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Dec. 29 | 11:03 p.m. ET

In my last entry, I took issue with the Associated Press’ ranking of the top sports stories of the year. I feel that Lance Armstrong’s seventh consecutive Tour de France victory is the top story, as do those taking part in our informal online poll.

I asked you what you feel the top story of the year was, and you weren’t timid in telling me. Not a few of you also took the time to let me know, as one reader put it, that I’m a “New Yorker and an idiot,” which, to many people who don’t live in the Northeast, is redundant.

I also said I’d print your e-mails. So, with thanks for taking the time to write and wishes for a most prosperous and satisfying new year, here they are:

Mark from Riverside, Calif.:
I agree about Lance Armstrong. His story far surpassed the White Sox winning the title. To be honest, I didn't even watch the World Series for the first time in years. But Lance Armstrong did something that, like you stated, probably won't be duplicated. THEN, on top of that, he has had so many people trying to pile garbage on top of his accomplishments. To be honest, it smells like a whole lot of regurgitated humble pie. Hold your head high Lance, you deserve it.

CeCe from Chicago:
Lance Armstrong rode a bicycle in Europe - seven times. Who cares? And there's allegations he took illegal steroids/performance enhancers. The White Sox changed the dynamic of an entire city - something not easy in a two-team baseball town, especially if the Cubs are the other team. They represented the heart and soul of Chicago's working class with low ticket prices and family friendly promotions. I agree with the AP.

Larry from Des Moines:
How is it "the White Sox’ fault" for not having a national following? Wait till they repeat in '06. Frankly, I don't care about national followings. Give me a World Series winner. The Cubs are the perfect example of why a so-called national following (which I'll dispute about them) carries little significance. Your East Coast favoratism reeks.

Debbie from Avon, Ind.:
It has to be Tony Dungy and his family.

Pat from Winona Lake, Ind.:
I agree with the other fans' assessment that Lance Armstrong is a great story, if for no other reason than he made the nation pause and notice cycling for three weeks in the July. . .who remembers any other rider names now in December?

John from Tallahassee:
The real story is Lance Armstrong. Period. Just to survive cancer is enough. But to do what he's done........it blows me away.

Brian from Naperville, Ill.:
Steroids. Anytime you can make ballplayers act like Frank Costello, hey, that's a great story.

James from Whitelaw, Wisc.:
There are so many to pick from in a year. But in my opinion, how about a guy who had a stroke and heart surgery? Comes back to lead his team to the playoffs. When a lot of people counted him out and his team out. I would choose Tedy Bruschi's story.

Don from West Warwick, R.I.:
No doubt in my mind. The comeback of Teddy Bruschi from a stroke to play pro football. A true inspiration to anybody with heart problems. Don't give up and work hard.

Sue from Chicago:
Wow, just when the White Sox finally get the respect they deserve nationally, someone still has to knock them. How is the White Sox winning the World Series NOT as good as Boston winning it last year? Just because Boston had more fans? The White Sox were an underdog, - a team nobody expected anything from - and they come out swinging - in first place from day one and stayed in first each and every day of the season! And tied for the best post-season record EVER. They proved EVERYONE wrong. That's what makes the White Sox story SO great!

Jim from Crest Hill, Ill.:
Once again, just because the White Sox don't have the glamour of the Red Sox or Yankees, it is not supposed to appeal to the rest of the world. To that I say, who cares? To the fans of the Chicago White Sox, they can care less. They won it all! Finally! And the Cubs did not!

Jamil from Montgomery:
Hurricane Katrina was the biggest story of 2005. Teams on every level were and are still displaced as a result of her devastation. Perhaps being that I'm in Alabama has an effect on my perception; however, I can not understand how Lance could be number one because, quite frankly, I've seen it before. I haven't seen the White Sox win anything but you're correct in that they don't have the cult following of the Red Sox and Cubs. Katrina's impact disrupted sports and destroyed lives. Tell the Saints, the Hornets, Tulane, Southern Miss, Southern University, the Sugar Bowl and the New Orleans bowl officials, the Superdome officials and the countless other collegiate and high school athletes Katrina isn't number one.

