With it being well into 2007, we thought we'd steal a page from every media outlet/blogger/writer/drunken New Year's Eve partier and take a look back at some of our favourite people of 2006. Some impressed. Some dazzled. Most just amused, and only occasionally intentionally. Enjoy. (And we promise to finish this up before training camps open)

Number 6: Shake Severs

It would be criminal of us not to recognize the contributions this year of Mr. Shake Severs. Sure, he may have played somewhat poorly at the start of the year.  And, yes he became a big enough distraction on a team that featured Ricky and Bernard Williams that he was released, but he did help the Argos out immensly by choosing his rap career over a stint in Winnipeg.  Given how close the East semi was, a Bomber receiving corps featuring Uncle Milty, Derrick Armstrong and Shake Severs may have put Winnipeg over the top.

The UGA mascot apparently had no love for Shake Severs' rhymes while he was at AuburnOur lone disappointment was that Shake was unable to secure a place on the Grey Cup week bill with Tom Cochrane and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.  Maybe next year.

For thwrating the hopes of the Bombers, and releasing his much anticipated followup to It's Critical (thank you to commenter Big Lou for the heads up), Shake Severs receives the prestigous honour of being number 6 on our top 10 of '06.

The Rogers Centre's other occupants, when they're not busy brawling with each other, are working diligently this year to woo the next generation of fans. Hence those light-hearted TV ads, and the spruced-up in-game entertainment. And hence, obviously, the piece de resistance: tickets for season ticket holders to an upcoming private concert with Hootie and the Blowfish.

Now, not to be hyper-competitive or anything, but we absolutely hate the idea of the Argos losing all their young fans to the massive star power being imported by the Jays. The only answer is to fight fire with fire, which is why the Boatmen really have no choice but to throw a private concert of their own.

The easy thing to do would be to bring in some other celebrated act that's just very slightly starting to cool off. The Crash Test Dummies, say. Or Ace of Base. Or Coolio. Especially Coolio. But there's a far better option staring the Argos right in the face. And since he normally follows staring you in the face with punching you in the face, the team really needs to move quickly.

As noted previously, Robert Baker is a double-threat. Or at least, Robert Baker was a double threat, back when he was dropping rhymes and catching footballs. Then he started dropping the footballs, and everything got all messed up. Now, as far as we can tell, Robert Baker doesn't exist anymore; having turned down the opportunity to go to the hip-hop hotbed of Winnipeg to play for the Blue Bombers, he seems to have morphed fully into his alter ego, Shake Severs.

This saddens us, in a way, because there really was no more fun player to watch when Baker was on his game. But the upside is that he now has the opportunity to thrill us with his music - as evidenced by what would appear to be the followup to his revered debut single, It's Critical. And how better to showcase those talents than in a private concert for Argos fans - a sweet, sweet reward for all the support we gave him during his time here?

Just make sure that if you're invited, you go. Because if you don't, Shake Severs will totally kick your ass.  

(Admit it: When we started talking music, you thought we were heading for another Frank D'Angelo post, didn't you?) 

That popcorn photo up top has taken on an unexpectedly poignant quality now that the CFL's top hip-hop talent has apparently been jetisoned.

We're really sorry to see Baker go; for all his exploits on the sidelines, in the locker room and God knows where else, he might have been the Argos' most complete player on the field - and he was certainly their most intense. Or at least, all that was true until he lost his hands this year, possibly because he'd sustained long-term damage pounding his teammates in the face.

No doubt, Baker's slow start made his disciplinary issues harder to put up with - but then, we don't really know what those disciplinary issues were. And this being the Argos, who haven't even bothered to publicly announce a new offensive coordinator four days before their next game, we'll probably never find out. So the best we can do is offer a few of the more obvious possibilities of what Baker might have done:

• Did not take kindly to John Williams' negative review of You, Me and Dupree, or possibly his inexplicable recommendation of a movie starring Ralph Macchio as Lightning Boy, "a kid who can play a slide guitar like nobody's business"; rearranged J-Dubbs' hand to ensure thumbs would never be able to point downward again

• Decided that Shake Severs' logical followup to the acclaimed It's Critical was an ode to Pinball's wife

• Didn't take as well to John Avery's standup act as we had hoped

• Was running an illegal gambling ring taking bets on when the Argos would next score an offensive touchdown

• Failed the Arland Bruce cook-off challenge

• Was identified as the myserious Forget About It gunman

• Lost his desire to play once they took away the cheese race

• Left voluntarily when he heard that Frank D'Angelo would be providing the half-time entertainment at the next home game.
  

And yes, that last one really is happening. Just in case you were wondering if there was a way to make a game against the Alouettes any more painful. 

During last year's Eastern Final, some of us - okay, one of us - would stand up and bellow a hearty "Oh, yeah...IT'S CRITICAL!!!" every time Robert Baker made a catch. This may have been worse karma than the popcorn stunt, and probably struck the folks in front of us as just one of the many irritating noises coming from our row (some of which don't even involve a cowbell). But I had my reasons.

See, that week, we'd learned Baker isn't just a receiver...he's also an aspiring rapper. And under the name Shake Severs, he'd released a single - It's Critical - that somehow came into my possession. It's not as though Kanye was exactly shaking in his boots, especially because the track was marred by a random punk guy turning up to scream "IT'S CRITICAL!!!" where the chorus should've been. But Baker's rhymes about his checkered past had a certain appeal to them, if for no other reason than that they finally resolved the season-long debate over who had more street-cred - him or Noel Prefontaine.

The disappointing part, though, is that articles like this one promised us a full album's worth of Shake Severs come January - and so far as we know, it's nowhere to be found. This might explain Baker's performance in the season's first few weeks, which has been slightly below his usual standards...dude's got so many rhymes waiting to bust out, he can't focus on the field.

Just to be clear, we're not making fun of Robert Baker. In fact, that'll probably be a general policy around here. Partly, that's because we have immense respect for his football skills. Mostly, it's because we're all a little scared of him, especially since learning that he's friends with Mike Mihelic; if there's a pair of CFL players we'd less like to get on the wrong side of, it's not coming to mind. We just want - nay, demand - our Shake Severs.