It being the last day of 2004, here are my top 10 news (or "news") stories of the year, in no particular order.

Nation forced to watch as some guy is arrested, tried, and given the chair for killing his wife.

If I did a list of the least essential news stories of the year (a thought for 2005), the Scott Peterson thing would likely top the list. That this passed for a major national news story makes me ache.

Trampy pop star and home-wrecker marries future alimony recipient, have least classy nuptuals ever.

But did we expect anything less? I'm just happy the bride decided to wear shoes.

Red beats blue, most of Cabinet resigns in celebration.

I think the Dems really missed a campaign theme by not hitting on the fear that all of Bush's competent Cabinet members were leaving. I have to think that some moderates in Ohio would have lingered longer over their ballot if they knew that Rummy would wind up being one of the few to stay.

Athletes found to be taking performance-enhancing drugs.

As much as the revelations with Giambi and Bonds lead to questions, at least they had the sense to not fake a motorcycle accident to avoid the issue. Lost in all this is Tyler Hamilton's story, which hopefully won't be the doping equivalent of trying to find the "real killers."

Americans suffer more casualties in trecherous post-victory declaration period of Iraq war.

I shouldn't make fun here, but the irony of declaring victory and then engaging in siege warfare is hard to pass by.

I Love the '90s goes political as Ukranian incumbent tries to steal election; opposition candidate poisoned with dioxin.

In my former Soviet republics pool I had them as "transitory democracy" rather than "ruled by strongman." Hope I win the tiebreaker.

Puritans buried in King's Chapel, Granary cemetaries heard rotating as Bostonians find enjoyment in first Red Sox World Series win since 1918.

And some football team won its second Super Bowl. But why dwell on reasonably consistent success?

Americans react with outrage as the cost of a gallon of gasoline skyrockets to almost 40 percent of prices in the rest of the industrialized world.

Yet it's still cheaper than a gallon of milk, which doesn't have to be shipped halfway around the world and refined. No wonder the cows are so contented; they're raking it in!

Naked women ruin TV, male rank and file mull reasons for continued living.

All of this under the watchful eye of our modern-day Savonarola, Michael Powell. Thanks, dad.

Tsunamis kill thousands upon thousands in Asia.

There's nothing funny about this.

And, while we're at it, the top five personal news stories of the year.

First wedding anniversary celebrated in romantic vacation with extended group of in-laws.

It was actually much better than it sounds. We had our private celebration on our own before the actual day, and on the day of shared the frozen top of the cake with family. The cake actually survived the freezing really well.

Special "in by 9, out by 5" kidney stone service proves painful, put on (hopeful) permanent hiatus.

Hydrate, people. Hydrate.

Chinese attempt to thwart another national TV appearance, are partially successful.

Would $64,000 converted into yuan sound more impressive? In a related story, syndicated Millionaire adds a "change question" lifeline a season too late.

Babsonian captivity ends, Garden City tenure marked by diminished earnings in third and fourth quarters of CY'04.

Like Hannibal Smith, I love it when a plan comes together. And this one is coming together much like an A-Team plan, but without the neat wrap-up by the end of the hour. Thankfully, it also follows the A-Team plan dictate of not killing anyone.

Geico gecko cackles with glee at the thought of a newly-minted 35 year old Massachusetts driver.

The sad thing is, even at my level of experience, I'm still in the top half of all drivers in the Bay State.

Hope your 2004 went as well as hopes. Best wishes for 2005.

And for those of you depending on me for your world juniors update (which is a really bad idea, given that I missed most of last night's game to take in BU's 4-1 win over Nebraska-Omaha), the US lost to Belarus 5-3. Not sure how that happened, other than Al Montoya was supposed to get the night off, but had to sub in for the other guy at some point. Not good.

Even worse - we're losing to the Czechs currently. Outside of a big comeback (the US would have to beat the Czechs by 4 goals), a date with the Slovaks awaits. Hard to say how that'll turn out; the Slovaks shut out Germany and Finland, but got thumped by Canada and Sweden.

