Ambitions in 2012: A Recap Of This Last Year

Man's Ambition was founded, softly, in September 2011, based on the simple principle that it's what men do, a collection based around the simple principle of people (especially men) striving for greatness, sprinkled with such manly activities as shitting with the door open, riverboat gambling trips (see above), making our own beef jerky, and talking about pussy.

We finished that year with a recap of all the big issues we felt you, our brilliant and discerning readers, should know about, whether we'd reported on it or not. I mean, hell, 2011 had a lot of ups, downs, in and outs, just check it out.

But since we had 2012 to write about and point out all the issues, happenings, and what-have-yous we felt were relevant (or just cool), the recap of 2012 will be a compilation of our Ambitious writings over the past 12 months. Enjoy.

JANUARY

The BCS championship game was one boring affair but the NFL playoffs, as always, was quite a time of victories and upsets. Still, Kyle had a finger on the pulse of the Giants as they went into the playoffs with his evaluation of the BCS game and predictions for the Super Bowl in his TUESDAY SPORTS HANGOVER.

MySpace. Yeah, Fox unloaded it for about a half a billion dollar loss to a group headed by Justin Timberlake saying MySpace would revolutionize entertainment as detailed in Ryan's article on MYSPACE TV. How's that working out now?

Skiing femme fatale Sarah Burke died, one of a handful of snow-pros to die pushing the envelope doing what they loved last season.

Kodak filed for bankruptcy. Interestingly, they were undone by their own actions, as Ryan talked about in KODAK DEVELOPED ITS OWN DESTRUCTION.

The Ravens lost in the playoffs. And Ryan was reminded of the fact that loss is part of being a man.

UFC is replacing boxing, just as Kyle said it was.


FEBRUARY

Parent groups pooped their pants over the fact that MIA gave the middle finger during halftime of the Super Bowl. But still, the game had a couple awesome moments too.

Jeremy Linsanity. Yeah.

A YouTube extreme sports channel Network A was founded by a son and father combo, just another sign of the changing times in entertainment and athletics.

Mexican Narcos staged a prison riot as a cover for their murder of rival cartel members and their escape. You can't make this shit up, as Ryan notes here.

MARCH

Kyle analyzed how some former sports legends are struggling to pay their bills in WHY THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN.

He also talked about how HIP HOP WORLD STARS was taking over the online world with its unique user-fueled madness.

Vladimir Putin fixed the newest Russian election. I mean, he was "elected democratically." Either way, he cried.

Gambling amongst young men has never been bigger. Check out Kyle's article about it, appropriate since he writes up a weekly rundown of what football bets to make.

Entrepreneurs on the internet are the coolest. Just check out DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB's hilarious ad that would lead to a brilliant new online business.

Don Draper returned.

DeNiro made a racial joke in Obama's favor but was blackballed at political events because nobody can take a fucking joke anymore.

Author Steven John's first book came out. If you haven't read it, you should. Why? Read Ryan's article about Steven John's 3 A.M. and books in general to find out.

The most amazing sporting event ever conceived, Travis Rice's SUPERNATURAL, was staged and shot in what can only be a harbinger of things to come.

Google invented a car that can drive for you. Next stop, Judgment day as Kyle talked about in RISE OF THE GOOGLE PRIUS.

APRIL

Ryan went to his first (and possibly last) Occupy event. How was it? Like this.

Ryan also talked about how we all need to turn off our electronics in a popular article about WHY YOU NEED TO DISCONNECT FROM THE GRID.

Instagram sold for $1 B to Facebook. A company with no income selling for 1 followed by 9 zeroes? Man those Facebook people are smart, right?

Kyle talked about how Neymar may just be the future of the world's most popular game, soccer.

No Pulitzer for fiction is awarded. Why? Because a lot of today's Literary Fiction mostly sucks.

Kyle talked about Jeb Corliss and how base jumping and squirrel suits are taking over what it means to do insane stuff.

