Thank you everyone for an amazing first year here at PubTalkForum! Starting this year, we’re going to be implementing our awards program for every PubTalk anniversary rather than around the end of the year/holiday season. It’s a great way to celebrate all the people who make this forum particularly awesome and to recognize everyone who contributes to this site for their awesome work.
We had a ridiculous amount of people nominated for awards in all categories this year, and narrowing it down to five or six finalists for each category was a pretty brutal process. Thank you to everyone who submitted nominations, and to all those of you who voted from the finalists. We wound up having a pretty decent turnout.
If you did not win in your category or were not named to be a finalist: don’t worry! This doesn’t mean that you’re not appreciated, or that you’re not awesome, unless you’re HFX. These are simply the nominees that were chosen by all of you as a whole, which means these people have given some significant contributions to our site.
Without further ado… let’s announce the awards!
BEST SIGNATURE PHOTO/AVATAR
The finalists: SlightlyJames’s avatar, Hanley!’s sig/avatar, Chewy’s sig, SortaCreative’s sig, Porkchop’s avatar
HONORABLE MENTION
Porkchop’s Avatar
Porkchop has entered “can never change his avatar” territory, because this meaty slab of pork wearing a chef’s hat has become something of an icon around these parts.
WINNER
SlightlyJames’s Avatar
Seeing SlightlyJames’s ridiculous faces peering out from his posts is both haunting and oddly reassuring.
PUBTALKFORUM MOMENT OF THE YEAR
The finalists: Royal Rumble chat, WrestleMania chat, the Scollops incident, the Ultimate Wrestler Tournament, Club Cena April Fool’s prank
HONORABLE MENTION: The Royal Rumble Chat
The Royal Rumble chat was perhaps even bigger than the WrestleMania chat this year, and the assignment of entries to everyone who wanted to participate made it great fun for everyone. Except for me. Fuck you Khali.
WINNER: The “Scollops Incident”
What exactly are scollops? This simple question divided the boards and produced all-out war to the extent where it sowed the seeds of dissent among our PubTalkForum staff. Blood was drawn, fish was fried, and potatoes were peeled. Men walked away as enemies, bonds were broken and reforged. All over fried foods. It doesn’t get any more serious than this.
PUBTALKFORUM POST OF THE YEAR
The Finalists: Porkchop’s Poo Hiding Tutorial, Everlong on Kanye West, Chewy on wasting water, Taj’s anti-Cena rant, Viazon’s Tesco Chicken adventures
HONORABLE MENTION: Viazon’s Tesco Chicken Adventures
It wasn’t so much the post itself, but the hilarity it spawned that earns this post the honorable mention spot.
Fuck Nandos. Go to the meat counter in Tescos. You can get a whole chicken for not that much. Ready cooked. Me and my friends used to get them all the time then just eat them in the car.
WINNER: Taj’s Anti-Cena Rant
EMBRACE THE HATE.
See, I wouldn't even have put yes he's a nice guy in the first post. Who cares, fuck off. Cena is boring, I don't give two flying fucks if he's a nice guy, if he's done the most make a wish, if he single handily fed an abandoned puppy on the side of the road.
He bores me. He has done since the year he faced Brock, Undertaker and Angle (2003/4?). Yet here he is ten years later, people get fed to him constantly. Miz, Ziggler making some moves up the card? Oh look, here's Cena. Bray Wyatt is interesting and refreshing, oh look here's Cena. Umaga is a great monster heel, I really like the - oh look here's Cena. Fucking hell this Nexus attack was intense and raw as fuck. Oh man if they can jus- nope here's Cena. Ryback is getting massive pops. lol there's Cena.
I fucking hate Cena and everything he stands for. I skip over most of his bits, if he's not in the main event I don't watch his matches. I don't want him on my screen any more. It burns me up inside that he can get injured and somehow return in what feels like 4 days. Just go away Cena, for a good few years. Fuck off, it'll do you some good. I hate his music. I hate his merch. I hate his lighting theme. I hate his name. I hate his voice. I hate his gorilla head. I hate his weirdly shaped body. I hate the "I just ate something sour" selling face he has. I hate the two settings he has for intense which is "i'm gonna pretend to be Jack Bauer and talk quietly or shout obnoxiously loud". I hate him. Brett. I really do. I hate you for defending him.