In non-hockey news, the DSL means that I'll finally get to update my links in a more meaningful way. I've started this already, most notably in Shawn's benching and the deletion of Web Test Central. More later.

Greetings from the house, where we finally have our DSL up and running!

It proved to be a bit trickier than just taking everything out of the box and plugging it in, but the Verizon folks were very helpful (outside of that automated thing that first answers the phone) and we should be all set. Keep your fingers crossed.

Just as I was going on the other day about not missing action in the US-Switzerland tilt at the world juniors, I fell asleep just as the offensive onslaught started. A 2-0 US lead to start the third period saw a flurry of goals and an eventual 6-4 US win. No-Doz may be the order of the day for tomorrow's game against Belarus. It starts at 9:30 EST, and Belarus has been outscored 15-2 so far.

In Agganis Arena news, the statue of Harry is now outside, on the corner of Comm Ave and Harry Agganis Way. Looks pretty good.

It's a little more than a white Boxing Day in Beverly, where we got damn near a foot of snow while we were gone. Even more joy from getting to shovel out our parking space, which had been plowed in by the city.

I can report that the iTrip is pretty sweet, though it's a battery hog. I will be getting the thing to plug it into the outlet later this week. I think there are some minor interference issues from power lines, but nothing serious.

So while we didn't have a white Christmas in Maine, we are having a white Boxing Day. I suppose that's fitting given the Anglocentric household.

Favorite present: an iTrip from Griffin Technology. You may remember the trouble I had with their iMic earlier in the year, but the iTrip worked the first time out. Haven't tried it in the car yet (used a radio in the house), but I have high hopes for it. I now just need a docking unit that will allow me to keep the thing charged while driving.

(Had I been really smart I would have asked for this thing and taken care of all my needs at once. How did I miss this?)

Not much else to report outside of the usual Christmas stuff. We did have an interesting occurance at Mass on Christmas Eve - a guy passed out in the middle of the service. He was fine, just a little overcome by being packed in as we all were. I would also pass along this bit of advice for choir directors, though: don't put the young boy who's going through "the change" in front of the microphone. Let's just say it can make the season a little less joyous.

Got to watch the first game for the US team last night at the World Juniors hockey tournament, a 5-4 win over the Russians. Of course, I was making an attempt at being social when BU's Chris Bourque tallied a goal and an assist in the first 6-plus minutes of the game. I will not make the same mistake when the US takes on the Swiss tomorrow (ESPN2, check your local listings).

So I had the radio on a couple days ago, and the DJ was asking about over the top Christmas presents. A guy called in and said his brother spent $300 on a Harley Davidson leather jacket and a $100 pair of Oakley sunglasses - for his dog. This seemed excessive for about six hours, when I heard about the Dallas woman who spent $50,000 to clone her cat.

I can't say I'm in favor of this. I know it's her money to spend, but with all the other animals out there who need help, I'd rather have the opportunity to bring a new pet into my house.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I wouldn't spend five cents to clone a cat. I'm a dog person. Even so, I don't think I'd have cloned any of our past dogs for the above reason.)

Having grown up seeing the chocolate Monopoly sets, furs, and luxury cars in the Neiman-Marcus Christmas catalog, the idea of such conspicuous consumption by residents of the Metroplex during this Yuletide season doesn't exactly shock me. I just think that there are probably hundreds of animals in the Dallas area that could have had a nice holiday season if a kindly woman helped put food and water in their dishes.

In any event, Merry Christmas to those of you for whom it's appropriate. Happy Saturday to the rest of you.

My fantasy football season ended after the NFL's week 14, as I limped into a 10th out of 12 finish. The top four teams made the actual playoffs, while teams 5 through 8 made consolation playoffs.

While my team didn't play, I did get to see that my team would have scored 95.77 points last week. I'd have beaten any of the teams in the actual playoffs. Of course.

