2011 Awards

Story Of The Year:  Navy Seals take down Osama Bin Laden.  A lightning strike, but the culmination of years, and the end of an era.

Non-story Of The Year:  The "new civility" everyone was talking about for a while. Of course, this was all about shutting up people you disagree with while you get to say whatever you want.  No one bought it, needless to say.

To Be Continued Story: The Arab Spring. Needs more seasoning.

Trend Of The Year:  The death of bad guys--Bin Laden, Awlaki, Gaddafi, Kim Jong Il, to name the big ones. Runner-up:  Rioting.

Master Of Logic Award: (Not that it matters, but Biden's numbers are wrong.)



Biggest Future Flashpoint:  The European Union (beating Iran, Syria and North Korea).

Most Overhyped Story:  Occupy Wall Street.  It's a real story, but the attention it got--including the hopes and dreams so many writers invested in it--was out of proportion.

Story That Generated The Best Headlines: Anything with Anthony Weiner.

Biggest Disaster:



Can't Make Up Their Mind Award:  To the Iowa caucus voters, who at various times have loved Donald Trump, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.  Get a grip, guys.

Winner Of The Year: Gabrielle Giffords. It was a horrible year, but she still ended up a winner.

Loser Of The Year: Joe Paterno. What a way to go. (Yes, I know what the real tragedy was.)

Crowd Control Award:



Apocalypse Now Award:  Harold Camping, president of Family Radio, predicted the Rapture on May 21.  When nothing happened, he claimed there'd been a judgment that day but the actual Rapture would be on October 21. Still waiting.

Sunniest Story:  Solyndra

Only Two People Know For Sure Award: The Dominique Strauss-Kahn story

Biggest Unforced Error:



Least Impressive Debut:  After years of waiting, the numbers for Simon Cowell's X Factor can't compare to American Idol.

Biggest Celebrity Meltdown:  With his Tiger Blood and Adonis DNA, is there any queston Charlie Sheen is Winning this award?  He even took his meltdown on the road. Not even Lindsay Lohan could compete.

Wedding Of The Year:  Kate and William.

Divorce of The Year:  Demi Moore and Bruce Willis made sense, but Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher?  So a six-year marriage beat the odds.  I don't know why they're splitting up, but maybe Ashton figured out in 2012 she becomes a Demi-century.

Song Of The Year:  What cracks me up was how harshly this song was attacked as if it were somehow significantly worse than so many others on the charts.