“Half a decade ago” sounds like a while ago, right?

The tallest man-made structure to date, the Burj Khalifa, opened in Dubai.
The 2010 Winter Olympics were held in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada.
WikiLeaks leaked over 90,000 internal United States documents to the public.
Dennis Hopper passed away at the age of 74.

Hopper was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Supporting Actor (Hoosiers) and Best Writing (Easy Rider)

And here’s what happened in Movies, Music and Sports…

Movies

Comedy

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Easy A, Date Night, Grown Ups, Due Date, Hot Tub Time Machine, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Get Him to the Greek, Life as We Know It, Dinner for Schmucks, Flipped, Valentine’s Day, She’s Out of My League, Morning Glory, The Backup Plan, Killers, The Bounty Hunter, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Greenberg, Love & Other Drugs, Death at a Funeral, Leap Year, The Switch, Going the Distance, Super, MacGruber, AND…

The Other Guys

Action/Thriller

Shutter Island, The A-Team, The Expendables, Salt, Red, Predators, Takers, The Tourist, Machete, Green Zone, Devil, Unstoppable, The Next Three Days, Iron Man 2, Insidious, Edge of Darkness, The Losers, The American, Saw VII, 13, The Ghost Writer, Unthinkable, Buried, Piranha 3D, Repo Men, The Crazies, Monsters, The Book of Eli, Paranormal Activity 2, Knight and Day, From Paris With Love, Dylan Dog, AND…

Inception

Animated

How to Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me, Tangled, Shrek Forever After, MegaMind, Legend of the Guardians, The Illusionist, Arrietty, Alpha and Omega, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Yogi Bear, AND…

Toy Story 3

Dramas

Black Swan, The Social Network, The Fighter, Dear John, Remember Me, The Town, 127 Hours, Robin Hood, Submarine, Blue Valentine, The Kids Are All Right, All Good Things, Let Me In, True Grit, Cyrus, In A Better World, Winter’s Bone, Trust, Charlie St. Cloud, The Way Back, Animal Kingdom, Last Night, The Tempest, AND…

The King’s Speech

The 83rd Academy Awards

Best Actor

Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
James Franco, 127 Hours
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech – Winner

Colin Firth was nominated the year before for “A Single Man”

Best Supporting Actor

Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Christian Bale, The Fighter – Winner

Christian Bale was nominated again in 2014 for “American Hustle”.

Best Actress

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
Natalie Portman, Black Swan – Winner

Natalie Portman was nominated once previously for “Closer” in 2004.

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Melissa Leo, The Fighter – Winner

Melissa Leo was nominated once more in 2009 for “Frozen River”.

Best Picture

Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
The King’s Speech – Winner

“The King’s Speech” won 4 of the 12 Awards it was nominated for, including Best Directing and Writing.

Music

Rock Albums

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Hip Hop Albums

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Pop Albums

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Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Songs

01. “Tik Tok” – Ke$ha

02. “Need You Now” – Lady Antebellum

03. “Hey, Soul Sister” – Train

04. “California Gurls” – Katy Perry

05. “OMG” – Usher

06. “Airplanes” – B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams

07. “Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem featuring Rihanna

08. “Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga

09. “Dynamite” – Taio Cruz

10. “Break Your Heart” – Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris

11. “Nothin’ On You” – B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars

12. “I Like It” – Enrique Iglesias featuring Pitbull

13. “Bedrock” – Young Money featuring Lloyd

14. “In My Head” – Jason Derulo

15. “Rude Boy” – Rihanna

16. “Telephone” Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce

17. “Teenage Dream” – Katy Perry

18. “Just The Way You Are” – Bruno Mars

19. “Cooler Than me” – Mike Posner

20. “Imma Be” – Black Eyed Peas

21. “Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z + Alicia Keys

22. “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” – Usher featuring Pitbull

