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What a year for schadenfreude, that diabolical German concept of enjoying someone else’s misery.

We saw careers go down the tubes, hapless criminals caught, a senator busted for frequenting a hooker, and Britney taking Louisiana’s rep as an uneducated backwater to new levels.

Simmer down, now

Easy there, Les. Sure Tiger fans get all worked up about Saban, but you’ve got to take the high road—which probably doesn’t include dropping “F bombs” to describe your rival. But that’s what Coach Miles did at the annual Bayou Recruiting Bash.

Foti foiled again

Outgoing Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti made a target of Dr. Anna Pou, who volunteered to treat the sick in the horrific aftermath of Katrina. But when he tried to pin multiple deaths to the good doctor and two nurses, a grand jury refused to indict. Foti also lost a trial at which he accused a couple in the deaths of elderly residents of their Katrina-flooded nursing home. Foti’s final indignity: failing to even make the runoff in his re-election campaign.

Cocked, but not ready

Pretty much the entire free world outside Louisiana views cock fighting as a barbaric and cruel bloodsport, not to mention a crime. Yet the Legislature repeatedly failed to muster enough votes to ban the savagery in Louisiana. They finally approved an 18-month phase-out.

Brit-Brit loses custody

The world mocked Britney Spears this year after her pathetic, bloated performance at an MTV awards show. Worse than that, she lost custody of her boys to ex Kevin Federline, thanks to her partying ways, antics that have many outside Louisiana thinking we’re just one, big ol’ trailer park down here.

Pokey flames out

She was a popular LSU Tiger player, then a trusted and well-liked assistant, and finally, a widely supported and popular head coach. But her career came to a crashing halt in February after an assistant reported Pokey Chapman once carried on an inappropriate relationship with a former player. Chapman resigned during the season amid unanswered questions, and the talent-loaded team flamed out after reaching the Final Four.

Southern boss accused of sexual harassment

Southern University Board Chairman Johnny Anderson, a top aide to Gov. Blanco, stepped down temporarily while officials investigated him for sexual harassment allegations by nine women. Then, Southern system President Ralph Slaughter sued when he was suspended over the way he pursued the investigation. In the end, the allegations were dropped against Anderson, and Slaughter received a supplement that doubled his $220,000 salary.

Grownups caught fighting at the park (headquarters)

As if BREC needed more bad press. The sparring match between BREC Vice Chairman Bill Benedetto and Commissioner Darrel Glasper got so heated that Benedetto was called to resign. Glasper claimed to fellow board members that Benedetto broke state ethics laws by not withdrawing from a vote involving Entergy, his former employer. Just more bad pub for BREC with Glasper front and center, per usual.

Stash landing

It isn’t every day a plane crashes in a backyard and no one gets killed. Even less rare: The home that is struck happens to be the site of a stash of marijuana plants growing. After an aerial photography aircraft crashed in her backyard near Metro Airport, Betty McManus was arrested on charges of drug cultivation when marijuana plants were found growing in the yard. Of all the backyards in all the world, they had to crash into hers.

Secret Service 101: Don’t threaten Hillary

Richard Ryan Wargo was just talking in physics class one day when he reportedly said something about getting Hillary Clinton. A classmate reported the comments to campus police, who took it seriously since Clinton was set to speak at LSU. Wargo was arrested and eventually ordered to adhere to a 9 p.m. curfew and to attend psychological counseling.

O.J.’s B.R. connection

O.J. Simpson’s Las Vegas sports memorabilia heist made global news. The Advocate reported that one his co-defendants, 54-year-old Clarence J. Stewart, is originally from Baton Rouge, where he has a criminal record.

Bama lures steel mill away from Louisiana

Gov. Blanco couldn’t have downed enough Hofbrauhaus with the Germans owners of ThyssenKrupp to convince them to locate their monster steel mill in Louisiana rather than in Alabama. After a heated bidding war, the company said it would rather invest $2.9 billion and employ thousands in Bama than here.

