A Decade Remembered

With new years nearly upon us, we are rapidly closing out one of the most influential decades in recent history. The past 10 years have given us some of the happiest and saddest moments that we may see in our entire lives, as well as some of the most influential. First and foremost, we survived the Y2K bug! There were no epic failures of computers, missiles launching, or people living out the entirety of their lifetimes in bomb shelters. However, 2001 brought us one of the greatest tragedies that we may ever experience on home soil. The 9/11 terrorists attacks struck fear into the hearts of millions, coercing us to believe that we should live in fear and anxiety of future attacks. Just as we began to let the attack subside from our minds, mother nature took its turn at terrorism.

Hurricane Katrina may be remembered as one of the most destructive and unnerving natural disasters to ever occur in the U.S. Not only did the storm destroy thousands of homes, lives, and businesses, but the way that President Bush handled the situation will always live in infamy. His actions following the disaster, combined with his mess in the Middle East quickly led to one the lowest presidential approval ratings in history. The greater part of this decade was lived out under one the most unpopular presidents in history, a president who was forced to use dishonest tactics to win and still almost lost. This wouldn't be the first time in political history that such a bureaucratic shit show would occur, but it was the first time that the national media grabbed ahold with its unrelenting incisors, brought the missteps into the public lime light, and never let go. Following on the heels of presidential disaster, enter President Barack Obama -- We'll have to reserve judgement on him for next time.

For sports fans (especially those on the East Coast) , the past decade has brought some of the most incredible times in modern history. The Boston Red Sox, after agonizing for nearly 100 years under the curse of the bambino, finally won the World Series (twice nonetheless!), while the Yankees suffered uncharacteristically until 2009 when they clinched their first title in the their new, revamped launching pad. The Chicago Cubs of course still remain the joke of American Sports having not clinched a title in more than a century, while sporting a 1/2 century long absence from even competing for one. Professional Basketball has seen far less variation in champions with the L.A. Lakers and San Antonio Spurs combining to win 7 of the 10 championships in the past decade. All I know, is that it has officially been too long since Denver celebrated a sporting championship.

The past decade has also been one of great personal development for myself, and the people that surround me. However, as time and attention span dictates, the task of recounting myself and loved ones is best left for tomorrow. One question that I would like to briefly explore today revolves around what to call the past decade. All of the greatest modern time periods have been given a catchy nickname to go along with their decade numeration(Ie. 'The Swingin' Sixties"). Not only does this decade not have a way of defining it numerically, but a descriptor seems to be even more of an afterthought. There have been so many important, transformative moments throughout the past ten years that maybe its best that we left the previous decade without descriptive nomenclature. Maybe its one of those situations where we have to be 10 years down the line, sipping scotch by the fireside, before we can conjure an adequate nickname for the decade past. Given the amount of scandal and deception, I'm thinking the naughty aughties... What do you all think?

A.S. Bloom