Not that I have the most to complain about. The team that finished fifth, and thus just out of the money, scored over 100 points. That sucks.

I've just read that the AP is pulling its poll out of the BCS formula. Given their original concern about making news rather than reporting it, that's probably a good thing. Consider the Alabama sportswriter who, voting Auburn third on his ballot, was taken to task by his editor - in print. Also consider the Texas sportswriters who moved the Longhorns up on their ballots just in time for Texas to pass Cal in the BCS standings.

Clearly, if you don't want to make the news, not being part of the BCS formula is logical.

What worries me about this is the possible idea that a "blue ribbon" panel will select the teams that play for the national title. Unlike (I believe) Carl Carlson, I am not appeased.

At this time, what college football least needs is to put the decision of who plays for the national title into the hands of a self-interested (and self-selected) committee.

But what of the committees that pick the teams for other events, like March Madness? Three significant differences:

1. Those committees pick teams for a playoff. Two teams do not a playoff make. Well, OK, they do, but it's a really crappy one.

2. Most or all conferences get an automatic bid in those playoffs.

3. The NCAA has authority over those playoffs, and thus to some extent has oversight over the selection committees. The NCAA doesn't award the national title in division 1 football, so no oversight.

To sum up, committee bad. Bad bad bad bad bad.

On Friday last I had the opportunity to attend the dedication gala for the Agganis Arena, the future home of BU hockey (and to a lesser extent, for now basketball). Let's just say that it's pretty much the anti-Walter Brown Arena, in any number of ways:

You can hear the PA, whose crystal-clear tone is a 180 degree change from the WBA set up, where it sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher trying to read Finning through a Dixie Cup and string arrangement.

The video equipment is much improved, which is to say there actually is some. There are replay screens on the center scoreboard, and one of those ribbon displays around the perimiter for ads and such.

The seats are padded, all of them, which some premium seat holders area little miffed about given that padding seemed at one point to be exclusive to premium seat holders. I can't say I care.

It's less murky, with great lighting and a higher ceiling, which opens things up quite a bit. That will deaden the sound a bit, and there is an echo present which does not bode well for concerts.

There are luxury boxes, which are pretty nice. They're at the top of the seating area, so they're not as separate as they are in pro arenas. If the box I got to see was representative, they have leather seating, a sink and counter area, and a phone.

The red line has paw prints on it, which is cute.

Player recognition areas are better, with nicer displays for All Americans, BU players in the NHL, and BU Hall of Famers.

There's a club room, which premium seat holders get to use. It has lounge areas, some food and beverage service, and a number of displays so you can keep track of the game. It's also the current home of the Harry Agganis statue, which I think is being relocated to outside at some point.

Oh, Harry's number is now retired, which I can't imagine will mean much given that the school "retired" the two sports he playedat BU some time ago.

Anyway, I can now say without hesitation that BU has the second-best college hockey facility in the country, after North Dakota.

As for the gala, it reconfirmed that when BU wants to put on a party, it knows how to do so. The food was outstanding, and free drinks are always welcome. The arena appears to have Harpoon IPA as an offering, which puts my stand against buying stadium beer to the test. No idea what they'll charge, but I'm sure it'll be pricey. BU does have a building to pay off, after all.

Oh, something caught my eye from Tom Ridge. He mentioned a couple days ago that it may be a good idea to do something with the color-coded terror alert system. In its current form, he noted that it leads to “questions and even occasional derision."

Occasional derision? I'd say it's a lot more than occasional. Out of all the things Homeland Security has put in place over the last few years, the color-coded terror alert system may be the least effective. How many people actually take it seriously? And of those who do, how many take it perhaps a bit too seriously?

Ridge also mentioned that the lack of information about why levels were changed was a problem, too. Glad to see he figured that out before he left. There really was nothing like hiking up the alert level and then being vague about the reasons why. Keeps us from having to tap the strategic paranoia reserve.

