Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
Another year has come and gone in the message board world. This is the 7th time I will be ringing in the New Year with many of you! As usual, the year brought quite a few memorable events, to both our community and the real world we sometimes forget is around us!
Brittany Murphy just died. Michael Jackson died in June. John Travolta's son died in the beginning of the year. Senator Kennedy passed away, sadly, after decades of serving our government. Funnyman Dom Deluise passed on. David Carradine died within mysterious circumstances. Once a fantasy of mine, Farrah Fawcett has left us. Steve McNair, NFL player, was shot to death by his girlfriend. Actor Patrick Swayze lost his battle with cancer.
We witnessed the first ever black man become President of our great country. We dealt with an economy in disrepair. We watched bank after bank close their doors. We also saw many major companies fail, only to be bailed out by our government. We've been watching for months as congress tries to push through a "historic" healthcare reform bill. We saw the auto industry get destroyed this year, bankruptcies and bailouts. We saw the swine flu appear in Mexico and quickly travel around the world, claiming lives in its path. We continued to follow the path of 2 wars, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. We also got to see the first Hispanic judge confirmed to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor.
The Steelers won the Super Bowl. The NY Yankees won the World Series. The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup. The LA Lakers won their second consecutive championship. Jimmie Johnson won his unprecedented 4th Nascar championship in a row. Tiger Woods, as usual, won a ton of tournaments, but then we watched him falter at the end of this year, accused of cheating on his wife with at least 14 different women!
Some great movies in 2009: The Box, G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, Surrogates, 2012, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Taking of Pelham 123, Inglourious Basterds, Avatar, Star Trek, Public Enemies, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
And here in our own little community we had memorable moments this year. While I'd like to acknowledge each and every event, I though it would be fun to give out some awards for the Year 2009.
Most Contributing Member - Red States Rule - Not only for the sheer volume of posting he makes, but also "participation". He gets around all over the board and participates in everything, which ultimately only prompts more posting.
Most Contributing Member, Part 2 - Everyone gets recognized for their monetary donations to the board via the images at the bottom of the board. Quite a few of those members have donated multiple times. But no one comes close to RSR who has donated countless times, even when I told him not to. He has single handedly paid for many months of service to keep the community alive, and I for one am extremely grateful.
Posting in the face of adversity - Bullypulpit - His liberal views often leave him in the minority while debating hot topics. I find him to be very intelligent and very knowledgeable about what he posts. He almost always includes citations with his posts and generally comes across with good arguments. 99% of the time he remains above the fray in flaming, but like all of us he sometimes lets people have it, especially when he's outnumbered in the majority of his debates.
Most Likable Member - Abbey - While not on as much as the previous year, she is still the reigning champ in this department. Seems she somehow makes friends with everyone on the board, regardless of their viewpoints.
Rookie of the Year - Chloe - New to the board this year and already she seems like she has been here forever. Made lots of friends quickly and is a tremendous asset to the community.
Most Dependable - Kathianne - Whether for moderation, or for prompting dialogue by starting and replying to new threads. She has been a huge asset to our staff team and is always around to assist.
Best Poster - Emmett - He somehow always comes out of the blue with very lengthy, well thought out posts. I can't begin to say how many threads I've read where he has done this and racked up reputation points and clapping smileys.
Most Missed Member - manu1959 has been MIA for quite some time. I miss his contributions to the community.
Nicest Member - actsnoblemartin - He might come off as a confused/naive young man at times, but he's always the first to offer kind words to other members.
Most Consistent and Determined - elaboom - This member has ZERO posts. I think it's someone using a program to spam forums. I banned this poster a LONG time ago, immediately after registration. This person has literally tried to login every single day since then. Time to update the program!
Most Hated Member - Jackass - I hate the NJ Devils and I hate the NY Giants - therefore Chuck gets this slot!
Most Inebriated Member - Psychoblues - Been on the juice since I've known him. Don't care what others think or say though, I love him!
Meanest Hombre - Glockmail - (only because of his Eastwood avatar) - Glock, the leader of the posse, single handedly removed a few of the "bad guys" from our community.
Katie Holmes Lookalike - gabosaurus - Saw her picture, she's a dead ringer for Katie Holmes from a few years back!
Most Stubborn - LiberalNation - Dead set in her ways for a young gal, and is not afraid to speak about them. The more you push her, the more she pushed back.
Worst Reputation - Joe Steel - For such an extremely smart guy, so friendly and so knowledgeable on varying subjects - I'm left baffled as to why his reputation is so low?
Most Entertaining - Manfrommaine - Personally, I wish he was still here even though I know the majority despised him. But the never ending saga that actually ended, gave us all much entertainment throughout the year.
Best Supporting Cast - Every single member of the board, those listed here, and those not. With each and every post you all make, the board gets that much better. The community is a self running machine that every one of you helps form as time goes by. While not the largest political board out there and certainly not the busiest - I wouldn't have it any other way. I see the entire board as a "family", regardless of political affiliations or viewpoints, and am grateful to have each and every one of you here.
Reply With Quote
j/k. 
Originally Posted by Kathianne
