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1. Sopranos actor Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts) reached the winner's circle on Monday at Saratoga when Carminooch, the horse Sirico co-owns, won its first career start. Let's just hope this horse meets a happier end than Pie-O-My.

2. ESPN announced on Monday that it will debut its next scripted drama, Tilt, in January. The show will explore the behind-the-scenes action at the World Series of Poker. Tilt will air on ESPNP, the network's highly anticipated all-poker channel.

3. All right, the end of that last item was not true. The 10 Spot was merely following SI's corporate policy, which was shrewdly picked up on by Chris of Washington D.C.: "What, are you under management orders to take a twice-weekly swipe at all things ESPN?" Right you are, and now I just need one more for the week in order to keep my prized cubicle. In truth, this show does seem intriguing, since the writers of the movie Rounders, Brian Koppelman and David Levien, wrote and will direct the pilot episode. Let's hope that John Malkovich turns up as a crazy Russian.

4. A number of readers took issue with the 10 Spot calling Sunday's men's 100 meters final the "fastest Olympic 100 in history." It is, indeed, a debatable point. The justification for calling this race the swiftest is that the top four runners broke 9.90 seconds and five were under 10 seconds, both tops in an Olympic final. In the 1996 Atlanta Games, three men went under 9.90 and four beat 10 seconds. Still, many readers pointed out that Canadian Donovan Bailey ran an Olympic-record 9.84 in that '96 race compared to the 9.85 by American Justin Gatlin on Sunday, making the '96 race the "fastest." Had the 10 Spot claimed specifically that Gatlin had run the fastest 100 in Olympic history, we clearly would have been incorrect, but the phrasing we chose -- that the race itself was the fastest, not that Gatlin ran the fastest time -- can be justified. Since it's a bit confusing, however, it should have been avoided.

More interesting, perhaps, is that all but two of the 18 readers who pointed out Bailey's time were from Canada. (Mark of Toronto was among the most put out: "Fastest 100m in Olympic history? Try Donovan Bailey -- 9.84. Nice try, America." To set the record straight, Mark, I acted unilaterally, so please don't blame my fellow countrymen -- or the current administration, for that matter.) Clearly our neighbors from the north are guarding their Olympic legacy. Then again, it's probably easier to keep track of such things when a country averages about one gold medal per Summer Games. (Kidding!)

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5. It turns out that the 10 Spot is the only one who didn't know that those tiny towels the Olympic divers use are indeed widely available. It's called the Sammy Sports Towel, named for Dr. Sammy Lee, the U.S. diver who won Olympic platform gold in 1948 and 1952 and started selling the towels in 1979. Bill the Plumber of Hubbard, Ohio, says he uses his towel to dry his car. Actually, an SI.com editor pointed out the availability of the towels before the 10 Spot was posted, but the decision was made that readers should know just what kind of knucklehead I really am. Mission accomplished!

6. Two Olympic gymnastics judges raised their scores on Monday night after the crowd loudly protested the relatively low marks given to Russian gymnast Alexei Nemov on the high bar. The move was roundly jeered in Philadelphia, where frustrated fans protested that they've been booing for decades without achieving anything that positive.

7. Chargers GM A.J. Smith isn't quite the hard guy he plays on TV. When Smith and the team pulled their offer to rookie quarterback Philip Rivers off the table on Aug. 8, Smith said that had been the team's final offer and the number would only go down from there. The Chargers had said their "final" offer was $40.5 million over six years, though the San Diego Union-Tribune cited sources claiming that the team hadn't offered more than $39.75 million. Either way, the team claimed that the offer would decrease, since Rivers hadn't signed by their "deadline." Fast-forward to Monday, when Rivers finally signed for, yep, a guaranteed $40.5 million over six years. Gee, I guess that "final" offer wasn't so final after all, never mind headed down. Smith does deserve credit for getting Rivers and agent Jimmy Sexton to eventually come toward his price, but the GM also looks silly for publicly drawing a line in the sand and then stepping back over it.

8. Old Spice unveils its ranking of the sweatiest Summer Olympic sports on Tuesday. Tennis topped the list, with the triathlon, soccer, beach volleyball and team handball rounding out the top five. Our question is how water polo snuck in at No. 10. The 10 Spot isn't questioning the physical exertion involved, especially since Olympic water polo players tend to be very large men who could slap us silly. It's just that since the players are in the water the entire match, how can one accurately monitor their sweating? We're getting the idea that this might not be a highly scientific rating.

9. Reader mail: Kevin from Brandon, Vt., took exception to the 10 Spot's mention on Monday that his mom is now focusing her energies more on his marital prospects than his "mortal soul." Writes Kevin, "No one would mistake you for the Pope based on your knowledge of Catholic theology. The soul is 'immortal,' you bonehead." Well, it's mighty Christian of you to point that out, Kevin. Amen.

10. Finger food? A New York woman has filed a $3 million suit against a Manhattan restaurant because she allegedly chomped on a human fingertip while eating a takeout beet salad, according to the New York Post. According to the suit, the woman was rather enjoying the salad until she "bit on something hard" and "noticed a nail and some flesh." The woman says she confronted the restaurant, which denied it until, she says, it later discovered a staffer had cut his finger. In addition to charging the restaurant with negligence, the suit also blames the unidentified employee for "failing to determine the location of his severed fingertip." Wow, the poor guy loses a fingertip, and now he's supposed to be a detective, too? That's a tough day at work.