FYI, I tried to make this as short as possible, but I could've easily quadrupled the word count for every year. Probably forgot some stuff too, but I tried my best. I TRIED MY BEST.
1. 2001: I turned 18 right at the end of 2000, so the first part of 2001 was spent going to the casino almost every weekend (and many weekdays, immediately after class got done at 12:30....senior year was awesome) honing my Blackjack skills little by little.....I graudated high school, Ike & Jake got an apartment and we spent the summer boozing our faces off....I took my first real road trip without my parents, out to Seattle and Portland....I moved into the dorms with Paul, and the first semester of freshman year of college was maybe the most fun time of my life (except for 9/11, obviously.)
2. 2008: KU wins the national championship and basically completes my existence....I attend my first Kentucky Derby and first College World Series.....Ike, Paul, ADawg get married, and between all those wedding weekends it was like I lived in North Dakota again.
3. 2004: Red Sox win the World Series, "my" first championship as a sports fan after years and years and years of disappointment....poker took over our lives, in a good way, and Ike built a kick-ass table that we kept at Culligan and had like three poker nights a week....flippy cup became the go-to game at all parties, and some bars, and pretty soon we were banging out best-of-seven-best-of-sevens routinely....also a good year for Culligan shenanigans, not to mention it was the Anchorman and Chappelle Show era.
4. 2012- I made the two greatest additions to my household ever by getting engaged and buying a Golden Tee (don't ask me to put those two in order though).....maybe the most fun Kentucky Derby yet, knocked the Home Run Derby and the Ryder Cup off my bucket list....this has arguably been my greatest gambling year yet, including hitting on 'I'll Have Another' to win the Derby.
5. 1994- Probably the best year in video game history: NHL '94, NBA Live '95, Mortal Kombat, etc. etc....6th grade rocked too, had the coolest teacher ever....although Easy E and I did hit a bump in our friendship when he thought I was hitting on his girlfriend Katie, when really I was in 6th grade love with her twin sister and I was just trying to get in with the family.
6. 2002- Freshman year of college and living in the dorms finishes up...we definitely started drinking in class- but only the easy ones, don't worry!.....kickball games in the Walsh Quad begin their storied history (Chapter 11 of that book will occur on December 23rd, be there!)....Culligan era begins....Fundy and I start our playoff baseball drinking game of drinking a beer every half-inning (I can't remember much of the 2002 playoffs, didn't the Brooklyn Dodgers win that one?)....my all-time favorite KU team loses in the Final Four.
7. 2003- Probably the height of Culligan/driving to Canada/underage shenanigans before we all start turning 21...although we did discover Charlie Brown's and a rebirth of our blackjack addiction....however, I unquestionably hit my low point in sports fandom, after KU lost to Syracuse in the championship, Roy left for North Carolina, and the Red Sox blew Game 7 to the Yankees, and I trashed a bunch of stuff in the parking lot as horrified bystanders looked on....also I skipped going to Cancun with Paul, Fundy & Russell because it was Hinrich and Collison's senior year and I didn't want to miss any of their last tournament run.
8. 1999- Sophomore year of high school was easy, I had awesome teachers and we caused all kinds of in-class shenanigans....we started having house parties when parents were gone; I miss the days where I could get drunk of off four Rolling Rocks....Star Wars prequels come to theaters, don't judge me, I loved them....I quit summer school after half of one class, and spent the summer playing pool in Ike's basement. Best decision ever.
9. 2005- Definitely the most up-and-down year....for the most part, it was unreal....our March Madness trip to Chicago, Louisville and Indianapolis was legendary, and led to the KU/Bucknell night....crossed the #1 item off my bucket list when Easy E took me to The Masters...got my #2 item also, when T.Nels and I went to Boston and Fenway Park....also took a west coast road trip with Easy E and ADawg and saw San Fran, LA, and Vegas for the first times...at Springfest, I accomplished my lifelong goal of drinking for 24 hours consecutively....however, there was a stretch of a couple months where Paul and Amber had graduated and moved away, and Easy E wasn't back from Iraq yet, so I was without my three best friends, school was kicking my ass, and I was as close to depressed as I've ever been (I don't want to belittle the definition of depression, I still had it pretty good; I'm just saying, I missed my friends a lot and was pretty bummed.) Without that, this would be a top-3 year.
10. 1992- My first real experience with The Summer Olympics, and they (the Dream Team in particular) were fantastic....at my birthday party, we went skating at Engelstad Arena and Aubol got his forehead skated over and I took one look and puked on the ice (I've never been a fan of hospital-based shows)....WE FINALLY GOT OUR ELUSIVE SEGA GENESIS FOR CHRISTMAS, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH GRANDMA AND GRANDPA, SUCK IT MOM AND DAD!!!!
