A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

 52 matches and for an undetermined number of 30-second spots during halftime an

d the pre- and post-game shows . Lesser `` silver '' sponsors paid an estimated 

$ 2 million to $ 2.5 million for a similar package that does not include game ex

posure . The World Cup 's final game is expected to grab as many as 2 billion vi

ewers worldwide , compared with 750 million for the 1993 Super Bowl . A `` gold 

' advertising package costing $ 3.5 million includes three 30-second TV spots pe

r game over 52 games . That comes out to approximately $ 22,000 per spot . By co

mparison , a 30-second spot during last year 's Super Bowl cost $ 900,000 .

 WASHINGTON Judge Stephen G. Breyer 's steady march toward the nation 's highest

 court began in San Francisco , where Irving Breyer and his wife , Anne , raised

 Stephen and his younger brother , Chuck , who is also now a lawyer , in a modes

t , two-story home in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in the shadow of the Un

iversity of San Francisco . Their street was bordered on one side by the univers

ity and the other by a private college for women , symbolic , perhaps , of the p

lace that education took in the family 's list of priorities . Education came ea

sily to the young Breyer . In addition to his classes , he insisted that his par

ents , who were Jewish but religiously unobservant , send him to religious schoo

l on Sundays , Chuck Breyer recalled . As a college student , he later taught re

ligious school at a local synagogue . But Anne Breyer pushed constantly for him 

to be `` well rounded , '' his brother recalled , chiding that if he did not put

 his books down and go outside he would end up like her brother , Leo , a curmud

geonly man who taught for a brief time at Radcliffe College and then retired to 

a book-lined study for a life of reading and avoiding others . Mrs. Breyer insis

ted that her son take part in sports , although he was not particularly good at 

them , and attend camp , although once there his tender feet quickly won him the

 nickname Blister King . Nonetheless , in a pattern that would become typical of

 his life , Breyer persevered and excelled , becoming an Eagle Scout at the age 

of 12 . `` He wasn't very popular but he was well known as the troop brain , '' 

recalled his Scoutmaster , Bob Anino . The Breyer boys attended the city 's pres

tigious Lowell High School , the elite academy of the San Francisco public schoo

l system . There , Steve Breyer took an active part in the school debate team , 

competing against the likes of future Gov. Edmund G. `` Jerry '' Brown Jr. , who

 attended rival St. Ignatius Loyola High School . In 1955 , Breyer graduated wit

h only one B marring an otherwise straight-A record . He was voted `` most likel

y to succeed . '' `` He was one of the brightest kids in my 30 years at Lowell ,

 '' said Paul Lucey , his economics and social science teacher . Breyer wanted t

o go on to Harvard but bowed to the wishes of his parents , who feared , again ,

 that he would become too bookish , and attended Stanford instead . After gradua

ting , he won a Marshall Scholarship to attend Oxford , where he became fascinat

ed with economics , then went on to study law at Harvard , where he became an ed

itor of the law review and quickly developed a reputation as one of the school '

s bright lights . In the spring of 1964 , Breyer received word that the now late

 Justice Arthur M. Goldberg had selected him as a clerk for the high court term 

beginning in October . Historians recall the 1964- '65 term primarily because of

 one decision , Griswold vs. Connecticut , in which the court for the first time

 recognized a constitutional right to privacy in sexual matters . The court held

 that states could not forbid married couples from buying or using contraceptive

s , a ruling that laid the grounds for the Roe v. Wade decision a decade later t

hat guaranteed women the right to abortions . Breyer , according to fellow clerk

s , helped Goldberg draft his opinion . But the opinion 's central idea that a r

ight to privacy could be grounded in the Ninth Amendment , which reserves to the

 people rights not `` enumerated '' elsewhere in the Bill of Rights , was one th

at Goldberg had toyed with earlier and , therefore , provides little evidence of

 Breyer 's own views . Over the next several years , Breyer worked in the Justic

e Department 's antitrust division . He also met the woman who in 1967 became hi

s wife . She is the former Joanna Hare , an Englishwoman who then was working as

 an assistant in the Washington office of London 's Sunday Times . Joanna Breyer

 , a psychologist at Boston 's Dana Farber Clinic , was the daughter of Lord Joh

n Blakenham , a prominent British political figure who was a leader of Britain '

