As the aging Mets limped to the finish and the Yankees burst through, Billy Wagner, 36 and hurting, dreamed of getting to the big stage.

With a bloated payroll, an injured superstar, notoriously clueless management, and a perpetually hangdog look, the Knicks were basketball's walking dead. Then Isiah Thomas arrived, and a sudden quickening occurred. What's behind that smile?

This year (since nobody entertained the idea that the mighty Yankees wouldn't go all the way), the best baseball stories were off the field.

The Yankees (think invincible) and the Mets (think Rodney Dangerfield) vamp through the playoffs, and suddenly October is one wild emotional roller-coaster ride.

On the field, the Mets have been a bitter disappointment. But they're on the verge of a TV play that will give George Steinbrenner's Yankees fits.

Sportswriters have exploited Darryl Strawberry as a symbol of baseball's rebirth and as a harbinger of the game's imminent decline -- maybe it's time to leave the man alone.

When CBS paid the NFL $4 billion for TV rights over eight years, it seemed an all-or-nothing gamble -- and it paid off, a giant victory for sport as entertainment product.