By Mike Ball
Cincinnati Enquirer

Thumbs up

Mark Messier

The NHL flies under the radar in this town, but greatness is greatness. The 43-year-old Messier scored a goal in the Rangers' final home game, and perhaps the final game of his 25-year career. His goal gave him 1,886 career points, second all-time to former teammate Wayne Gretzky.

March Madness

What a great tournament. There's nothing like it. Congrats to Michigan on that NIT title.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Little E was fined $10,000 and lost 25 Nextel points for intentionally spinning out and causing a caution flag so he could have a tire problem fixed in the pits without losing a lap. Fined? That's genius.

The Lakers

Looks like they were just sandbagging the Western Conference all season, doesn't it? With their four stars healthy, they entered Saturday with the best record in the West.

Thumbs down

Opening Day in Japan

Major League Baseball is intent on growing the game, even if it means having the Yankees and Devil Rays play in Japan. MLB better worry about the homefront first. The game is darn-near more popular in Asia and Latin America than it is here.

Major League Baseball players

Cubs pitcher Mark Prior was stung by comments by former major league pitcher Black Jack McDowell, which insinuated Prior's slow recovery from a calf injury was similar to that of a player on steroids. The players union has no right to complain. Until they agree to more testing, everyone is guilty until proven innocent.

Mike Shula

Boy, been a while since a Shula got a thumbs down around here. Anyway, the new Alabama coach renamed the Sylvester Croom Commitment to Excellence Award for performance in the spring game after Bart Starr. Croom, an all-American center for Alabama, had been the namesake of the award for 15 years. Croom, you see, is the Southeastern Conference's first black head coach, at Mississippi State, after losing out on the Tide job to Shula.

Paul Hornung

The Notre Dame football program doesn't have enough problems?