Ken from Vineyard Haven:
I think the biggest story is that the Yankees failed miserably after spending 10 zillion dollars to buy a World Series. Hey, as the "Grinch" has said..."maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store"! If you're in Boston or Chicago, all you can do is enjoy it.

Randy from Mt. Shasta, Calif:
Lance — a miraculous story — beginning to end

Brad from Gaithersburg, Md.:
Lance Armstrong is the story of the year no question. Second is how the media over-hyped the T.O. story. If he'd not been given a microphone he would be a forgotten foot note. But that's the way it has become these days. The bad guys get the press because it's something to talk or write about. It's making a mess of sports. Too many talking heads.

Kevin from Tinley Park, Ill:
You're nuts! Who cares about bicycle racing? If you think that the Sox don't have a passionate following, look at the millions of people who showed up on LaSalle Street after they won the series. The Sox are easily the #1 story. Leave any mention of the Cubs out of future stories about the Sox. Those losers can have all the so-called fans they want.

Mike from Clearfield, Utah:
Danica Patrick is definite. T.O. doesn’t rate.

Jennifer from Chicago:
White Sox - #1 story. Who cares about the Cubs? You're obviously biased on that account or you wouldn't have mentioned them.

Mary B. from Lancaster, Pa.:
Mike, the White Sox were the story of 2005. Just like the Red Sox were in 2004. The other stories pale in comparison during both years. I am interested in all of the sports - but clearly the 88-year wait for the White Sox warrants it to be the story of the year. Your article leaves a lot to be desired. I can't stand when a "journalist" tries to sway the uninformed masses toward their warped opinion.

James from Southampton, Mass.:
Maybe not "Top Story," but Johnny D. going to the dark side.... Ouch! Add another chapter to the best rivalry in baseball

George from Chicago:
It's called the "Top Sports Story of the Year!” What idiot would equate what the White Sox accomplished and the way that they accomplished it with an unknowing national following? Are you a true sportswriter or a Hollywood publicist?

Michelle from Fontaine le Port, France:
I agree with you! Armstrong’s success was the big one and the bad-mouthing from the French newspapers shown us it was fairy sport adventure.

Dave from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia:
I live in a country fanatical about hockey, so, I guess the canceling of the 04/05 NHL season would get my top billing; a close second would have to be drugs in sports and the impact this causes on kids who regard these guys as heroes. My 17-year-old son grew up idolizing Mark McGwire, but now his admiration has turned to cynicism. Let’s hope there are more positive stories than negative ones this year.

Jim from Hudson, Ohio:
The top story should be how professional and college major sports programs have gone too far from reality with respect to the average "Joe" sports fan. Today it's all about money and the average so-called fan has lost touch either because he can't comprehend the magnitude of the wealth being tossed around, or he's caught up in this insanity expecting the owners to out-spend anyone just to be able win....something? Hopefully one day soon the "sports bubble" will burst and bring sport back to something more important than T.O.

Jason from Fort Wayne, Ind.:
I think the greatest story of the year is when the U.S. Team won the Presidents Cup. There is no better example of individual Athletes with large egos coming together to honor America. Watching Tiger and Phil embrace after the victory just shows that this group of guys put the past behind them to get a victory for the U.S.

Rick from Chicago:
You are right on the money...and who cares about the White Sox? As a Cub fan, I am sick of hearing about an over-achieving team that stunk in the second half, almost blowing a 15-game lead, but for whatever reason won the title. Yippee!!! Now we can only hope that Reinsdorf sells them, and they can go back to sleep for another 90 years.Dec. 28 | 2:30 a.m. ET

Once again, you, the fans, are telling us, the alleged experts — although exactly what I’m an expert at, I’m still trying to determine — what’s really important. The Associated Press’ annual top sports stories of the year are out, and they don’t agree with your assessment of what was important last year.

