By Mike Ball
Cincinnati Enquirer

Top five

1. Ohio State. What a season. Are you kidding us? 12-0? Now, about that Michigan thing ...

2. Major League Baseball's goodwill tour of Japan. Isn't it great, Barry Bonds and his all-star teammates taking time out of their offseasons to spread the word of baseball? Shoot, they'd probably do it even if they didn't get $150,000, plus expenses.

3. Hubie Brown and Felipe Alou. How about those old dudes! Brown, at 69, coaching the Memphis Grizzlies. And the spry, 67-year-old Alou managing the San Francisco Giants. Experience counts.

4. The Cincinnati Swarm. Our new arenafootball2 team is off and buzzing. "(Coach Chris MacKeown's) No.1 objective here in Cincinnati is to win a championship for the city of Cincinnati," said owner Mark Hamister. Somebody tell this guy the football goal in this town is to "become competitive."

5. Manute Bol. You have to ask? Tallest man in hockey, eh?

Bottom five

1. The Olympics. So they're trying to get rid of softball and baseball as Olympic sports? The same people who brought you ballroom dancing and rhythmic gymnastics? Swell.

2. Marshall. The administration decided there doesn't need to be any change in crowd-control policy. Fine.

3. The Bengals. Radio host Lance McAlister tossed this one out once, and we'll update it here. If the Reds won at the rate the Bengals have since their last playoff appearance - 54-131, .290 winning percentage - the local nine would have gone an average 47-115. For more than a decade.

4. The Augusta-Martha Burk-Hootie Johnson saga. Enough. Wait until April.

5. The Yankees. According to USA Today, their final payroll figure for their 40-man roster - including contract bonuses earned by individuals this season, $3,833,000 in benefits and $3,901,310 in extended benefits - was $175,327,055. The Reds spent $62,397,730. Yep, that's fair.