The Brainey's (The Winners and Losers of 2011)

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, or if you don't believe in celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, I hope you had a merry December 25th anyway.  I apologize for not writing yesterday.  Here I am today though and today will be the the Brainey's, which are the blog awards of the year.  Here we go....


Winner of the Year: Charlie Sheen.  He made "winning" a catch phrase this year during his insane meltdown.  He did a lot of crazy things in this calender year, and he wins because he says it himself, he's winning.  The guy lost his job as the highest paid television actor and did that stop him?  No.  The whole nation was captivated for about two weeks on what was Charlie going to do next.

Loser of the Year: Evil Dictators.  We lost Osama Bin Laden (allegedly), Moammar Kaddafi, and Kim Jong Il this year.  These were three thorns in America's side, especially Osama.  It still confuses me that we would just randomly kill him when Obama was slipping in the polls, but at least he's dead.  The guy was number one on America's Most Wanted list and it was long overdue after what happened on 9-11-01.  Kaddafi was killed as well and Il became ill with a heart attack.  It wasn't a good year to be an evil dictator.

Quote of the Year: "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come."-Steve Jobs in his resignation letter to Apple employees.


Movie of the Year: Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  Now before you get mad at me, realize that I can only give this award to a movie I've seen.  I plan on watching Ides of March, Moneyball, X Men: First Class, Captain America, and Thor, but I haven't gotten a chance to see them yet.  This was a slow year in movies.  Nothing really attracted me to go to a theater.  I did see this movie in theaters and was actually impressed with a lot of the movie even though the special effects were pretty cheesey.

Worst Movie of the Year: Never Say Never.  I have not seen it but even the Bieber fans said the movie was terrible.  It is a documentary about the Canadian's life.  It fails to document the fiasco he had being accused of impregnating a chick in the bathroom which turned out to be false.  I am a fan of documentaries but I'd rather watch a Harry Potter marathon than watch this movie.

Comedy of the Year:  This was a toss-up between 3 2.5 out of 5 star movies in my opinion.  Horrible Bosses, Bridesmaids, and the winner.... Friends with Benefits.  Horrible Bosses was okay.  I mean I laughed out loud a few times but not often.  Bridesmaids dragged for long stretches, but the bathroom scene had me dying.  Friends with Benefits wins, maybe because of Mila Kunis being in it, or maybe because Justin Timberlake actually didn't ruin the movie like I expected.  It came out shortly after No Strings Attached and they seemed like two of the same movies.  This one shined was gold compared to No Strings Attached.

Song of the Year: Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO. How did these two losers ever get popular?  You can't go anywhere without hearing this song and I am guilty of dancing to it a few times.  It gets stuck in your head and now hamsters are rocking out to it.

Baby of the Year: Carson Palmer.  Who else?  The guy whined and whined his way out of Cincinnati.  He refused to ever play a down for him and Mike Brown held his ground and refused to trade him until the right deal came along.  The golden boy got his wish.

Most overused word of the year: Lockout.  The NBA and NFL were both in lockouts and the term was heard almost everyday this year on Sportscenter.  

Story of the year: Jerry Sandusky and Penn State.  The guy tarnished the image of Joe Paterno and the University when it was found out that Sandusky had been molesting boys and it was covered up by the administration.  Everyone lost their jobs.

Trial of the Year: Is it Casey Anthony or Michael Jackson's Doctor?  I'm going with Casey Anthony.  For some reason, the whole country was drawn into it.  The woman was found not guilty of killing her daughter.  I know this isn't the popular opinion but I agree with the ruling because that is what our justice system states, "guilty beyond reasonable doubt."  There was doubt she did it.  No one could absolutely prove it.  Do I think she did it?  It doesn't matter but yes I believe she killed the poor kid, but she should've been found not guilty.

Upset of the Year: The Blackout over the Red Team.  This is a personal one for me.  In March, my high school had an alumni tournament.  Last January, I decided to put a team together but not many people were left.  I would've joined another team, but I was deemed not good enough.  Stuart Watton and I were they only people on the team.  We then picked up stragglers.  Jimmy Scott was kicked off his team for having too many players.  We picked up Justin Caudill who is a ginger, but I overlooked it and Doug McIntosh, the older cooler brother of Brad McIntosh.  We landed Ricky Buckler, Bruno Beriopgjipgjeroitgjliouf and Ben Parr.  The team was not expected to win a game.  We called ourselves The Blackout.  We got whipped by 30 in our first game, and we faced the high flying red team in the second.  Everything clicked.  The team with the least amount of actual basketball experience knocked off a team that included Derek Bryan, Hunter Jones, Kurt Jansen and others.

Sports Play of the Year: Jerome Simpson.  Happened just last week and I'm not a prisoner of the moment.  This play was crazy.  How did he stick the landing like he's Kerri Strug or something?  He had trouble with the law this year involving 7 pounds of marijuana, but he definitely got "high" on this play.

Surprise of the Year:  I have got to give this to the Bengals as well.  Many were expecting them to win at most 2 games, and on the first day of 2012, have a chance to make the playoffs.  I'm proud of them. 

Most over-talked about story of the Year: Gabrielle Giffords.  Okay I get that she was shot in the head and it was a big deal, but the constant updating of her state every night, on entertainment and news shows was ridiculous.  Her husband is a NASA astronaut...How cute?  They needed privacy, not cameras in their faces all the time.