s Conservative Party . The marriage contributed heavily to Breyer 's current wea

lth . According to his financial disclosure forms , which report assets in broad

 categories , the couple has at least $ 3.2 million and perhaps as much as $ 6.7

 million . From Washington , Breyer returned to Harvard to teach regulatory law 

but he continued to visit the capital , working for several months in 1973 on th

e Watergate prosecutions , joining two other Harvard colleagues as aides to Arch

ibald Cox . In 1974 , he accepted Sen. Edward M. Kennedy 's offer to head the st

aff of the Judiciary Committee 's subcommittee on administrative law . In 1979 ,

 he returned to Washington again , this time as the Judiciary Committee 's chief

 counsel . ( Optional add end ) That background , plus his years on the bench , 

made Breyer an immediate candidate for the `` short list '' of high court nomine

es when Clinton returned the White House to Democratic hands . Indeed , when he 

arrived in Washington last year for a luncheon interview with Clinton , in pain 

from a bicycle accident in which he had broken a rib , White House officials and

 Breyer 's friends believed that the Supreme Court job that was then open would 

be his . That afternoon , as he stretched out on the floor of White House counse

l Bernard Nussbaum 's office to rest , officials told him to delay his return to

 Cambridge , Mass. , and begin preparing an acceptance speech . But , as Clinton

 pondered his choice , Breyer 's lack of an engaging life story a factor that ha

s always had strong appeal to the president did him in . Clinton opted instead f

or Ruth Bader Ginsburg , a pioneer in women 's rights whose biography offered mo

re excitement . Breyer , disappointed , returned to Cambridge but characteristic

ally avoided any negative comment about Clinton 's selection and conspicuously a

ttended Ginsburg 's swearing-in ceremony . One year later , with the White House

 already finding that it had more excitement than it can handle , a nominee with

 a conventional background and broad support in the Senate seems newly appealing

 . Breyer 's time had come .

