10. When we saw Todd Bertuzzi attack an unaware Steve Moore from behind on March 8, it was hard to believe we were watching an NHL hockey game and not a street fight.
9. After all these years, it's official: Pete Rose was lying. Surprise. And he gambled on baseball. Surprise. And he only admitted it to sell his book and try to get reinstated in the Hall of Fame. Surprise.
8. In the words of the Doublemint gum commercial, it was "double the pleasure" for the University of Connecticut, which captured both the men's and women's 2004 NCAA basketball championships behind the efforts of Emeka Okafor and Diana Taurasi.
7. In a world where professional athletes often fall short of being the role models they should be, Pat Tillman was different: not because he died April 22 in Afghanistan, but because he walked away from the money and allure of pro sports to follow his personal beliefs.
6. The rape allegations levied against the University of Colorado's football program may or may not be true, but there is no question that Gary Barnett's program - and the culture of Div. I athletics - is in need of some serious reform.
5. Sox. Yanks. ALCS. Game 7. Grady. Pedro. Boone. Do you need to hear any more?
4. LeBron. LeBron. LeBron. Wait, who's he? He's the teen who won the NBA's Rookie of the Year award and brought excitement (although not the postseason) back to the Cleveland Cavaliers. And if you have to ask who King James is, you probably spent all year either in the library or stoned.
3. In two of the last three Super Bowls, the New England Patriots have been able to give Massachusetts what the Red Sox haven't been able to, thanks to Tom Brady's arm, Adam Vinateri's foot, and Bill Belichick's mind.
2. The BALCO scandal confirmed what we pretty much suspected: athletes use steroids.
1. When Kobe Bryant let a woman into a hotel room in Colorado on the night of June 30, he committed adultery. But was it consensual or rape? A trial is pending.
