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2007 Awards and Rankings: Specialty Awards

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RamNation's regular posters are what make the site so great. Everybody has their own posting styles and quirks that contribute to the board in unique ways. The Specialty Awards is the segment where we honor those individuals who stand out in various categories.

First, a special thanks to several people who have made tremendous contributions towards Ramnation

THANK YOU

• Big thanks to all of our sponsors, particularly our local sponsors like Chevalier Jewelers, and to all of you for supporting them with your business.
• Rams Bookstore for providing prizes for our football and basketball contests.
• Gary Ozzello for all of his help, information, cooperation, and friendship. The CSU sports information department won't be the same without him at the helm this year.
• Michael Rosen for his great photography during football season.
• Joe Eitel for helping cover and monitor the site.
• Aaron Macan for his help with compiling basketball recruiting and info, as well as basketball coaching candidate info.
• Jeff Williams for providing game day weather updates.
• Chris Inman and Brian Walter for their help in running the Pigskin Pick'Em contests.
• Chris Hangl and Scott Gygi for hosting the March Madness contest.
• Joe Baran for hosting the RamNation tailgate spot every year and for all of you who attend the tailgates and make it so fun.
• Renaud Notaro for helping provide soundbytes, interviews, photos, and more.

Now, onto the awards...

BEST NEW HANDLES

There were several good new handles registered this year, even though many of them have never showed up on the message boards. Here are a few of our favorites:
1. DaKineRam
2. johnnyRAMmone
3. Ramanoid
4. Buffstrong for Doc (great to see a Buff fan honor Doc)
5. Neverforgetwhereucamfrom (sort of a Sonny-ism, but the email address used to sign up for this account is what makes this one so good: lickit@goodshep.com. This guy obviously didn't ever receive his password from the automated system!)

STUDENT BODY RIGHT (BEST STUDENT POSTER AWARD)

Student participation is always hard to come by. They'll learn that once they hit the real world, they'll need a place like RamNation to keep their days exciting. For now, they can continue to spend their time drinking beers and chasing chicks. We lost a very good group of student posters, including a three-time winner in zjb58 who graduated and moved to North Dakota to begin his career in TV news. This year, only one current student truly stood out this year, and even though he's been quiet this offseason, he has proven to be very outspoken. The winner of this year's Best Student Poster award is Rams Hot. He didn't post often enough to make our Top 65, but he earned Honorable Mention honors due to his passion for the Rams and for certain issues. He has used the RamNation boards to air his differences with the CSU athletic department, particularly on the student seating at basketball games, and related issues. While the voting committee doesn't agree with him on all of his issues, we do like how he speaks his mind and wears his emotions on his sleeve. He is the best student poster for 2007.

GLASS HALF-FULL AWARD (MOST POSITIVE)

ThreeRamNight - TRN seemed to wear the label of "SuperFan" like a badge of honor this year. When it seemed that the entire message board community was down on the team or the coaching staff, TRN was there to provide a ray of sunshine and find a way to defend even the sometimes indefensible. He took a lot of abuse for his "sunshine pumping" and was a warrior for the Rams this year. In a year full of negativity, TRN was a breath of fresh air.

GLASS HALF-EMPTY AWARD (MOST NEGATIVE)

JoeyBtherealAD - There were many candidates for this award, but one in particular stood out this year. And, ironically, it was a good pal of the Glass Half Full Award. JoeyBtherealAD earns this "honor" as seemingly nothing pleased him this year. What makes this so surprising is that Joey won the Rah Rah award last year. While there were many outspoken posters full of negativity this year, JoeyB's constant reminder of how "small time" he thinks CSU was most memorable. We're not quite sure where JoeyB's rash of negativity came from, particularly since he was a co-winner of the Rah-Rah award last year, but he definitely deserved this award, taking the label off multi-year winner sanfranramfan.

BUFF HATER AWARD

BeerFight - BF was the clear-cut winner of this award. In fact, the only time you ever see him post is in regards to a CU-related comment. And if he's not piling on an existing thread, he's starting a new one just to get under the skin of Buff fans. Sometimes, his comments are so outrageous, it's hilarious. Sometimes you have to wonder if he truly believes in half the things he says, or if he's just on a mission to bug "UCB" fans.

