The year 2010 was full of many significant events, such as the Vancouver Olympics, the earthquake in Haiti, the worst oil spill in the history of the world, the trapped Chilean miners, the volcanic ash from Iceland, and the release of the iPad.
But besides all those “boring” things, there were many other “highs and lows” of the last year worth talking about.
One of the most notable low points was the preacher who was threatening to hold a ceremony to burn the Quran on September 11, in Gainesville, Florida.
Not only was it one of the worst moments this year because of the preacher’s actions, but also because of how the media dealt with the situation.
Leading up to 9/11, every night on the news we’d hear about whether or not Terry was going to “let ‘em burn” (that is, whether Jones was going to go through with his threats), which was really just giving him the attention he wanted.
Instead of actually reporting new information, the media was trying to instigate a massive fight.
Every night we basically heard, “Terry Jones is still considering a mass Quran burning on 9/11 … That would totally piss off all the Muslims wouldn’t it! Oh man, I bet he won’t do it!”
At least he never went through with it, which means things aren’t awkward anymore between Americans and Muslims and we are all totally cool again.
Moving on to an equally important issue, by far one of the worst parts of 2010 was the mass popularity of shows like “Sixteen and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” on MTV.
I’m not sure exactly what the appeal of those shows was.
It’s basically like watching two 16 year-old girls raise their “mistake” (and that’s not mean because
I’m pretty sure none of those girls were thinking that their sophomore year of high school was “the right time” to start a family).
I guess you could enjoy shows like “Sixteen and Pregnant” if you are able to get some sort of comfort by thinking, “Thank God, that’s not me.”
The popularity of this show couldn’t be any more frustrating to parents observing that millions of people are entertained by watching two young kids (try to) raise a child, which is exactly what they’ve been doing for the last 20-plus years.
As for the world of sports, a valuable lesson learned is that apparently all professional athletes love soliciting sex from women who aren’t their wives (in some cases even when the woman doesn’t want it).
We all know that Tiger Woods was accused of having an affair with at least ten other women, including his college-aged neighbor.
But Woods’ indecencies were nothing compared to the work of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger.
Ben was accused of molesting a girl, a case that was eventually settled out of court, but all non-Steelers fans know he did it.
He’s by far the worst person who could have ever done something like that. Just put yourself in the position of that girl.
Every Sunday afternoon a whole city cheers the man who has molested you.Even Brett Favre couldn’t help but “get in on” the sports scandal “action.”
He was accused of sending pictures of his genitals via text to a former Jets employee.
As embarrassing as that was for Favre, it was refreshing to finally see a story on Brett Favre that wasn’t about whether or not he would be retiring next year.
I guess he has been in the NFL for 20 years now without a major scandal, so he deserves to get away with at least one. “Pac-Man” Jones was averaging one a year; it’s the least we could do for Favre to just forget about this one.
As for the University of Tampa, there was the whole issue of a student being denied housing and having to sleep outside and the realization that UT has never had a black tenured professor causing embarrassing media coverage.
It’s okay though; UT’s chapel is finally complete!
Things can only go uphill in 2011 now that God has a house on campus.
One great event of 2010, however, would be the fact that Study Hall (a.k.a. Drunken Monkey, a.k.a. Double Decker) has now re-opened as “The Spot.”
(And if you think that’s too specific and unimportant to mention as the only highlight for 2010, you probably don’t have much business reading this paper anyway.)
The Spot has the same drink specials everybody has always loved, but can’t remember (because they’re that good) and is about 100 feet from campus, so that’s $6 you can save on cabs right there.
So here’s looking forward, UT, to a new year full of under-age pregnancies on TV, a totally-worth-it chapel, and hopefully less embarrassing moments for our school.
John Jacobs can be reached at jjacobs@spartans.ut.edu.
sweet article brah… i feel like i was right there with ya in 2010