Okay sports fans, it’s time for the best of 2008! Why? Because the year is almost over, and just about anyone who’s ever accomplished anything in any field feels the need to dish out their “best of this” and “best of that” lists for the year. It’s really nauseating once you start to sift through the cesspool of public opinion and realize that 99% of the people out there have no idea what constitutes a “best of” list, yet they slap the word “expert” on everything they do to reassure the masses that their picks are truly the “best of”. So, then, who am I to put together such a list? Well, this kind of goes to my point. I’m a nobody. You see, I think that only a nobody could give an accurate list of what was really good in 2008 because I’m just like all of you. Now, that’s not to say that you’re all nobodies. I was being facetious. Everyone is someone, and darn it, learn to appreciate that. Or don’t. I don’t care. But for those of you who do (or are just looking for some time to kill or someone to rip for their “best of 2008” list) here’s what I think was tops in ’08, in no particular order, categorization or genre.
· iPhone 3G – Technology really doesn’t get much cooler. You know you’re the best when everyone else comes out with a device and markets it as the “iPhone killer”. Apple hit it out of the park with version 2.0, and the thing simply defies belief with its capabilities, which I won’t list here, but rest assured they’re vast. And growing.
· Facebook – MySpace who? In 2008, Facebook outgrew and overtook its long time big brother, and now it’s reaching heights unforeseen in years past. Social networking sites are all the rage these days, and Facebook is leading the way. Why? Hell if I know, but what I do know is the site is loaded with fun things to do and if you’re remotely popular, it should be loaded with lots of people for you to stalk. Socially, of course, not literally.
· The Shield – I wrote about this once already, and that’s enough, but suffice it to say that the fact there will be no Shield in 2009 is a sad come-to-terms affair for yours truly. Only time will tell if we’ll see something as consistently good in the future.
· Sean Avery – Let’s say I’m the NHL, a failing organization struggling to regain not only a fan-base, but an image that has since been tainted. Now let’s say that I’m okay with brutal, bloody fist-fights with the only caveat being a two minute stint in a spacious glass-enclosed box. Wouldn’t I then be a hypocrite if I suspended someone for multiple games for using the term “sloppy seconds”? Sean Avery is a bafoon, to be sure, but then again so is Terrell Owens. What do they have in common? Attention. And when they get it, their respective organizations get ticket and merchandise sales. The NHL needs more anti-heroes like Sean Avery. At least for the time being.
· Grand Theft Auto IV – Never before in history has a video game been so highly acclaimed yet so vehemently criticized. This game made the top of a multitude of “best game of the year” lists, and for good reason. It enveloped the gamer in a multi-faceted virtual world and allowed them to be someone they otherwise could not in the real world. In the end, isn’t that what video games are all about? A certain degree of escapism? The only difference is this one did it very well, and in a very adult fashion, which garnered some heat from those who have nothing better to do than criticize that which they do not understand.
· The Garden of Last Days – The book that made me notice Andre Dubus III. Sure, he wrote House of Sand and Fog, but I never gave that a chance. Why? You try reading every book that ever comes out. Not easy, is it? The great thing about books is you can discover new talent on a daily basis and be engulfed by what they do. In 2008, my discovery was Andre Dubus III. And what a discovery it was.
· Blu-ray – I accurately predicted that blu-ray would win out the HD wars (although I offer no written proof to back that statement), and it did, early on in 2008. So, blu-ray is now king…but for how long? We seem to be progressing toward a completely downloadable era, where all our music, movies, etc. can be downloaded via the internet. In fact, this technology exists today in abundance. Just look at iTunes or Netflix. So how long will blu-ray be king? Time will tell, but it’s safe for now since downloading an HD movie takes several hours to complete. And that’s if you’re very, very lucky.
· The New England Patriots – Okay, so I’m going to look at this from a calendar year perspective rather than an NFL year one. In January and February of 2008, this team threatened to do the unimaginable and go undefeated. Granted, this did not happen, but stay with me. At the beginning of the new season, their star quarterback, Tom Brady, is lost for the year with a knee injury. Do they fold? Do they pack it in? Nope. They go 11-5 under Matt Cassel as their quarterback. And miss the playoffs. First team in NFL history to do that. While 2008 may be a year for the Patriots and their fans to forget, for the rest of us, it was quite memorable.
· The Dark Knight – As far as movies go, 2008 will forever be the year of the Dark Knight. I don’t want to hear about the CGI breakthrough of Wall-E, I don’t need to know about the comeback of Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, nor do I need to be reminded of the handful of indie flicks that had better writing and acting. Nope. Don’t care. Because The Dark Knight trumped them all in 2008. Heath Ledger deserves an Oscar nod for his sadistic portrayal of an uber-villain hell-bent on an experiment in chaos. Christian Bale deserves our admiration for so calmly breathing accurate life into a comic book character who’s been critically trounced in previous incarnations. And the movie as a whole deserves a rightful spot among the best super-hero movies of all time. In fact, only Spiderman 2 comes close, and that’s some good company to be in.
· Barack Obama – Sure, he doesn’t take office until 2009, and yes, not a single one of his policies will affect any of us until at least that time, but who can deny that 2008 was his year? He locked up the Democratic bid, launched the best modern-era campaign to date and convincingly won the election despite hate-mongered sheriffs and right wing fanatics. Whether or not he succeeds in office doesn’t detract from the year that was his in 2008.
So, that’s that. Hope you enjoyed the list as much as I enjoyed creating it. Sure there were a lot of things absent from the list, but is any list truly complete? Nah, not really. I encourage you to go out there and make lists of your own, because without answering such groundbreaking questions as “What’s your favorite color?” or “How many Facebook friends do you have?” we will never truly know each other. It’s amazing anybody knew anyone else before our time.
Now where’s my iPhone so I can use my Facebook mobile app to let everyone know that I’m going to see The Dark Knight for the umpteenth time?
A Pleasant Conversation 