JOTYA Winners

by Crazy Ivan

2011 will mark the 4th annual Jammer of the Year awards and this year we see some familiar names on the nomination list along with some new ones.  Before we go on to the winners, let me take a second to congratulate all the nominees.  The Myachi Forum is a tight knit community and has been for the better part of a decade and few things are as fulfilling as earning recognition from your peers.  To all the nominees and everyone who participated this year, thanks for all you've done and all you have yet to do.  The Myachi Movement wouldn't be where it is today without you.

And now, on with the announcements.

STWAKOJ AWARD:

This was the only real runaway category this year.  Both of the other 2 categories were decided by 2 votes but I think I could have announced the winner of this award just based on the overwhelming nominations that I received.

Congrats to the runners up, but the winner of the 2010 STWAKOJ award (and the first person to ever earn this award while living in the US) is...

... DGH!

DGH is a relative new comer to the Myachi Movement but he has quickly made invaluable contributions to the online Myachi community as well as the bricks and mortar universe of physical STWAKOJ.  He's done an awesome job teaching and promoting the game despite being a bit removed from the heart of the Myachi universe.

Congratulations, DGH!  Because of the overwhelming scale of your victory, you will get 1st pick when the Sack Draft begins on Wednesday.

The Trickster Award:

There were 4 nominees for this award this year and while everyone received a few votes, the real competition came between two veterans of the game.  Both Champ and Mantis received a number of votes and it's been really fun tallying the scores over the last few days and watching as they traded the lead.  On Friday it looked as though things were going to go one way, but a late flurry of weekend votes swapped out the lead once again.

The winner of this year's Trickster award is...

...Mantis!

This marks Mantis' second Trickster award and his fourth nomination.  That means that Mantis is the only person in JOTYA's short history that has been nominated for one award every year that we've held the competition.  He also joins MMFL as only the second repeat winner JOTYA winner.  Congratulations!  You had the 2nd highest margin of victory (since the forum award was decided by a single vote) and thus you will be selecting 2nd when the Sack Draft begins on Wednesday.

(and a heartfelt shout out to Champ who came so close to claiming that same honor)

And finally, the one you've all been waiting for,

The Forum Award:

This particular award always seems to present the stiffest competition.  It has been the award that has had the narrowest margin of victory in 2 of the last 3 years and it is the only award that has ever ended in a tie.  Again this year we had stiff competition and a great slate of nominees so it should come as no surprise that there was a heated competition again this year.

This year saw a tie for second place and  a winner who achieved victory from a single vote which means that the top 3 finishers were all with one vote of the win/tie.  In fact, as recently as Saturday night I was afraid I would have to give out 3 prizes on this one, but the final vote of the weekend pushed one competitor over and made his this years winner of the prestigious Forum Award.

And the name of that lucky winner is...

...Downtown!

Like Mantis, Downtown is taking home his 2nd JOTYA, having been the co-victor in this same category two years ago.  His tireless dedication to the forum and his history of wholeheartedly embracing every member of Myachi's online community has made him an invaluable member of the movement for nearly 6 years.

Congratulations again to all our winners and for those nominees that came up short (and those deserving members who did not receive a nomination), thanks for your contribution and your votes.  Remember that there's always a chance to take the bacon next year!