By Mike Ball
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Thumbs up

1. ESPN Classic. If nothing else came of the Pete Rose saga last week, the cable channel offered a serious Reds flashback: Games 6 and 7 against the Red Sox in the epic 1975 World Series, and a little Blue Moon Odom action from Game 5 of the 1972 World Series.

2. Marvin Lewis. Thanks for saving us from another preseason quarterback battle - we know how well those have gone in the past. (And perhaps the greatest example of change - a ticket price hike with nary a peep from the fans. Amazing.)

3. Figure skating. Could it have been only 10 years ago this week that Nancy Kerrigan got whacked on the leg during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships? Little did anyone know Tonya Harding would turn into one of the world's great two-sport (skating, boxing) athletes.

4. Joe Gibbs. His success as both an NFL head coach (three Super Bowl championships with the Redskins, who just hired him back) and a NASCAR team owner (two titles) is one of the most underrated achievements in sports.

5. Australian Open tune-ups/the PGA Tour opener/testing at Daytona. It's almost spring - 37 days until pitchers and catchers report.

Thumbs down

1. Pete Rose. No, he didn't murder anyone, and, yes, the media is way up on its high horse. But this Rose quote tells you all you need to know about why gambling is so dangerous: "The more I bet, the more I lost. The more I lost, the more I tried to double up to get back what I had already lost. During one three-week stint, I wrote 11 $8,000 checks to my guy in New York. On top of the 88 (thousand dollars), I dropped another six figures to the other guys." Would he fix a game? No one here thinks so. But how's that for being compromised?

2. Nebraska. How could an elite college football program have such a problem getting a head coach, then get one - Bill Callahan - with no ties to its storied past?

3. Baseball veterans. The market correction is going strong. Juan Gonzalez gets $4 million, Robbie Alomar $1 million. That sound you hear? The agents preparing their collusion claim.

4. BCS critics. It has been a week since we crowned co-national champs, and the sky hasn't fallen yet!

5. The New York Knicks. Seemed like a great P.R. move bringing Stephon Marbury home. His home debut was a bit rough, though. The Knicks fell behind 23-2 against Houston, lost 111-79, and Marbury shot 3-for-12 for six points.