PEOPLE

Astronaut Gordon Cooper went 3.3 million miles in Gemini 5 without a pit stop, but in the 250-mile Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami's Marine Stadium he had to beach his boat three times for adjustments before finishing 11th of 17. Nonetheless, Cooper insists, "Space flight and boat racing have a lot in common. It feels like the same kind of excitement, and I expect you get just as high a pulse in a boat as you do in a space capsule." NASA engineers intend to equip Cooper's boat in future races with instruments to measure the G-forces involved. The recordings will then be compared with the records Cooper made in space.

Things have changed a lot in the 22 years since Elizabeth Taylor (below) rode Pi to victory in National Velvet and, when off camera, slept with the horse in his stable. Pi is still owned by Elizabeth and is now a pensioner on a California ranch. But in her latest movie, Reflections in a Golden Eye, Elizabeth is on horseback again. Her white Firebird (a part played by two identical Lipizzan stallions) is, according to a Warner Bros. studio release, "a catalyst in the tortured relations between Leonora [Elizabeth Taylor], her husband [Marlon Brando] and the groom [Robert Forster]." Liz had not ridden for 15 years, but she did most of the riding scenes in Reflections without a double. "She's a pretty good rider," said one of the producer's staff, "much better than Marlon Brando, who has been in westerns." Director John Huston agreed. "She has a good seat," he said.

Looking ahead to the 1968 elections, Republican Party leaders in Cincinnati have already chosen Waite Hoyt, the former Yankee pitcher who did the Reds' radio broadcasts for 24 years before retiring two seasons ago, as one of their candidates for the city council. "He has a good image," says the local GOP chairman, "and practically everybody knows him because of the tremendous amount of publicity he's received over the years." Hoyt told reporters, "It's sort of a departure from what I have been doing. I never attempted anything like this before, and I don't know any of the stereotyped answers." Asked what programs he would support for improving city conditions, the city council candidate said, "I've always been for about everything."

Meanwhile, another old sports broadcaster was starting his political career in Sacramento. There, on the steps of the state capitol, the onetime commentator for Big Ten football games, Ronald Reagan, read his inaugural address. The prayer at the ceremonies was offered by the Rev. Donn Moomaw, the pastor of the Hollywood-Bel Air Presbyterian Church and a former All-America lineman at UCLA.

His performance could hardly have rivaled Trigger's but the other day a 3-year-old colt named Beau Alibi made Owner Roy Rogers "speechless" with delight. After 11 unsuccessful attempts, the colt won a maiden race at Santa Anita and gave Rogers, who has had a stable of Thoroughbreds for four years, his first U.S. victory. Afterward Jockey Willie Shoemaker, resplendent in green-and-gold racing silks decorated with a likeness of Trigger, posed in the winner's circle with Rogers and his horse. Beau Alibi's time for the six furlongs was 1:11 1/5, which suggests he is hardly likely to take a place beside Trigger in Roy Rogers' heart—or in his museum, where the old palomino stands, stuffed.

For three years Memphis has been looking for something suitable to name after favorite son Elvis Presley. At various times there have been suggestions favoring the part of Highway 51 that runs by Presley's plantation, a leg of a Memphis expressway, a housing project, a downtown mall, a youth auditorium and a still-to-be-built fountain, but all struck a false note. Last week Memphis Mayor William Ingram took the matter in his own hands by declaring that the $4.7 million Mid-South Coliseum, built in 1964, was henceforth to be known as the Elvis Presley Coliseum. The city and county commissioners were aghast. They said the name was not valid without their approval and accused the mayor of playing politics by trying to strum up votes from Presley fans. Meanwhile Elvis was "in seclusion" at his mansion. A friend said Presley was "damned embarrassed—and not a little burned. He wishes they would name something for him or forget it. Right now he's in favor of the latter." At week's end, the city commissioners declared they would not name so much as a fire truck for Elvis. The fire trucks, it turns out, are named for the commissioners.

"Hank Bauer is one of those sissies who uses his wife's hair spray," the voice on TV said, and there before 20 million viewers the crew-cut manager of the Baltimore Orioles demonstrated (below) how he uses a hair spray "that holds gently but firmly, a spray that leaves your hair feeling like hair." Yogi Berra and Joe Pepitone also signed up to be sissies. Asked last week about his new hair-raising image, old pro Yogi said, "My wife and I both use hair spray. Some sprays make your hair sticky and stiff, but this kind really keeps it soft." Nor was Pepitone abashed "Everybody uses hair spray," said Peppy, "so why not come out and admit it?" Bauer, however, bristled at the mention of the commercial: "The price was right. I washed the stuff out of my hair just as quick as I could. Haven't you people got anything better to write about?"

TWO PHOTOS