23. “Billionaire” – Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars

24. “Not Afraid” – Eminem

25. “Replay” – Iyaz

Sports

Baseball

League Leaders

Offensive

Average: Josh Hamilton (TEX) – .359

Hits: Ichiro Suzuki (SEA) – 214

Home Runs: Jose Bautista (TOR) – 54

RBI: Miguel Cabrera (DET) – 126

OPS: Josh Hamilton (TEX) – 1.044

Stolen Bases: Juan Pierre (CHW) – 68

Pitching

Wins: CC Sabathia (NYY) & Roy Halladay (PHI) – 21

ERA: Felix Hernandez (SEA) – 2.27

Strikeouts: Jered Weaver (LAA) – 233

Complete Games: Roy Halladay (PHI) – 9

Shutouts: Roy Halladay (PHI) – 4

Saves: Brian Wilson (SF) – 48

MVP

AL – Josh Hamilton (TEX)

NL – Joey Votto (CIN)

CY Young

AL – Felix Hernandez (SEA)

NL – Roy Halladay (PHI)

Rookie of the Year

AL – Neftali Feliz (TEX)

NL – Buster Posey (SF)

World Series

San Francisco Giants over Texas Rangers (4-1)

Basketball

NCAA

(1)Duke, (5)Michigan State, (2)West Virginia, (5)Butler

National Championship

(1) Duke over (5) Butler 61-59

NBA

League Leaders

Points Per Game: Kevin Durants (OKC) – 30.1

Rebounds Per Game: Dwight Howard (ORL) – 13.2

Assists Per Game: Steve Nash (PHX) – 11.0

All-NBA Team

Kobe Bryant (LAL)

Kevin Durant (OKC)

Dwight Howard (ORL)

LeBron James (CLE)

Dwyane Wade (MIA)

MVP – LeBron James (CLE)

Rookie of the Year – Tyreke Evans (SAC)

NBA Finals

Los Angeles Lakers over Boston Celtics (4-3)

Football

NCAA

Heisman Trophy – Cam Newton, Auburn

National Championship

(1)Auburn over (2)Oregon 22-19 in BCS Championship

NFL

League Leaders

Passing Yards: Phillip Rivers (SD) – 4,710

Passing Touchdowns: Tom Brady (NE) – 36

Passer Rating: Tom Brady (NE) – 111.0

Rushing Yards: Arian Foster (HOU) – 1,616

Rushing Touchdowns: Arian Foster (HOU) – 16

Receiving Yards: Brandon Lloyd (DEN) – 1,448

Receiving Touchdowns: Dwayne Bowe (KC) – 15

Receptions: Roddy White (ATL) – 115

AP MVP: Tom Brady (NE)

Super Bowl XLV

Green Bay Packers over Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25

Hockey

League Leaders

Goals: Sidney Crosby (PIT) & Steven Stamkos (TB) – 51

Assists: Henrik Sedin (VAN) – 83

Points: Henrik Sedin (VAN – 112

Hart Memorial Trophy: Henrik Sedin (VAN)

Stanley Cup

Chicago Blackhawks over Philadelphia Flyers 4-2

Did I miss anything? Let me know on Twitter @Mike_PiFF03.

Also checkout past #TBT Years in Review.

2011

2007

2006

2005

1999

1998

1992

1989

1988

1987

Following their 3rd Stanley Cup victory in six years, the Chicago Blackhawks are basking in the glow that is Chicago in HawksMania. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, and the rest of the 2014-15 roster are even bigger than Oprah (yeah I said it) through the eyes of their fans, and I don’t blame them. The Cup itself has such celebrity status, that bars are filled to mass capacity, simply based on speculation that it will be making its way through each establishment.

Speaking of Chicago Celebrities, as I watched the Comcast SportsNet Chicago livestream of the Blackhawks parade and rally yesterday, I saw host Pat Boyle discussing the team with MMA fighter/Former WWE wrestler CM Punk. Punk gets onto the topic of bandwagon fans and recalls a time when the Blackhawks were the worst organization in professional sports. He then follows his thought up by calling the Blackhawks the best organization in sports right now, and there is no rebuttal from the panel. So I wondered…Are they?

Punk wasn’t wrong about how low the Blackhawks organization had been. In 2004, ESPN had the Blackhawks ranked as the worst organization in North American Sports. Former owner Bill Wirtz had blacked out home games, stating that it was “unfair to season ticket-holders to give away the home games on TV for free”, according to Chicago Bulls & White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf. During the 2003-04 season, the average attendance at the United Center 13,253…This year, the Blackhawks led the NHL in attendance for the 7th consecutive time with a 21,769 average.

