No introduction. Red simply walks to the front of the stage with a microphone and a single spotlight shining on him.


Almost ten years ago, I happened to come across a little site by the name of TRL By Sarah. It was the beacon of TRL recaps at a time when TRL was the place to be for teenagers across the United States. Through TRL By Sarah, I somehow wandered into the world of the forums of the site and was blown away by the cast of characters that surrounded me.

While almost all of them have left ATRL far behind them, there are still a few of us that still roam this place every now and again. Edward, aka Coral Fanatic, still finds new and innovative ways to get inside the minds of people, even if he is around less than I am. Mikal is still as snarky as he has ever been and doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves around ATRL. Johnald and Kworb missed out on the TRL By Sarah era by mere months, but they are still part of the last remnants of the truly old guard and Johnald in particular is still my brother from another mother. But we're still missing one person from the old guard who still posts around here and, until recently, was the administrator of ATRL. He was, is and will forever be the face of ATRL. He, of course, is TC.

TC has long been one of my closest confidants, a guy that I can talk to about anything, literally anything. We have met in person so many times that I have lost count. He is no longer just a friend that I happened to meet through an internet forum. He is a true friend, a guy that I can count on when times get tough to help me get through. But you guys are not here to hear about my friendship and history with the one I call "Watson". If I were to talk about our entire history, then you guys would be here all night and I don't want that.

Instead, I want to focus on what TC has done for ATRL in his tenure as the big cheese. In his time as administrator, he has taken ATRL to heights that even he couldn't have possibly imagined. ATRL has went from being a small group of people shooting the **** every day to being one of the premier pop music discussion forums on the internet. According to Alexa, ATRL is one of the top 100,000 websites in the world and one of the top 56,000 in the US. None of this happens without TC's leadership and drive to think bigger. Whether with his beautiful forum design or his innovative ideas...I mean, hello, ATRL LIVE!...TC has proven himself to be one of the finest administrators I have ever seen. If any one person deserves the accolade of being the guy who made ATRL what it is today, it is TC and that's that.

It's kind of fitting that TC is the first recipient of the ATRL Award of Excellence. Without him, ATRL doesn't get off the ground and up into the stars like it is today. Without him, there is no ATRL today for the Ducas and the Elis and the Geezuses and the Satellites' and even the Evans of the world. There are days when I wonder how I have stuck around ATRL for as long as I have and there are days when I wonder why I even joined this forum in the first place. But there has never been a time where I have thought, "Gee, I would have been so much better off without Watson in my life." In fact, it's the exact opposite: My life is better for having known TC Watson for as long as I have and for having TC play a prominent role in my life. I know that all of you will agree with me when I say that TC is the face of ATRL, and there is simply no one else who could be the first winner of the ATRL Award of Excellence.


(And just because there has to be some sort of GIF at the end of every award post, apparently, here is the greatest GIF in the world. (Just imagine TC as Chuck Norris in the GIF landing the ultimate insult on a lesser.))

No introduction. Red simply walks to the front of the stage with a microphone and a single spotlight shining on him.


Almost ten years ago, I happened to come across a little site by the name of TRL By Sarah. It was the beacon of TRL recaps at a time when TRL was the place to be for teenagers across the United States. Through TRL By Sarah, I somehow wandered into the world of the forums of the site and was blown away by the cast of characters that surrounded me.

While almost all of them have left ATRL far behind them, there are still a few of us that still roam this place every now and again. Edward, aka Coral Fanatic, still finds new and innovative ways to get inside the minds of people, even if he is around less than I am. Mikal is still as snarky as he has ever been and doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves around ATRL. Johnald and Kworb missed out on the TRL By Sarah era by mere months, but they are still part of the last remnants of the truly old guard and Johnald in particular is still my brother from another mother. But we're still missing one person from the old guard who still posts around here and, until recently, was the administrator of ATRL. He was, is and will forever be the face of ATRL. He, of course, is TC.

TC has long been one of my closest confidants, a guy that I can talk to about anything, literally anything. We have met in person so many times that I have lost count. He is no longer just a friend that I happened to meet through an internet forum. He is a true friend, a guy that I can count on when times get tough to help me get through. But you guys are not here to hear about my friendship and history with the one I call "Watson". If I were to talk about our entire history, then you guys would be here all night and I don't want that.

Instead, I want to focus on what TC has done for ATRL in his tenure as the big cheese. In his time as administrator, he has taken ATRL to heights that even he couldn't have possibly imagined. ATRL has went from being a small group of people shooting the **** every day to being one of the premier pop music discussion forums on the internet. According to Alexa, ATRL is one of the top 100,000 websites in the world and one of the top 56,000 in the US. None of this happens without TC's leadership and drive to think bigger. Whether with his beautiful forum design or his innovative ideas...I mean, hello, ATRL LIVE!...TC has proven himself to be one of the finest administrators I have ever seen. If any one person deserves the accolade of being the guy who made ATRL what it is today, it is TC and that's that.

It's kind of fitting that TC is the first recipient of the ATRL Award of Excellence. Without him, ATRL doesn't get off the ground and up into the stars like it is today. Without him, there is no ATRL today for the Ducas and the Elis and the Geezuses and the Satellites' and even the Evans of the world. There are days when I wonder how I have stuck around ATRL for as long as I have and there are days when I wonder why I even joined this forum in the first place. But there has never been a time where I have thought, "Gee, I would have been so much better off without Watson in my life." In fact, it's the exact opposite: My life is better for having known TC Watson for as long as I have and for having TC play a prominent role in my life. I know that all of you will agree with me when I say that TC is the face of ATRL, and there is simply no one else who could be the first winner of the ATRL Award of Excellence.


(And just because there has to be some sort of GIF at the end of every award post, apparently, here is the greatest GIF in the world. (Just imagine TC as Chuck Norris in the GIF landing the ultimate insult on a lesser.))