The writers of the AP say that the biggest story of 2005 was the Chicago White Sox breaking their 0-for-88-year schneid and finally winning the World Series. A year ago, when it was the Red Sox breaking a similar losing streak, it was, everyone — writers and fans — agreed, the top story.

But this year, the latest informal poll figures on our site show that the plurality goes to Lance Armstrong’s seventh consecutive and final Tour de France victory. The White Sox are a distant second with about 23 percent of the vote compared to 36 percent for our Lance.

The AP’s second story, the dislocation of the New Orleans’ teams because of Katrina, is barely registering with just two percent of the instant vote. Its third story is Armstrong.

The voters on this site are saying that after Armstrong and the White Sox, the Terrell Owens saga is No. 3. There is no clear fourth-place story, that place being a tie among Danica Patrick, the New England Patriots’ second straight Super Bowl win and Rafael Palmeiro.

According to the writers, baseball’s steroid scandal is fourth and the Pats a distant fifth. Palmeiro is a couple of places further down the list. Terrell Owens is in ninth place, a ton of votes behind everyone else.

Every writer should take a look at the two sets of results, because they show the disconnect between what we think is important and what you just can’t get enough of. What you are telling us is which stories most moved you during the year. But the writers are voting on which stories they feel are most significant.

By those standards, Katrina probably is more significant than anything other than the White Sox, who stand alone by virtue of those 88 years without a title. By the same standards, the issue of steroids in baseball is bigger than what happened to one player, Palmeiro. And Owens, while a juicy and long-running story, isn’t much more than a footnote in the cosmic scheme of things; it’s just one guy acting badly, not anything that actually affects the past, present or future of how the games are played.

But juicy is always more fun than significant. We get enough significance on the news pages. In the sports pages, we should be entertained. And T.O. was entertaining.

Personally, I agree with the fans. Armstrong was the biggest story. He did something that had never been done before and may never be done again. He was an American who dominated a European sport, and as such he was a lightning rod for emotions, both positive and negative. Anytime you see the best ever, it’s a top story.

I feel for the White Sox, but if they don’t have the same sort of passionate and national following that the Red Sox and Cubs have, it’s their own fault.

Let me know what you think the top story of the year is and why — I’ll run your comments in my next entry.

Dec. 22 | 10:06 p.m. ET

Tony Dungy’s son, James, was found dead early Thursday morning. Police have called the death an apparent suicide, a determination which must be confirmed by the coroner.

I wrote a column – terribly inadequate, I fear – on Dungy’s loss. I can’t imagine any more devastating loss. It’s the kind of story that makes you want to run home and hug your kids and tell them you love them. And that’s not a bad thing to do.

I then did some research on teen suicide. Everyone who has children should at least be aware of the basic facts.

Suicide is the third-leading cause of death in the 15-24 age group, an age range that sees few deaths from natural causes. Accidents are the number one killer of youth in the United States, homicide second. In Canada, suicide is the second-leading cause of death.

Of every 100,000 teenagers, about 9 will commit suicide.

More females attempt or contemplate suicide, but more males by a ratio of four-to-one succeed. White males are more likely to commit suicide than any other group, although the rate of suicides among African-Americans is rising rapidly and doubled in the years 1980-96.  Suicide is also more prevalent in developed countries than in the third world.

These are fact you can pick up in many places. Family First Aid has a very straightforward listing of the statistics along with many links to suicide-related topics.

The signs psychiatrists and pediatricians tell parents to look for are well established, and most sites discussing teen suicide list them. The following list is copied from the Web site of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. For the full article, go here.

A teenager who is planning to commit suicide may also:

The American Academy of Pediatrics also includes recommended ways to deal with adolescents or young adults who may be suicidal, and you can find it here. One piece of advice is not to talk around the subject or avoid the word. If you think your child is suicidal, ask him or her straight out.

Now is a good time to look for the signs and have a talk with your kids. And give them a hug.

Dec. 21 | 9:25 a.m. ET

Ron Artest sure knows how to endear himself to basketball fans.