All that said, it does irritate me that Ridge will be gone while Rummy will still be kicking around. At this point it's like, who, him and the Veterans Affairs secretary left from the original Cabinet? And can't we get whoever is in that spot to take Rummy's place?

(NOTE: the current Secretary of Veterans Affairs is Anthony Principi. He looks like a swell guy, and would make a hell of a SecDef.)

Thinking about TV and seeing the Bruce's post about the charity diner getting take out, Gordon Ramsey (the chef at that gala event) has a show on BBC America now called Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares, where he spends a week at a restaurant trying to turn it around.

Unlike The Restaurant, where it seemed like nothing happened that wasn't approved by producers, the problems in the restaurants Ramsey visits are quite real. That or they've trucked in moldy ingredients and scum for the cook surfaces.

I will say the kitchen in the second episode wasn't too badly off - mostly an issue of communication - but the first one was pretty bad (they even had to close for a day to correct things the health board would take a dim view towards). Ramsey himself is fun to watch, and has good ideas when trying to point out problems and suggest solutions. He curses a lot, so if that bothers you be forewarned.

The show is on Tuesdays at 9 pm EST.

I've written precious little on The Apprentice this time around, and with good reason. It's been pretty dull.

None of the contestants were particularly interesting, and those that did generate some interest either got lost in the shuffle or fired quickly. We got left with flavorless corporate-wannabes, whose interchangability was visually demonstrated by Jennifer and Sandy's appearance when they sold aMazing Bars.

Based on what reality shows I do watch, this seems to be a common problem. Subsuquent groups of contestants aren't as interesting or talented as those that came before. American Idol seems to prove this in spades (that's the only way to explain half of last season's finalists), and Eva seems a far cry from her forebears as America's next top model.

It could also just be that the bloom goes off the rose quickly with reality programming. I assume part of it is that the concept becomes less novel, giving viewers less to be interested in with the mechanics of the show. I also think that reality programs self-select the best group of contestants first, meaning that the people who best suit the show are the ones that are initially interested and booked. Later groups bring in prior knowledge of the show, which colors the application process and eventualy participation if they're cast.

Anyway, The Apprentice's second go 'round closes with a three hour finale tonight. That's at least one hour too long, especially when you consider the third installment of the show will start in January. At least we'll get to see what happens when Trump's hair goes into hibernation for the winter.

Pedro a Met? Did he ever meet Mo Vaughn? I know, different balky joint, but still.

Schilling apparently doesn't think he'll be ready for opening day. I get the feeling the starter will be chosen by drawing a name out of a hat.

Some movement on the job front to report. I'm now doing "content analysis," which basically means I read articles about a certain product, and tally various items as requested by my employer (such as what product is mentioned, the tone of the article, etc.). It's not the most glamorous work, but it's reasonably well compensated and it's been interesting. I also get to work at home, which has been less distracting than expected. Not sure how much work they have for me, but hopefully it'll last until I find something permanent. Whenever that may be.

Before you ask, even with Pats offensive coordinator Charlie Weis going to ND they're still going to be on my personal probation. They may even get more of it if the hiring backfires on the Pats. Sorry, Chaz.

Mike Tice must be the saddest guy in football right now, between the Vikings home loss to Seattle and the UW job being a done deal for Willingham. Given the former, Tice could really have benefitted from the latter not happening.

He should still start polishing up his resume, though.

There was some non-football content to the weekend (though I did get to see parts of both 1-AA semifinals - go JMU! - and a big chunk of the div 2 final), as I went Christmas shopping with my wife and her sister. That went about as well as you think it would, especially as I bought almost nothing.

We're doing something interesting on Sarah's side of the family this year. All six of us drew names, and we're only buying presents for the person we drew. It's making things a lot easier (or it will when I finally start buying), as we also used the time over Thanksgiving to put together a list of what everyone wanted.

Unfortunately, that sort of game plan wouldn't go so well with my side of the family. The kids tend not to see the beauty of drawing names.

