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Of the countless annual lists that come and go in the Decembers of our years, one in particular caught my eye recently: Information Leafblower's Top 40 Bands in America featuring many of my favorites artists and decided upon collectively by the music indie rock blogging community. It also inspires what's gathered here: The Top 40 Sports Figures in America in 2006.

I asked upwards of 50 sites from all walks of the sports blogosphere -- football, hardball, roundball, college ball, hockey, racin', etc. -- to share the 10 figures (athletes, coaches, media types, etc.) that they covered the most on their sites this year. Three dozen bloggers responded -- voting for 226 different figures -- and the full results along with their commentary are found below.

Of course "top" is a subjective, non-descriptive term, but the 40 people (well, 39 plus one hobbled horse) represented here are, at least on some level, the most interesting the sports world had to offer in 2006. Embattled Manning brother Eli makes the cut over pitch-perfect Peyton. Tiger Woods and Roger Federer, two men on SI's Sportsman of the Year shortlist, get no support -- or at least interest -- from bloggers. And when I informed Bob Costas on Sports Bloggers Live that T.O. tops the list he compared it to Saddam Hussein being named Time's Person of the Year (even though Hussein has never garnered that distinction).

But enough with the backstory. Thank you to all of the bloggers who participated here and have entertained all year long. Thank you to everyone out there who reads these sites and makes this medium a two-way conversation. And thank you to the sports figures we've come to know, love and loathe in equal measure. I hope you enjoy the list.

The Participants:
Diecast Dude, NFL FanHouse, Hoops Addict, Mistake by the Lake Sporting Times, WBRS Sports Blog, The Offside, True Hoop, The Big Lead, Deadspin, The 700 Level, Sunday Morning Quarterback, Free Darko, The Sports Pulse, The Big Picture, Kissing Suzy Kolber, Baseball Musings, With Leather, NCAA Football FanHouse, Rumors and Rants, DC Sports Bog, Dave's Football Blog, The Basketball Jones, Every Day Should Be Saturday, The Hater Nation, Dan Shanoff, Awful Announcing, Sportz Assassin, Paul Katcher, Knuckle Curve, Off Wing Opinion, No Mas, Saved by the Blog, Lush Factor, We Are the Postmen, The Association and me, Mr. Irrelevant

1. Terrell Owens
"He's given us 25 million reasons to blog." -- NFL FanHouse
"He signs with a Tuna coached team, sits on a bike on the sidelines for most of training camp, has an overdose with more theories than the JFK shooting and he writes a kid's book about sharing and apologizing." -- WBRS Sports Blog
"The Eagles defeating the Cowboys in the return of T.O. was one of the most hyped games Philly has seen in years." -- The 700 Level
"The one man I hope to see injured every week. An abomination of a professional sportsman."-- Paul Katcher

2. Dwyane Wade
"Wade became the posterboy for the NBA when the Heat won a NBA Championship and he was one of the stars on Team USA this summer." -- Hoops Addict

3. LeBron James
"The guy captivates us with just about every move he makes. And those commercials are sweet." -- We Are the Postmen

4. Alex Rodriguez
"I have never felt more sympathy  for a man with a $252,000,000 contract ... Watching him hit in the 8 spot in a playoff game was just embarrassing to watch and served as a nice way of summing up what A-Rod went through this past season." -- WBRS Sports Blog
"The SABRmetric fans argue — using the most modern of formulas — whether he's an under-appreciated commodity or a choker galore. The Photoshoppers plaster his face on every gay porno box cover they can find. The MySpace fraternity sets F5 on their keyboard to automatically spit out "A-Rod sucks." ... A-Rod = sports blog crack." -- Paul Katcher

5. Matt Leinart
"Instead of going pro, Leinart stays in school for his senior year only to watch his teammate win the Heisman, lose to Vince Young in the Rose Bowl, and have his draft stock pummel all the way to #10. He dates Paris Hilton, impregnates USC women's basketball player Brynn Cameron and almost knocks off the Bears in what would have been the biggest NFL upset in years." -- WBRS Sports Blog
"Like Joe Namath, but with curly hair. And thanks to Paris Hilton, herpes." -- Every Day Should Be Saturday

6. Ben Roethlisberger
"Never mind that he won a Super Bowl. He smashed his face on a Chrysler at high speed, lost his appendix, got beat up behind a weak offensive line and JUST WON'T DIE!!!" -- Dave's Football Blog

7. Kobe Bryant
"He had that amazing 81 point game ... He hit a huge shot to win a playoff game. He changed his jersey number to 24. His Black Mamba photos were in Slam." -- Sportz Assassin

8. Gilbert Arenas
"Endlessly entertaining, an enthusiastic part of the blogosphere, actually answers his myspace messages, willing to take off his shirt to show bloggers his tattoos and has adopted a moniker bestowed by deranged Eastern Europe-obsessed blogfolks. What more could you want? Plus, he honestly believes he's just a normal guy. And sometimes I believe him. Plus, he's one of the greatest basketball players in the world." -- DC Sports Bog

9. Zinedine Zidane
"The headbutt heard round the world. We here at No Mas applaud. Any MFer calls your sister a whore, whether it's on the pitch of the World Cup final or in the bathroom at Yankee Stadium, you headbutt the [spit] out of that MFer. Word." -- No Mas

10. Barry Bonds
"Barry went drag, had a TV show, had it cancelled, lied in court, endured syringes tossed at him and no one really cared much if he hit some more home runs." -- The Sports Pulse
"His story becomes sadder with each passing day; why does someone that great need to saddle himself with so much baggage?" -- Knuckle Curve

11. Vince Young
"Started the year with a national championship but might be most remembered for scoring a 6 out of 50 on the Wonderlic test. A third-grader did better." -- The Sports Pulse

