By Mike Ball
Cincinnati Enquirer

Thumbs up

1. Joe Nuxhall. It's so great the thrills the Reds are giving him in his farewell season. Here's a thought: The Reds should let him do all the remaining games if he so chooses.

2. Cracker Jacks. The people have spoken. The Yankees tried to switch to the snack claissic's rival, but outrage from Yankee fans caused the team to change it's mind. Take me out to the ballgame!

3. The Bengals. They sold a reported 10 times more two-game packages on the first day of sales than at the corresponding time last season. Goodness. What if they had gone 9-7?

4. NASCAR. It continues its accent into the Top Four in sports (sorry NHL). Ratings for the Coca-Cola 600 beat the Indy 500 for the third straight year. Twenty-two percent more viewers watched the 600 than the 500, the biggest margin ever.

Thumbs down

1. The Reds. Smack dab in the middle of a stunning start, they announced that RedsFest will take a two-year hiatus because of construction at the convention center. That'll get the fans fired up.

2. The LPGA. Twenty-three of 30 players surveyed by Golf Week magazine were opposed to Michelle Wie getting an exemption to the U.S. Women's Open. Listen ladies, the more publicity Wie brings, the more popular your sport becomes, and the more dollars follow. Did Tiger Woods' popularity hurt the PGA?

3. The Olympics. The U.S. basketball team can drop the "Dream" moniker. Absent from are Tracy McGrady, Ray Allen, Jason Kidd, Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter and Kenyon Martin. Give it back to the college kids.

4. Politics. It seems boxing's promoter extraordinaire Don King has been touring with the Republican National Committee chairman to promote the re-election of the president. Apparently King is a big fan of the Thrilla in the Vanilla House.