THE SPORTING VIEW

This year's Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition hits newsstands on March 4, and as if that's somehow not enough, HBO has produced a 57-minute, um, documentary-Behind the Scenes: The Official Swimsuit Video ($19.98). The last five minutes were cut from our copy to avoid giving away the issue's cover model; here's what we noted in the first 52 minutes. *Number of models: 11 *Number of models with no apparent last name: 2 *Number of days it took to shoot 38-page layout: 44 *Number of different bikinis shown: 27 *Number of different tank suits shown: 44 *Number of times photographer calls Ashley Montana ''babe'': 2 *Number of times Montana has a headache: 2 *Number of bad jokes told by models: 2 *Number of models licking a hand-shaped popsicle with one long digit: 1 *Number of models who wanted to be a pediatrician: 1