And Worst ...

1. Too Little Too Late

It took the death of a stock car racing icon, Dale Earnhardt, to scare NASCAR drivers into wearing the protective head-and-neck restraint device. It took the deaths of Korey Stringer, Rashidi Wheeler and more than a dozen other football players for the sport to reexamine the use of supplements and training camp procedures. Valuable lessons, but at far too steep a cost.

2. Contract This

Days after the best World Series, and World Series ratings, in years, Bud Selig wrings his hands and tells the nation baseball is in such dire shape, two franchises, most likely the Minnesota Twins and the Montreal Expos, will have to be cut before next season. A master stroke of timing by Selig, who had America rooting for Jesse Ventura by the time the two of them sparred before Congress, which is something when you consider ...

3. The ExFL

Here is where Ventura and Vince McMahon and NBC embarrassed themselves in Saturday prime time for three obnoxious, toxic months before folding the thing in May. On the bright side, very few people paid attention.

4. Man Among Boys

Bronx youngster Danny Almonte dominated the Little League World Series like no one before him. Later it was revealed he was, in fact, an oldster--14, too old to be eligible by two years. If the speed gun numbers didn’t tip off officials, why didn’t they just look at the kid’s license?

5. Creative Writing Irish

George O’Leary sounded like just the man to lead Notre Dame football back to national prominence. Then someone took another look at his resume, did some digging and, five days later, O’Leary was forced to resign in disgrace. The Bob Davie era never looked so good.

6. But Colorado Scored 62

Computers make our lives better and simpler, we are told every day. Then the BCS put Nebraska, a 62-36 loser to Colorado in its last regular-season game, into the national championship game against Miami.

7. Mean Machine

Five years after abandoning Cleveland, the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl with a surliness and a lack of grace that made the XFL look tame by comparison. The new league never had a chance. Maybe that was NFL’s master plan all along.

8. Or, Maybe Not One controversial call late in a game in December goes against the home team and Cleveland Browns Stadium goes to the Dawgs. Which was worse: Brown fans littering the field with hundreds of beer bottles? Or Brown owner Al Lerner and General Manager Carmen Policy shrugging off the incident, saying fans will be fans.

9. Parity Out of Control

With one more loss apiece this week, the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers will both finish 1-15 in the same season, a first in NFL history.

10. UCLLLLA

The tease was on again, for the second time in four seasons. Then came the DeShaun Foster debacle, followed by the Cory Paus debacle, and Bruins plummet--from Rose Bowl to BCS bowl to no bowl at all.