This is a year people will talk about for a very long time, both locally, as well as nationally and globally.
On a local level, the major story is the Phils breaking the curse of Billy Penn and winning it all for the first time in 28 years. What a season and what a parade! Chase Utley said it best. We also had the usual vultures circling Andy Reid, only to see him pull a rabbit out of the hat again and get the Eagles to an improbable playoff bid.
We lost Johnny Marzano and Ann d'Harnoncourt (the only time those names will ever be in the same sentence) and effectively lost Vince Fumo. Killadelphia was still violent, though 15% fewer people lost their lives. Michael Nutter slashed city spending and Willie Goode's squeeze got nailed by Jeff Cole. In South Jersey, Wayne Bryant went from most powerful man in South Jersey to just another convicted felon. The Fort Dix terror plotters will go to jail, but not for as long as Bryant.
Alicia Lane and Booker got fired, Larry Mendte was creepy, the Comcast Center opened and Striped Bass and Samson Street Oyster House closed.
Nationally the big story was the people doing the right thing and electing the best man regardless of skin color. Tina Fey was better as a VP candidate than Sarah Palin and John McCain's campaign looked the same when he was running as it did when it was suspended. One governor had a hooker take him down and another sold a US Senate seat.
The economy collapsed, despite every effort to give billions of taxpayer dollars to wealthy people. Gas prices rocketed to over $4 and then dropped back to $1.35 here in Moorestown. More than 300 Americans died int Iraq War, a fact that is sadly well down the list of 2008 events.
Michael Phelps outswam everyone in Bejing, including tiny 14 year old Chinese gymnasts. The big story in China for the year was the earthquake that killed 70,000 people in May. Terrorists struck Mumbai in an bloody week of fighting that killed more than 300. Israel began an assault on Gaza this week, preparing for an invasion.
While the economy has had an effect on me personally as well as the rest of the world, I have been lucky this year. The kids are great, I got to travel to Albuquerque and Santa Fe on a great trip, as well as call the Division III Final Four, visit Sedona, Annapolis, Maine, Disney, DC, Maine again, Gettysburg, Toronto, NYC, Boston, State College and Southern California.
I got to watch the Phils clinch with John and my princess walk in a parade the same day the Phils celebrated their second championship in my lifetime. I've got a challenging job and work with great people. My family made it through the year with no health crises and we see lots of the greatest friends in the world.
And I made an important decision about my future that I will talk about another time.
In many ways 2008 was a rough year. I feel very lucky to be able to be looking forward to 2009 while still being able to say that 2008 was a pretty good year here.
From Another Delco Guy to you - Happy New Year. Be safe and enjoy!
Happy New Year to you and yours!
Hillary
Posted by: Hillary Chybinski | January 01, 2009 at 09:27 AM
Good list, but Larry Mendte was not creepy. He is a good guy who felt threatened. He fought back.
Posted by: TommyP | January 18, 2009 at 10:03 PM
Tommy -
Thanks very much for stopping by.
Back in the day ( http://cavalier92.typepad.com/anotherdelcoguy/2008/05/a-whole-differe.html )I thought Larry Mendte was a good guy too. He grew up in Delco, did the charity thing, married a hot woman. For a Bonner guy, he seemed like a nice guy.
Whether you feel threatened or not, you can't break into a co-worker's email. That's wrong. And doing it over and over is creepy. I hope that both he and Alycia Lane get through this and have jobs soon. I hope that the damage to his family is minimized.
You sound like a friend of Larry's. Let him know Another Delco Guy is thinking about him.
Posted by: Cavalier92 | January 19, 2009 at 08:48 AM