I admit it. These exercises in the top stories, top videos, top whatever of 2008 are simply exercises in journalistic ego.

The Fives itself is a daily dive into the ego pool, pulling out loose connections between oft-barely connected topics to provide bleary eyed content for people who get up before the sun rises and want a little new content. Or kind of new content.

But when it comes to the Friday Fives or, in this case, the year end Fives editions, it's all about the reader. Whereas you will get the top 10 most important stories as selected by the Journal today, I give you today the top 10 stories according to you.

Following are the top 10 most read stories of the past year. Of the 10, only two appear in the Journal's top 10 list, one at No. 2 (blizzard), the other at No. 9 (Sturgis rally shooting).

1. Law officer shot Hells Angels member in Sturgis, police say

The runaway winner of the most read story of the year was a brawl at the Loud American Roadhouse in downtown Sturgis at the tail end of the annual motorcycle rally that turned into a shooting.

Five people were eventually charged in the shooting, with the shooter - an off-duty cop who had at least a couple previous questionable run-ins with folks in his off hours - facing the most serious of charges.

But over the matter of a couple of months, all charges were dropped against everyone but the man that was shot.

2. .Pine Ridge cops walk off the job

A dust up between management policies by the chief of police and a number of officers under his charge led to more than 30 law officers walking off the job in early August.

All that was preceded by a rancorous meeting that nearly erupted into a riot.

The single event led to the intervention of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which brought in a number of officers to shore up law enforcement on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

That move has put the future of law enforcement on Pine Ridge into a state of flux. Will the policing of the reservation return exclusively to the Oglala Sioux Tribe? Will the BIA be the chief law enforcement permanently? We'll see

3. Stevens football player collapses, dies

A summer football camp turned tragic in July when 16-year-old Rapid City Stevens High School student Ryan Gramberg collapsed and died.

A coroner's report indicated that Gramberg suffered from an enlarged heart.

4. Central teen's death confirmed as suicide

Another tragic death among our youths, the public suicide of 18-year-old Rapid City Central High School student Cameron Jordan shook the community last January when the teen hanged himself from the goal posts at the football field adjacent to South Middle School.

5. Rapid City Wal-Mart shopper may face assault charges

Black Friday turned into "black eye Friday" after a rush for post Thanksgiving deals turned violent at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Rapid City.

The story of a grown man roughing up a 15-year-old girl over an Xbox 360 video game system certainly got readers riled up as well. The girl had to even be taken to the hospital.

Of course, it paled in comparison to the same-day story of a 34-year-old Long Island, N.Y., man who was killed in a Wal-Mart shopping frenzy when eager buyers there trampled him to death.

Regardless, it got people shaking their heads.

6. Five arrested in drug raid plead not guilty

Helicopters in the sky, FBI, ATF, BIA and tribal police everywhere and the arrest of at least five people in PIne Ridge area on drug charges had the community buzzing in October.

The arrests launched a barrage of Rapid Replies as issues of law enforcement and illegal drugs elicited spilled over on to the Web site's reader comment forum.

7. 80-year-old woman shoots mountain lion in her yard

This is the mother of all "Oh, Martha" stories. (An "Oh, Martha" story is a story journalists define as the kind that would inspire a reader to remark to his wife - or whomever - "Oh, Martha, you got to read this."

Of course, this "Oh, Martha" story was about a real-life Martha - Martha Smith. Well, it's about Martha Smith and a soon-to-be former mountain lion. The story about how the 80-year-old confronted a cougar prowling around her rural ranch home in Fairburn caught readers attention here and throughout the country.

It also contained one of the best quotes of the year: "I knew I'd have to kill him. You can't have a mountain lion in your yard." It's hard to argue with that.

8. Police know who assaulted now paralyzed teen

An after school fight that ended with one teenager paralyzed for life played out over the matter of weeks in September as details came out slowly about the altercation.

In the end, both teens involved in the altercation were charged with misdemeanors.

9. I-90 littered with abandoned vehicles

Big snow, high winds and drivers looking to challenge Mother Nature's ability to put a lock down on the area were just part of the story as an early November blizzard put the region in virtual paralysis.

No travel was advised, but businesses stayed open and workers chose to take their chances on area highways and streets. For the most part, the storm won.

As Sgt. Rich Fox of the Rapid City Police Department said: "Anybody who goes out in this is out of their mind. If they get stuck, we're not going to come help them."

10. 17-year-old killed in rollover accident

The story is short, simple and tragic.

A 17-year-old girl who had been out drinking the previous night was killed in a vehicle accident on Catron Boulevard in late September.

An arrest was later made of the adult who provided the alcohol that she had illegally obtained.