12. Isiah Thomas
"Imagine Reggie Jackson taking over the St. Louis Cardinals and turning them into such an irrelevant disgrace that you almost forgot he was a Hall of Fame player." -- Paul Katcher

13. Harold Reynolds
"Hugs, fast-food chains, ESPN and private detectives. What's not to love?" -- The Big Lead

14. Reggie Bush
"Who bought the house? Who really cares who bought the house? Not going #1 to Houston, now that was the shocker." -- WBRS Sports Blog

15. Eli Manning
"The "lesser Manning" is far less talented, far less media savvy and just far less likeable ... We love covering the fall of Elisha, it's one of the greatest sports comedies of all time." -- Rumors and Rants

16. Barbaro
"Wow, this has Lifetime movie written all over it, except for the fact that we are talking about a horse, not a human being." -- WBRS Sports Blog

17. Dirk Nowitzki
"I was a Nowitzness! To this, this, this ..." -- The Basketball Jones

18. Ron Artest
"He got in the pool and kicked a year-long freestyle." -- The Basketball Jones

19. Alex Ovechkin
"In addition to being a wondrous hockey talent and money quote, he scored a hole-in-one the first time he ever set foot on a golf course. I'm serious when I say this: if he stays in Washington his entire career, the Caps will win at least one Stanley Cup." -- DC Sports Bog
"[He and Sidney Crosby] have the potential to do something special that you've never seen before every time they touch the ice." -- Off Wing Opinion

20. Albert Pujols
"Great player, probably shouldn't talk so much or stare so long at his home runs." -- Knuckle Curve

21. Michael Vick
"I never miss an opportunity to knock him, because he deserves it for spreading his disease among the women of Atlanta." -- Dave's Football Blog

22. Clinton Portis
"He gave Redskins fans everywhere at least one day of happiness this season when he became Dolemite Jenkins. Number 26 in your program on your injury report, number one in my heart." -- Saved by the Blog

23. Derek Jeter
"His overall worth a subject of debate for years, Jeter came through with what many considered an MVP season. Still up in the air: whether he did enough to quiet the storm surrounding A-Rod." -- Paul Katcher
"He got robbed of the MVP ... but ... his ever impressive stable of women added Jessica Biel." -- Lush Factor

24. J.J. Redick
"In a year filled with so much hate, Redick was my number one target.  The guy writes poems, raps and played for Duke.  What a perfect combo for mockery." -- Saved by the Blog

25. Jenn Sterger
"The quickest way to get an SI column? Skimpy clothes and plastic surgery." -- The Big Picture
"Instead of being the bigger people, we take her columns apart paragraph-by-paragraph. Hey, we're not proud of it, but therapy is often times embarassing, yeah?" -- We Are the Postmen
"Her SI advice columns have changed my life.  I couldn’t tell you the topics of any of them, but they always include at least one photo of her." -- Saved by the Blog

26. Troy Smith
"I'm a Michigan fan. I don't want to talk about it." -- NCAA Football FanHouse

27. Jim Larranaga
"Larranaga is the only man in the history of Fairfax, Va. who is more important than George Mason himself." -- Saved by the Blog

28. Chris Berman
"Branyan ... GONE! Padres ... GONE! Cardinals ... GONE! ... to home!".......I couldn't understand this if my life depended on it." -- Awful Announcing

29. Art Shell
"He came out of retirement for a disastrous 2006 season that included hiring a bed-and-breakfast manager as his offensive coordinator and a bunch of guys who look like they should be bed-and-breakfast managers as his offensive linemen." -- NFL FanHouse
"I was the first person on the anti-Art Shell bandwagon, starting the day he was hired." -- The Hater Nation

30. Chad Johnson
"Celebrations are down this season but the personality stands out as much as his yellow mohawk. I wish there were more like Chad in the NFL." -- The Sports Pulse

31. Bill Simmons
"I've bashed him to the point that it's not even fun anymore. Reading him back peddle after the World Series and David Eckstein won the MVP was priceless." -- Awful Announcing

32. Joe Buck
"If a sports blog could have a villain, Buck would be ours." -- The Big Picture

33. LaDainian Tomlinson
"For anyone living anywhere besides America, LaDainian Tomlinson is the greatest football player there is." -- Rumors and Rants

35. Alfonso Soriano
"If it wasn’t for this man, I probably would’ve gone to about half the amount of Nats games as I did last season. Actually, they still serve beer and have $5 tickets, right? Nevermind, I’ll keep going even now that he’s gone, but I’ll miss the ‘Fonz." -- Saved by the Blog

36. Brett Favre
"Retire? Or not to retire? The best waswhen he had a press conference to say he stillwas not sure yet. Have a feeling the same situation will arise this offseason." -- The Sports Pulse
"A nation holds its breath as he approaches one of the most hallowed records in NFL history—the all-time interception record. Wrote that in July. It appeared on Deadspin. Tony K. reads Deadspin, and he finally broke that out on Monday night [in November]." -- The Hater Nation

37. Dennis Green
"The speech alone is more than enough for consideration. Throw in his actual coaching and you're looking at a dynamic comedic presence." -- Kissing Suzy Kolber

38. Mark Cuban
"A graduate of the very university we attend, Cuban was one of our idols even before we met him in a Bloomington, IN bar and snapped off a few hilarious photos. We had heard rumors about this sort of behavior before. They were all true; the man was really, really drunk, flirting harmlessly with a few different college girls jocking him because, well, he's Mark Cuban. What a life." -- We Are the Postmen

39. Rex Grossman
"We've spent most of this year making fun of him because he's going to cost his otherwise outstanding team a shot at the Super Bowl title with his awful play." -- Rumors and Rants

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