 WASHINGTON When friends and colleagues of Judge Stephen G. Breyer search for an

ecdotes about him , what they recall is his career advice . Kathleen Sullivan , 

now a law professor at Stanford University , was starting as a member of the Har

vard Law School faculty when she met Breyer . At a faculty reception , Breyer ur

ged her to get involved in `` something like the federal sentencing commission s

omething practical . '' `` We need intellectuals to get involved in projects tha

t have an impact on people 's lives , '' Sullivan recalls Breyer telling her . T

o Akhil Amar , who worked as a law clerk in Breyer 's judicial chambers and now 

teaches at Yale Law School , the judge offered a more direct suggestion : After 

listening to his young clerk 's plans for a series of law review articles , Brey

er counseled him that to really have an impact , he should write a book . And he

 should not wait too long , Breyer added . `` I really wanted to have a book bef

ore I was 40 , '' Amar recalls him saying . The advice , as Breyer told those he

 counseled , was autobiographical reflecting twin elements of his life that expl

ain why Breyer now stands on the edge of an all-but-certain confirmation to the 

nation 's highest court : a strong desire to use his formidable legal talents to

 make a practical impact beyond Ivory Tower theorizing , coupled with a keen app

reciation of the quickest , surest routes toward his own advancement . `` Every 

move he has made has paid off , '' said his friend Alan Dershowitz , a Harvard L

aw School professor and noted criminal defense lawyer . `` Steve just never make

s a mistake . '' But while Breyer 's path has been so smooth and steady as to ap

pear almost effortless , it has provided few clues to answer the ultimate questi

on : if he is to become a leader of the Supreme Court , as President Clinton hop

es , where would Breyer take it ? Breyer has become well-regarded as an expert o

n federal regulatory law , about which he has written influential articles and b

ooks . But by contrast with several past Republican nominees , who had staked ou

t clear ideological positions before being chosen , Breyer has made almost no pu

blic comment on constitutional law or on such controversial topics as abortion o

r privacy rights or affirmative action . `` Steve is a lot like President Clinto

n in many ways . He 's a pragmatist , a centrist with an enormous array of frien

ds , '' said Dershowitz . In pursuit of his goals , Breyer has traveled a route 

from Stanford to Oxford to Harvard to a Supreme Court clerkship , back to Harvar

d , to the staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee and then to the federal appea

ls court bench mixing academic work with immersion in practical politics . `` St

eve has the same philosophy his father had , '' said his aunt , Shirley Black , 

whose brother , Irving Breyer , was a prominent attorney and public servant in S

an Francisco , counsel for nearly 40 years to the city school board . `` It 's d

oing the most good for people . If you want to help people , you should try to g

ain power . '' Along the way , he has impressed and charmed scores of people sca

ttered through the upper reaches of American law and politics , from the late Ju

stice Arthur M. Goldberg , who used to tell friends he hoped to see his former c

lerk one day don a justice 's robes ; to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy , for whom he wo

rked in 1974- '75 and again in 1979- '80 as a top Judiciary Committee aide and w

ho then secured an appeals court judgeship for him in the Carter administration 

's closing days ; to such conservatives as Sens. Orrin G. Hatch , R-Utah , and S

trom Thurmond , R-S.C. , whose support for him has virtually guaranteed a smooth

 confirmation . What he has not done , conceded another longtime friend , Peter 

Edelman , is live a life that makes `` good copy . '' Breyer 's biography includ

es no epic struggle , none of the up-from-obscurity morality tale that so deligh

ts ( and sometimes deludes ) American audiences . At home in Cambridge , Mass. ,

 in a comfortable house not far from the Harvard campus , Breyer lives the life 

of a conventional and successful member of the American intellectual and policy 

elite enjoying fine food , wine and conversation , rooting for his hometown base

ball and basketball teams , running and riding a beat up , one-speed bicycle to 

stay fit , driving a dark blue Volvo station wagon , sending his three children 

to Harvard , Stanford and Yale . Despite the lack of drama in his life , Breyer 

could become one of the most influential public figures of his generation . Many

 lawyers who study the court believe that Breyer has a strong chance of being fa

r more than merely one vote among nine . The current court , in the opinion of m

ost lawyers and academics who study it , notably lacks a leader . Chief Justice 

William H. Rehnquist and Justice Antonin Scalia , who could exercise leadership 

by virtue , respectively , of position and intellectual prowess , stand too far 

toward the judicial right to do so effectively . The justices in the court 's co

nservative center David H. Souter , Sandra Day O' Connor , Anthony M. Kennedy ha

ve shown little ability to lead . By contrast , of the nine men and two women pl

aced on the court in the last generation , only Scalia and , perhaps , Clinton '

