Well, two of the least-surprising events of the new year hit the headlines Monday.

One is that Mark McGwire used steroids for a decade, including the year he and Sammy Sosa electrified the baseball world with their incredible home run contest. That was in 1998. McGwire finished the year with 70 HRs, while Sosa ended up second with 66. Both men broke the major league record of 61 set in 1961 by Roger Maris, who outdueled Mickey Mantle in another epic home run duel.

Almost everyone on the planet knew that McGwire used ‘roids, just as almost everyone knows Sosa used them, too. Sosa hasn’t yet come clean. McGwire’s admission Monday was heartfelt, teary — and is an attempt at redemption for the retired slugger, who wants desperately to get into the Hall of Fame.

Good luck on that one, Big Mac.

The other non-shocker?

Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and darling of the right wing, is becoming a commentator for the Fox News Channel.

It was just a matter of time that Sarah Barracuda would end up on the “Fair and Balanced” Network, where she’ll blend in with the likes of Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Mike Huckabee and Bill O’Reilly.

I’ll be interested to see if she’ll allow herself to be challenged by anyone who disagrees with her world view (such as it is) or whether she’ll just join the conservative echo chamber that Fox News has become.

But hey, in the interest of “fair and balanced” commentary, let it be said that MSNBC’s roster of lefty commentators — namely Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow — is just as guilty of mingling on-air only with those with whom they agree.

If the former half-term governor is willing to grow, then she needs to enter the rough and tumble world of honest political debate. It would be fun to see how she holds up when pushed, prodded and challenged. I don’t expect that to happen on Fox.