Welcome back.

 If you'll recall, last week we began looking back at my randomly selected "top" sports stories touched on here in the "Bleacher Bum" space over the past decade.

 Let us continue on, this week, with part two of the 10 years that were.

 2005 - I'll take the macaque over the monkey any day

 In 2005, the baseball world was in awe - not by the surprising resurgence of Roger Clemens as a dominant pitcher (ahem), but rather by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Rally Monkey.

 But I was not.

 All it did was pound symbols and wear an Angeles jersey. They put it up on the screen. The fans cheered. (I don't want to say the American audience is dumbed down, but … .)

 No, for me, there was only one premier primate of television, and that was TSN's Maggie the Macaque, who boldly and brashly predicted playoff outcomes by spinning a wheel for several years.

 Maggie has since gone into retirement, but her memory as the most delightful- if not insightful - creature on TSN lives on.

 2006 - Anti-Games movement selfish, short-sighted

 In 2006, the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) announced its intention to bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. By March 2007, HRM withdrew from the bid process - despite the fact that it was a leading contender to land the Games and the sport infrastructure money that went with it - because of a public backlash over the potential cost of the Games.

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 What really skinned my potatoes was that during the anti-Games propaganda blitz, there was an implicit suggestion in the message of those speaking against the Games that it was unworthy of the multimillion-dollar investment because it was a sporting event.

 We, apparently, had better things to do, as a province, than jointly partner with all three levels of government to build infrastructure that could've helped athletes train or hosted a CFL franchise or served as a major concert venue for another three decades after the Games took place.

 Yeah, good thing HRM backed out of that - a fine example of political vision, indeed. Ahem.

 2007 - How bad is Josh Towers?

 After our sports reporter Stacey Colwell decreed Blue Jays pitcher Josh Towers to be a complete flunkee who shouldn't even be in the majors, I took it upon myself to investigate Colwell's claims.

 It's not that I didn't believe him - but I didn't want to believe him.

 The Jays already had enough problems, they didn't need to have the worst pitcher in baseball on top of it.

 Using a complex mathematical formula, I was able to deduce that Towers was, in fact, likely not the worst fifth starter in all of baseball, ranking somewhere around 16 out of the 30 in the major leagues.

 It was the most complex numerical thing I did in 2007, involving four numbers and some cross multiplication and division.

 I gave myself a gold star for the effort.

 Incidentally, Towers apparently had some redeeming qualities - he is still pitching, signing a minor league deal with the Dodgers earlier this month.

 2008 - An empire crumbling

 In June of this year, the unthinkable happened.

 Already losing its grip of dominance, CBC, the dean of hockey broadcasting in this country since the early days of television, suffered a huge blow as CTVglobemedia landed the rights to Dolores Claman's timeless "The Hockey Theme" - a song that had been synonymous with CBC's broadcasts since seemingly time immemorial.

 This came on the heels of almost losing host Ron MacLean and being forced to put the flamboyant Don Cherry on a seven-second tape delay to censor him.

 In the time since then, CBC has attempted to revamp the telecast to some success - but the fact that the incomprehensible P.J. Stock is still a fixture is evidence that the network is still, at best, second in this country to TSN.

 2009 - Charting the course

 After a challenging inaugural season, which included a change of ownership and the eventual departure of the coach and general manager, Ken Petrie's Bridgewater Nauss TIM-BR Mart Lumberjacks began setting clear benchmarks for future success, the results of which fans have already seen on the ice this year.

 The hiring of veteran Maritime junior A guru Jim Bottomley and the recruitment of some very talented players, as well as the integration of a handful of local products into the lineup have helped to foster a real bond between the community and the franchise.

 There's a sense of ownership and pride toward the team - something that will undoubtedly be only further nurtured when the club moves from its current digs at the Bridgewater Memorial Arena to the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre … .

 Bring on the next decade … we're ready for it.

posted on 12/29/09