NEWS LITE : DUCHESS BALKS AT BASEBALL SONG.

It wasn't quite cricket, so don't blame Fergie for being a bit in the dark.

Sarah Ferguson, Britain's Duchess of York, passed on a chance Saturday to lead Chicago Cubs fans in the seventh-inning stretch rendition of ``Take Me Out to the Ballgame.'' But it wasn't because of snootiness or stage fright.

``I don't know the words,'' she said, laughing.

Ferguson, making her first visit to an American baseball park, agreed to stand in the press booth with announcer Steve Stone and wave to fans during the song.

In town for a fund-raiser benefiting Lou Gerhig's disease research, the ex-wife of British Prince Andrew said she enjoyed the game known as America's pastime.

``It's a good game, this baseball. I like it,'' she said.

Bush takes flight in speedy new boat

After donating his old boat to his presidential library, George Bush replaced it with a powerful fish-seeking missile that topped 60 mph in his first test run.

In North Carolina primarily to celebrate the rededication of the Wright Brothers National Memorial, the former president made a side trip to the Pamlico River for the christening of the 31-foot Fidelity II, a Tournament Edition 31 made by Fountain Power Boats.

The V-hulled craft boasts twin 225-horsepower Mercury OptiMax engines.

Fidelity I will be displayed at the library-museum planned to commemorate his presidency.

After a ride on the river, Bush said: ``We were hitting right at 60 (mph) or a little more. And we had a lot of people on there.''

The exact price tag for the boat wasn't disclosed, but it easily soared into six figures.

Bush and ex-astronaut Edwin ``Buzz'' Aldrin were the featured speakers Saturday at the ceremony on the North Carolina Outer Banks rededicating the revamped Wright Brothers monument in preparation of the 100th anniversary in 2003 of the first powered flight.

Woman wins hug from Harmon, role

A hug from Mark Harmon and a walk-on role opposite him on ``Chicago Hope'' was worth $7,500 to a female fan bidding at a benefit auction.

Joy Grodnick outbid all others Friday at the auction for the Mary Abbie Berg Senior Citizens Center, eager to fulfill her dream of appearing on television.

Grodnick will appear on the CBS drama next season.

The center reached its goal of raising $25,000 with the role and by selling other Harmon items including a coat worn by the actor during filming of HBO's ``From the Earth to the Moon.'' The coat sold for $1,250 and high bidder Arlene Mitchell also got a hug from Harmon afterward.

An autographed baseball cap Harmon wore during a ``Chicago Hope'' episode netted $125. An autographed script and a cast photo went for $150 each.

Harmon also played in a charity baseball game at Hank Aaron Stadium to benefit the center.

The sexy smell of candy and cukes

The most sexually stimulating smell to women, says Allure magazine, is a mixture of Good & Plenty and cucumber. Elsewhere in the romance department, Cosmopolitan magazine reports in its ``Eight Things You Should Never Do in Front of a Man,'' the story of one totally turned-off boyfriend: ``I caught her cleaning her navel with my cordless telephone antenna.''

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