RamNation Forums

2004 Awards and Rankings: Specialty Awards

Return to Ranking & Awards History Homepage
2004 Trivia
2004 Specialty Awards
2004 Rankings
2004 Hall of Fame

What makes RamNation a special place is its regular visitors. Everybody who visits this site contributes in their own little way. There are several RamNationers who have gone above and beyond, and deserve major kudos and recognition here. Here are several of the key contributors to the website who have my sincere thanks and appreciation and deserve the same from all Ram fans!

We recommend you read these specialty awards before moving on to the rankings, as some of these awards are revealed in the write-ups for the winners of our Top 25 rankings.

Now, onto the awards...

THANK YOU AWARD

This new award is simply to recognize people who have impacted the website in a positive manner--and in more than just message board posts.

Horn Star--Always does a wonderful job backing me up, providing frontpage updates, message board monitoring, and technical help throughout the entire year…all out of the goodness of his heart.

Tweeter--Tirelessly provides Ram fans with valuable recruiting information, including regular maintenance of our prospect database. And, for the most part, Tweeter did this out of his true love for CSU and recruiting, receiving very little in return.

BigMac--Wrote a handful of thought-provoking, humorous columns, which, like Tweeter, he did out of the kindness of his heart with nothing in return.

SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP--His inspiring donation led to $30,000+ in fundraising for bowl ticket sales last December, giving RamNation outstanding PR in the local media, and gaining valuable recognition from the athletic department. He also helped establish our Klussmann Memorial Fund and will send two lucky donors two the CSU/USC football game this September as a way of encouraging Ram fans to donate to the fund.

CAMotion--Organized fundraising and helped present numerous gifts to coaches.

Denver Dave--Organized a fundraiser for and presented gifts to the volleyball coaches.

Pikes Peak Ram--Organized a fundraiser to raise money for his former college roommate/friend CSU Rambunctious, whose apartment burned down a few months ago. PPR's efforts raised more than $700 to cover RAMbunctious' insurance deductible, and give him a little extra spending money to buy new Ram gear.

Three RAM Night--TRN provided great pictures for our use during spring football, and was the first (even before CSU's official site) to provide mass pictures of the Hughes Stadium renovation this spring.

Q.Ram and CSURamFan--These two spend more time than anybody realizes administrating our Rams Bookstore Pigskin Pick'Em contest and Bowl contest. Q.Ram does all the lines work, and sets up the form, and tallies the totals each week. CSURamFan does the back office work, setting up the webpage and software that we use.

On to the Goal--Set up the format and helped organize our Rams Bookstore March Madness contest, which is always a great contest that people seem to enjoy each year.

RamSack--Provided our basketball opponents spreadsheet this year, which was a valuable tool for us fans to track opponents' RPI, and other pertinent information.

WyoRamFan--for providing invaluable weather reports throughout the year.

Tony Phifer, Kelly Lyell, Natalie Meisler, Randy Holtz, and Mike Brohard--All who provide outstanding coverage of CSU sports for local newspapers, and continue to do so despite sometimes seeing negative things written about them on our message board. Your hard work and the information you provide give us all something to discuss on the message board each day.

Griff Kull--The Rams Bookstore owner, who through his incredible support of this website, provides us with financial support and other things such as RamNation T-shirts, contest prizes, and more, helping to make RamNation the successful site that it is. I hope all CSU fans remember that when buying Ram gear

BEST NEW HANDLE

Rather than re-vote on all the handles every year, we'll just pick our favorite new handles that have popped up over the last year.

1. TooFast4BYU--Registered by none other than CSU's All-American sprinter John Woods.
2. Tony SopRAMo--A student poster with a great handle.