BULLY made us all pay increased attention to the hideous paradigm of modern bullying. But did it also point out that a lot more of us are bullies than we'd like to admit?

A new site came up that allowed all us sports junkies to contribute to the future of athletes we'd like to support. You a sports fan? Then you need to read this and decide how much.

Everest is now so accessible that people kept a running blog while on the mountain for what was shaping up to be a historic couple of summits.

Teahupoo got even gnarlier with the footage to prove it, once again settling the debate that surfers are the most hardcore of all athletes.




MAY

Kyle ran down THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY of the NFL Draft, everybody's favorite corporate hiring press conference.

France elected a Communist to its top seat. Thus giving conservative Americans who are already disdainful of Godard cinema and fancy food names with silent consonants and pronounced vowels another reason to hate the French.

Junior Seau killed himself. Kyle analyzed that and a few other athlete defeats in WHEN TERRIBLE THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD ATHLETES.

Dish Network had a pissing match with AMC, thus beginning the in-fighting that will no doubt eventually lead to the end of television as we know it.

Spotify began its quest to take over the world of online music streaming.

Plastic surgeons and millions of dollars makes a slavic broad into a human Barbie. Superficial assholes gain a new grand trophy. And everybody else gets more than a little creeped out.

Big Business and government worked together to take out the insidious villain that is the American family farm, specifically by trying to put Baker's Green Acres under. Score one more point for the bad guys.

Kyle began his epic article on Olympic events you know nothing about in VISIONS OF LONDON. For the full rundown of all the articles, click here.

Facebook finally went public - and publicly bombed. So Ryan wrote an article at the bequest of a regular reader comparing Zuckerberg to an actual innovator, Nikola Tesla.

Kyle went to Electric Daisy and got weird.

Ryan wrote about how Red Bull is pushing the world of sports forward into uncharted territory.

JUNE

Everest has never been more popular - is that good or bad? How about a little of both...

Ryan compared his two favorite (and Man's Ambition Must Watch) shows in GAME OF MEN OR MAD THRONES.

Obama's America's most successful military strategist president in decades? Don't tell the Republicans that.

As summer party season began, Kyle ran down a list of what to watch when trying to survive those dreaded hangovers.

Mike Tyson got his own one-man Broadway play, proving once again that in America anything is possible.

Ryan and his wife went to Hawaii and discovered how and why everybody needs to sometimes retreat to A PLACE OF REFUGE.

A true American hero, Rainier Ranger Nick Hall, died rescuing a group of distressed climbers. Not only did this reawaken everybody to the beauty and danger of the alpine life, it also proved a bit foreboding for Ryan and Kyle as they neared their own Rainier climb.

The NBA was dominated by the beard.

12-year-old kids DOMINATED the X-Games, especially skateboard big air.

JULY

Kyle summited most of the tallest peaks in the East Coast in his hard-ass HOW 6 DEGENERATES WALKED ALL OVER THE PRESIDENTS

Ryan rambled on about July 4th, America, and what wars made America into the world's greatest newest nation.

The Egyptians elected the Muslim Brotherhood to power and our foreign correspondent Oscar was there to protest the possible prohibition to follow.

The Dark Knight came out, not only reflecting our nation but shocking it when some kid opened fire at a Colorado movie theater.

California fell into bankruptcy, city by city.

AUGUST

Ryan, Kyle, their friend Coleman and author Steven John summited Mt. Rainier, a grueling 2 days for the novices followed by a couple days' decompression  in Seattle.

The Jamaicans ran Olympic track, the American Women ran the Olympic games, and Kyle ran through the top 30 things you must know about the 2012 London Olympics, including of course the McKayla Maroney meme.

Kyle talked about the two new weird sports protection innovations as freaks send gobs of money and time on trying to keep they selves safe: a "fashionable" bicycle head protector and dog killer and Eagles disappointment Michael Vick's bullet proof vest.