The greatest moment i've seen in wrestling in the last 5 years have been at the expense of John Cena. He's a great fucking heel. CM Punk winning the title and Brock Lesnar making him his bitch.
You may think i'm over reacting. But I really do hate him.
PUBTALKFORUM THREAD OF THE YEAR
The finalists: “Tell us of the times where you have, or nearly have, shat yourself. “Another golden Kanye West quote in the news today. “British Food” “The John Cena vs. Randy Savage tournament thread” “Dating Thread
HONORABLE MENTION: “Another Golden Kanye West Quote in the News Today”
Link: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4699
No forum would be complete without threads like this one.
WINNER: “Dating Thread”
Link: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1430
There were laughs, there were feels, there were plenty of great stories and advice. This was everything you could want out of a forum thread.
FUNNIEST POSTER OF THE YEAR
The finalists: Chewy, Daz, Philip Rivers, Porkchop, SortaCreative, Viazon
HONORABLE MENTION: Chewy
His humor perhaps darker than ever before, Chewy remains one of PubTalkForum’s favorite humorists and adds levity to most threads he enters.
WINNER: SortaCreative
He’s occasionally a troll, usually harsh and sarcastic and even sometimes extremely sincere, but there’s no doubt that Taj has been producing a whole lot of laughs this year, as evidenced by his award-winning post of the year.
FRIENDLIEST POSTER OF THE YEAR
The finalists: AkyDefGoldberg, Everlong, Irin, ShaneOfan, Str8Shooter, Twister
HONORABLE MENTION: Everlong
I’m not sure exactly how I got nominated for this award while being in a position of power, but I’ll take it! If I could win any of these awards I’d want it to be this one, so thanks for not thinking I’m a dick.
WINNER: Twister
This vote wasn’t even close: Twister won this one in a landslide, which says a lot about how highly people think of her. In fact, this was the most lopsided vote in the entire polling. So congratulations Twister, you clearly have a kind heart and absolutely deserved this one.
BEST NEW POSTER
The finalists: Babes, CavingSiberian, Kein, Kirbi, Philip Rivers
HONORABLE MENTION: Kein
This one was extremely close between Kein and the winner. One or two votes could have swung it either way. Kein has been a fantastic addition to our community in multiple regards, as evidenced by his nomination for Poster of the Year, and it’s great to have him aboard.
WINNER: Kirbi
Kirbi joined this forum as Hanley’s fiancée, but has developed a well-earned reputation of her own and has quickly established herself as one of the site’s most intelligent and articulate posters. Congratulations, Kirbi!
NEWS/POLITICS POSTER OF THE YEAR
The finalists: AkyDefGoldberg, Chewy, Everlong, Matteo, Porkchop
HONORABLE MENTION: PorkChop
PorkChop’s contributions to the news and politics section have given him a well-earned honorable mention in this category. While he tends to stick to British-related news, his insight and occasional humor on the topics of discussion are always appreciated.
WINNER: AkyDefGoldberg
Aky has contributed perhaps more than anyone to this section of the board since its inception, especially when it comes to world news and tensions in the Middle East. His well-stated opinions and clear knowledge of many of the world’s most important current events make him a great asset in this part of the board.
VIDEO GAMES/TECHNOLOGY POSTER OF THE YEAR
The finalists: Camstud, JPG619, SlightlyJames, Twister, Xgamr
HONORABLE MENTION: Camstud
Cam may not be around all the time, but he has left an impression on our voters in this category, who granted him the second-most total for video games and tech. Congrats Cam!
WINNER: SlightlyJames
This was another landslide victory. SlightlyJames is known for his knowledge of gaming and his love of particularly franchises, like Metal Gear Solid and The Walking Dead, among others. Congrats man!
