The Beat

Seventeen is a sweet age for the Gretzky clan. In 1978 Wayne Gretzky signed his first pro contract, for $1.75 million with the WHA's Indianapolis Racers. Now his eldest daughter, Paulina, is breaking out at age 17: The aspiring pop singer, whose mother is actress Janet Jones, just released her first single, Collecting Dust. Paulina (below, with Wayne) went public three years ago when she belted out Sarah McLachlan's I Will Remember You in front of 57,000 fans before a Canadiens-Oilers game in Edmonton. Dust (sample lyric: "Page by page I learn/How fast love letters burn") has played on Laguna Beach and is available on iTunes, where it has scored a nearly perfect "popularity" level.

? The Mets' 8--7 win over the Cardinals on Aug. 22 was no snoozer--not that Bill Clinton would know. Clinton toured the clubhouses at Shea Stadium and gave autographs to players, and the former Little League outfielder, who grew up listening to Harry Caray call St. Louis games on the radio, told reporters, "The Cardinals were always my favorite team." All that activity must have tuckered out the ex-pres, who had turned 60 three days earlier. TV cameras caught him napping in his seat behind home plate in the eighth.

? During NBA All-Star weekend in February, celebrity bidders like rappers Fat Joe and Jermaine Dupri splashed down for Air Jordan products (including shoes signed by His Airness) in a silent auction organized by the company. Now that money is going to good use. Last week several Jordan brand executives, Team Jordan athlete Roy Jones Jr. and friend of the brand Run DMC presented a $450,000 check to Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans. Afterward Jones helped kick off a Habitat construction project in the city's Ninth Ward. "Doing something as simple as that means a lot to me," said Jones, who manned a power saw. "This house is going to be a brand new start for someone."

? Ben Affleck finally got his hands on a Fenway foul ball. On July 30 the avid Red Sox fan was sitting along the first base line for an Angels-- Red Sox game when he and Angels first basemen Howie Kendrick both tried to snare a foul pop. Kendrick caught it--and the Fenway faithful booed Affleck for not disrupting Kendrick. On Aug. 15, for his 34th birthday, Affleck received the ball and a videotaped message from Kendrick that said, "Sorry I didn't let you have that foul ball, but I have a job to do. Nice try--even for a Red Sox fan."

? Maybe it's because he likes to get his two scents in, but David Beckham is introducing his second cologne, called Intimately Beckham. (His first, Instinct, has sold more than 50,000 bottles since last November.) The new release will come in versions For Him (patchouli- and amber-based), and For Her (inspired by Beckham's wife, Victoria, and redolent of vanilla and sandalwood). Leave it to Beckham to get booted from the English team and come up smelling like a rose.