While it wasn't on TV for some reason, I was happy to see that the Icedogs took out RPI, as we've been having problems racking up non-conference wins (BU now stands at 2-5 outside of Hockey East, and has three more non-conference games coming up). I was also impressed that Harvard beat Maine, they're now 3-0 versus Hockey East teams. Sadly, they don't play BC in the opening round of the Beanpot in 2005.

So I've made a couple of decisions regarding college football.

1. Notre Dame is on my personal probation list. I'm not rooting against them per se, but I'm not going to be going out of my way to watch, either. They get an exemption against BC, of course.

2. In their place will be the collected teams of the service academies. I've always been an Air Force fan (comes from growing up when the wishbone was king), and like the resolve Navy's shown over the years. I can only think positive thoughts about Bobby Ross and what he's trying to do at West Point, as hard as it'll be to turn things around.

There's the Coast Guard Academy, too, should they crop up on TV. I'll have to look at the Comcast channel lineups more closely from here on out.

Oh, just thought of a third.

3. I'll have to root for any team that plays ND coached by Ty Willingham. Not sure about taking it to the next level and including other coaches done wrong like Ron Zook or that Cutcliffe guy from Mississippi. Nah, just leave it with Ty, although it looks like Mike Tice might beat him to UW (in case you missed it, Tice was quoted the other day saying he'd like that job assuming he winds up looking for a new one, which may very well happen if the Vikings fade again).

Like so many others, I had my real life and blog life intersect recently when my brother, apparently on a break from apprehending wrong-doers, apparently came across my little presence here. While I'm glad all the mean stuff about him is somewhere else (kidding!), I will honestly note that he replied to three or four different posts, which is a lot more than most of you do. Just saying.

He would not be my brother, however, without noting that I should perhaps stay away from the Moon Pies. Point taken.

I know it's old news by now, but Urban Meyer going to Florida is perfect. Notre Dame gets what it deserves, and hopefully their AD, Kevin White, will as well.

Speaking of places south of here, I got to spend the weekend in Chattanooga, fun as always. As part of any trip to the south, I try to eat some things that we don't really have up here.

I got sweet tea at dinner on Friday, nice and sweet but still could taste the tea. Grits came along on Sunday morning with breakfast.

The problem, oddly enough, was the Moon Pie and RC Cola combo. On Friday night I found the RC but no Moon Pies (which are made in Chattanooga!). Sunday as we were leaving I got Moon Pies but no RC (except in 2 liter bottles, which is really overkill). So I wound up washing the Moon Pie down with Double Cola, another Chattanooga product, thinking that the local drink should be able to compliment the local baked good.

Well, not so much. I don't think I'd buy Double Cola again.

Not much else to tell from the weekend. Team finished third in the tournament, I played very well at times and horribly at others, including what has to be my first 0/3 performance in a game ever (though I still think I got rooked on one question, such is life). I did get a couple of really horrible CDs as prizes, one of which was actually requested by my wife. Musical taste was clearly not a deal-breaker in our relationship.

I've just been witness to one of the more inane arguments I've seen in some time.

The guy on the computer next to me was looking at job listings, and wanted a definition of "telecommute." While it seems kind of obvious to me, he may have some age-related intechnoracy (patent pending), as he said something to that effect to one of the librarians.

The librarian said she could give him a dictionary to look the word up, but couldn't "interpret" what he was reading. This led the guy to throw a hissy fit (quietly, we are in the library after all) about how it wasn't "interpreting" anything. The librarian was not moved.

At this point the disagreement petered out, the modicum of sound and lack of fury signifying pointlessness.

My thought for the guy: any on-line dictionary is going to have telecommute. If the definition there still isn't clear, write the person who posted as the librarian suggested. True, this may demonstrate that you're not quite the candidate for any job that requires telecommuting, but that may be for the best.

My thought for the librarian: things may have gone better if, rather than saying you couldn't "interpret" the information. That's a little cold/impersonal. Help the guy find a definition, but then stick to the point about contacting the poster for more detail.

Hey, I said it was inane.