The Twelve Days of Gheorghe-mas: Day Ten

On the Tenth day of Gheorghe-mas, Big Gheorghe gave to me (more than) ten past-year memories...


Nine Clips You Tubin'
Eight Wren-based Nuggets...
A Seven Point Loss;
Six games worth watching (and picking);
Five Combined Wins;
Four Compliments For T.J.;
Three French Hens;
Two Dope-ass Rhymes (and a whole mess of sub-par ones as well);
And a Doofus Dancing (Amidst a Really Long and Grumpy Analysis of the New Kanye West Album).

As I perused the archives looking for the best of G:TB's 2010 offerings, several trends emerged. Old favorites returned with a vengeance, then went away. G:TB entered a wide range of new technological realms as we dropped science 140 characters at a time and casted pods. Zman gave us musical wisdom, Mark made us smarter about football and basketball, Dave was, well, Dave was prolific. Whitney left us, sadly, but in Igor we found a more than adequate shoe-filler. TR's prediliction for the gross was offset by his well-timed storytelling, and Dennis made up in quality what he lacked in quantity. (Not really, but I remember what Thumper's daddy said.)

But the most striking thing about G:TB's 2010 catalogue will cause management to make some changes. As soon as we figure out who's been responsible for our conditioning, we're sacking that sumbitch. The truth hurts sometimes, but pain's good for you, so long as it doesn't kill you. Or something. Sadly, it's clear that stamina is an issue with our staff. Compare the quality of our content after August with that which preceded it, and it's clear that we began cramping just as football season started, gasping and wheezing our way to the finish line. We didn't post a complete thought the entire month of November. Hell, we might not even complete Gheorghe-mas.

So it's into the gym, my friends. KQ's working on a regimen to ensure that we can run through the tape in 2011. And you wouldn't want to disappoint KQ.

Despite the late-season decline, Team G:TB did deliver some excellent work in 2010. We started even before the year did, as we celebrated William and Mary's hoops win over Maryland in style, despite Shlara's navigational challenges, and Mark and Rob made New Year's resolutions in the comments that they both kept. Partially.

TR's 1997 letter to the late, lamented Gheorghe: The Internet Magazine resurfaced, and we learned that 13 years didn't diminish its power.

The Wrens opened the year ranked #2 in the RPI after wins over Richmond, Wake Forest, and Maryland. For real. The apocalypse we feared did not materialize.

A fat guy and a skinny guy bundled up and went to a Jets game, where a food porn mag broke out.

2010 was the Year of Greasetruck at G:TB, as we dropped no fewer than 12 new tracks from our house band.

Gheorghe: The Podcast predicted the entire year, starting strong and petering out. It did, however, launch Teejay's radio career.

The late, lamented Whitney declaimed on haggis. And wasn't the only celebrant of sheep intestines.

We delivered multiple official G:TB Olympic previews, reviews, and overviews. Just go look in January and February.

Zman fancied himself a Romanian ice skater.

Whitney had a rough trip to Vegas, but at least he thought it was a mediocre destination.

Mark gave G:TB's take on the NBA dunk contest, among several sports-related posts that were probably too good for the venue.

G:TB's not an authoritative source on many things, but our team knows music. Zman brought the goods on tunes all year long, starting with this shoutout to the Whitefield Brothers.

The Wrens made it two CAA finals in three years. And we waxed all poetical. There was NIT action, too.

The G:TB editorial roster expanded several times in 2010, as our dedicated readership offered us insights on hockey (Work Jerry), the KFC Double Down (Marls), and footie (my man Otis). In general, all of these posts were better than the usual dipshittery.

The man killed Whitney. Long live Igor

Tauntaun sleeping bag!

Z gets all cultural up in here, and teaches us a thing or two about wooing the ladies.

G:TB sponsored our first circus peanut diorama contest.

Rob reached his writing pinnacle, getting G:TB published in The Atlantic. The rest of his life will be a pale echo.

The Summer of Dave kicked off early with the first of his insightful interview series.

In which Igor explored vajazzling.

The Teej continued his mastery of the YouTubes. I've chosen this one to represent all that was good and ohmygodisthatridiculous about the year in video.



Dave previewed the World Cup, and so did Zman.

TR, dude. Dude!

Dave was a force of nature from May to September, though his fertile mind churned so quickly that he couldn't stop it before he admitted to liking Dane Cook. He nearly made up for it by rending a hole in the space-time continuum. For his efforts, Summer Dave was voted the 2010 G:TB MVP. Rest of the year Dave is on notice.

Rob turned 40, fixated on the large hadron collider and South Carolina politics.

TR learned at the feet of the master. Or at least at the train seat of the master. Ladies were sexed.

Mr. Truck at G:TB corporate gave us our first performance review. We're still waiting on our raises.

The Ghoogles came back!

TR ranked the 4th through 10th best baseball cards sets of the 1980s.

Teejay met Screech.

The Zman announced the Zbaby. We don't think its Mark's.

I'm not sure that any posts in October were longer than three sentences, but the Teej did start and not finish a new feature.

The Z got all wordy on the Bills. Again.

One of the scions of the Internet was mean to Rob. It's not a goddamn upset.

Merry Gheorghemas, friends. May 2011 be a damn sight better than 2010.