By Mike Ball
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Thumbs up

1. The Bengals. Imagine how much fun it would have been to have had a team like this the past 13 seasons.

2. Pete Carroll. The Southern California coach did a great thing. He didn't whine about his team falling behind Ohio State in the Bowl Championship Series standings following a 45-0 victory. Said he couldn't control it, so why worry.

3. Steve Rasso. The area loses another great leader. The longtime St. Xavier football coach is calling it quits, although he'll continue to teach, at least for a year. It's always sad to lose educators who have influenced so many.

4. Martina Navratilova. The tennis legend improved to 38-0 in Federation Cup matches when she and Lisa Raymond won their doubles match. Oh, yeah, she's 47.

5. Kids turning pro. Freddie Adu, 14, gets a contract to play in Major League Soccer next season. More impressive: Carissa Moore, 11, was one of four Hawaiian surfers advancing to the quarterfinals of the Roxy Pro women's event Thursday.

Thumbs down

1. Keyshawn Johnson. He apparently was such a pain that Tampa Bay Bucs coach Jon Gruden fired him. On the bright side, it seems to be a trend. The Browns released bad apple Kevin Johnson. The Denver Broncos suspended Daryl Gardener for insubordination.

2. Baseball bonuses. Congrats to AL MVP Alex Rodriguez. For $252 million, you'd think the man should win an MVP or six. Funny, though: The big shortstop earned a $500,000 bonus for winning. In three years, A-Rod has made $2.35 million in bonuses.

3. Reds. The best thing they can do is give the job to deserving Dave Miley and use the cash they save from hiring a "name" manager for some veteran pitching.

4. NBA. It's interesting to read box scores, but the product is often unwatchable.

5. NHL. The cool idea of having an outdoor game that drew 56,000 in Edmonton Saturday wasn't on a U.S. network. The league's just not on the radar screen.