(10) Indiana University: Dare we call it the Curse of Bobby Knight? An Indianapolis Star column was curiously harsh in proclaiming, "(T)he epitaph can be written on Rick Greenspan's reign of (t)error," but Hoosier faithful must be praying that the athletic director's announcement of his impending departure will bring an end to years of missteps by the entire administration since Knight was forced out as basketball coach. It's ironic that Greenspan reportedly was opposed to the hiring a year ago, but now every job interview he ever endures is going to begin with, "How could you have better handled the Kelvin Sampson situation?"

(9) The Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles: Saturday's oddball loss was clearly an anomaly since winning teams have only been no-hit five times in the modern era, but it does speak to the team's bigger issue . . . aside from that hideous franchise name. Though they lead the West Division with the third-best record in the American League and clearly have some pitching, the Angels' lineup lacks punch. They're in the bottom five in baseball in slugging percentage and suffered back-to-back shutouts to the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles over the weekend before salvaging a 1-0 win on Sunday. The front office needs to add a power bat to the lineup or invent a way to start winning games by a scores of zero to minus-one.

(8) Alabama football: Reports of trouble for the Tide just keep rolling in, the latest being Jimmy Johns' arrest on felony drug charges and immediate dismissal from the football team. Fellow LB Prince Hall was already indefinitely suspended during the offseason for unspecified team infractions, DT Jeremy Elder got booted after his own run-in with the law and several players have also racked up disorderly conduct charges. Heck, even color commentator Kenny "The Snake" Stabler was accused of his third DUI this month. Swerve, Tide, swerve.

(7) Shaq's apology: I'm not even going to try to get into the (de)merits of Shaq's beef with Kobe or his diss-ability as a rapper. No, this is purely about the subsequent apology, which concluded with the requisite "If I hurt anyone's feelings, I apologize." Athletes, TV talking heads, celebs and politicians always use that phrase after screwing up, and I can't figure out why they feel compelled to say "if?" Of course you hurt someone, otherwise you wouldn't be apologizing in the first place. The whole phrase needs to die faster than Shaq's music career.

(6) New York Giants: It had to be done because the defending Super Bowl champions just have too many promising young QBs on the roster, but releasing veteran backup Jared Lorenzen was demoralizing to those of us who've ever required two trips to do the job when the coach barked, "Haul your butt down here." Standing 6-foot-4 and 290 pounds, Lorenzen was a move-the-pile, quarterback- sneak specialist worthy of two of the sport's better nicknames: The Hefty Lefty and The Abominable Throwman. Garbage time in Giants games just won't be the same without him.

(5) The latest Adam Jones situation: Critics are understandably slow to cut him a break but the Dallas Cowboys defensive back is entitled to a little common courtesy when he asks now to be called by his given name rather than "Pacman." Is it a superficial PR move to disassociate himself from mountains of trouble for which there is no one to blame but Pacman Jones? Probably. But in a world in which it's David Ortiz instead of Dave or Davy, Donovan McNabb instead of Don or Donny and Patrick Ewing instead of Pat, Jones' wish should be respected. . . at least until the next time he screws up.

(4) Darrell Arthur's reps: Somebody dropped the ball before Thursday's NBA Draft, and it resulted in the Kansas forward's stock falling like Hans Gruber after he lost his grip on Holly McClane's Rolex. Expected to go as high as No. 15, "Shady" fell to 27th and lost as much as $1 million in guaranteed money amidst rumors that he has some sort of kidney ailment. The Washington Wizards put Arthur through an exam last week and reportedly found nothing wrong. That's vital information that the player's reps needed to get into the hands of every NBA team immediately instead of leaving them to scramble for info while the first round was in progress.

(3) Darrel Arthur: Arthur must feel like someone three years into a marriage that wasn't rock-solid from the start - alternately loved and hated every 20 minutes or so. Drafted by New Orleans at No. 27, Arthur was shipped in exchange for cash to the Portland Trail Blazers, who then packaged him with forward Joey Dorsey in a deal with Houston for the rights to Nicolas Batum. The Rockets then sent Arthur to Memphis for a second-round pick and the rights to Donte Greene, who was selected one spot after the Kansas standout. On the bright side, Arthur showed more movement in one night than Joe Barry Carroll displayed in his final two NBA seasons.

(2) Shawn Chacon: When the boss tells you to report to the manager's office, your ultimate reaction can't be to go all Sprewellish on him to matter how badly the conversation deteriorates. The pitcher knew he was about the recipient of bad news and demanded that GM Ed Wade break it to him in the clubhouse instead of adjourning to the office. Chacon is now damaged goods, which in the goofy world of sports means he remains completely employable - but just on a string of one-year contracts and just for $2 million a pop. Where do I sign up?

(1) Ed Wade: The Astros general manager has a bit of a reputation for a short fuse, and the Chacon incident isn't going to help. Wade went into a rant, spiced it up with profanity and was well on his way to creating a very public scene before Chacon took it to a new level by applying his hands to the GM's throat. Wade apparently hasn't been to enough human resources training sessions to know bad news has to be delivered in private. And if the intended recipient refuses to listen to news of his demotion? Call the player's agent and tell him to start earning his 4 percent by passing the news along. Or, at the very least, channel the spirit of Billy Martin and pretend the player is Eddie Whitson. Just don't ever finish second in any dispute, verbal or physical, to the hired hands.

Next week: I recap of six months of The Bottom 10's less-than-greatest hits.