Just like we did last year, we are bringing back the Non-bums of 2007 as well. We figure there’s no reason to only harp on the bad, so we’ll follow up with some good. Last season, the former Miss Nevada, Katie Blair, took home the top honor for her drunken party night in Florida. Will another pageant contestant make the cut this year (hint: hells yeah!)? Read on and find out.
Top 10 Non-Bums of 2007
(10) David Chase - Whether you loved the ending of “The Sopranos” or hated it, you still talked about it. We have disagreement among our ranks here at CIV as or its greatness or suckiness. But you have to admit, it’s tough to find someone who watched it and does not have an opinion. That makes for good tv.
(9) Ron Paul - This presidential candidate is the political embodiment of our website. We don’t mean that we all share his views, but he does a lot of complaining and it seems likely he will not win the presidential race. Put those two together and what do you get? A guy complaining in vain. Clever, we know. Maybe we should start posting home-made signs with our blog address all over the country.
(8) Roger Federer - Ah, another year and 3 more major titles for Federer. Two of the titles were won by Federer in straight sets. This guy is an absolute tennis machine. And what we love about Federer is that he just plays tennis. You never read anything negative about him - he never gets thrown out of bars or strip clubs, is accused of using steroids, cheats in any form. He would be higher on this list if only he had chosen not to appear in those awful Gillette ads with Tiger and some soccer player.
(7) Writers for “Lost” - Just when fans of the show were starting to complain and accuse the show of losing its edge, these guys completely bring it with a string of about 7 straight amazing episodes. The last season ended with each episode being even better than the last. And of course, they delivered one of the top 5 “Holy crap!” moments in television with the last 5 minutes of the season finale.
(6) Supporters of CIV - These folks would be much higher if the cheesiness of the idea was not quite so bad. But we do appreciate all those folks that keep up with the blog, drop some comments, and send us articles/ideas to complain about. Thanks a million. And now go tell more people about the blog!!!
(5) Tavita Pritchard and Mark Bradford - Pritchard was the qb and Bradford was the wr for the 4th-and-goal connection that led Stanford to a 24-23 win at USC. This was a phenomenal game with an even better ending. Coming in as a 41-point underdog, the Cardinal found a way to battle back from a 23-14 deficit in the 4th quarter for the win. (Note: one way to assure yourself a spot on this list is to deal a crushing blow to USC football.)
(4) Ricky Hatton - We loved what Ricky brought to the table this year. First, he won decisively on HBO and called out Floyd Mayweather, Jr. This inspired Mayweather to come out of retirement to fight Hatton. Then Hatton was followed to Las Vegas by thousands of crazy British boxing fans, creating a raucous atmosphere for the fight. And finally, Hatton was on the wrong end of one of the greatest knock-outs we have ever seen. Mayweather was awesome in the fight, but it was Hatton that made it all possible. Thanks, Ricky.
(3) Miss Teen South Carolina - “I personally believe - that, U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some - people out there in our nation don’t have maps, and, uh, I believe that our ad-education, like such as, uh, South Africa and the Iraq, everywhere like such as. And I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, or should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future.” Um, ’nuff said.
(2) Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement - These two are better known as their stage, and tv series, name: Flight of the Conchords. If you did not watch this show on HBO, go right now and buy the season DVD. Don’t rent it, buy it. We’re not exactly even sure where to start on this since we could easily devote an entire week to the greatness of this show. So, we’ll sum it up with these 5 phrases: (1) the humans are dead; (2) business socks; (3) Murray Hewitt’s hair; (4) a cell phone taped to a camera; and (5) the Hip-Hopopotamus vs. the Rhymnoceros.
(1) Dan Wetzel - It might be kinda boring to give top billing to a sports writer for Yahoo Sports, but this guy is a beast. He has reached the point for us that we even read his columns about the Tour de France (there was maybe 2 of those). Wetzel does something you don’t see much in sports journalism these days - he uses facts for the basis of his opinions and columns. Amazing, we know. Whether it’s college hoops, The Masters, or Michael Vick, Wetzel knows his business. You should take time every week to check Yahoo Sports and see if Wetzel has an article posted. If he does, read it. And here’s a nice link to get you started.