s other nominee , Ruth Bader Ginsburg , come close to matching Breyer 's record 

of legal scholarship , intelligence and achievement . At a time when many federa

l judges complain frequently about the crushing burden of their workloads , Brey

er was able to handle the work of an appeals court judge while still teaching at

 Harvard , playing a central role on the Federal Sentencing Commission and educa

ting himself about architecture to guide the construction of a new federal court

house in Boston . Moreover , unlike Ginsburg , who often has appeared to associa

tes as distant , shy or aloof , Breyer is gregarious and charming . His experien

ces heading a Senate staff , on the court of appeals and on the sentencing commi

ssion demonstrate that he is a highly effective small-group politician who inspi

res genuine affection on the part of those who have worked under him and loyal f

riendship from those he has served . About the only open opponent to his nominat

ion so far has been consumer advocate Ralph Nader , who objected that Breyer has

 sided with big business too often in antitrust cases and has been too skeptical

 of federal regulatory efforts . But in a telling example of the network of Brey

er 's friendships , Nader 's top lawyer , Alan Morrison , is a close friend of t

he nominee 's who has defended Breyer 's views . ( Optional add end ) Breyer 's 

judicial opinions on antitrust prove little . He is clearly no economic populist

 , but the Supreme Court 's conservative rulings on antitrust cases over the las

t two decades give lower court judges relatively little leeway . But his views o

n regulation reveal more about him . Breyer 's writings show a desire to bring o

rder to messy legal problems and an underlying belief , reflective of the Califo

rnia progressive tradition in which he grew up , that government programs are su

bject to improvement by careful , expert thought . But there is nothing to indic

ate much about Breyer 's views on the great constitutional issues that attract a

ttention to the Supreme Court . That absence of comment has made some liberals u

neasy about Breyer 's imminent ascension to the Supreme Court , particularly giv

en his endorsements from such prominent conservative voices as Hatch and the Wal

l Street Journal editorial page . Breyer 's friends say that as a justice he wil

l emerge as a newly liberated champion of an updated form of judicial liberalism

 one who will uphold strong protections of civil rights and civil liberties but 

be more skeptical about the ability of federal judges to improve society than wa

s the case during the court 's liberal era under former chief justice Earl Warre

n . Now that Breyer has achieved his ultimate goal , argued Dershowitz , `` all 

the constraints are off . There 's nothing else he wants in life . ''

 Here 's the recipe for the baked Vidalia appetizer as served at Vidalia , Jeff 

and Sallie Buben 's aptly named downtown Washington restaurant . VIDALIA 'S BAKE

D ONION ( 4 servings ) 4 jumbo Vidalia onions , whole with skins left on 8 table

spoons ( 1 stick ) butter , softened 4 tablespoons brown sugar 8 tablespoons she

rry vinegar 4 tablespoons beef glaze or bouillon 4 teaspoons chopped fresh rosem

ary 4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme 4 large shiitake mushroom caps , finely dice

d 4 ounces country ham , finely diced 4 tablespoons chopped chives 1 ripe tomato

 , finely diced Salt and pepper to taste Cut  inch from the bottom ( rounded roo

t end ) of each onion . Score the skin of each onion at 1-inch intervals , start

ing from the cut bottom end upward to within  inch of the top . Pull the section

s of onion skin back and up over the top of each onion , like a tassel . On a wo

rk surface , place four 12-inch-square pieces of aluminum foil . Place  of the b

utter , sugar , vinegar , beef glaze ( or bouillon ) , rosemary , thyme and dice

d mushroom in the center of each piece . Top each with an onion and draw the foi

l from 4 corners to the top center , like a pyramid . Crimp the foil around the 

`` neck '' of the onion , leaving the `` tassel '' of onion skin exposed . There

 should be a hole in the center . Bake in a pre-heated 375-degree oven about 1 h

our and 10 minutes , or until soft . Transfer onions and mushrooms to serving pl

ates , reserving the juices . Combine the cooking juices from all the onions in 

a saucepan and gently heat with the ham , chives and tomato . Season to taste wi

th salt and pepper . Pour  of the sauce over each onion and serve .

 If you decide after visiting a coffee bar that hanging out in a cafe drinking l

atte is the only way to spend the afternoon , then you may want to pick up `` Es

presso : Culture & Cuisine , '' by Karl Petzke and Sara Slavin ( Chronicle Books

 , $ 14.95 ) , two people who must feel the way you do . More a private treat th

an a coffee-table tome ( it 's a smallish paperback ) , this exquisitely designe

d collaboration is closer to a CD Rom experience ( or a guide to typography in t

he late 20th century ) than to a real book . In bits and beautiful pieces , it o

ffers coffee history , a little Neruda , a bit of Yeats , cafe culture in soft f

ocus and some very tempting coffee-based recipes . -O- The National Turkey Feder

ation celebrates Turkey Lovers ' Month in June with a turkey-recipe contest . Th

e cook with the winning recipe , using at least 1 pound of turkey meat , will ta

ke home a $ 2,500 grand prize . Deadline is July 30 . For more information , wri

te to the federation at 11319 Sunset Hills Rd. , Reston , Va. 22090 . -O- You wo

uldn't want to miss the Virginia Cantaloupe Festival in late July , would you ? 