11. 1996- I officially took up golf, and the Bergman brothers and I basically lived at the golf course all year. We sucked up the college girls who worked at Subway and got free subs for lunch and dinner, and we golfed from sunrise to sunset almost every day of the week....it was our last summer without jobs and we did it up right....I feel like we also threw a LOT of water balloons at passers-by in 1996.
12. 2007- Moved to Kansas....Red Sox won the World Series...got banned from Shooting Star Casino....got my first big kid's job....my golf game was horrible since I barely played.
13. 1993- A year spent balls-deep in video games, baseball cards, and Starting Lineups...also neighborhood games like Hot Box, Jailbreak, etc.....however, I did quit our Play-It-Again traveling basketball team because we had practice during the Elite 8, I didn't want to miss the games, Dunph told me if I didn't show up I was off the team, I handed him my jersey and enjoyed KU advancing to the Final Four just the same.
14. 2011- Maybe my best golfing year ever...crossed Lambeau Field off the bucket list....got job at KU across the street from Allen Fieldhouse....the March Madness trip to Fargo, in which we literally did nothing besides watch basketball, gamble, booze, and only left Fundy's house to go to the bar down the street and play blackjack and watch more basketball, was one of the most fun vacations I've ever taken.
15. 1997- The flood destroyed the basement of our house and cancelled the rest of the 8th grade year RIGHT BEFORE I was going to make a move and ask out the girl of my dreams, instead we went to rival high schools and I didn't talk to her again until we were at the same wedding last year....otherwise great year!
16. 1995- Lots more sleepovers, baseball cards, and video games....I discover actual hip-hop, and suddenly, instead of singing along to country songs on the radio in the car with my parents, I'm listening to Dr. Dre quietly in the basement so my parents don't hear the explicit lyrics.
17. 1988- The Hammonds family moves from Washington DC to North Dakota.....weather sucks....but I start making some of the friendships that I still have to this day.
18. 1998- I got my driver's license and my first car....last half of freshman year of high school was brutal, probably the most homework I've ever had for some reason...our 9th grade basketball B team would've beat most A teams in the EDC, we were a juggernaut....I may have played three or four 162 game seasons in Ken Griffey Jr. baseball for Nintendo 64....DVJS and I started playing basketball together and we haven't stopped since.
19. 2006- I graduated college....crossed Wrigley Field off the bucket list...took a HORRIBLE Vegas beatdown over March Madness....friends were moving away left and right....the legendary "Guys on the Couch" Culligan era, starring Noles, Horp, JonJon, Big D, etc. begins winding down.
20. 1991- Highlight of the year is Dunph and I getting banned from being in a class together ever again, due to "Disruptive sports arguments during class time." We were way ahead of our time- Wilbon & Kornheiser ain't got shit on us.
21. 2010- Not many fun trips that year besides Kentucky Derby and College World Series, didn't attend any weddings....KU lost as a #1 seed in the second round....just kind of a blah year
22. 1990- This is the year I started getting really serious about following sports; KU, the Red Sox, Knicks, and the Houston Oilers in particular....however, still not a Nintendo to be found.
23. 2009- Had a fantastic Chicago trip and discovered drinking with Wizard Sticks...but got laid off from my first big kid's job, which pretty much ruins the last half the year for me....the recession was not so much fun.
24. 2000- Junior year of high school sucked....Y2K ended up being a dud, I was really hoping for some action there....our family + Easy E came this close to moving to Maryland, we were so out the door that we didn't even register for classes in time, and we missed the first few days of school. Have you ever said goodbye to all your friends, then come back a week later like "Just kidding! We're not moving anymore! Anybody wanna trade lockers? I'm with all the freshman now"....Awkward.
25. 1989- Basically every single friend of ours who didn't already have a Nintendo got one for Christmas....but due to my parents' hatred of video games that would be our main battle for the duration of my childhood, we did not get one. WORST. CHRISTMAS. EVER.
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Now, even with my memory, I'm not going to pretend like I can rank the first six years of my life. So I'm ranking them in order of Emilio Estevez movies from that particular year, from best to worst.
26. 1985- The Breakfast Club- obligatory pick here. Plus St. Elmo's Fire came out this year, so '85 was a tour de force for Emilioooooo!
27. 1986- Maximum Overdrive- great movie where all the machines come to life and (of course) are instantly evil, the entire soundtrack is performed by AC/DC, and Emilio & Friends end up being held hostage at a gas station by a posse of semi-trucks. Possibly the most 80's movie there ever was. Highly recommended.
28. 1983- The Outsiders- Stay golden, Ponyboy! Great movie and great 7th grade reading material.
29. 1987- Stakeout. Emilio has a killer 'stache in this one, which is about the only opinion I have on this movie. Pretty forgettable.
30. 1982- Tex. I suppose I didn't really need to include this year, since I wasn't even around for a whole month. And OK, I'll be honest, I haven't actually seen this movie (has ANYBODY?) But it has to be better than....
31. 1984- Repo Man. One of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life.
Here's to 2013 ending up at the top of this list, am I right Emilio?