In case you didn’t catch it, he took a rather nasty shot at Magic Johnson during a radio interview the other day. After hearing that Johnson, an icon of the game, said that Artest shouldn’t have been given another shot at the NBA after the brawl he started last year in Detroit, Artest shot back: "It's like saying, 'Magic, should your wife give you another chance?'" Artest told WIBC radio. "He's saying Ron Artest should have no more second chances.

What's worse — me saying I want to be traded or you cheating on your wife?"

OK, it’s hitting below the belt — literally. And common decency says you don’t comment on other people’s marriages in public that way. What Johnson did is between him and his wife. What Artest did is between him and an entire sport.

The only thing for Artest – or anyone – to say in a situation like that is, "He’s entitled to his opinion." Then change the subject. It’s crude to get that personal, and it’s deadly to do it with one of the most beloved figures in the game. That stands even if what Artest said was the truth — Johnson hardly qualifies as someone to be throwing the first stone.

But just because something is true doesn’t mean you say it. And this is Artest’s problem. There is no filter between what he thinks and what he does. Amateur psychologists say it’s because he grew up in a very tiny apartment in a very large family in which his mother and father weren’t able to communicate except by beating on each other. You are what you learn as a child.

There’s probably something to that. But he’s also an adult, and if he has issues with controlling his impulses and anger, there are ways to deal with it. He can ask for a trade, and he can ask to stay with the Pacers. He’s a terrific basketball player and someone can use him.

But if he doesn’t make a fundamental change in the way he reacts to stress, he’s still going to be one nudge away from another meltdown. It’s a shame.

The man is bright and good-looking. In private life, he’s as charitable as they come. He could be swimming in acclaim and endorsements.

It’s a choice he can make, the same as his evil twin, Terrell Owens. It’s not easy to change, but it’s not easy to be one of the best in your profession as both men are. They both worked to become as supremely talented as they are. If they worked as hard at thinking before they act, there’d be no limit for either of them.

Dec. 19 | 12:30 a.m.

Keith Jackson retired once before, at the end of the 1998 football season, when he was a mere lad of 70. Now, he’s talking about doing it again, this time for keeps.

"I can see the end of the road," Jackson has said. "This might be my last year. It's nice to hear people tell me they want me to keep doing this. It's better than hearing, 'Hey, you old goat! Why don't you retire?'"

I can think of one reason not to hang up his microphone — he’s still the best in the business. If you don’t believe that, tune in on Dec. 9, when he and Dan Fouts do the Holiday Bowl on ESPN and then on Jan. 4, when the same pairing brings us USC and Texas in the Rose Bowl.

Since his first retirement, which didn’t take, he’s spent his time on the Left Coast doing Pac-10 games on ABC. So most of the country doesn’t hear him a lot anymore. That’s why this year was a treat when he did several national games, including a couple involving Notre Dame and the USC-Fresno State game when Reggie Bush put up more than a quarter mile of total offense.

I’ve heard some people complain about him and his distinctive Georgia twang. What they can possibly object to is beyond me. I can only assume they’re annoyed at hearing play-by-play that is literate, intelligent, insightful, creative and free of the clichéd, semi-literate chowder that passes for commentary these days.

"I'm not afraid to quote Shakespeare," Jackson once said. "I'm not afraid to call the end zone Hallelujah-land. Nobody ever told me, 'Don't do it.'" And he’s not afraid to say, “Whoa, Nellie!” the phrase he’s most remembered for, even if it’s been years since he’s used it in a game.

He’s also not afraid to say “times out,” which happens to be the proper grammatical usage, not “time outs,” as everybody else says. Like Vin Scully, he describes what he sees right now, not what he’s seen before or what he thinks he should be seeing. And he does it with crisp, vivid language that makes a broadcast come alive.

He doesn’t get in the way of the game, doesn’t speak just to hear the sound of his own voice, doesn’t call four-yard gains in the first quarter as if they’re the greatest event since the fall of global Communism.

Some interesting views on both sides of the golden larynx are here at fanblogs.com.

