The 10 Spot: Sept. 28, 2006

1. Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens insists that it wasn't an attempted suicide that put him in the hospital Tuesday night, but rather a simple bad reaction from mixing a few too many painkillers with nutritional supplements. T.O. made a very convincing case. After all, he's never quit on anything but the Eagles and the 49ers

2. I never thought I'd say this, but T.O. could have used the help of Drew Rosenhaus at Wednesday's surreal press conference. At least the "Next question!" maven would have been an improvement over publicist Kim Etheredge. While T.O. came off as quite reasonable during his time at the podium, that wasn't the impression given by Etheredge. She basically claimed that the Dallas police either mischaracterized or made up her statements and actions the night before in its official statement. While I'm no expert in assessing the credibility of witnesses -- though I did once spend six months as a juror -- I wasn't buying Etheredge's story. It also didn't help that she was chewing gum. Then as she departed the podium, Etheredge blurted out, "Terrell has 25 million reasons why he should be alive," referring to the $25 million, three-year deal he signed with the Cowboys in March. Bleccch. She couldn't have struck a more inappropriate note if she was playing a kazoo.

3. Chargers safety Terrence Kiel will miss Sunday's game after he was arrested for allegedly shipping at least two parcels of prescription cough medicine to Texas. On the plus side, we're pretty certain Kiel didn't try to drink it all himself Tuesday night.

4. The Saints' triumphant return to the Superdome for Monday night's 23-3 victory over the Falcons drew an audience of 10.85 million households, ESPN's highest rating ever. Strangely, the audience was estimated at only 10,000 by FEMA officials.

5. 10 Spot reader Mike Lyons of Yorktown, N.Y., pointed out an interesting historical precedent to the item in Tuesday's edition about Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons fouling a ball off his wife in the stands. In the '60s, Yankees infielder Phil Linz -- best known for having his harmonica-playing stopped by an angry Yogi Berra on the team bus -- hit a foul ball into the stands that struck his mom in the head. Fortunately, she was not seriously hurt. In fact, whereas Gibbons was thoroughly unamused by the latest incident because he says his earlier requests to put up protective netting in front of the family section had been ignored, the Linzes later made light of their odd occurrence. Phil and his mom went on the TV game show I've Got a Secret and stumped the panel.

6. An internal Major League Soccer document reportedly showed that nearly 25 percent of 2005's regular-season attendance came from free tickets. Sadly, fans still felt that was overpriced.

7. A chartered Amtrak train carrying the Nationals derailed early Tuesday morning near Wilmington, Del. Curiously, Washington GM Jim Bowden then turned down repeated offers for a different train.

8. The Vikings signed former phenom quarterback Drew Henson on Wednesday. Henson should come in handy if the Vikings have to play Illinois

9. FIFA president Sepp Blatter says future World Cup finals shouldn't be decided by penalty shootouts. Instead, the winning team will be whoever's left standing after a series of head-butts.

10. New Mexico State preview: After a bye week, the Official College Football Team of the 10 Spot returns to action this Saturday when it ventures about 50 miles down I-10 to play the University of Texas-El Paso Miners. UTEP (1-2) is coached by former Washington State coach Mike Price. The Aggies, meanwhile, look to move to a heady 3-1 on the young season and give coach Hal Mumme his 100th career victory. NMSU sophomore quarterback Chase Holbrook continues to lead the nation with an average of 401.6 passing yards a game. Of course, he couldn't accomplish any of that if he wasn't snapped the ball by junior center James Farrelly, i.e. my cousin. With a victory, the Aggies might also crack the exclusive top 100 in SI.com's power rankings of teams 26-119 for the first time this year; NMSU currently sits at No. 103.