STUDENT BODY RIGHT (BEST STUDENT POSTER AWARD)

Student participation was very good this year--not for overall numbers, but for the quality that a few of them regularly provided. Here is a list of our favorite students:

1. zjb58
2. Zozza
3. nateDiggsCSU
4. Green Eggs and Ram
5. zstory
6. CSU_Hurts_So_Good
7. Liberty Bell Ram
8. csu4life31
9. Tony SopRAMo
10. bioheel

GLASS HALF-EMPTY AWARD (MOST NEGATIVE)

Drak--For the second straight year, Drak takes No. 1. We do like Drak for his opinions and desire to keep to sports topics, but he clearly is one of the most negative fans on the board..

babybull--He wasn't around much in 2003-04, but he was here enough to take shots at Bradlee Van Pelt and say he wasn't a good quarterback and would not ever get drafted by the NFL.

sanfranramfan--We hesitated putting sanfran on the list because he clearly has made an effort to refrain from his abrupt blasts, but when he loses it, the wheels come off and he cannot hide his anger..

GLASS HALF-FULL AWARD (MOST POSITIVE)

CSU Rambunctious--After being edged out last year by SFBayCAM, 'Bunctious assumes his rightful place as the Glass Half-Full Award winner. Who else could laugh about his apartment building--and all of his belongings--being burned in a fire?

BUFF HATER AWARD

This award goes to the biggest Buff hater in RamNation. The list of Buff haters is long, but we narrowed it down to our top choice--a tie:

80sramfan and RAM SMITH--These two guys finished first and second last year, but with RAM SMITH stepping up his game a notch this year, we couldn't determine who hated the Buffs more. So, for 2003-04, so we named it a tie. 80s and RS are named co-winners of the Buff Hater Award for this year.

'POKE HATER AWARD

NYCram--We tried desperately to search for someone to rival NYCram's Wyo-hater abilities just to make this category interesting, but when it came down to it, nobody could hold a candle to NYC's daily angst toward "Cowchip" fans. CSU fans certainly dislike Wyoming, and the fan feud between the two schools probably heightened with the Cowboys' upset of the Rams this fall. But, nobody makes it his own personal crusade to mention something negative about Wyoming the way NYCram does. He'll be tough to beat in future years too.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Bunsbuggy--He came on strong from day one, running his Jim Rome schtick. It ticked some people off, and made others roll with laughter. Many months later, his influence can be seen running rampant as many people emulate his style. He can talk sports, and is well opinionated, but his best value to RamNation is his humor. This award doesn't come without controversy, as he was placed on probation for crossing the terms of service earlier this year, but he's minded his manners since then, and has become a board favorite.

COMEBACK POSTER OF THE YEAR

TD Elvis--TDE, a devout follower of The King, showed up after a near-two-year hiatus. He was formerly known as Ram Slam and was so good in 2002 that he finished 13th in the 2003 Awards/Rankings. But, after that showing, he mysteriously disappeared until February of this year. He came back strong, returning to his trademark one-liner style. He provides comedy, but also isn't afraid to mix it up with other posters--even Ram fans. Still, he has proven to be an entertaining poster in his first five months back, and if he sticks around over the course of the next year, he has a great chance to crack the Top 25.

BEST NON-RAM POSTER

1.Buffsin2004--He is always going to be in the running for this award, as he is annually a top RamNation poster, much less a non-Ram poster. He co-exists nicely with Ram fans on their home turf and can discuss college sports without getting involved in the daily flame wars.

2. le alpe de huez--Really came on strong this year, often getting under the skin of Ram fans, but regularly providing good-natured humor.

3. SYKOBUFF--Once a hated poster by many Ram fans, SYKO has shown a side of himself that is actually quite amicable. He has learned to get along with Ram fans and has become a welcome participant on the site.

4. HistoryHoo--HH has been returning since CSU's 2002 matchup against his beloved Virginia Cavaliers. He is one of the many exemplary Virginia fans that Ram fans have become "friends" with since that meeting.

5. CO_Poke--Is mentioned for this award for the second straight year due to his ability to be one of the few Wyoming fans who come here to talk sports rather than start flame wars. He can engage in smack talk, but generally keeps in line.

