By Mike Ball
Cincinnati Enquirer

Thumbs up

1. Everything's fine. The Reds will come around. They have plenty of pitching, good hitting and a great defense. The Bengals will make the perfect No. 1 pick in the draft, and nine wins minimum are a certainty. Sincerely, Baghdad Bob, a font of misinformation.

2. Tubby Smith. A cool $2.5 million a season. Who said college sports aren't big business? Tubby even got his three assistants an extra $78,000 to divvy up.

3. The Swarm. We quote from the press release: "The Pickled Brothers (fire eating, bed of nails, etc.), stilt walkers, an Olympic trampoline jumper . . . and Bud girls in our end-zone hot tub." Sign us up.

4. Mark Cuban. The crazy Mavs owner has pledged to match up to $1 million of donations to help families of U.S. military personnel who were killed or seriously injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom. www.fallenpatriotfund.org.

5. Jocks to GIs. ESPN invited GIs stationed abroad to become pen pals with some of America's greatest pro athletes. Roger Clemens, Tiger Woods, Jennifer Capriati, Michael Vick and Lance Armstrong are among those participating.

6. Alex Sulfsted. The Mariemont High and Miami U. product was among five Washington Redskins to visit 13 soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

7. The Cyclones. That ECHL team won't die.

8. Softball. Imagine starting a season with 14 straight hits. (We did it.)

9. Michael Jordan. An amazing comeback when you get right down to it.

10. NBC. No major sports? Give 'em credit. Televising Saturday's $1 million match between cowboy Chris Shivers and 1,650-pound bull Little Yellow Jacket was pure genius.

Thumbs down

1. The Reds. A company will donate money to the local SPCA for each complete game pitched by a Red. Even the animals are suffering.

2. Jim Harrick/Georgia fans. Seems he received three standing ovations at the banquet - after he wrecked the program.

3. The Cavaliers. Nice season-ending win. Cost 'em 25 pingpong balls in the LeBron James lottery. (Guess it doesn't matter. The Knicks will win the lottery, conspiracy theorists say.)

4. LeBron. Why did he say he'd make his decision on entering the NBA draft by the end of the month? He's ineligible for college, anyhow, after playing in three all-star games.

5. The WNBA. David Stern induced labor unrest with a deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement.

6. Hector Macho Camacho. The former boxing champ, 40, has come out of retirement again. Roberto Duran can't be far behind.

7. NHL coaches. It's a tough gig. The Penguins' Rick Kehoe was the ninth to be fired this season.

8. The Yankees. Yep, struggling without Jeter.

9. Knuckleheads running onto the field from the stands.

10. Knuckleheads running onto the field in Reds uniforms.