First of all, yes, we’re finally getting to these. That towing really did throw us off track, I guess.
Second, thank you all for your submissions to all these lists, and thank you as always for reading The Barking Crow. Without you, we would be blogging into the void.
Third, some of the things that could have fit this list have been covered already, so if you’re looking…I’d specifically refer you to our silliest work of 2022 and our right-est work of 2022.
Now, the best work of our year:
Something we do a good job of here, I’d say, is getting into the weird stories behind weird things, especially in the world of maps. For example: Why isn’t Michigan’s Upper Peninsula part of Wisconsin? Because of a war fought over Toledo. Could part of a state secede and join another state? Yes, and in fact, it’s on the table in Oregon. We also, I’d argue, have a pretty clear-eyed look at the ethos of various sporting entities. This is mostly true of colleges—we’ll talk your ear off about ag school/flagship school rivalries—but we can also extend it to the professional ranks. One of you highlighted our post in April equating each NFL franchise to a college football program. Finally—and this will conclude the NIT Stu material here—when we know a lot about someone, we know a lot about someone. Which might be why our Aaron Rodgers coverage from 2022 got so much love from you all. Here’s what we thought his funeral might look like were he to tragically die an Ayahuasca-related death last summer.
Joe’s more of a constant provider of content here, especially on the numbers side, but his college football work deserves a mention, and because he also worked to point out the existential stakes of the sport for the schools involved, we’ll link to his Week 4 Recap, the one right after Oregon State almost took down USC in Corvallis. Another favorite we received mention of was his notes after Triston Stivors nearly pitched Texas State into the Super Regional over Stanford, in the process reminding us of the grand nobilities we love to see in sports.
Finally, thanks to those who pointed to some of our best writing. It was a sparse year for the creative writing facet of this place, but we reflected on Fargo back on her first birthday, we mourned the loss and celebrated the life of Grandma Marlene, and we had a good little run with the Austin poems that became a disappointing run but did leave us with this one, When the Storms Come, of which we remain proud. Finally, both Allhallowtide and There’s Something About Indiana received mention from readers.
Thank you, again, for your readership. Thank you for your 2022, and for making it overlap with ours. We’re excited to be underway in 2023, with our best stuff yet still waiting in the wings.
