THE OPENING LINE

Monday, Dec. 17, 2007 | 7:09 a.m.

Sports should be an escape; games, a respite from real life.

That made it doubly depressing to open the e-mail from the Associated Press asking for my vote on the top sports stories of 2007.

My first reaction to AP's list of suggestions: Boy, it was a bad year in sports.

Even an eternal optimist couldn't find 10 positive stories on this list.

Consider my top pick: Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron's home run record but his milestone is tainted - first by the steroids scandal and then by a federal indictment. And that was before Bonds' name turned up in former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell's no-star lineup.

My next picks went to convicted dog fighter Michael Vick, disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy, stripped Olympic sprinter Marion Jones, fined Spygate coach Bill Belichick, doped-up Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, NFL disciplinarian Roger Goodell - and his merry miscreants Pacman Jones, Chris Henry, Tank Johnson and Vick - and slain safety Sean Taylor.

You can blame the media feeding frenzy or a general breakdown in society, but those were big stories in sports.

It took me to Nos. 9 and 10 to honor the thrill of victory: Roger Federer's magic and Florida winning the collegiate football and basketball championships. Oh sure, we cheered Jimmie Johnson, Justine Henin, Lorena Ochoa, Brett Favre, Appalachian State and Rags to Riches.

Even U.S. women's soccer, that last bastion of heart warming, was tainted by its goalkeeper controversy. Thanks to Brazilian soccer star Marta, who scored seven goals in the World Cup and turned my frown upside down. She's my top female athlete.

Thanks, too, to Floyd Mayweather Jr., who didn't make the ballot but who I wrote in as top male athlete. The best pound-for-pound fighter and biggest money machine in the sport defeated Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.

It's an interesting year when Mayweather gets to wear the white hat.

Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic, Saturday and Sunday, Orleans Arena

It's another holiday hoops feast - four games a day for a cut-rate price for locals. Purdue, Alabama and Iowa State have the big names, but look for Missouri State - and maybe Texas Southern - to play big.

TICKETS: Two-day packages from $22 (locals only) to $118

ON THE WEB: orleansarena.com

Las Vegas Wranglers vs. Phoenix RoadRunners, 11:59 tonight, Orleans Arena

Working the graveyard shift with a Zamboni, the Wranglers host the fifth annual midnight game. Sometimes even the weather gets into the holiday spirit. When Las Vegas took the ice last year, it started to snow outside the arena.

TICKETS: $12.50 to $36.75; $7.50 and $15 for kids

ON THE WEB: lasvegaswranglers.com