The two biggest sports-related search stories this week have little to do with sports themselves. First, actress Nicolette Sheridan (#5), Philadelphia Eagles' Terrell Owens (#41) and ABC's Monday Night Football (#13) all experienced tremendous search growth following the controversial ad that aired during last week's Monday night game, featuring the Eagles wide receiver and Desperate Housewives star Sheridan cavorting in the locker room. Searches for Sheridan were up nearly 2,000 percent, while searches for Monday Night Football spiked 425 percent. The controversy also caused a spike in search activity for ABC's hit show Desperate Housewives (#44).

And we thought the Desperate Housewives were tough... Meanwhile, in the world of "basket-brawl," Friday night's game/fight between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers sent Web users scouring for more information. Searches for NBA Brawl are up 411 percent over the past 48 hours, though shy of making this week's list.

OTHER NOTES OF INTEREST:

Search activity surged for British-Iraqi aid worker Margaret Hassan (#45) following the tragic news that the British embassy in Baghdad had confirmed a videotape surfaced appearing to show her killing. Embassy officials told Reuters news that they confirmed there was a tape appearing to show Hassan's murder, and they believe the tape to be genuine.

The Vibe Awards (#38) make their first-ever appearance, following the stabbing of a man by Rapper Young Buck. Young Buck is scheduled to appear in Los Angeles Superior Court on December 20th for an arraignment hearing. The charges stem from a brawl at the Vibe Awards on November 15th that began when a man identified as Jimmy James Johnson, approached Dr. Dre as he was about to receive a lifetime achievement award, as if asking for an autograph only to punch the hip-hop producer in the face. A widespread brawl ensued, leaving Johnson stabbed. Young Buck is signed to Dr. Dre's record label, and his debut solo album, Straight Outta Ca$hville, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard charts in August. Many in the rap community are speculating that this is the latest attack in a long-time rap feud between Dr. Dre and Suge Knight.

Meanwhile, Cleveland news anchor Sharon Reed (#18) got naked for art and ratings as she posed for artist Spencer Tunick's nude photography installation in an Ohio suburb. Reed's news station Channel 19, the CBS affiliate in Cleveland, aired a news piece showing Reed participating in the nude photo shoot. The news piece showed Reed in her bra and then naked, but from the rear and at a distance. Reed's story got Channel 19 the highest ratings ever for its 11 p.m. newscast and the sweeps stunt had incredible reactions from people around the globe.

DROPOUTS:

The pop culture thermometer has dramatically dipped again this week as 12 terms drop out of the list. As the country prepares for four more years with George W. Bush, we find our president and 2004 Presidential Election leaving our list as does our personal favorite 2008 presidential candidate - Oprah.

This week a bevy of beauties excuse themselves from the list but surely will return: Salma Hayek, Anna Kournikova, Janet Jackson, and Angelina Jolie.

The last two news and information destinations CNN and Drudge Report also drop out this week.

Finally seasonal remembrance day - Veterans Day also takes leave from The Lycos 50.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

The scandal du jour was the King of Pop. Molestation allegations were leveled against Michael Jackson, which caused his searches to moonwalk all over our list. The majority of Web users did not seem to be seriously shaken up by the alleged charges as evident from the majority of the searches focused around his mug shot and related Jackson jokes.