You can get a quick history of the man in this piece in the Cornell Daily Sun, which includes his call of Alabama’s goal-line stand against Penn State in 1979 that earned the Crimson Tide a 14-7 win and a National Championship. Wikipedia also has a bio.

I managed to dig up a couple of his quotes. He had this to say on golf: "Never have so many spent so much time to sit in relative comfort to brag about their failures."

Then there’s this line taken from the middle of a broadcast: "My, oh my, that's meaner than a Georgia Bulldog looking at a yard full of kitties."

What’s not to like?

Dec. 16 | 7:30 p.m. ET

Once again, it’s time to remind Alex Rodriguez that when you try to please everybody, you please nobody.

The American-born Yankee third baseman a week or so ago had said he was thinking about playing for the Dominican Republic in the Baseball World Classic next March. Now, he’s told The New York Post, he’s decided not to play for any team because someone might be offended.

His heritage is Dominican, which is why he was looking in that direction. But he’s a native-born American, he pointed out, and if he played for the Dominican Republic, Americans could be offended, while, if he plays for the United States, Dominicans will be hurt.

“When faced with the decision to choose between my country, the United States of America, and my Dominican heritage, I decided I will not dishonor either,” he told the paper.

He’s right on both counts, but wrong on the solution. If your prime purpose in life is never to offend anyone, you’re never going to be very happy. I’ve said this before about A-Rod. I want to root for him because he is a good person and a great ballplayer. But he’s so darned programmed and smooth, he comes off as being phony. You want a little passion in your heroes, something that says they have something they believe in and something that gets their blood coursing at a merry clip through their veins.

I’m not suggesting anyone be an idiot for my sake — or for anyone else’s. I’m not suggesting he needs to be an idiot at all. There’s nothing wrong with picking a side — any side — and going out and playing the game. It’s a game, after all, and it’s supposed to be fun. You know he loves playing ball, and you know it can’t be fun sitting on the sideline watching others compete in your stead.

The game needs its best players on the field. He’s one of them. So, he ticks off someone on either side? Big deal. They’ll get over it and in the meantime they’ll have a reason to watch the games, even if it’s only to boo him.

Forget about making us all happy, A-Rod. Make yourself happy. Play the game.

Dec. 14 | 10:20 a.m. ET

Once upon a time — it wasn’t more than a year ago — when the Yankees needed a new piece for their juggernaut, they’d sign the biggest name at whatever position they found themselves lacking.

Now, with the team hemorrhaging money and trying to cut the payroll, the name that’s come up as a new first baseman is Nomar Garciaparra. That would give the Yankees All-Star shortstops at third short and first.

The Yankees need a first baseman; Jason Giambi is as mobile as Vinny Testaverde and he doesn’t have nearly the arm. He’s got to be the team’s DH. But while Garciaparra is intriguing, I’m not sure he’s the answer.

If he could play center field, I’d feel better about the possibility of his donning pinstripes.  But no one knows if he can even play first. Also, he’s played only 143 games in the past two seasons, during which he’s hit just 18 home runs.

If he’s healthy, he could be a great addition. The question the Yankees have to ask themselves is whether they’re willing to be the season on his gimpy wheels.

***

I wrote a column congratulating Stan Van Gundy on giving up the Miami coaching job — even if he might have been nudged a bit — to spend more time with his family. In it, I talked about how little time many people associated with sports spend at home.

A reader reminded me that many Americans make an even greater sacrifice — those in the armed forces. Both regular soldiers and reserves say goodbye to their loved ones for a year and sometimes more at a time to serve their country.

Some 140,000 of them are in Iraq right now, and the difference between them and Van Gundy is they don’t have the option of deciding to go home anytime they want. They also don’t make nearly what Van Gundy makes. Oh, and people in sports may have to deal with boos and the slings and arrows of outrageous sports columnists, but they don’t have to dodge bullets and roadside bombs.

Sort of puts things in perspective.

***

Most readers agreed with an earlier blog in which I said that Doug Mientkiewicz should give back the ball that recorded the final out of Boston’s first World Series win in 86 years. But many pointed out an obvious error in my logic.