Or the Sorghum Molasses Festival in October ? Well , you willn't with your own f

ree copy of `` The Virginia Food Festival Directory 1994 , '' which lists events

 around the state through November . To obtain a copy , write to Virginia Food F

estival Directory , Suite 1019 , Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer

 Services , 1100 Bank St. , Richmond , Va. 23219 , or call 804-786-5867 . Meanwh

ile , a list of 30 Maryland seafood festivals , all over the state , May through

 November , plus a dozen fee-fishing farms , can be had by sending a self-addres

sed stamped envelope to 1994 Maryland Seafood Festival List , Maryland Departmen

t of Agriculture , Seafood Marketing , 50 Harry S Truman Pkwy. , Annapolis , Md.

 21401 .

 WASHINGTON Companion planting allows the gardener to become a matchmaker with p

lants , turning strangers into fast friends . The practice of companion planting

 goes back centuries , driven by the abiding belief that some plants do better w

hen grown near other species , either for protection from pests or as a result o

f a chemical interaction beneficial to at least one of the partners . Today , th

e technique is unproven scientifically , although in its quaintness it may have 

merit , especially since each gardener 's own preferences give us gardens of div

ersity and character . In one plot , the aim might be to attract birds , in anot

her , to repel raccoons . Companion planting in the modern garden is generally a

 casual undertaking , with few rules and an openness to new ideas and combinatio

ns . In fact , one of its basic truths is that where one combination might fail 

in one garden , it could prove indispensable in another . Most people , whether 

they are new to gardening or have many seasons behind them , are familiar with t

he marigold 's reputation for warding off all manner of insect pests above and b

elow the ground . Although this reputation may be rather overblown , it goes to 

the basic concept of companion planting : Plant marigolds among your vegetables 

, and you 'll have fewer bugs . Marigolds , in field tests and in lab trials , s

eem to have a pretty good record in controlling damaging subterranean nematodes 

that invade plant roots . But in most cases , no one knows why something does be

tter when planted near something else . One gardener swears that planting radish

es around her beans controls Mexican bean beetles . I have tried this in my own 

garden and have seen little effect on the voracious bean pests . While the varia

bles from one garden to the next will dictate much of how successfully companion

 planting works , there are some fundamental principles that are universal and h

ave been proven : DON ' T plant tomatoes , eggplant and potatoes close together 

. All members of the nightshade family , they tend to share pests . Thus , if th

e Colorado potato beetle finds your eggplant near the potatoes , the pest , prob

ably will afflict the eggplant . Some gardeners find that eggplant is more vulne

rable to the beetles than potatoes . DON ' T plant parsley , carrot and cilantro

 near each other . These also share a family tree and the pesky carrot fly . Its

 grub prefers to tunnel into the carrot but will go to parsley and even cilantro

 if they are close at hand . DO interplant onions , radishes and even yes marigo

lds with other garden varieties . Apart from the practical aspect of sneaking sp

ace-saving onions and radishes among larger plants they rarely compete with comp

anion plants and they do very well in the smallest of spots they emit an odor th

at is repugnant to a wide range of insect pests . Ordinarily , radishes and onio

ns are pulled before they bloom . However , if they are left to mature , their f

lowers are most attractive to predatory insects that prey on pests . DO combine 

dissimilar species eggplant with beans ; corn with potatoes ; lettuce and basil 

with tomatoes . DO intermingle herbs with vegetables . With the exception of fen

nel , nearly all herbs offer aid to garden plants by attracting predatory insect

s , repelling pests or , simply , providing a compatible growth habit . DO inter