By Mike Ball
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Thumbs up

1. BCS. USA Today says that if enough coaches vote Southern Cal No. 1 after the bowls, it could declare the Trojans the champion, instead of the Oklahoma-Louisiana State Sugar Bowl winner. While many fans still clamor for a playoff, the BCS has proven one thing - there is no such thing as bad publicity. TV ratings have soared, and now there essentially are two national championship games.

2. Fans. Remember it comes from the word fanatic. Seems Browns backers Jared Sluzalis and Angela Wagner were married in the Dawg Pound last week. You can bet Art Modell wasn't invited.

3. Joe Nuxhall. The Ol' Left-hander is a finalist for the Ford C. Frick award, the recipient of which enters the broadcasters wing of the Hall of Fame. Here's hoping he changes his mind and does a full season next year.

4. Concord (Calif.) De LaSalle High School football team. De LaSalle just completed its 12th consecutive undefeated season (13-0) and has won 151 consecutive games. Wow.

5. George Foreman. The man has traveled from Zaire to Poughkeepsie and given up his HBO analyst gig to spend more time with his 10 children - five of whom are named George!

Thumbs down

1. UC football fans. Why is it that there seems to be more buzz about the coaching change than when the Bearcats were winning and going to bowl games. (And darts to Bearcat fans who claim the basketball team but don't support the football squad.)

2. Mike Schmidt. We admire his loyalty to Pete Rose. But he's got to quit predicting that Rose is about to be reinstated.

3. Rasheed Wallace. The Trail Blazer bad boy - well, one of them - ripped commissioner David Stern and the league for exploiting young African-Americans in an "n-word" laden rant with a Portland newspaper. Wallace, by the way, is being exploited to the tune of $17 million this season.

4. The Reds. Yes, an easy target. But the Hot Stove League has been great, given all of the Yankees-Red Sox moves, real and imagined, trade talks, free-agent signings, and now the Winter Meetings. Too bad the Reds haven't participated.

5. The Niners. You need to ask? They beat the Bengals in two Super Bowls.