I had written that since the ball belonged to Boston and didn’t leave the field, Mientkiewicz had as little right to it as any of us does to anything lying around the office supply cabinet. That would have been logical except for one not-so-minor detail – the fourth and final game of the 2004 World Series was played in St. Louis, not Boston. By my logic, then, either the Cardinals as the home team or Major League Baseball, as the provider of the baseballs, is the rightful owner of the historic souvenir.

Since I haven’t heard either St. Louis or Bud Selig demanding the ball, I’ll stick with my original conclusion: Mientkiewicz still has no right to pocket the relic. But it will be interesting to hear what a court has to say about that.

Dec. 12 | 1 a.m. ET

It’s good to be kind. But it’s better to be Roger Clemens.

When the Rocket left Boston after the 1996 season, you couldn’t have paid the Red Sox to take him back. He was going on 34 years old and coming off a 10-13 season. Boston had had it with him, and he was through with them. Anyway, he was washed up — that’s what they said — and in a couple of years would be out of baseball.

That was four Cy Young Awards ago, and now, in the most delicious story of the off-season to date, the Red Sox have contacted Clemens about coming home next year.

Clemens isn’t going to decide whether he’ll pitch again until January or February. My guess is he’ll give it another shot. There’s too much left in his arm and too much competitive fire in his gut for him to walk away now, just nine wins away from 350 for his career.

It’s also my hope he’ll come back — to Boston. There is no more entertaining continuing story in baseball than the AL East and the constant battle between the Yankees and the Red Sox. And nothing would make better theater than having Clemens take the mound in a Red Sox uniform in Fenway Park against the Yankees, unless it’s him taking the mound in Yankee Stadium in that same uniform.

He won’t be cheap. Clemens can call his shots like few kings ever could. He can go where he wants and demand what he wants. It could cost $20 million to rent him for one more year, and it’s almost certain he won’t pitch a full season; he tends to get groin pulls in his old age. But he’ll pack stadiums at home and on the road, sell a ton of No. 21 jerseys, and launch another thousand headlines.

Here’s hoping it happens.

Get out of town
I was going to write a few thoughts about the reports that Ron Artest wants out of the Pacers. But after reading in the Indianapolis Star this wonderfully vitriolic column by Bob Kravitz, who writes occasionally for MSNBC, I realized there was nothing I could add.  It’s safe to say Kravitz thinks the sooner Artest leaves town the better. I agree.

Dec. 8 | 1:05 p.m. ET

Is it only me, or is this one of the more eventful baseball off-seasons we’ve seen in a long time?

There are sea changes afoot. The Astros chose not to offer Roger Clemens arbitration, which may or may not finally signal the end of one of the greatest careers in the history of the game. I personally think he’ll be back, maybe even after May 1 in an Astros’ uniform. I also think he should come back as long as he can still pitch, and, as we saw last season, he can still pitch.

Mike Piazza is leaving the Mets. Piazza was the premier player who came to New York, led the Mets back into contention and into the first subway World Series since the Dodgers left town, and set the record for home runs by a catcher in a Mets uniform. He wasn’t the best catcher in the world; it’s almost a stretch to call him average. But he was the face of the Mets. And next year, he’ll be a DH in the American League.

The Yankees came within a whisker of saying goodbye to Bernie Williams after a 16-year career, all of it spent in pinstripes. But, while the Yankees may yet re-sign him, Williams’ reign as the every day center fielder is over, and that’s an enormous milestone in the team’s history.

The Marlins have dismantled a team that won the World Series just two years ago. They did it once before, after the 1997 season, but the diaspora of Marlins has changed a lot of teams.

Big-time closers Billy Wagner and B.J. Ryan have changed homes. Rafael Furcal has switched coasts. The Mets have been busy building a team that is going to be the favorite to win the NL East. The Red Sox are trying to move Manny. The Rangers traded Alfonso Soriano to the Nationals.

These are big names, and it seems that it’s only started. We haven’t seen this kind of activity for a long time. All I can say is keep it coming.

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