MUSIC POSTER OF THE YEAR
The finalists: DanielsonTHAGOAT, JDD, Kyle, Prophet, Romo
HONORABLE MENTION: JDD
JDD has done well in helping to bring some traffic to the music section and continues to contribute to threads in the section on a regular basis.
WINNER: DanielsonTHAGOAT
Kanye West fanboyism aside, Danielson’s knowledge of music is clearly thorough and his passion is undeniable. That undoubtedly left an impression on our voters.
TV/MOVIES POSTER OF THE YEAR
The finalists: Hanley!, Kirbi, Matteo, Prophet, SortaCreative, Vaderbomb
HONORABLE MENTION: Matteo
Matteo (formerly NoDQ), last year’s winner in this category, is a fantastic source for the technical aspects of filmmaking and directing, and has a really impressive knowledge of movies and the industry in general. It’s always great to read what he has to say about particular topics.
WINNER: Hanley!
Hanley! is known for being critical, but certainly not for being unfair. His reviews of movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and his thoughts on popular television shows have obviously been well-received by voters, who overwhelmingly voted him to victory in this category.
SPORTS POSTER OF THE YEAR
The finalists: AkyDefGoldberg, Everlong, Messiah, Philip Rivers, Porkchop, The Legend
HONORABLE MENTION: The Legend
John’s endearing love of the Cleveland Browns and his nigh-hilarious hatred of LeBron James and the Pittsburgh Steelers is a big part of what makes the sports section on this site so great. He’s one of the NFL section’s best contributors and always has a ton of great points to make on pretty much any sports-related topic.
WINNER: Messiah
Messiah’s bold predictions, over-the-top exclamations, chatroom overreactions and detailed analysis made him the voters’ pick for best sports poster of the year. It’s not hard to see why: check out his Top 100 NFL players thread, visit the chatbox on an NFL Sunday and read pretty much anything else he has to say in the sports sections.
WRESTLING POSTER OF THE YEAR
The finalists: Hanley!, KaiserGlider, Messiah, Prophet, Str8Shooter, Vaderbomb
HONORABLE MENTION: A 3-way tie between Hanley, KaiserGlider and Str8Shooter
This was by far the most contested category, and the ONLY category to have a tie for second place. Every nominee received votes in this category, also the only category where that was true. Hanley’s critical and some might say cynical outlook on the WWE gets a lot of attention, while Str8Shooter often plays the part of the “company man” to counteract Hanley in these debates. Kaiser tends to take a more even-keeled approach, and his love of wrestling is infections.
WINNER: Prophet
Our wrestling moderator and the man who runs the roundtables, Prophet is also a fantastic contributor to the section and has done a lot of great work in keeping it active. The voters clearly agreed, as prophet was the winner in this category. Congratulations man!
PUBTALKFORUM POSTER OF THE YEAR
The finalists: Everlong, Hanley!, Kein, Porkchop, prophet, Str8Shooter
HONORABLE MENTION: PorkChop
Last year’s winner in this category brought home the honorable mention this year. PorkChop is a mainstay in almost every section of the board. His thoughts on soccer and MMA, his cynical critiques of the WWE, his hilarious stories in The Pub and his taste in games and music are appreciated by all, and it’s no surprise to see him in contention yet again for our top prize.
WINNER: Hanley!
Hanley is just a really smart dude. You might not always agree with what he has to say, but there’s no doubt that he engages in a great deal of critical thinking and is not afraid to share his opinion. Despite not even always keeping up with what’s happening in the WWE, his opinions on the fed are still among the most respected on the site. His runaway victory in the TV/movies category shows how well-respected his views are on pop culture as well. Simply put, Hanley is one of the MVPs of PubTalkForum, and he’s absolutely deserving of this award. Congrats dude.
That’s all for 2014 everyone! Congratulations once again to the winners, and thanks everyone for contributing! Take this time to offer your congrats and to let us know what you think about the results.