Denzel donates $1m to college

Denzel Washington is putting his money where his heart is. The director and star of "The Great Debaters" is donating $1 million so that Wiley College can reestablish its debate team. Washington's movie, which opens Christmas day, tells the story of a 1930s debate team from the tiny, all-black college in Marshall, Texas, that took on some of the best colleges in the country and won. While Washington was at Harvard Tuesday night for a special screening of his movie, Wiley officials announced the gift. Giving no hint of his largesse to the students and VIPs at Harvard's Carpenter Center, the Oscar winner did say he's "been blessed in his life and career" and that taking on what seems like an obscure project really wasn't such a risk. "Oprah Winfrey bought the rights to this story based on an article that ran 10 years ago," Washington said. "Look, if this is successful . . . then next year there will be 10 debate films. It's called show business."

At least temporarily, Ben Affleck is getting back into acting. The Oscar winner, who made his directorial debut with "Gone Baby Gone," is on board to star in "State of Play" now that Edward Norton has dropped out. Affleck joins a stellar cast that includes Helen Mirren, Robin Wright Penn, Rachel McAdams, and Jason Bateman. Directed by Kevin Macdonald, the thriller was originally supposed to star Brad Pitt, but he walked away citing concerns about Matthew Michael Carnahan's script. Russell Crowe is rumored to be taking Pitt's place. Production is slated to start next month in Washington, D.C., which is around the time crews are due to arrive in Boston to begin working on "The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," which stars Ben's wife, Jennifer Garner, and Matthew McConaughey.

After Republican presidential hopeful John McCain spoke at Faneuil Hall yesterday, the Arizona senator was joined by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former CIA Director James Woolsey, and a group of 55 McCain supporters for lunch at McCormick & Schmick's. On his way out, McCain stopped to say hello to a group from the American Legion that was having lunch elsewhere in the restaurant. . . . Hyde Park homey Manny Delcarmen is hanging around this off-season. The Sox pitcher dined with his wife, Anna, and the couple's 3-month-old daughter at Game On! the other night. The family feasted with the winner of a dinner Delcarmen had auctioned off as part of his "Bowlin' Strikes for Schools" event at Kings.

The divorce between pop diva Whitney Houston and Roxbury-bred singer Bobby Brown has been temporarily derailed, according to the syndicated TV show "Extra." Chief among the problems facing the former New Edition member is that his lawyer has quit the case. "The relationship [between Brown and his lawyers] has deteriorated to the extent that effective communication is no longer feasible," according to "Extra." "Additionally, Mr. Brown has breached the retainer agreement." The show also reported that a court hearing scheduled for October has been postponed until Jan. 4, because Brown couldn't attend Houston's deposition. "The respondent [Brown] suffered a mild heart attack," according to the court papers. "[He] wanted to be present at the deposition . . . but he was not well enough to do so."

Kevin Youkilis and his fiancee, Enza Sambataro, hosted a holiday party at Avila last night. The event, which raised money for the Sox first baseman's charity Hits for Kids, had a few familiar faces on the guest list, including slugger David Ortiz.

With a perfect record at home going into last night's game, the Celtics have become one of the hottest tickets in town. Among those slated to be courtside as Paul Pierce and the Cs took on Detroit were Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, Patriots players Vince Wilfork, Adalius Thomas, Junior Seau, and Sammy Morris, rapper Jayson "Jadakiss" Philips, and funnyman Lenny Clarke.

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