MOST HATED POSTER

1. Husker Hater--Another year of getting under Ram fans' skin has cemented his place at the top of this category. He even fights with fellow Buff fans. Does anybody like this guy?

2. 59Buff--Although he can carry on a good conversation with Ram fans at times, he often comes across grouchy, and tends to take his foul moods out on the Rams, which doesn't sit well.

3. CSWho--Takes weeks off at a time, but then must get the itch to go bug the crap out of Ram fans...which he does well.

4.Dubya Why Oh---A relative newcomer to the site, but already has the typical Wyoming fan flaming style down.

5. Mayor of Greely--It's tough to hate a guy who didn't even know how to spell Greeley, and he didn't last long on the board due to his crazy antics, but he sure ticked off Ram fans while he was here.

MOST DEVOTED

We felt it was necessary to vote in the most dedicated RamNation poster of the year. This one was a shoe-in:

Ensin Ram and navyRAM--Ensin Ram is currently on duty in Iraq, but still occasionally checks in with Ram fans to give us a report of what's going on in his world and also to see what's happening on the RamNation message board. NavyRAM--CSU's former student body president--is onboard the USS Enterprise serving the United States on foreign seas. Thanks Ensin and navyRAM for your service to our country!

EWE AWARD (BEST FEMALE POSTER)

Where is GT?--It wasn't necessarily a banner year for our female posters. We have many who visit and post every now and then, but nobody this year who really sustained her presence and made a name for herself. Last year's winner, Ram Fanz spent a decent amount of time on the board during football season, but has waned in recent months. We'll therefore dedicate this award to "Where is GT?", who doesn't post frequently, but who is enjoyable when she is around! C'mon ladies..let's give a stronger effort in 2004-05!

RAH RAH AWARD

SFBayCAM--A Top 25 poster in 2003, SFBayCAM was a daily contributor on the board, discussing sports topics in depth. However, in 2003-04, his new job in Hawaii significantly cut into his participation on the message board, which forced him to use choose his words carefully when posting in such limited time. He often chose to focus on how to improve CSU rather than engaging in mindless talk. He was one of the biggest supporters of the GRC fundraising drive this year, and during the volunteer period, could be found posting frequent messages encouraging Ram fans to get involved. He also urged fans to participate in other website fundraisers, ticket sales, etc. SFBayCAM proved to be an excellent ambassador for CSU in 2003-04.

FUNNIEST POSTER

Bunsbuggy--The winner of this category is the winner of our Rookie of the Year Award. Bunsbuggy, in his relatively short tenure on RamNation, has proven to be the funniest poster of the year. Whether it be with his "signed by" staple, a hilarious linked image, or some other one-liner, we find ourselves laughing regularly at Buns' posts.

POST OF THE YEAR

It was a tight race as always for Post of the Year honors. And, as you can imagine, this is never an easy category to judge. We literally get hundreds of thousands of posts throughout the year, which presents a very tall task when determining the very best ones. We simply collect our favorites throughout the year, and narrow it down to the top four or five for the Awards. This year, we considered many posts by many different authors, including RAM SMITH, Go Duke, CSU Rambunctious, BVP for Heisman 03, Ram-a-lamb-a-ding-dong, and many more, as well as the other finalists for our top four posts of the year. There have been some stellar winners in the past, including last year's "Bohemian Rhapsody" tune, written by JoninLA (now JoninAZ).

Our winners for 2003-04 are as follows:
1. Jeremiah Johnson--"A Few Good Men"
2. Horn-E--"The complete guide to choosing your RN handle"
3. JoninAZ--"Sports Media Should Embrace The PCS"
4. Horn-E--"Why, Oh Why, Oh Why are They Here?"

For this year's top posts, click here.

Return to Ranking & Awards History Homepage
2004 Trivia
2004 Specialty Awards
2004 Rankings
2004 Hall of Fame