Current owner Rocky Wirtz changed the direction and business model immediately. Team president and CEO John McDonough turned the team into a marketing goldmine. The “ONE GOAL” campaign that was introduced before the 2009-10 season has been imitated not only by teams in the NHL, but in other league’s as well, like the Brooklyn Nets. The organization invited back its legends as ambassadors like Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, whom were shunned by the previous ownership. While many of the team’s core was brought in by Dale Tallon, they went outside the franchise for a winning pedigree by appointing Stan Bowman as general manager and making his father, (and legendary coach) Scotty, Senior Advisor.

The last piece of the puzzle came following a slow 1-2-1 start in the 2008 season with Blackhawks Hall of Famer Denis Savard at the helm coaching. The team had higher expectations out of the gate, so they dismissed Savard and promoted newly hired scout Joel Quenneville to head coach. Quenneville had a 438-283 record coaching the Avalalanche and Blues before joining the Blackhawks, making the transition to the bench seamless. What I’ve found to be most impressive about that situation is the relationship between the Blackhawks and Savard immediately after. The organization named Savard an ambassador and he had no problem with it. It’s unbelievably cool to see him graciously pass the baton and still be a part of what has grown into a dynasty. How often do you see a former head coach have that with the team that removed him?

Three championships in six years with a salary cap is more than qualifying for a dynasty. While he isn’t credited with bringing Kane, Toews, Sharp, Keith, or Seabrook to the organization, Bowman has done a masterful job (yes, masterful) at handling the turnover of the roster following each championship. When forced to choose between matching an offer sheet from the San Jose Sharks for Niklas Hjalmarrson or parting ways and re-signing goalie Antti Niemi. The decision to go with Hjalmarrson has worked out given his exceptional defensive play, 2 more championships, and none won by Niemi’s Sharks. More recently, the additions of center Brad Richards before the season, as well as Antoine Vermette and Andrew Desjardins at the trade deadline, proved even more so that Bowman is capable of arming his squad for a playoff run. All three were key in winning the Cup.

The Blackhawks will be faced with more turnover this summer, given the lowering of the league’s salary cap, but now Chicago has become a destination for veterans who want to win. Players who have made plenty over the course of their careers are more inclined to take pay cuts if the odds of having their names engraved on the Cup are in their favor. Great organizations have that benefit. So who else is in the conversation?

The most comparable organization, based on championships during the same timeline, are the San Francisco Giants. They too have won three titles in the last six years, with World Series wins in 2010, 2012, and 2014. In contrast to the other major sports leagues, MLB has no salary cap. While teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees boast payrolls over $200 million, the Giants operate with salaries totaling in just above $170 million. Not necessarily a huge difference, as they ranked 7th in highest payroll the last time they won a championship, but still $100 million less than their division rival’s $272 million in LA. Their star talent is mostly homegrown with Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, and Tim Lincecum being their Toews, Kane, Sharp and Lincecum.

Like Quenneville, Giants manager Bruce Bochy took over with prior success, having won a pennant with the San Diego Padres. He also followed a former player in the organization, Felipe Alou. The Giants have also ranked in MLB’s top 4 for attendance for each of the last 5 years.

The other team that you can consider to be similar would be the San Antonio Spurs. They’ve won 3 championships in the last 10 years, 5 in the last 15 with Gregg Popovich as head coach. The Bill Belichick/Tom Brady Patriots have certainly found a recipe for success having won 11 of the last 12 AFC East titles and 4 Super Bowls. However, it would be difficult to say the Patriots are very popular or well respected at the moment...but that’s just, like, your opinion, man.

At this moment, the Blackhawks seem to have found the formula. More than 2 million fans reportedly showed up for the parade and rally yesterday, wearing hockey sweaters in humid temperatures. They turned Soldier Field into the Red Sea to celebrate their third title, while introducing many of the same names and faces from the first title in 2010. Are they the best organization in sports right now? You tell me.

You can let me know on Twitter @Mike_PiFF03.