A Beacon on a Hill

One thing that really cooks my goose year after year is reading the “Best of the Capital District” lists from the local media.

Last year the Times Union poll awarded the following:
Best Sandwich Shop: Subway
Best Buffalo Wings: Wings Over Albany
Best Hamburger: Five Guys

Those are just a few.  In a place that actually has several brilliant Italian delis and Buffalo wings are offered at every tavern and pizza parlor, to give these “best of” designations to big chains is just absurd.  And while I love Five Guys for their famous burgers and fries, it is still inescapably a fast food burger.

Well, instead of complaining about it, I’ve decided to take action.  Only it is taking a good bit longer than I initially thought.

Now is the time to vote in the Times Union Best of 2010 poll.  And when I say “now” I really mean later this week.

Because right now, I am working on putting together the FUSSYlittleBALLOT.  It is a list of my picks, for your consideration, in all of the most relevant categories of this year’s Times Union “Best Of” poll.

I realize why nobody has done this in the past.  It is a shit-ton of work.  I’ve been at it for hours, and still have miles to go before I sleep.  There is no way it will be ready for today. But it will certainly be done by the end of the week, and hopefully much sooner.

Chains (along with other businesses that are both popular and mediocre) win because they get the plurality of the votes.  Overall, I have to believe the majority of us prefer independent and/or higher quality establishments.  Except we end up splitting the vote between the dozens of places we each prefer, and the chains come out ahead.

If we could only agree to put aside some of our minor squabbles about whether The Ale House, Ralph’s or Bomber’s has the best wings, our 2010 winner wouldn’t be the identical plonk you can get in almost any state across this great nation.

So my solution is coming.

And rest assured, it is not just one man’s opinion.  As much as possible I have pulled in Yelp reviews, the past writings of other local bloggers, and historical precedent in addition to my personal preferences and not-so-hidden agendas.

I don’t ask for much, and I don’t ask often.  But this is the only way.  Now I beseech you, please hold off on entering your ballot until I post the slate.  Once it is up, please share it with your friends, relatives and colleagues.  Maybe you will choose to vote for the whole slate, or perhaps just the ones I’ve identified as the most important.  But any amount of participation helps.  The key is to just participate.

Together we can do this.