From what I hear, the past month has been the worst in the history of sports.

Forget about the unfairness and inherent greed of the BCS system. That’s “only a scratch,” to quote the infamous Black Knight, in the larger scheme of things.

Bob Ley must be drooling. He has enough Outside the Lines fodder to tide him over until retirement.

Let’s run down the list of embarrassments.

One, the NHL has ceased to exist as we knew it—a major sports league that, now mired in a billionaires’ lockout, once owed its wild popularity to a cultish blue-collar ethic.

Two, Ron Artest, the craziest basketball player alive, gave an innocent fan—and the NBA’s image—a severe beat-down.

Three, Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds became baseball’s third and fourth former MVPs, respectively, to admit using steroids.

Remember the outcry about Monday Night Football and Nicollette Sheridan? Sooo overrated.

Baseball, in particular, has become the poster child for screwing itself.

“It’s gotten so that baseball gets off to a good start, and then, ‘Bam,’” said MLB home run king Henry Aaron, a jaded former apologist for Bonds, to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Something sends it rocking and reeling. I just wish we could have about four or five years without experiencing any of this stuff.”

Hammerin’ Hank is the consummate class act and, basically, my hero. In this particular case, he’s dead wrong.

Baseball didn’t get bammed.

Barry Bonds and Ron Artest, no matter what anyone says, are no bigger than the games they play.

Two weeks ago, I sat courtside with my pal Pat Coyne to cover the Harvard women’s basketball team’s game against URI.

It was the season home-opener. A nice crowd settled in.