Looking back at 2005, it was when George W. Bush's next four years in office would be met with more casulties in Iraq and his government dropping the ball on Hurricane Katrina, while Iraqis would make a (finger) mark in history with their first free elections in over four decades...and not even Saddam can't stop it.
But we began the year with the aftermath of 2004's last big story, the tsunamis in Southeast Asia. While the death toll continued to mount, relief organizations from all over started to pitch in. Even the entertainment community, powered by Sandra Bullock's $1 million donation to the American Red Cross, helped.
At Super Bowl XXXIX, one year after everything blew up in proportions over the Janet/Justin debacle, the focus this time was on the game (and Paul McCartney at halftime) as the New England Patriots easily held off the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21, thanks to -- you guessed it -- another game-winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri. Deion Branch was the game's MVP. And on the college football side, Matt Leinart and his USC team were, to quote one of ABC's slogans from back in the day, "Still The One."
In Washington, Alberto Gonzales became the newest and first Hispanic Attorney General, while 64 people were killed in a series of floods and mudslides in Colombia and Venezuela. Meanwhile, the remainder of the NHL season was canceled, only to see the long lockout finally end later in the year and with the league undergoing an extreme makeover to win fans back.
As they continued to pick up the pieces, former Presidents Bush and Clinton toured the devastated areas in Asia after the tsunamis. And after spending over a decade of terrorizing Wichita, Kansas from the '70s to early '90s, Dennis Rader -- otherwise known as the "BTK Killer" -- was identified and apprehended; he would later be served 10 consecutive life sentences for his crimes.
In early March, Martha Stewart ended her time at "Camp Cupcake" but would be placed under house arrest for five more months; see "Year in Entertainment" for her huge comeback. Also, almost 25 years after ash was spewed all over the Northwest, Mount St. Helens was back shooting a plume as far away as Portland. And the 2005 Iditarod was once again "The Robert Sorlie Show" where, despite losing his lead one time to Paul Gephardt, it was sleep deprivation that became the key to his second win.
Illinois' chances for a clean sweep in the NCAA Final Four were swept away by North Carolina, winning the men's title 75-70; Baylor took the women's crown over Michigan State. And the battle for Terri Schiavo's life did hang in the balance; in the end, her feeding tube would be cut off permanently and she would later die.
In what was one of the most memorable plays of the year in the 16th hole (I wonder how many of you checked your watches before the ball started to plop down), Tiger Woods dethroned David Toms at the Masters in sudden death. Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles tied the knot after the world said their final goodbyes to Pope John Paul II (which I'll get to later), while Joseph Ratzinger would be elected Pope Benedict XVI.
In Britain, Tony Blair was easily re-elected as their Prime Minister, but that celebration would be short lived as two bombs exploded outside the British Consulate in New York. In the Russian state of Georgia, a live hand grenade landed 100 feet of President Bush while speaking. It didn't detonate. And during the Memorial Day holiday, the decades-old mystery as to who "Deep Throat" was was finally solved: It was W. Mark Felt.
The Indianapolis 500 was more like the Danica Patrick 500 as she became the first woman to lead in the race. But her chances at becoming the first female winner came up short, as low fuel led to Dan Wheldon picking up the checkered flag. Also in June, the San Antonio Spurs claimed their third NBA title over defending champion Detroit Pistons. Maybe they won just to make Eva Longoria happy.
Here in Fairbanks, Eielson Air Force Base was one of several military installments threatened to close down forever; in the end after public support from all over fueled by a public hearing, the base was saved. At least I still have my "Save Eielson!" T-shirt and wear it on occasion.
24 hours after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics, a series of explosions occurred at public transportation areas in what was called Britain's 9/11; 56 people were killed. And my two-week summer vacation in the South didn't stop me from following other news like John G. Roberts' appointment to the Supreme Court, Hurricane Dennis wreaking a little havoc in Florida, another terrorist attack on London (only this time, the bombs failed to explode) with only a single injury, NASA's return to space after the Columbia disentragation, and of course, the Tour de France becoming the Tour de Lance (Armstrong) for the seventh and last time.
Everybody survived after an Air Canada flight crashed outside Toronto's Pearson Airport, while settlers would be forced out of the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Pat Robertson's televised remarks about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez needing to be assassinated put him in the news again. In late September, after the passing of William Rehnquist, John Roberts would be given the Chief Justice job; and in early October 25, people were killed in a series of bombings in Bali. And at the World Series, one Chicago team managed to lift a decades-old curse to clinch the title: The Chicago White Sox.
Election Day 2005 was a good one for the Democrats when Jon Corzine took New Jersey's gubernatorial seat away from Doug Forrester, and Tim Kaine over Jerry Kilgore in Virginia; Michael Bloomberg earned another four years as New York's mayor. But it was an even worse night for Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose four ballot propositions all went down in defeat in California. That to go along with the victories in New Jersey and Virginia are expected to set the stage for the Democrats taking back Capitol Hill from the Republicans in next year's mid-terms and in 2008.
Meanwhile in Canada, Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberal government was rocked by scandal, and one day after a no-confidence vote brought it down, a general election was set for January 23. And New York was hit with a transit strike with Christmas a few days away, causing commuters everywhere looking for alternatives to get around the Big Apple. After a scary three days, the subways and buses were back in service.
All throughout 2005, we said our final goodbyes to Peter Jennings, Eugene McCarthy, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russell, TV producer and personality Ralph Edwards, former British soccer star George Best, pro wrestler Eddie Guerrero, Canadian newscaster Earl Cameron (whose Eugene Levy's Earl Camembert on "SCTV" was based on), John Spencer, Arthur Miller, Charles Rocket (best known for dropping the F-bomb during "Saturday Night Live's" disastrous 1980-81 season), Don Adams, Bob Denver, Chris Schenkel, Simon Wiesenthal, Barbara Bel Geddes, Rosa Parks, James "Scotty" Doohan, Shirley Chisolm (the first ever black U.S. Congresswoman), Sandra Dee, Hunter S. Thompson, Pat Morita, Eddie Albert, Luther Vandross, Johnny Carson, Anne Bancroft, explorer Norman Vaughan, and in April, Pope John Paul II...who made a couple of brief visits to Alaska in the '80s.
But of course, the biggest story of 2005 has to be Hurricane Katrina, which completely left much of New Orleans and the Mississippi coast in ruins. And knowing that I lived in Mississippi in the late '80s/early '90s as well as vacationing there four times including just this past summer, it has hit me personally. Thankfully, the storm missed many spots -- including my aunt's house in Gulfport, which remained intact. Katrina would of course be followed by Rita and later Wilma weeks later, making 2005 a record year for hurricanes.
However, the biggest question as far as the aftermath was concerned was: Where was the help? Fingers throughout were pointed at FEMA dropping the ball, and the lateness of federal aid led to humanitarian organizations from around the world piping in almost immediately. Even New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin and rapper Kanye West with his "George Bush doesn't care about black people" remark set off fireworks on whether or not the race issue was to blame.
Many people will still pick up from the mess left over by Katrina as 2006 starts; also, with the Bush administration continuing to be in trouble, will it be a big break for the Democrats come the mid-terms and will Hillary Clinton be in or out as far as 2008 is concerned? Now that one Chicago baseball team (White Sox) won the World Series, will that other one -- the Cubs -- finally be next after close to a century? And now that John Paul II is gone, will Billy Graham be next, saying that he's looking forward to dying "with great anticipation?" Come 2006, these questions and more will be answered.Tomorrow as my "2005 Year in Review" continues...The year in entertainment, headlined by TomKat, Brangelina, a poor box office, the returns of Mariah and Martha, and television's hits and misses.