'POKE HATER AWARD

80sramfan - Since the Rams have had a tougher time vs. the 'Pokes in recent years, CSU fans' disdain for Wyoming has begun to return, after several years of indifference. This award was always a shoo-in for NYC RAM, who was the Beer Fight equivalent for anti-Wyomingism. Truth be told, 80s probably can't be categorized as a Wyoming hater, because according to him, they are a non-factor who should be dropped to Division I-AA. But, still, he was the most outspoken anti-Wyoming poster of the year.

FARKER OF THE YEAR

The Fark Board was wildly popular when we first implemented it last fall, although it has slowed down in recent months. A few great PhotoShoppers came aboard and showed their skills, altering photos in funny ways to make us all laugh. The best of the bunch, unfortunately, got a new job, and doesn't post much anymore. But his early run out of the gates was strong enough to win the first-ever Farker of the Year award. That was '97Ram, who came up with many games, including a tasteless, but absolutely hilarious fark of Wyoming football players running on the field. See it here. Others in consideration were Bigwall Ovis, who is very skilled, and bunsbuggy, who doesn't have the polished skills, but definitely has the sense of humor.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Ramn06--Unlike last year when we had three powerhouse newcomers (RamShoreman, LoboDogg, and TheQears!), who cracked the Top 25 (the latter two of which amazingly made the Top 5), this was a "down" year for rookies. Our winner, however, was good enough for Top 65 honors, and he was a solid contributor, with nearly 750 posts during the course of the year. He is not flashy, and sort of mixes in with the crowd, which is why he doesn't stand out like previous winners have. Ramn06 did have a quiet, but solid rookie year with good takes and good conversation to earn the top honors. Nobody else particularly stood out or made a serious run at the Top 65, but a couple others who laid a good foundation for future success included Ram87 and Big Country Ram.

COMEBACK POSTER OF THE YEAR

Big Apple RAM -- BAR shrugged off a measly Honorable Mention year in 2006 and came back strong this year with much more frequent posting and regaining the comedic touch that made him a Top 25 poster just two years ago. He was challenged by sanfranramfan, who showed a new attitude this year; Buffsin2007, who made a resurgence; and Newport Coast Ram, who seemed to return to his elite form of years past.

MOST HATED POSTER

JC in the Rock -- has been in the running for this "award" for several years, and finally takes over the top spot. JC can sometimes be funny, and there's sometimes a good-natured sense you get from him. But, that seemed to wane this year, when he was ruthless just about every time he came to the board. RamNationers did not take too kindly to his presence this year. Sportsfan101 was also in the running. Truth be told, it was a fairly mild year for flamers. We assume most Ram foes felt too sorry us during the this downtrodden period of CSU athletics to completely pile it on.

BEST NON-RAM POSTER

1. LoboDogg - LD once again showed his dominance as the top non-Ram poster, coming in at No. 9 this year overall. He is an excellent contributor to RamNation in more ways than one.

2. DubyaWhyOh - Dubya was edged out by LoboDogg for the second straight year, but it's not for a lack of talent. A mishap this year that landed him on temporary probation knocked him down a few spots but still had a consistently impressive performance for a 'Poke fan.

3. Buffsin2007 - Bi07 jumped back into the Top 25 for the third time in his career, and had a stellar season. He got back to the form of old, with daily appearances, flaunting his in-depth knowledge of both the Rams and Buffaloes, and showing his always courteous personality.

4. le alpe d huez - Alpe had another great year, but was edged out of the Top 3 by an old Buff friend, Buffsin2007, who made his third appearance in the Top 25 this year.

5. tk61 - I think we've found two of the very few tolerable Wyo fans in existence, and it's nice that both post here. In fact, tk61 is such a good every-day, non-combative poster that you forget he supports the Brown and Yellow.

6. Cowtown Buff (formerly Boulder Buff) - Built on a solid 2006 and made the Top 65 for a second straight year. He is a daily contributor who peacefully coexists with Ram fans.

7. SYKOBUFF - SYKO has gone through quite the evolution over the years. He seemingly as lightened up in the past couple of years, and instead of going toe-to-toe with Ram fans, has learned to laugh at himself and his team, and has actually become refreshingly funny. He can both dish out and take good-natured jabs, and has been enjoyable on the boards this year.

