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1. As if Red Sox co-owner Tom Werner doesn't have enough to worry about with his team down 2-0 to the hated Yankees, People is reporting that he and perky Today host Katie Couric have broken up after four years together. Then again, the Star says that Werner might soon pop the question to Couric now that he has finally obtained a divorce, so the dueling scoops come out to a draw. Frankly, the 10 Spot brings this up only to unload our sole Couric story. During my 15 minutes of fame as a "celebrity juror" after the Tyco case ended in a wacky mistrial this spring, my fellow jurors and I were (very) briefly romanced by the talk show circuit. A Good Morning America booker actually approached me in, of all places, the green room at CNN, which I didn't even realize was legal. I joked that she would probably argue that I should do her show rather than NBC's Today because Katie is mean. "No, no, I wouldn't do that," she protested. "But she is mean." In the end, I did both shows in an effort to get my full 15 minutes worth. I didn't meet Katie, however, because Matt Lauer handled our interview. And I must say that in person, his hair looks just fine, though of course I am in no position to sling arrows on that front.

2. Florida coach Ron Zook is in hot water for allegedly threatening fraternity members on Sept. 16 after three Gator linemen had been beaten up at the house, with one player suffering a broken nose that caused him to miss the Tennessee game. Of greatest concern to Florida fans is that the beatings represented yet another home loss.

3. The 10 Spot believes in giving credit where it is due, and thus is duty-bound to report that we came across perhaps a better punch line to the Zook situation by someone calling himself TigerVols on the Web site sportsjournalists.com. Let's set this one up: "A dean that was present told police that Zook told the fraternity brothers, 'I'm not going to let you take the [expletive] football team down.' That, of course, is Zook's job."

4. For those who missed the presidential debate to watch baseball, the 10 Spot had TiVo working overtime to bring you the update. The biggest story is that some Republicans are now calling for Senator Kerry to be disqualified for wearing his Livestrong bracelet during the debate.

5. Mets pitcher Al Leiter has made a nice addition to the Fox booth for the Yankees-Red Sox series, though the fact that Leiter is still active in baseball has made for some odd moments. For example, during Tuesday's Game 1, Joe Buck mentioned that Yankees bench coach Willie Randolph has been granted permission to speak to the Mets about their vacant managerial position. Curiously, de facto Mets GM Leiter had no comment.

6. Hamilton County (Ohio) is expected to accept a payment of $14.25 million from Design Professional Insurance Co., which insured the builders of the Bengals' Paul Brown Stadium against cost overruns. In exchange, the county would agree not to sue the architect and other designers for coming in $51 million over budget. Thus emboldened, the country next plans to seek a substantial refund from the Bengals for 15 lousy years.

7. It's been awfully odd watching Seinfeld's Uncle Leo in the Prestone commercial that runs incessantly during the baseball playoffs. The ad's conceit is that during a mob meeting, the head of the family declares that "Big Yellow" will be taking over. Leo shoots up, angrier than anyone has seen him since Elaine drew arched eyebrows on his forehead with a magic marker, and says, "Big Yellow don't take over, I take over." A dead fish is quickly tossed onto the table to let Uncle Leo know what would happen if he objected. Leo backs down, realizing that, as Jerry put it, grim death wouldn't be far off if he held his ground. Still, I'm waiting for the version where Uncle Leo accuses the godfather of anti-Semitism.

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8. The NHL was supposed to open its season Wednesday night, which makes this quote from NHL VP of media relations Frank Brown quite odd. Said Brown about commissioner Gary Bettman, "The only thing that will be different about (Tuesday) in the commissioner's schedule from a normal regular-season opening day is he won't be traveling to Tampa Bay to celebrate the banner raising with the Stanley Cup champions." Gee, good to hear it's business as usual in the commissioner's office. Fortunately he's not disrupting his schedule to, oh, perhaps try to end the lockout.

9. Varsity Blues review: In response to overwhelming reader response, the 10 Spot rented the movie to see if it had indeed made a major oversight in leaving it off our list of the top 10 high school sports movies. Our verdict is that it wouldn't have been out of place somewhere between Nos. 6-10, but it's not a huge loss. That's not to say that VB doesn't have its moments. Any film that lists a character's name in the credits as "cute naked girl" does possess a certain B movie flair. It also captures some nice touches of the adulation that can accompany high school football success in Texas, such as when new star quarterback Mox (James Van Der Beek) tries to buy a coke in the mini-mart only to have the owner upgrade him to a six-pack on the house. The problem I had with the movie is that it's not certain what it wants to be. It seems to want to seriously address the emphasis, and perhaps overemphasis, that the town of West Canaan places on high school football. Unfortunately, coach Bud Kilmer, played by Jon Voight with the same Southern accent he used in The Rainmaker, is pure caricature. I didn't buy a word he said after his first scene, when he brags at a pep rally about his 22 district titles. I covered high school football in pigskin-crazy south Louisiana, and I've never known a coach that successful feel the need to resort to such obvious boasting. Then after a halftime showdown with his players in the climactic big game, Kilmer never even comes out for the second half? No way. Even the famous whipped-cream bikini scene was a letdown -- though perhaps my hopes were too high -- because Ali Larter is talked out of her tartness almost immediately. I would have rather seen the film embrace its cheesiness wholeheartedly. Still, it was nice to see Billy Bob (Ron Lester) score the winning touchdown. In all, I'd give it a B, and that might be generous. A worthwhile cable movie, but I don't understand the cult status. Maybe I need to see it a few more times.

10. Jeopardy! update: Before we get to Ken Jennings, we must commend 10 Spot reader Dale of Chatsworth, Calif., for his response to Tuesday's update. In that edition, we mentioned Ken's (incorrect) question to the answer, "This term for a long-handled gardening tool can also mean an immoral pleasure seeker." (Ken asked, "What is a hoe?" while Alex was seeking "rake.") Here's what Dale had to say: "'What is a hoe' reminds me of that famous sentence: You can bring a horticulture, but you can't make her think." Well done, Dale. Ken demonstrated similar mental agility in Wednesday's episode, beating back a strong effort from Marielle, a senior production controller (whatever that means) from Brooklyn. Ken actually trailed during much of Double Jeopardy before getting hot down the stretch, finishing with $28,200 to $14,000 for Marielle to barely clinch the game before Final Jeopardy. Ken wagered just $100 in Final Jeopardy, answering correctly to finish with $28,300. (Category: 1920s Transportation. A: Last name of the Chicago cab fleet operator who started the "drive-ur-self" rental system. Q: What is Hertz?) That gives Ken a 56-game total of $1,906,400.

Pete McEntegart's The 10 Spot runs every weekday on SI.com.