By Mike Ball
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Thumbs up

Marvin Lewis

Imagine if the Bruce Coslet/Mike Brown Bengals had traded down in the first round to add a cornerback (Deltha O'Neal) who lost his job and be applauded unanimously? Lewis really has changed the mindset in Bengal-land, and the optimism is refreshing.

NCAA women's basketball

The ratings for this year's championship game between Connecticut and Tennessee were not only up 23 percent, but were the highest since ESPN began broadcasting it in 1997. UConn, which won its third straight title and fourth in five years, proves once again it's good to have an "Evil Empire" in a sport.

Tom Watson

The Hall of Famer played the first round of The Masters Thursday after hearing of the death of his friend/caddy, Bruce Edwards, after a long bout with Lou Gehrig's disease.

Paradorn Srichaphan

The rising tennis star from Thailand can concentrate on his game. He avoided a potential mandatory two-year stint in the military when his district had enough men volunteer.

Thumbs down

The Yankees

They may have been acquitted in ESPN's mock trial to determine if they were bad for baseball, but their payroll speaks volumes. According to a USA Today survey, the Yankees' $184.2 million payroll was $115.2 million above the industry average.

The Sacramento Kings

They got their star Chris Webber back and figured to nail down the top seed in the West. Instead, the Kings have gone 11-10 and lost six of their past nine games and lost the top seed.

Cheaters

The only Russian team to qualify for the Little League World Series was banned Friday for using illegal players. Wow, baseball really is taking hold in Moscow.

The Montreal Expos

They had their home opener Friday - in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Oh well, maybe Washington, D.C.'s announcement Friday that it would meet all of Baseball's demands for relocation will get this thing done. Shoot, the first sad-sack Senators were great for baseball.