The 10 Spot: July 21, 2004

2. Tagg Bozied of the Class AAA Portland Beavers will miss the rest of season after hurting himself Monday on a walk-off grand slam. Bozied jumped emphatically on home plate in celebration, rupturing a tendon in his left knee. The injury caused him to temporarily black out and will require surgery. On the bright side, Bozied is credited with the first-ever cart-off homer.

3. More minors: Last Friday, Mike Schultz of the Lancaster JetHawks tied a pro record by striking out five batters in one inning. (Two of the batters reached on wild pitches.) Alas, Schultz also allowed five runs in the same frame as the JetHawks lost 19-4. That's what's known as "ineffectively wild."

4. Those wacky gals on The Simple Life 2 are at it again. In tonight's episode, the dimwitted duo of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie will serve as bat girls for the Class AA Round Rock (Texas) Express. Manager Jackie Moore tells the girls, "You have two jobs: one of them is to go out and get the bats and the balls and the other is to distract the other club." Given the work ethic these two have displayed in the past, it will be interesting to see if they make it to the seventh-inning stretch.

5. 10 Spot reader Dale of Solvang, Calif., didn't like our mention of Dr. Jonas Salk in Tuesday's item on the latest "advance" in vanity surgery: "Why on earth would you refer to Dr. Salk in relation to collagen being injected into the feet of models and celebrities? He would have abhorred that. Dr. Jonas Salk was a friend of mine." Our apologies, Dale. Due to a production error, we mistakenly did not use the sarcasm font. (Oops! We did it again!)

6. Oscar Robertson was appointed the interim head coach at the University of Cincinnati. The Big O, an NBA and Bearcats legend, will meet with players and provide counseling on academic responsibilities until coach Bob Huggins returns from a suspension on Aug. 27. The only potential hang-up is that Huggins is asking to get credit if any players happen to get a degree while he's gone.

7. No. 7 from Todd Hamilton's Top 10 list on Tuesday night's Letterman, under the category "Top 10 Perks of Winning the British Open": "Get to appear on MTV's Pimp My Cart."

8. Florida and Tennessee are getting a head start on their annual game, this time dueling in suspensions. The Gators seem to have the early on-field edge for their Sept. 18 meeting, but the Vols deserve a karmic boost. On Tuesday, Tennessee suspended its leading receiver from 2003, junior James Banks, for three games, including the showdown with Florida. Banks, who already was on indefinite suspension from the team, was cited for underage drinking after defying police orders to turn down his radio.

Down in Gator Land, meanwhile, star linebacker Channing Crowder and safety Jarvis Herring were suspended for the opener because both were arrested outside a Gainesville club this summer after arguing with police and resisting arrest. That means Crowder and Herring will miss the Middle Tennessee State game, but will be back in time for Tennessee. It's hard to say which of the offenses deserved a harsher penalty without knowing all the facts, but frankly, as the son of a retired NYPD sergeant, the 10 Spot doesn't like any of it.

9. The company that purchased the World of Outlaws (WoO) sprint-car racing series has obtained a temporary restraining order against former WoO owner Ted Johnson. Legal experts say the fact that even the World of Outlaws is taking to the courts conclusively proves our society is way too litigious.

10. Let's hear it for the Devil Rays' legions of loyal fans, who sold out Monday's game against the Yankees. That was Tampa Bay's second sellout of the season, both against New York. Heading into 2004, the Devil Rays had sold out precisely one game in franchise history, for the team's debut on March 31, 1998.