The Best ...

1. Do The Right Thing

The events of Sept. 11 didn’t render sports meaningless, but they did force our pastimes to reevaluate their place in the big picture. There’s a time to entertain and distract, but there’s also a time to step aside and reflect. Surprisingly, our sports leaders got it right, starting with baseball Commissioner Bud Selig’s decision to immediately postpone games after Sept. 11, followed by the NFL, which was the sign some straggling college football conferences needed to see before agreeing to do the same.

2. The November Classic

New York needed this World Series, with the Yankees in it, refusing to fold, pulling off incredible, can-you-top-this comebacks in Games 4 and 5. Arizona won it, with Randy Johnson starting Game 6 and finishing Game 7 to complete a memorable triumph over the odds, Mariano Rivera and Fox’s virtual-ad campaigning for “Ally McBeal” and “The Tick.”

3. Slam I Am?

What are we supposed to call Tiger Woods winning the Masters for his fourth consecutive major? A Grand Slam, even if he didn’t do it in the same calendar year? A Sorta Slam? A Tiger Slam? How about this: Pretty impressive.

4. 71 ... 72 ... 73

Even if you didn’t want Barry Bonds to break the record--some might nominate this for the Worst of 2001 list--73 home runs are 73 home runs. You didn’t have to cuddle him, but you did have to watch.

5. Third de Lance

Lance Armstrong wins his third consecutive Tour de France. It has become old hat, and that might be his most impressive achievement yet.

6. Cruising Suzuki

He’s too old and too seasoned to have been considered a rookie, but Ichiro Suzuki was the people’s choice for American League most valuable player after batting .350 and leading the superstar-shy Seattle Mariners to a record 116 regular-season victories.

7. They Got Game

The Lakers nearly swept the field en route to a 15-1 postseason and a second consecutive NBA championship. The Sparks, led by the charismatic all-purpose play of Lisa Leslie, won their first WNBA championship. What next, the Clippers in the playoffs?

8. And So Do They

Jennifer Capriati and Venus Williams divided the four women’s Grand Slam titles neatly. Capriati won the first two, the Australian and the French, about five years after everyone presumed her career was done. Williams took care of Wimbledon and kept the U.S. Open trophy in the family, defeating little sister Serena in a historic final.

9. Dale Jr. Wins at Daytona

Four months after his father was killed on the same track, Dale Earnhardt Jr. returned to Daytona and won the Pepsi 400.

10. Three Jobs Well Done

Ray Bourque went out with the Stanley Cup, finally, after 22 years of searching the wilderness. Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn went out together, on non-contenders in their final season, but with a sense of style Bonds would do well to examine.