Earlier this week we charted the Top-10 Boston sports icons in the retired division. Now we’ll venture into still-playing territory, ranking the New England sports personalities who continue to lace ’em up on a regular basis; those guys who would most likely stop you in your tracks if you ran into them at the local laundromat.

Ground rules remain the same for today’s list, which focuses on active athletes or coaches who have spent the majority of their careers as members of a New England team. They don’t have to live here or play here anymore, but they must have spent enough time in our area to make a difference, for better or worse. And remember, this is just one man’s opinion. Herewith, the Sporting Eye New England sports-icon top 10:

10. Derek Lowe: Some of our listees are larger than life in status, and some are larger than life in stature as well. You’ll see more examples below, but Red Sox pitcher Derek Lowe certainly fits the bill here, as D-Lowe would be tough to miss in any crowd, with his 6' 6" height. A year ago Lowe might well have been on the flip side of this list: among the Top-10 New England Goats, after a 2001 season that saw him fail miserably in the closer’s role, going 5-10 with three blown saves. Yet late in that season he was given the chance to redeem himself as a starter, and he capitalized on the opportunity, winning a spot in the rotation during this past year’s spring training, and then going 21-8 with a 2.58 ERA. The highlight of this season was his April no-hitter against Tampa Bay, the first such gem thrown by a Sox pitcher at Fenway since 1965.

9. Bill Belichick: Sure, maybe he’s not the genius this year that he was last year en route to the Patriots’ Super Bowl title, but he’s still the only coach in the area who knows what it’s like to win a championship. While not a supernova on the charisma scale, it’s the results that count, and Belichick delivered when the region needed a blast of rejuvenation. With the last Boston trophy of any kind 15 years away in the rear-view mirror, Belichick last season steered the franchise from a 5-5 midseason record to nine straight victories, culminating in the improbable victory over St. Louis in the SuperDome. Run into him, and you may not be able to engage him in profound or extended conversation for too long, but how many opportunities do you get to meet a Super Bowl–winning coach? After all, there are only 18 of ’em out there walking around.

8. Antoine Walker: How long will the love/hate relationship that Boston fans have with the multi-talented but perplexing forward last? It's up for debate. What is not debatable is the fact that Walker is a bona fide sports celebrity in this town, and while his maddening antics and shot selection may annoy the basketball purists, he’s done more good than bad during his five years with the Boston Celtics, and he will continue to improve and (hopefully) mature. Last year’s starting All-Star berth and the team’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals helped cement Walker’s value to the franchise, and along with Paul Pierce, this tandem constitutes the barometer that will determine the time frame for raising championship-banner number 17 on Causeway Street.

7. Joe Thornton: The only current Bruin on the list is undoubtedly its most popular among fans. Jumbo Joe has steadily improved over his five-plus seasons in Boston, and as the team’s captain this year he has taken on more responsibility and leadership roles. What is most mind-boggling about the six-foot-four gentle giant is that he’s only 23 years old, yet the marked progress he has made since he tallied just seven points in his first season is reason for hope for the championship-starved followers of the Black & Gold. At this writing, Thornton had collected 13 goals and 21 assists in just 25 games for the Eastern Conference–leading Bruins, and his emergence as a playmaker and leader is the biggest reason why the team is the NHL’s most surprising success story thus far.

6. Roger Clemens: Say what you will about the Rocket, if you were to run into the big ox, you would definitely be frozen in the moment. You would be amazed at his size, the big, rugged shoulders atop the 6-foot-four frame. Sure, he wore out his welcome long ago around here, but he is still a giant in the baseball world, and he began his Cooperstown-bound career here. He played 13 seasons in a Red Sox uniform, and lest we forget, amassed three Cy Young awards, 192 victories, and two 20-strikeout performances here. It’s not often you get the chance to meet a man of his stature and career, and even though he’s now a jaded Yankee and won two rings with the pinstripers, he got his start here, and he may, like the Babe, even finish his sparkling career right back on our doorstep. Stranger things have happened.

5. Drew Bledsoe: It sure seems like forever since Drew actually played a game in Foxboro, and for some people, perhaps 14 months is a long time. Sports arguments will most likely rage forever over whether Bledsoe, like Tom Brady, could have led the 2001-’02 Patriots to the lofty heights they ultimately reached. Nonetheless, we shouldn’t forget how Drew, along with incoming coach Bill Parcells, rejuvenated the franchise back in 1993, and what a difference Bledsoe made in those first few years at the helm. He fell out of favor shortly after the 1997 Super Bowl loss to Green Bay, and he never flourished under Pete Carroll the way he did under the Tuna, but Bledsoe was always a model of sportsmanship, pride, and class, and his contributions here should never be underestimated or forgotten. He’s not The Man around here anymore, but it’s not that long ago that he was, and rightfully so.

