Just some thoughts warming my brain during a cold week ...

• Julia Baxter is putting together an outstanding season for the Butler girls basketball team. It seems that program has had a run of quality centers.

Kim Nowakowski had solid years at Bowling Green, Amy Achesinski was a 1,000-point scorer at Mercyhurst, Mackenzie O’Donnell is likely on her way to a similar achievement at La Roche, and now Baxter.

That’s not bad.

• January always seems like such a long month, coming in right after the holidays and representing the middle of winter.

It is the month, however, that determines the fate of high school basketball teams. Don’t play well this month, you won’t play much at all next month.

• Craig Biggio was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 82 percent of the vote. Jeff Kent — a fellow second baseman during that same time frame — received only 14 percent of the vote.

Kent was a bigger run producer than Biggio.

He just didn’t play as long. Nor was he as nice a guy with the media. Kent was quite surly, in fact.

Just sayin’.

• Speaking of the Hall of Fame, are we ever going to get past this steroids stuff? Are Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens really never going to get enshrined in Cooperstown?

This should be the only criteria used in determining who should be in the Hall in any sport — greatness. If you were a great player, you should get in. If you were good, pretty good or very good, you shouldn’t.

Bonds hit more home runs than anybody ever.

Pete Rose had more hits than anybody ever. Steroids aren’t magic beans — every guy who juices doesn’t suddenly become great — and Rose’s betting on baseball never affected his playing career.

Let’s stop judging athletes off the field and start recognizing how they performed on it. We writers have no idea what type of human being any of these guys are away from the game anyway.

• One athlete who does seem to get it right is Vincentian Academy senior Brenna Wise.

The Cranberry Township resident is going to surpass 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her prep basketball career, yet enjoys sitting out second halves of lopsided games to cheer on her teammates every bit as much as playing the game herself.

She’s a standout student who simply enjoys playing basketball with her friends and enjoying her life.

She just happens to be outstanding at both.

Any young athlete looking for a role model should look at her.

• Rule changes are ruining pro football.

The opening round of the NFL playoffs last weekend were ridiculous in terms of erroneous flags thrown and flags not thrown on obvious penalties.

The officials are not incompetent.

They just don’t know what to call anymore.

When is it pass interference? When is a receiver defenseless? What’s helmet to helmet?

Ugh.

It’s hard to watch.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle