BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO SPRINGFIELD THIS YEAR

Rod Blagojevich goes to prison

Sorry, but readers who decreed that Scheels was the best thing to happen to Springfield this year are wrong and a little late: We have nothing against the bigger-thanlife sporting goods store, but it opened in the summer of 2011, not during the past year. And so we’re going with the jailing of former governor Rod Blagojevich, who finally faced the music in March when he reported to federal prison for a 14-year stint. The jailing of anyone is generally not cause for celebration, but Blagojevich is a special case, and his demise was cathartic for all the state workers who had to put up with working under his let’s-do-it-this-way-because-it’s-Tuesday administration that sailed a rudderless ship of state toward insolvency. He rarely came to Springfield – heck, he rarely came to work at all and complained about what a lousy job he had. “The whole world is passing me by, and I’m stuck in this (expletive) job as governor,” Blago complained in a telephone conversation taped by the FBI. At last report, the former governor was washing dishes, bored and hoping to teach classes on Shakespeare to fellow inmates. Shakespeare. That’s bleepin’ golden.

Runner-up: Fat Ass 5K and Street Party for Charity