4. Paul Pierce: Certainly not the showman and model of flamboyance that his front-court partner Walker is, but Pierce has become a scoring machine during his brief three-plus-year career with the local hoopsters. Despite gaining unwanted notoriety after a life-threatening stabbing at a Boston nightclub, followed by a controversial trial in which witnesses (including Pierce himself) oftentimes changed their stories, the 25-year-old forward has become a certified NBA superstar, and he has been the de facto MVP of the Celtics since he was drafted (10th!) in 1998. He has certainly benefited from Walker’s presence, and this pair not only gels on the court, but off it as well. Theirs is a good relationship, even though personality-wise, Walker’s grandiosity is the direct opposite of Pierce’s sullenness. Nonetheless, Pierce is more endeared by the FleetCenter faithful right now, and the sky’s the limit talent-wise for the 6-6 University of Kansas product.

3. Pedro Martinez: Boston has no athlete more gifted than Pedro right now, and say what you will about former Sox GM Dan Duquette, but the Duke’s sleight-of-hand in bringing Martinez to Boston was his crowning glory in an otherwise controversial tenure. You will not often read about Pedro frequenting Boston nightlife, nor will you learn much at all about his personality, since he is a private, and in some ways, mysterious man. Nonetheless, the three-time Cy Young Award winner is, along with Clemens, one of the top hurlers of this era, and we are blessed to be able to see him pitch at Fenway on a regular basis. Sure, he can be controversial and moody, but we’ve embraced athletes of far less character and talent in the past, and Pedro’s devotion to off-season training, along with his strong will, have brought him back to the top of his game after it appeared a shoulder injury would shorten his sparkling career. Vaya, Pedro!

2. Nomar Garciaparra: Some would argue that Nomar should be number one here, and I debated this for a while. Nonetheless, I believe that even though he doesn’t top this list, he is still one of our most endearing and fascinating sports personalities. Nomar is another Duquette coup, as the Duke not only drafted him, but also inked him to a long-term deal before Nomar’s inherent talent was fully evident to the general population. Despite being underpaid by today’s standards, Nomar has been classy about it all along, and has never been viewed as a whiner or crybaby. With his movie-star looks (except for maybe the schnozz), his baseball smarts, his offensive and defensive firepower, his charitable involvement, and his overall duende, the newly-engaged Nomar is a stud extraordinaire among male and female followers of the Red Sox. It would be sacrilege to ever imagine him playing for another organization, and that’s why his contract — which will be expire at the end of the 2004 season — is the single most important issue in future organization discussions. Nomar belongs here, and will reach Ted Williams's icon status if he continues at this pace and can end his prolific career in Boston, preferably as a member of the team that finally succeeded in reversing the curse.

1. Tom Brady: You walk into a cocktail party, and there’s Nomar talking with some folks in one corner, but Brady is over there near the Buffalo wings. Who do you most want to meet? An excellent question, and truly not one for someone like me to decide. But I put Brady atop today’s list because he is the man who led a long-suffering and title-starved sports franchise from the precipice of irrelevancy to the promised land. Of the players on this list who still hang their hat here, only Brady sports the championship ring that still hearkens back to the most glorious New England sports moment in the last, oh, 32 years (Orr’s Cup-winning goal in 1970 was the closest to Boston sports nirvana before Adam Vinatieri’s kick on February 3). Brady’s still relatively new to us, even though he’s ubiquitous in some other ways (marketing-wise, for example), but he still seems like the genuine article in terms of humility, modesty, and down-to-earthness in spite of the past year’s tumultuous happenings. He’s got the kind of personality that makes guys feel right at home hanging out with him, while gals will also be prone to swoon over the stud’s six-foot-four frame and dreamy blue eyes. (A-hem!) Until Nomar, Paul/Antoine, or Joe can bring us their own team’s championship on a platter, Tom Brady tops the chart because this 25-year-old hero helped author the Cinderella story that is still the fairy tale most New Englanders would choose to fall asleep to on a nightly basis — the one with the happy ending.

Honorable mention: Manny Ramirez, Troy Brown, Lawyer Milloy, Johnny Ruiz, Bob Kraft, Mo Vaughn, Ty Law, Adam Vinatieri, Brian Rolston, and plenty more I’ve probably overlooked. No letters please.

Sporting Eye runs Mondays and Fridays at BostonPhoenix.com, and Christopher Young can be reached at cyoung[a]phx.com