And it’s time.  Last year, Mike Nifong took home the honor of No. 1 Bum of the Year.  We will spare Nifong this time around.  But who will get the top honor?  Read on and find out.

Top 10 Bums of 2007

(10) Larry Craig - If we never knew the secret foot-tapping ritual that leads to men hooking up in airport restrooms, we would have been better off.  But thanks to this senator from Minnesota, we all know the intricacies of this love connection.  We prefer the old school way of buying someone enough drinks so they then erroneously think you are attractive.

(9) Charlie Weis - Fatty made this list last year at the 9 spot, so we figured we would keep him where he is comfortable.  And, God knows, he hates moving around.  Weis’ Irish squad was a total embarrassment this season, and his still cocky attitude about his inept coaching abilities only made it worse.  Check here for a nice rundown of how bad of a coach Weis really is.

(8) Execs who voted “yes” on the “Cavemen” series - What an awful, awful, awful idea.  The commercials were really good, the show was equally bad.  While there have only been 6 episodes, this terrible show made the Chicago Tribune’s list of the 25 worst shows EVER.  And now we assume there will be no more new Geico caveman commercials.  This just stinks all the way around.

(7) Hillary Clinton - We really don’t have the space here to go into detail.  We’ll just let you use your imagination.

(6) Barry Bonds - He could make a list of this type every year, but this was a special one for Barry.  First, he broke baseball’s most prestigious record, then was charged with perjury.  Bonds could be from Mars and we’d still hate him.  He’s a jerk, plain and simple.  And we especially like the way he snubbed his son as he made his way to home plate after breaking Aaron’s record.

(5) Michael Vick - He did not necessarily make this list for any of the dog-fighting stuff, but more for being a lying idiot.  He steadfastly denied any involvement in dog-fighting until there was no way out and far too much evidence proving he was involved.  Then, when he had the chance to keep his sentence lower by simply behaving and being honest, he couldn’t do that either.  Check here for a terrific Dan Wetzel column about Vick’s mistakes.
(4) Todd Boyd - This guy is likely the worst contributor to ESPN’s Page 2 (worse than Bayless even).  His articles rarely follow any logic, other than to somehow scream racism throughout every piece he writes.  He makes Scoop Jackson look like a decent journalist.  If he only writes one more article ever for Page 2, that will be 1 article too many.  Check here for our dissection of Boyd’s article on no. 6 bum Barry Bonds.

(3) ABC execs who canceled “Knights of Propserity” - Along with “30 Rock,” this was the funniest new show to come out in the last 3 years.  And what did ABC do?  Cancel it.  We just don’t understand how they did not stick with this show.  It had a great premise, solid actors, great writing, and some excellent celeb cameos.  You can check here for some reasons why this show was awesome.  Or check here to see Oswald Montecristo for yourself.
(2) Tim Donaghy - Of course, you new the NBA ref who called into question the integrity of the entire NBA would make the cut.  This guy makes it this high on the list because we hoped to see the Suns beat the Spurs in the 2007 playoffs, and he just happened to ref the pivotal game 3 of that series - won by the Spurs.  There had always been conspiracies theorists assuming NBA games were fixed, Donaghy gave them much fuel for the fire.  For an excellent look at this scandal, check here for Bill Simmons’ take (you might have to be registered for ESPN insider to read the entire piece).

(1) Mike Freeman - We could go on and on here about how Freeman is the worst journalist currently writing for any publication anywhere.  He really is.  Instead, we will allow the principal from “Billy Madison” to explain how we feel every time we read a sentence written by Freeman…

“Mr. [Freeman], what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”

Done and done.  Did we miss any?  Wrongly put someone on the list?  Please let us know.  And check back for the Top 10 Non-Bums of 2007!