By Mike Ball
Cincinnati Enquirer

The top five

1. The Diamondbacks. Players and coaches are going to be required to sign autographs for 10 minutes before every home game. The only exception is the day's starting pitcher. That would be a nice touch in the Reds' new ballpark on the river, wouldn't it?

2. Marvin Lewis. This guy must have magical powers. He has college quarterbacks hoping the Bengals draft them. (Well, of course, they know how much coin comes with that top pick).

3. Wilt Chamberlain. Kobe Bryant's streaks of scoring 40 or more points in eight straight games and 35 or more in 11 straight are impressive. But Wilt the Stilt scored at least 35 in 33 games in a row in 1961-62. Wilt averaged 50.4 points a game that season.

4. Japanese baseball fans. More than 100 Japanese media members are following new Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui.

5. Opening Day tickets. It's only 37 days to the big day. Need two here!

The bottom five

1. Mike Tyson. Look, he can be as bizarre as he likes. He can knife a tattoo into his forehead if he wants. But pictures of him holding his young child were just a bit unsettling.

2. Jim Bowden. The Reds general manager couldn't help himself. He just had to bad-mouth the Ken Griffey Jr. trade, putting the All-Century outfielder in a bad mood from the get-go. That's just great.

3. Major-league players union. Even after the death of one of their own, Oriole prospect Steve Bechler, players are going to make it difficult for Bud Selig to ban the drug ephedra.

4. Trades. Has there been a deal in professional sports recently that wasn't made for financial reasons? Ray Allen for Gary Payton?

5. Our weather. They're trying to move the U.S. Alpine Skiing Championships from Girdwood, Alaska, to the mainland because of unseasonably warm weather. Go figure.