don't even think about sneaking a drag on Day One. Those who do are 10 times as likely to be smoking again within six months as those who resist the impulse.

--Get to bed! Varying the time you go to SLEEP by just a couple of hours can make you grouchy the next day--even if you get enough sleep. Reason: your mood deteriorates when the body's internal clock is thrown out of synch.

--Doctors used to think it didn't matter if high blood levels of the enzyme creatine kinase showed up in patients who had undergone ANGIOPLASTY. But now research finds the enzyme is linked to twice the normal risk of dying from a heart attack within 10 years of the procedure.

Sources--GOOD NEWS: American Heart Association conference; Pediatrics; Food and Drug Administration BAD NEWS: Archives of Internal Medicine; Archives of General Psychiatry; Journal of the American Medical Association

LOCAL HEROES

LIEUT. COLONEL DR. JACK POWELL, 46; BEAVERCREEK, OHIO; creator of First Team

Dr. Powell, a pediatric cardiologist, was looking for a way to help hospitalized chronically ill children communicate with one another when he discovered a cache of surplus computers on his Air Force base. The equipment, plus the acquisition of donated online time, led to the creation of a Website that enables ailing children across the country to share their experiences and insights.

ELIZABETH O'DONNELL, 43; BUFFALO, NEW YORK; founder of the Skating Association for the Blind and Handicapped

After she left the Ice Capades, O'Donnell taught skating. But she yearned for a greater challenge, so she began teaching the blind to skate. Since then, with the help of countless volunteers, she has taught more than 9,000 mentally and physically handicapped people. Each year these students get the chance to showcase their talents in an ice-show extravaganza.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

GLENDA JACKSON, 60; LONDON; Former actress

Once upon a time, she was a Queen of England--on the TV screen--but now she's a hardworking Member of Parliament. Jackson, who has two Best Actress Oscars, and was a 1972 Emmy winner for Elizabeth R, walked away from movie celebrity in 1992 and won election as Labour's representative for Hampstead and Highgate. During a 27-year acting career, she suffered from extreme stage fright; she told the Guardian last September that "the longer I carried on, the greater the fear became.'' In the House of Commons, however, she is fearless. Proud of her working-class roots--she's a bricklayer's daughter--Jackson concentrates on transportation issues. Last week she led her party's attack in opposing privatization of the London Tube. When elections are held this spring, Labour is favored to win. Jackson is reported to be in the running as a possible Cabinet member, but regally dismisses the notion, saying, "My only political ambition is to be re-elected."

19 YEARS AGO IN TIME

The Greatest Falls

A new film, When We Were Kings, explores the 1974 bout in Zaire, when underdog Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman. Four years later, the champ was beaten: "Through everything, Ali was a fighter. In his youth, when he...took the title from Sonny Liston, he was a dazzling, dancing fighter. In mid-career, when he willed his body through three epic bouts with Joe Frazier, he was a courageous fighter. Toward the end, when he paced his... resources to turn away muscular challengers...he was a thinking fighter. Last week he was an old fighter. He had to match the craft of his past against an opponent who seemed to have little more than youth...and courage on his side." --Feb. 27, 1978