SEPTEMBER

Ryan pondered Labor day as America and the world grows tougher on its workers.

Kyle's Lock Street started back up, giving degenerate gamblers hope as his picks surpassed 50% over the season.

Legendary football owner and all-around model American Art Modell died.


Ryan began a weekly column analyzing both presidential candidates, Romney and Obama. He even TRIED to be impartial. Though his full interpretation of the facts certainly pointed to Obama's imminent election.

Baseball's post-season was riddled with small-market teams, as Kyle said in BASEBALL'S POSTSEASON PRE-SEASON.

Shaun White got arrested, showing he is in fact, a human being and, more importantly, a roots snowboarder.

Zombie bees.

OCTOBER

Ryan wrote about Tom Hardy possibly playing George Mallory in an upcoming biopic, continuing Ryan's preternatural obsession with mountain climbing.

Some dude skydived from space. Thanks to Red Bull. Rad.

Ryan went to his college reunion and reflected about auld acquaintances that should not be forgot.

A new Bond movie and a guest author came together to rank the top Bond girls of each decade.

Kyle ran through the top Halloween entertainment for you culture consumers.

George Lucas sold Lucasfilm for $4 billion dollars, making his personal Jedi journey complete.

NOVEMBER

Snowboard godfather Tom Sims died and Ryan wrote about it a few months too late. Sorry.

Priceline bought Kayak and Shatner made half a billion dollars as a corporate shill - fuck Captain Kirk, Priceline Intimidator is where it's at.

General Petraeus was fired for having an affair, proving America has completely forgotten its sexually questionable roots.

Goodell keeps trying to make the NFL softer, starting with the hardest team The Ravens. Specifically Ed Reed. Roger Goodell, you are a dictator using his power for evil and history will look back on you as the villain you are.

Hey Diddle Diddle, Ray Rice up the Middle - and, again, wondering why the NFL is fucking up their glory shot?

DECEMBER

Eddie Murphy was "roasted" though it felt more like a eulogy.

Kyle's final Lock Street of the regular season and 2012.

The world didn't end on December 20, 2012. Nobody with half a brain is surprised.

Then Ryan and Kyle went to Baltimore for 10 days to hang out with their loving family - Mom, Dad, and Ryan's wife Rebecca - and Ryan and Rebecca's dog Cecile - and Mom and Dad's dog Cody and cat Alice (kinda) - and didn't write a damn thing. And we saw the Ravens beat the Giants at M&T Bank stadium. And were reminded that, in the end, as Don Corleone said, "A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."

2012 has had its ups and downs, no doubt. And we have to think about the future of this great nation. Fiscal cliffs and European bone-grindings make a man wonder how much longer will the west run the world with America the shiny brass eagle leading the charge. Our nation has never been more politically divided, our healthcare system is an exercise of bloated private interest bureaucracy, and the average American man has never been softer. Ambitions seem to focus mostly on making websites with magical profit schemes based on card tricks and smoke and mirrors and the American heavy industry on which our nation was built has all but disappeared.

But there is hope. Gay men and women are finally receiving the right to marry in more states, thus showing a general consensus that civil rights should be extended to everybody. Marijuana is increasingly being legalized and decriminalized, thus ending a prohibition that will someday be looked back upon as draconian posturing from uptight squares. Shale booms have been saving some plains communities as America moves towards freeing ourselves from the Middle East oil that has caused us to enter endless stupid wars with and against ignorant foreigners who will never accept our freedoms (and yes, while fracking may be unhealthy so are offshore oil rigs and tankers). Little upticks in employment, real estate value, and consumption are pointing to a light at the end of the recession tunnel. And the list goes on.

So here's to lucky number 2013. Thanks for reading. Spread the word. And for fuck's sake, strive for greatness every day. That's the only way we'll get the better world we so dearly need.

God Bless - signing off for 2012,

Ryan and Kyle Ariano