8. Buffalo1 - Much like Cowtown and SYKO, Buffalo1 has become a friendly name on the boards. He's always been quite congenial, and is a solid contributor.

9. InTheBuff - Probably the brashest of the non-Ram-fan posters on this list, but still fairly tolerable and able to engage in good sports talk (and a little smack as well).

10. Blueandgold - This UNC Bear fan only posts occasionally, but he's intelligent, and it's nice to have a good non-Ram-fan contributor who hails from a school other than CU or Wyoming. Heck, just for that fact alone, he should be ranked higher! Post more in 2007-08 and we'll get you up there!

RAH RAH AWARD

This award essentially goes to someone who deserves applause for one reason or another for a certain post or series of posts, or something else off the message boards. This year, we're giving co-awards again, much like we did last year for bunsbuggy and JoeyB. The first half of the award goes to Inverted Ram. Two years ago, he organized a massive fundraising effort in the memory of his friend Trae Pepper, who died of cancer. That was a major sign of his devotion to good people and good causes, and in the past two years, he has sponsored young CSU fans to join the Ram Club. This year, the beneficiary of his generosity was Ram Reporter, who while a reporter for the Collegian, wrote a feature story on Trae. Inverted wanted to thank Ram Reporter by covering his Ram Club donation for the year. Not everybody agrees with Inverted's beliefs, but you can't doubt his heart is always in the right place.

The second half of the reward goes to Denver Dave, who also won the award in 2005. Dave also partially sponsored a couple of young Ram Club members this year and continually tried to entice others to join by offering up season tickets, memorabilia and other things as rewards to anybody who signed up for the Ram Club this year. His love for CSU is admirable, and his efforts should be applauded.

EWE AWARD (BEST FEMALE POSTER)

Well, we should probably take this category off the list, as it is clear, nobody is ready to step up and take the title. If there are any regular female posters out there, we are unaware of it (if you are a female who posts regularly, let us know so we don't overlook you!). Last year, we really had to dig deep to find a winner for this award, and this year, we have to do the same. We'll give it to the one gal who has been on here for a long time and who posts semi-regularly during season, but who disappears in the offseason. That person is IM4CSU. She essentially was the runner-up last year, and this year, we might as well give it to her. We also mildly considered ckdlew3 for the award, as she had some interesting takes during basketball season. But man, if there was ever an award to be won on this site, it's this one. I want to see some women post more regularly on this site! Don't let the bunsbuggys and LoboDoggs of the site chase you away!

TOP GENERAL BOARD CONTRIBUTOR

The GDB can get more volatile than the Athletics board on most days, because most of the conversations revolve around hotly debated political issues where each posters holds on dearly to their beliefs. So, it can be a great source of entertainment. Voting on the top contributors for the GDB is never easy, but here is our attempt at a top-five list:
1. LoboDogg
2. bunsbuggy
3. le alpe d huez
4. Dubya Why Oh
5. Here Comes The Predator

FUNNIEST POSTER

Bunsbuggy - Was there really any doubt as to who was going to win this award? Since coming to the website in 2004 he has won the Funniest Poster award four times in a row, and has a stranglehold on this title. We always take a strong look at all other candidates to see if they warrant consideration to take over buns, but so far, nobody has edged him out. Buns rarely engages in serious sports talk, and instead uses comedy to keep the masses entertained. He earns the award yet again, edging out the likes of DubyaWhyOh, camdog, JoeyBtherealAD, Swoll Cracker, Stalwart Ram, and Big Apple Ram. Buns is one of only two posters to have earned this award. Dall Ram won it in the first two years of the award's existence in 2002 and 2003.

POST OF THE YEAR

Tens of thousands of posts, narrowed down to a handful of gems. A couple dozen posters' efforts made the finalists list, making it difficult as always to pick clear-cut winners. In the end though, we pared down to six of the very best posts of the year.

There is no particular criteria for Post of the Year; we simply collect posts that strike us throughout the year, based on thoughts, opinions, or stories that particularly move us…or even those occasional drop-dead hilarious messages that have us laughing out loud. In the end, we go with our gut and pick our favorites.

To view our winners for 2006-07, click the following links, counting backwards from No. 6 to No. 1 (enjoy!):

Sixth-place post of the year
Fifth-place post of the year
Fourth-place post of the year
Third-place post of the year
Runner-up post of the year
Post of the year