Of couse, this study may be skewed based on what the selected sports bloggers generally touch on, which are principals of their favorite teams. What makes my participation even less scientific is that most of my sports "writing" is throwing out links on SportsByBrooks every Wednesday. What I blog about may not be consistent with the biggest news of the day, but rather the ugliest NASCAR fanny pack I find on eBay.

So, I will take an educated guess at the 10 sports figures I mentioned most this year. If you think I actually went back and counted the number citations, you're out of your fucking mind.

1. Alex Rodriguez — This guy is a blogger's dream. The SABRmetric fans argue — using the most modern of formulas — whether he's an under-appreciated commodity or a choker galore. The Photoshoppers plaster his face on every gay porno box cover they can find. The MySpace fraternity sets F5 on their keyboard to automatically spit out "A-Rod sucks."

As a Yankees fan, you cannot help but write about him. You can criticize the media for over-hyping everything A-Rod does (or does not do). You can swear off writing about him till something truly significant happens. And then he'll disappear in a big series and trap you into writing about whether it was significant or not. A-Rod = sports blog crack.

2. Derek Jeter — Where there's an A-Rod mention, a note on Jeter is sure to follow. His overall worth a subject of debate for years, Jeter came through with what many considered an MVP season. Still up in the air: whether he did enough to quiet the storm surrounding A-Rod. Acting like a White House press secretary, we gleaned as much from what he didn't say as what he did.

3. Tiki Barber — May retire as the second-greatest player in Giants history, behind Lawrence Taylor.

4. Eli Manning — The noose is tightening after seven straight poor starts. If his name wasn't Manning, he'd be sitting more firmly on the low end of the Bust/Weapon meter. Yet he's got a division title under his belt and is challenging for another.

5. Terrell Owens — The one man I hope to see injured every week. An abomination of a professional sportsman.

6. Brett Favre. — Transcript from the Monday Night Football booth earlier this week: "Brett Favre. Brett Favre. Brett Favre. Brett Favre. Brett Favre. Brett Favre. Brett Favre. Brett Favre. Brett Favre. Brett Favre. Brett Favre. Brett Favre."

7. Isiah Thomas. — Imagine Reggie Jackson taking over the St. Louis Cardinals and turning them into such an irrelevant disgrace that you almost forgot he was a Hall of Fame player.

8. Randy Johnson. — Bet he wished the cameras were out of his face when he posted a 5.00 ERA over a 200-inning season. He did rank seventh in the AL in batting average against (.250) and eighth in WHIP (1.24). It doesn't really add up.

9. Peyton Manning. Handles adulation and criticism with class. All eyes are on him every game, yet he never seems to crumble under the pressure. Charges that he's weak are weak. Of all the things that cost the Colts playoff victories in recent years, lack of mettle in their quarterback was the least of them. Never wins a big one? That's hard to do when you challenge for the best NFL's best record every season. His teams lost to the Super Bowl-winning Patriots and Steelers. So did everyone else's teams.

10. Barbaro. I probably wrote about him displaying an incredible to will to live. And so would you if, for the rest of your life, all you were expected to do was fuck a lot.