A few things to mention before we get to the PMI:

I’m in New York, blogging from the impromptu desk I set up at the kitchen counter in my girlfriend’s apartment. Normally, I drive here, and it takes about an hour and a half.

But last night, since I didn’t have to be anywhere today and since parking in the city is a major pain, I decided to take the train. I’d go easy on the environment and leave my car at home, my thinking went.

Little did I know what would transpire on my train ride.

When my train got to Linden station – a little more than half way to the City -- the conductor announced that there was a police investigation ahead of us concerning a “trespasser.”

It turns out, “trespasser” is conductor lingo for someone who walked, ran or fell on to the tracks, and in this case, the “tresspasser” was hit by a train ahead of us and killed.

No word yet on what exactly happened, other than a New Jersey Transit spokesman announcing the victim was an adult.

On a less gloomy note, the good thing about being in New York train stations (I finally got to Penn Station five hours after I left Hamilton) if you’re a New Englander is you can get your hands on a Boston Globe. I read it primarily for the sports, so I enjoyed today’s coverage of Jim Rice’s election to the Hall of Fame when I took the subway to Grand Central station to pick one up today. (Don’t worry. I’m only a little crazy. It’s only two stops on the subway, so it was a short expedition)

Yesterday, though, I read this story about a guy in Maine with an interesting idea on how to revive his business during tough economic times.

With that, here’s the Index for Week 5.

1. Siena (12-5, 6-0, 35)
Saints are off to best conference start in nine years. After Niagara’s blowout loss, it couldn’t be more clear who’s the top dog.

2. Niagara (13-4, 4-1, 82)
Loss at Marist hurts, but with Siena looming ahead on schedule, a loss at home to Iona or Rider would hurt more. Still, though, overall resume is impressive, and everyone’s allowed a dud once in a while.

3. Rider (9-6, 4-1, 165)
Win over Iona wasn’t pretty, but league record – same as it was after five games last year – is. Four-game road trip to Buffalo, Fairfield (not Bridgeport) and Jersey City is up next.

4. Manhattan (9-7, 3-3, 182)
Took care of business against Marist, then almost knocked off Siena for the second straight year. Schedule ahead is favorable, with four of next five at home. Can they go 4-1 in that stretch?

5. Fairfield (11-6, 4-2, 89)
League record is incredibly deceiving, and down-to-the-wire game against dreadful Canisius is not a good sign. This time, they can’t wait ’til February to turn it on.

6. Marist (7-11, 3-3, 197)
Upstart Red Foxes are 3-0 in league home games with a rout of Niagara, and Ryan Schneider (16.3 points, 8.8 boards per game) is at least a second-team all-MAAC performer.

7. Iona (7-10, 2-4, 202)
Good news: Scott Machado – probably the MAAC rookie of the year if the vote were today -- keeps getting better. Bad news: there just aren’t enough parts right now to be a top-half-of-the-league team.

8. Loyola (5-12, 1-5, 192)
Loss to Saint Peter’s really stings, and whatever hopes Hounds may have had of being in the title race are long gone. But they’re still dangerous for a bottom-tier team.

9. St. Peters (5-11, 2-4, 306)
Hey, things could be worse. Win over Loyola was nice, but there aren’t many easy ones left on the schedule.

10. Canisius (5-11, 0-6, 222)
Win over Fairfield would have been a major boost. They’ve got Rider and Iona at home before a brutal four-game road trip.