Top Local & National Events of the Decade
After much debate with friends, family and co-workers, I have compiled my list of the top events of the decade. I am a big fan of lists in general, so I did a local version for central North Carolina and a national list.
Please don’t send me angry e-mails because of what I put where, but let me know what I missed, what you would add and in what order you would have put things. I’ll explain a few of my decisions after the list. If you enjoy lists and retrospects, check out this video on the decade from Newsweek.
TOP LOCAL EVENTS OF THE DECADE
1. The War & Fort Bragg
2. Carolina Hurricanes Win Stanley Cup
3. Duke Lacrosse Case
4. UNC Basketball Championships
5. January 2005 Ice Storm
6. Michael Peterson Murder Trial
7. Eve Carson Murder
8. John & Elizabeth Edwards
9. Apex Chemical Explosion
10. Domestic Military Murders
TOP NATIONAL EVENTS OF THE DECADE
1. September 11th Attacks
2. Obama Elected President
3. Hurricane Katrina
4. Economic Crisis
5. 2000 Presidential Election (Hanging Chads)
6. Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster
7. Virginia Tech Shootings
8. Michael Jackson Death
9. Miracle On The Hudson
10. MLB Steroids
I’ll be brief in trying to defend both of my lists, first with North Carolina. We all know the impacts the war has had on Carolina, both in lives lost and lives missed by families, but it may not have occurred to some because of how long and drawn out it has been. I chose the Canes winning the Cup because nearly EVERYONE became a hockey fan during the run in 2006 and nearly every business shared their emotion on signs and banners. Duke Lacrosse swept not only our area, but the nation. Tar Heel fans got to celebrate twice this decade and in an area so populated with basketball tradition and fans, this had to make the top 5. The ice storm turned 15 minute commutes into 8 hour commutes even though it melted the next day. The bottom five involve moments a lot of us would rather forget, but they were a part of our lives and led many a newscasts for quite some time.
As for the national list, I don’t think anyone can argue with 9/11, but the rest of the list is a different story. Our country electing its first black President is an historic event…no matter who you voted for. Katrina was devastating to so many along the Gulf Coast and was part of a bigger Hurricane period. The economic crisis is another long, drawn out event, but while it may be background noise to some, it has hurt so many. How can we forget waking up the day after the election in 2000 and still not knowing who our President is….or how could we forget “Florida, Florida, Florida.” The bottom five brought down another space shuttle, this time coming home. We also had this decade’s Columbine in Virginia. A troubled musical icon known around the world died too soon and people around the world mourned. Sully did something that truly was a miracle and gave us the rare glimpse at what a true hero might look like. And to round out the list, we spent much of the decade learning that many of our baseball heroes cheated us and America’s past time.
Remember, you could ask 100 people to make similar list and you could get 100 different lists. What would yours be?
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