Marriage of the year: Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries.  Because it fit within the year.

Could Care Less Wedding of the Year: Prince William and Kate.  Way too much coverage.  We aren't under British rule anymore.  Why is the media covering this like us Americans care?

Fake Retirement of the Year: Oprah Winfrey.  She left her show, okay goodbye Oprah we'll miss you....oahp never mind she has an entire network now.

Arnold Moment of the Year: when it was revealed he had a love child.  He's still the man.

Athlete of the Year: Aaron Rodgers.  The guy lead the Packers to the Superbowl and is about to win the MVP for this season.

WNBA Moment of the Year:  Just kidding. I got ya.


Deaths of the Year:  We lost a lot of amazing people this year.  You can see an entire list here but I want to spotlight a few:


Patrice O'Neal: My Diabetic com padre that lost his life too soon at age 41.  I wrote my own obituary to him, follow the link if you haven't read it... Patrice O'Neal---his battle with diabetes and what it means to me. 

Steve Jobs: If it wasn't for him, none of you would be jamming to ipods, surfing your ipads, or know what an app is on your iphones.  The guy was important to the technological advancement in this country.

Randy Savage: This was sad because he died from a car accident.  He will be linked with a bunch of wrestlers who died prematurely due to drug use which is a shame.  He was one of my favorites.  He was a member of the NwO, and he had that awesome flying elbow.  He also had a rap cd which is amazing, and a role in the hit movie, Spiderman.

Robert Traylor: Known as the Tractor.  This guy was a lot of hype coming out of Michigan, once traded for Dirk, who won the NBA title in 2011.  He died too soon.

Nate Dogg: He was brought up in West Coast rapping, as a childhood friend of Snoop Dogg.  He was known for his unique voice.

Elizabeth Taylor: Yeah, I don't really have much to say on her, except she was a princess of Hollywood and was known for her style and beauty and marriages.

Amy Winehouse: She was an amazing singer.  She was misunderstood a lot of the time and had a drug problem but she had talent.  She had a throwback voice.

Carl Lindner:  I wrote my own obituary for Carl, who was my boss for a short period of time, but what he did for this city, means a lot to me and he will not be forgotten. Carl Lindner, a kid for a car, bullies, and The Colossus of Rhodes

Joe Frazier: If he had boxed in any other time period, he would have been considered the greatest of his era; he just happened to box during the time of Ali.  Every superstar needs a rival and Frazier was Ali's. I wrote an obituary on Joe as well... Go Vote, Joe Frazier dies, and Top 5 boxing movies (Rocky not included)

Heavy D:  He was a hip-hop legend and his style was fun and upbeat.  He was even referenced by the great Notorious BIG in Juicy.  The guy could flow with the best of them.

Andy Rooney: Andy was someone who I always liked because at the end of 60 Minutes, he would talk like I blogged.  Some people didn't get him, but enough people did.  I wrote about Heavy D and Andy Rooney in this blog: Horrible News Stories, Deaths come in Threes, and a Real Life Ringer Story

Here are a few people I lost this year that were near and dear to my heart:


Florence "Grandma Flo" Brooks: My paternal grandmother; she had memory loss for years and she finally joined her husband who she lost in 1996 in Heaven.  She was a very religious person and cared about everyone in her life.  She had 13 children which is a feat in itself.  I will miss you Grandma.

Ron Losey: He was my neighbor but much more than that.  He was a grandfatherly figure to my family and he treated us as if we were his own blood.  I wrote about him here: Heaven landed a Hell of a Man Last Night

Mary Lou Ponchot: My high school Algebra and Geometry teacher.  She really was a positive influence on me and she will be greatly missed by the Bellevue community. Read my thoughts on her passing here. Rest in Peace, Mrs. Ponchot

So overall, 2011 was an average year.  I refuse to write about the protests because I don't even care and I hate that the Cardinals won the World Series, so no awards for them... I recapped my own 2011 in a blog last week, which if you missed you can read here... My year in meeting new People, Ohio Drivers, Getting my licence, & Kim Jong-il . I started writing these blogs in August and I love doing it and I hope you all enjoy reading them.  I hope that you continue to in 2012.  My Top 10 most popular blogs of 2011 are listed below, according to statistics compiled by blogspot.  I hope you all enjoyed the first annual Brainey's, a spinoff of the old Myspace Diesel of the Year Awards.


10. Things I'd Rather do than Watch A Harry Potter Marathon + Merry Christmas
9. Penn State did the Right Thing
8. What should I Write About? ---this one is the deepest blog I've written
7. Relationship Advice Column Edition 4, WHAT IS LOVE?
6. Is There A God?, Justin Bieber is apparently a dad, Tubby Smith, and Ochocinco
5. Relationship Advice Column Edition 6: Game Playing, Top 5 Romantic Comedies and A Crazy Facebook Story
4. Relationship Advice Column, Top 5 Gingers, Schweddy Balls, Fat Guy Sues Whitey's
3. Rest in Peace, Mrs. Ponchot
2. Heaven landed a Hell of a Man Last Night
1. The Pregnancy Story, NKU goes D-1, the Rock & Roll HOF, & Lindsay strips down.