Things I Came To Love and Hate in 2009

Music:

John Legend - This is an easy one for me. John Legend was my musical obsession for 2009. I consider this guy to be the next great hope for popular music. He just puts together a perfect blend of hip-hop, R&B, soul, funk, and even rap on a couple songs. There’s a reason why so many big time rappers keep coming to John Legend to collaborate. I also got to see him live in ’09 and he didn’t disappoint. Please John Legend, keep making more great music in the next decade.

Honorable mention: Jay-Z, Brecker Brothers

Lady Gaga - I can’t say I hated too many musical artists this past year but I guess if I had to pick one it would be Lady Gaga. Unfortunately I think Lady Gaga is brilliant. She knows exactly what the music industry wants and she gives it to all of us. She is a fairly talented musician but she knows that what the majority wants to hear is crap. So she turns out garbage but couples it with weird outfits and nonsensical music videos so people think it’s “artistic.” Her videos have nothing to do with the content of the songs and they are weird for the sake of being weird. She goes out and plays a freak at the VMAs just to turn heads. But it works, and this may be what bothers me the most.

Honorable mention: System of a Down

Television:

The Office – I don’t watch too many current TV shows. I rely mostly on reruns (which is why I consider TBS replacing Seinfeld with My Name Is Earl to be one of the dumbest moves of the year). But, The Office may be my one exception. This show is hilarious. The characters are brilliant, all so different. No one character makes the show. Great cast, great writing, great show.

Honorable mention: 30 Rock, The Herd (I know it’s a radio show but I watch it on TV and it’s too good to omit)

Robot Chicken – Apologies to Mike Cote, but I have to do this. I have been forced into watching this show for months and have cracked a smile maybe once, and it was during the Star Wars episode (I’m a sucker for Admiral Ackbar “It’s a Trap” jokes). I become physically uncomfortable watching this show, it’s that bad. Let’s have action figures act as characters from pop culture, but then they’ll swear and kill each other in graphic ways. Hilarious? The fact that people watch this show blows my mind.

Honorable mention: Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Meet the Browns (seriously…do people watch those shows?)

Video Games:

Mario Kart Wii – Get four guys together, a game of Mario Kart and you have a great night. I said once between races, “this really may be the best game ever made.” I stand by that. When you have four guys sitting around a screen and screaming vulgarities at each other frantically, that is a great game. I consider winning a race at Rainbow Road to be one of the greatest achievements of my life. The intensity is phenomenal and it’s also so much fun.

Honorable mention: Madden 10, Winning Eleven

NHL 10 – The problem with NHL 10, is that I really do love it. But I hate playing it, because if you lose, you want to go jump off a bridge. It’s one of those games where you really don’t want to play, but you have to. Also, it’s extremely unrealistic. Spoiler alert: the only way to score is by feeding a one-timer to the guy in the slot. The CPU defender will always mysteriously move away from the attacker in the slot. Plus, you can’t trip someone from in front of them. But this game is still too addictive.

Film:

The Jerk – Before ’09, I had never seen this movie and after seeing it once it became one of my all-time favorites. I think I consistently laughed throughout the whole movie. Steve Martin is unreal hilarious. Shithead the dog is also phenomenal. I love Navin’s letters home; they always end with something completely ridiculous. Like “PS: Patty promised me a blow job next week” or “I have to go now as someone is staring at me through binoculars.”

Honorable mention: Just Friends (it may be a chick flick but what a great movie)

Gangs of New York – I didn’t see any movies that I hated this year so I figured I’d go back to an old favorite. This movie sucked and I’m not gonna be made to think otherwise. Seriously, if you’re gonna speak with an Irish accent, at least keep it up for the whole movie.

Sports:

Kyle Orton – Those of you who know me know that I’ve been a Kyle Orton fan since his days at Purdue. But I was always kind of joking when I said how great he was. Now I’m serious, I think he’s great. His year with the Broncos, a team expected to be terrible, has proved that he is a valuable QB. The guy just wins games.

Honorable mention: Alexandre Pato, Mark Herzlich, 2009 Barcelona FC

2009 New York Yankees – Probably my most hated team since the 2003 Yankees and 2000 Baltimore Ravens. The entire postseason you just knew that the Yankees were going to win it all, but you had to sit and endure it. It was a painful experience, thankfully now it’s over.

Honorable mention: Brett Favre, Wade Redden, Michael Rosival, Matt Gilroy, Didier Drogba

That’s it, my 2009 in review. Let me know if I missed anything or if you disagree with what I’ve said (but seriously, no one is going to convince me that Robot Chicken or Gangs of New York are good).