Thumbs up 1. The Crosstown Shootout. Sure it's gotten too big for its britches, but it's a reminder of why rivalry games are so great. And it's a reminder why games such as UC-Miami, UC-Dayton and XU-Miami should be on the schedule every year. Those games are for the fans and alumni, not the coaches and players from everywhere but Cincinnati.

        2. Dmitri Young. We'll miss The Hook. He was nothing but a shear delight for his entire Reds career. He went out, played hard, and showed how much he enjoyed his opportunity to be a big leaguer. And when he left, he left with class.

        3. College football. We've missed it, but the bowl season opens Tuesday with the New Orleans Bowl!!!! (OK, we won't mention it pits 5-6 North Texas State against Colorado State).

        4. The NFL, non Bengals division. Maybe parity isn't such a bad thing.

        5. The NBA. That league must be doing something right if it just got $1.6 BILLION from ABC and ESPN for a share of the television rights.

        Thumbs down

        1. Notre Dame. Guess that exhaustive five-day coaching search wasn't as exhaustive as it should have been. Calling Gerry Faust.

        2. Baseball. Baseball agents. Bud Selig. The Yankees. Pokey Reese. Contraction. Donald Fehr. The Reds. Jason Giambi. Ticket prices. Carl Everett. Jim Bowden. Arbitration. Multi-year deals for journeymen. Management lawyers. Union lawyers. Aw, heck, it is what it is. We'll live. Only 42 days until pitchers and catchers report!

        3. Boomer Esiason. Sure he's a great guy. Sure he's Bengal fans' last memory of anything that remotely resembled real NFL football. But really. What's the point of his constant ripping of the Bengals in general and Akili Smith in particular?

        4. The Bengals. What, you need to ask?

        5. The BCS. What, you need to ask?

Sports Stories

SULLIVAN: O'Leary fails true-or-false test Runner-up UNC sparked by two locals Bring on the Blue Devils Dayton drubs Purdue Georgetown Tigers repeat as NAIA champions Louisville 66, Ohio State 61 Miami (FL) 58, No. 21 Indiana 53 Miami's road stretch opens at Southern Cal College volleyball: Stanford wins fifth title Getting to the BCS Lucky Cornhuskers Michigan St. hits nifty 50 Top 25 roundup Austin successfully defends title Singh leads Woods in Williams Challenge AHL: Ducks 2, Griffins 2 IHL: Rivermen 4, Cyclones 2 Mighty Ducks NASCAR Night NBA roundup NHL roundup Page Two's power rankings Coming up this week

Brother's ordeal gives coach new outlook
DAUGHERTY: Is this the beginning or the end?
Tale of two cities
Bengals Notebook
By the numbers
Isolation Booth
Nov. 29, 1981: Bengals 41, Browns 21
The Edge
Curnutte's NFL picks
Curnutte's NFL power ratings
Raiders clinch AFC West title
Giants 17, Cardinals 13
NFL notebook
An Ode to Dmitri
Reds Q&A with John Fay
Reds insider
Reds 40-man roster
Baseball insider
Baseball roundup
No time for UC to bask in glory
UC notebook
Bearcat women improve to 7-0
XU finds there is work to be done
Diligent Princeton tops Mercy
Madison seeking sunshine
Boys basketball roundup
Girls basketball roundup
Ryle tops in NKAC tourney
Wrestling: No. 1 Moeller too much for Fairfield