Goodbye 2010—BEST OF THE DECADE

By Brandt Danals..

Well as the title tells you this blog is going to be a wave goodbye to the last decade. To do so, I will be going through a wide variety of categories to select the “best” or “most memorable” moments of the decade. Much as any reward show you see on TV I will be giving you a list of nominees and then revealing the winner. I realize some, if not most, of you will not agree with my decisions, but due to my level of intelligence.. haha.. they should be widely accepted. Hope that you enjoy, as this is my first blog in like a year now, but I will be returning shortly as I have a lot of free time on my hands now as I begin my pursuit of a teaching job for next fall.


Let’s get it started…

Best Athlete of the Decade…

And the nominees are… Tom Brady, Roger Federer, Jimmy Johnson, LeBron James, and Tiger Woods

And the winner is... Jimmy Johnson

Now I’m not normally promoter of NASCAR as a sport by normal standards, however, it is becoming widely accepted amongst the American public. It is hard to ignore the streak that Johnson went on to end the decade. He currently is a consecutive five time champion in his respective sport, a streak that has been unmatched throughout history.

Best Song of the Decade...

And the nominees are… Lose Yourself..Eminem, Love Story..Taylor Swift, Amazed.. Lonestar, Hey Ya!.. Outkast, Party in the USA.. Miley Cyrus

And the winner is… Hey Ya!

Shake it like a Polaroid picture!!! Clearly this song was one of the most popular of the decade since its release in 2003. It continues to play on the radio, as well as in movies that are releasing to this day.

Best Male Artist of the Decade…

And the nominees are… Lil’ Wayne, Justin Beiber, Justin Timberlake, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley

And the winner is… Lil' Wayne

Virtually every song this guy touches turns to instant gold. His combination of intelligence and “swag” make his style very popular to the younger generation. It seems like he released a new hit single every few months for the majority of the decade. Even while imprisoned he continued to release hit songs from behind bars.

Best Female Artist of the Decade…

And the nominees are… Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus(Hannah Montana), Carrie Underwood

And the winner is… Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana

Towards the middle of the decade with the help of the Disney network Miley and here alter-ego Hannah Montana took off and grossed billions in earnings. Popular songs, the TV show, even a hit movie led to her selection as Female Artist of the Decade.

Best Sporting Event of the Decade…

And the nominees are… Yankees vs. Red Sox.. Game 7 2003 ALCS, UConn vs. Syracuse..2009 Big East Tournament, 4 x 100 Meter Men’s Freestyle Relay.. 2008 Olympics, Texas vs. USC.. 2006 Rose Bowl, Boise State vs. Oklahoma..2007 Fiesta Bowl.

And the winner is… 4 x 100 Men's Freestyle Relay 2008 Bejing Olympics

I feel like this is this decades version of the Miracle on Ice, all of America was standing up yelling at their TV’s for SWIMMING?! Yes.. SWIMMING! All you have to do is watch Amazing Finsh and you’ll understand.

Best Movie of the Decade…

And the nominees are… Lord of the Rings Return of the King, Avatar, Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Dark Knight, Book of Eli

And the winner is… Lord of the Rings Return of the King

Thought not my favorite, this movie did a multitude of things. I probably should have also included a Harry Potter movie on the list, however, Avatar and The Dark Knight were close seconds, not to mention the popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.


Best Invention of the Decade…

And the nominees are… Garmin GPS, Apple iPod, Apple, iPhone, Apple iPad, Facebook

And the winner is… Facebook

Facebook has singlehandedly changed the way in which people live their lives. Our brothers, sisters, moms, dads, and sometimes even grandparents are now on Facebook. We live for seeing people update their status and telling the world what we are doing. We creepily browse through others pictures as we enjoy knowing what is going on in other people’s lives. The invention of Facebook made all of this possible.


Best Gaming System of the Decade…

And the nominees are… PlayStation 3, XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii

And the winner is… PlayStation 3

Probably will take a lot of heat for this, but consider the benefits. Not only does PS3 play host to a built in blu-ray player, but it also allows for free online play with other gamers around the world, where as with its competitors, you have to pay. Graphics in my opinion are also superior, but to each his own.

Best Video Game/Video Game Franchise of the Decade…

And the nominees are… Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Madden, FIFA

And the winner is… Call of Duty

This was tough for me, because I LOVE sports games; however it is hard to ignore the dominance of the Call of Duty franchise in the latter half of the decade. It was hard to weigh that and the dominance of Grand Theft Auto at the beginning of the decade. However, the advancement in gaming systems, and the amount of people that play nowadays, gave the slight edge to call of Duty. But when considering longevity, Madden is probably the best video game franchise of all time next to Mario Brothers.


** The Final Award


Most Influential Moment of the Decade…

And the nominees are… September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina, Development of Facebook, 2008 U.S Presidential Election, Steroids in Baseball

And the winner is… September 11, 2001

This was pretty cut and dry. I can undoubtedly say I will never forget exactly what I was doing when I learned of the events of this tragic day. September 11 will probably go down as one of the most influential moments in all of American history, not just of the past decade. To all of the people that were lost and all of those effect because of the aftermath, you truly will never be forgotten.

In Closing…

The 2000’s were a pretty good decade. It’s hard to believe that not too long ago everyone was fretting over Y2K, now we are already on to the next decade, with another fear of the world coming to an end looming in 2012. Ya’ know... You never really know if these things are true, so take what you have, run with it, and enjoy you’re life while you can.


Until Next Time... Much Love,

B