For many, 2016 will go down in infamy. Relevant unfortunate events include the deaths of David Bowie and Harper Lee, Britain’s “Brexit,” Donald Trump’s unexpected presidential victory, extended Middle Eastern conflict and extremist attacks around the world. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some winning points to consider as well. Without further ado, here is a brief recap and compilation of some of the “losers,” as well as the “winners,” of the 2016 calendar year.
Joe Williams’ comeback. After a short-lived four game “retirement,” Williams stormed back to rush for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns over Utah’s final six games. This Heisman-worthy stretch included a school-record 332 yard performance against UCLA. Despite an imperfect regular season finale at Colorado, Williams’ return kept Utah competitive in every game and brought back life to a desperately deficient offense.
Back to the Future. This decades old film series has continuously predicted some of the most surprising aspects of contemporary America, from Trump running for president to the Cubs winning the World Series, to (kinda) hover-boards. Who knows what else will come true? Maybe 2017 will be the year of the DeLorean.
Leonardo DiCaprio. FINALLY WON AN OSCAR.
Goldfish that defy the odds. These marvelous winners of this year are the goldfish who survived over six months. Oblivious to the outside world, these small creatures kept their systems ticking as they swam happily in circles for a great span of time (in goldfish years). Moreover, for those goldfish that lasted 12 months, well, that’s special enough to give even Ted Cruz the energy to persevere until 2017.
Disclaimer: the internet says that goldfish are expected to live 30 years in captivity.
John Lennon’s hair. On Feb. 21, a lock of John Lennon’s hair sold for $35,000 at an auction in Dallas, Texas.
3-1 leads. After the Warriors and Indians both coughed up commanding leads in their respective championship series, 3-1 is the new 0-3.
Now You See Me 2 – the sequel to Now You See Me. With rave reviews from the Atlantic such as, “The sequel…takes the worst elements of the first…and doubles down on them…,” audiences were often left confused and frustrated. Although the movie used an A-list cast, Now You See Me 2 proved that Morgan Freeman alone can’t fix a terrible plot.
Traditional political wardrobes. In 2012, sweater vests couldn’t save Rick Santorum and in 2016, pantsuits couldn’t save Hillary Clinton. The suit and tie is getting stale and candidates barely even experiment with colors anymore. Unfortunately, 2016 was not the year to usher in the fashion revolution that we all so desperately need in politics.
Clowns. Clowns kind of developed a bad rep this year. I mean, thanks to people like John Wayne Gacy and movies like Stephen King’s, “It,” people haven’t collectively been too fond of them to begin with. But in August of this year, the country seemed to go haywire after rumors surfaced that clowns in South Carolina were attempting to lure children into forests. Since then, they’ve seemed to pop up everywhere, making appearances in two dozen states. There have also been several arrests, school bans on clown costumes and a supposed “clown hunting” at Penn State University.
Mother Earth. This year NASA released data showing February to be the warmest month ever recorded globally, coming in at 1.35 degrees Celsius above the long-term average.
William Shakespeare’s skull. In March of this year, an investigation went down after which it was determined that Shakespeare’s skull was likely stolen from its resting place at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.