Don’t mess with Faith Hill’s man

Tim McGraw looks good in plaid shirts and boots. So much so, in fact, one fan couldn’t control herself, eagerly grabbing his central business district as he left the stage at the end of a concert in Lafayette. McGraw’s wife, super-hot country star Faith Hill who’d just performed with her hubby, chewed out the fan from the stage. “Someone needs to teach you some class, my friend,” she reportedly said.

Missed Connection: Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson spent 33 days and nights in Maurice recording an album, and managed to stay below radar. The raspy-voiced actress enjoyed visits from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Celebration, who made the trek to the village in Vermillion Parish, whose claim to fame is the invention of the “turducken.”

Roughing the father

When he was a Saint linebacker, Rickey Jackson routinely found the quarterback and sacked him. When it comes to paying child support, he isn’t quite so quick. Jackson earned millions on the gridiron, yet owed $160,000 in court-ordered child support. Seriously, Rickey? It’s not that much if you actually pay it on time.

Low-tech data loss

So much for secure financial aid. A state contractor lost the Social Security numbers and personal financial information of thousands of Louisiana residents who applied for TOPS scholarships and financial aid dating back to 1998. This was no computer crash. The data apparently fell off the back of a truck somewhere between Port Allen and Baton Rouge.

Crash and stash

Sneaky LSU students thought they could strategically stash 11 pounds of marijuana near a fence after their car crashed on I-10 in Lafayette. Problem was the police saw them heaving the package. But according to Lafayette officials, the students weren’t under the influence. Barattini got a citation for careless operation with a crash—not bad, considering there was enough weed to buy a stacked BMW Alpina7, a sweeter ride than their Isuzu Trooper.

Perrilloux flirts with expulsion

We understand wanting to try something new or dangerous, but you can’t help looking foolish if you get caught. Like LSU’s underage backup quarterback, Ryan Perrilloux, who was cited for trying to enter a riverboat casino with his brother’s ID, which earned him a suspension. Then in October he got caught up in a fracas at The Varsity, forcing him to miss the all-important Alabama game.

It was a dark and stormy night at Walk-On’s

It started simple enough: Staff at Walk-On’s Bistreaux and Bar asked WVLA meteorologist Jesse Gunkel to leave. Gunkel wasn’t having it. He reportedly pushed an off-duty police officer who was helping to escort him out the door. Then Gunkel started dropping names, saying he knows Mayor Kip Holden. But the only Holden he saw that night was the holdin’ cell at parish prison, where he was booked with remaining after he was forbidden, battery on an officer, resisting arrest and public intimidation.

Where in the world is Lorri Burgess?

The Metro Councilwoman has made ducking controversial issues an art. Somehow, meeting after meeting, Burgess finds a way to always be out of the room when key votes are taken, including such crucial issues as the One Baton Rouge resolution on acceptance. She also abstained from voting on the pit-bull ordinance and the proposed Pinnacle casino. One key vote she did make: She opposed ending the blue laws, putting her at odds with most of her constituents. Seems she can’t win for losing.

A U.S. Senator’s embarrassing fall from grace

Cloaked in shame and regret, U.S. Sen. David Vitter admitted frequenting a Washington, D.C., hooker just in time to scoop Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, who was about to out him. Vitter wrote it off as a “sin of the past.” His name also surfaced involving a New Orleans hooker, making 2007 a particularly awkward year for a guy who had passed himself off as Mr. Family Values.

Corruption on the set

Mark Smith, who ran the state’s film office, pleads guilty to federal charges that he accepted $67,000 in bribes from New Orleans film company executive Malcolm Petal, CEO of LIFT.

LSU busted re-gifting

Perry Segura, a New Iberia businessman who once served as chairman of the LSU board of supervisors, had donated a $1 million collection of mounted and stuffed wild animals to LSU for educational purposes. Unbeknownst to Segura, LSU turned around and sold 140 of them to sporting goods store Cabela’s ahead of its grand opening in Gonzales.