Sean's Best and Worst of 2021

Since 2021 is almost over, it's time for my annual best of and worst of the year in pop culture and more. Enjoy!

Best Movie: Sound of Metal

Way back in January, I watched Sound of Metal about a heavy metal drummer who loses his hearing. Riz Ahmed was amazing in the film. You really feel his anger and vulnerability. The sound (or lack thereof at times) was also incredible. 

Honorable Mention: Godfather and Godfather II. It took until 2021 for me to finally watch these movies, and I have no idea why it took so long. I didn't recognize Robert Duvall or Diane Keaton at all. Promising Young Woman was also a fascinating movie that really stuck with me. 

Best TV Show: Bluey

I watched a lot of TV in 2021, and even with that, there are still so many shows that I want to see. While I should probably pick Succession, Ted Lasso, or Mare of Easttown for the best show of 2021, I'm going off the board here and picking Bluey.* This is an Australian cartoon that I first learned about in 2021 and is really sweet. The dad dog reminds me of a smarter and more caring Homer Simpson. Best of all, the episodes are only about 10 minutes long, so you can watch one quickly before getting the kids ready for bed!

Honorable mention: The Other Two. I really enjoyed the first season on Comedy Central about the older siblings of a famous teenage singer. The second season on HBO Max was just as good as the older siblings manage varying degrees of success and recognition. It's consistently funny with an amazing cast (Molly Shannon is perfect as the mom and now daytime TV host) and all of the guest stars fit in remarkably well. 

Worst TV Show: Robot Trains

My kids watched part of the first two episodes recently. In the first episode, one robot train tried to kill another robot train. Either later in the first episode or the next one, a train has amnesia. It was awful.

Honorable mention: La Brea

I watched all ten episodes of NBC's attempt to recreate Lost, and I really don't know why. The premise seems cool. A giant sinkhole opens in Los Angeles and everyone who fell into it gets transported back millions of years. From there, it just gets ridiculous. The "dad" who is in present-day LA has visions so he can see what's going on in the past. Some people manage to go back and forth between the past and present. Oh, and then there's a Back to the Future story line where the kids will disappear if something doesn't happen. Even with all of this, I still plan on watching the show when it comes back.

Best Song: good 4 u by Olivia Rodrigo

Once again, my rule is that the best song must be featured in a blog post from earlier in the year. This year's best song was easy for me. I love good 4 u (even if the title should be Good For You) and I'm still not sick of it.

Worst Song: Hurricane by Cheat Codes featuring Grey and Tyson Ritter

We drove thousands of miles this summer, so I listened to a lot of pop music. Hurricane isn't a bad song, and I like hearing Tyson Ritter of The All-American Rejects again. The problem is the chorus:

Three cheers to the ones that don't grow up

24 forever till we self destruct

Lifestyles of the broke and dangerous

Maybe they'll name a hurricane after us.

The World Meteorological Organization is responsible for naming hurricanes. All of the names are singular. There's no such thing as a hurricane named Tom and Jerry or Thelma and Louise. Therefore, they aren't naming a hurricane Cheat Codes, Gray, and Tyson. NO ONE IS NAMING A HURRICANE AFTER YOU!

Worst Sports Moment: Many

2021 was an awful sports year. We started in January with the Steelers losing in the playoffs to the, I can't believe I'm typing this, Cleveland Browns. Wow, that actually happened. In May, Sheffield Wednesday tied Derby 3-3 in the final match of the season. A draw doesn't seem bad, but the result caused Wednesday to get relegated to League One, the third division of English soccer. In hindsight, it's been kind of nice seeing Wednesday win matches and do well in League One over the last few months, but at the time, seeing that Wednesday would have to play teams like MK Dons, Crewe Alexandra, and Accrington Stanley seemed devastating. A few weeks later, the Penguins got knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by the New York Islanders. Pens goalie Tristan Jarry just had a terrible series basically giving game 5 away. Then, the Pirates went 61-101. Overall, not a great sports year for teams I support.

Best Sports Moment: Little League Baseball

Not counting a coach-pitch league three years ago, The Moose played baseball for the first time this fall. The coaches were fantastic in teaching the game and making sure that the kids played multiple positions. The Moose pitched and played every position in the infield and outfield. In the playoffs, his team trailed 4-0 after the top of the first inning and 6-0 in the middle of the 4th. Then, The Moose stepped up to the plate and did this:

He started the rally leading to the team scoring 4 runs in the half inning. The team battled back all the way to 6-5 and had two runners on base before the opposing team got the final out. It was such an exciting game, and we were all proud of The Moose's team. After the game, instead of feeling sorry for themselves for the loss, the coaches gave each of the players a baseball, and they all signed autographs for each other. It was fantastic.

Best New Podcast: Bit Season

One of my first ever blog posts in January 2005 was my disappointment of waking up and finding out that The Sports Junkies were no longer on the radio thanks to a station format change. While they generally go by The Junkies, 17 years later, I still listen to their morning radio show when I can. The show's producers created a podcast called Bit Season several months ago with a behind-the-scenes look at the show as well as things about their lives. It's a fun listen.

Best Book: How Lucky by Will Leitch

I've pretty much stopped reading during the pandemic. For years, I read on my bus and Metro rides to and from work. I worked from home for well over a year, and when I started working from the office again, I drove. While I've found it difficult to focus on reading at home, I managed to make it through a handful of books in 2021. My favorite has been How Lucky by Will Leitch. It's a fictional story about a wheelchair-bound protagonist with a neuromuscular disorder, his life in Athens, Georgia, and a missing college student. I'll let this review explain more, but it's an enjoyable read.

Best Live Concert: Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer

Ah, August. A simpler time. This was well before omicron and even delta.  Warm weather meant more time outside. Sure, I still wore a mask indoors and limited time in crowds, but I made an exception for this concert where I purchased tickets in 2019. Of course, COVID-19 was still around as evidenced by the fact that one of the members of Fall Out Boy (or their crew) contracted the virus causing the band not to perform, but it was fun doing something that seemed completely normal. 

Best Blog Post: NHL Outdoor Game Ideas

The NHL hosted an outdoor game on the banks of Lake Tahoe. The pictures and views were absolutely stunning. I had fun coming up with ideas for future outdoor games.  

Honorable mention: My immediate reaction to the January 6th attack on The Capitol Building. It's amazing how many people (particularly many House Republicans) are trying to minimize this attack and are actively against any investigation. 

Worst Blog Post: Honey Nut Cheerios with Blueberries

I successfully wrote 30 blog posts in just over 30 days. One of them was sharing my excitement about adding blueberries to my morning cereal. While this continues to be a tasty edition, this was probably not blog worthy.

Please feel free to share some of your best and worst of 2021 in the comments section. 

* After I finished drafting this post, I listened to The Watch podcast where Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald were joined by Sam Esmail in discussing the best TV shows of 2021. Greenwald mentioned that Bluey would have been his number one show except that there were no new episodes in 2021. I guess my out of the box pick wasn't out of the box!