"ON JAN. 26 of this year, in an upset of epic proportions, Chase Utley's photo appeared on the back page of this newspaper the same day a story comparing Donovan McNabb and Brett Favre appeared inside.

There are few things more certain in our world than writing about McNabb one day and seeing his image on the back page the next.

Death. Taxes.

Outrage over Rollie Massimino ditching the Big 5 any time a positive article about Villanova appears.

With that in mind, and the Academy Awards in the rearview mirror, and because everyone likes to make lists and rank things, I propose to list this town's can't-miss topics when it comes to tapping outrage.

No. 1 is McNabb, hands down, a rank that has lasted a decade. In season or out, he is the gift that just keeps giving, 24/7, 12 months a year.

He does not even need to speak anymore.

Write today that the Eagles should trade him. Or that they should keep him. Or that they should wait and trade him later, or sign him to a longer deal now.

Write that he's good. Write that he stinks. Write that he's somewhere in between. Write that he has been unfairly criticized because of his race, or that he has received a free ride because of it. Compare him to Favre, to Joe Montana, to Johnny Unitas, to Koy Detmer if you like. No matter what you write, the e-mails, comments and letters will flood in, as close to 50/50 as any debate about any athlete ever.

He's the king. He's not Meryl Streep. He's not Jack Nicholson.

He's Oscar.

So who or what finishes second? Third? Fourth? Fifth

Here are five nominees. Feel free to add your own.

Allen Iverson

Was he the best show money can buy? Or the single biggest reason the Sixers did not win an NBA championship in his prime? Could the answer be both? Neither?

For most of the last decade, A.I. went toe-to-toe with McNabb when it came to collecting controversy. Was he a thug? Or a sensitive star whose troubled background led to questionable choices? Was he a great teammate? An iconoclast? A family man or a fraud? Take one or several of those angles, mix it in with the news of the day, and Bubba Chuck was back-page gold. Right 'til the end."