2010 is gone, and the votes are in.  Ladies and gentlemen, your new Red Reporter idol!

I was expecting Joey Votto to run away with this, but instead, Votto and Bruce were tied throughout the early voting. Eventually, Bruce pulled away to a double-digit lead.  But there was a late surge for Votto, and in the end, Bruce won by only six votes.  His sponsorship banner will read: Red Reporter - Where we always knew Jay Bruce was "The Deal."

I suspect Bruce agreeing to a long-term contract with the Reds is a big part of his popularity.  Nothing makes someone more appealing than knowing they like you.

Travis Wood came in third, with Chapman and Heisey tied for fourth, and Stubbs one vote behind them.

The only player to get no votes at all was Francisco Cordero.  Wow. 

As for the second part of the contest...I declare UncleWeez's suggest of "Don't Sass the Stache" the winner.  Corky's sponsorship banner will read: Red Reporter - Where Corky Miller’s facial hair has its own fan club. Don’t sass the ‘stache! :-{

And because the vote was so close, I decided to sponsor Joey Votto's page as well, with a message congratulating him on the MVP win.

I have paid for the sponsorships, but they haven't gone live yet.  Should be soon - if not tonight, in the next day or two.

Also...someone gave me Sony Vegas for Christmas, and I used it to make a music video looking back over the Reds' season.  "Holding Out For a Hero" was something of a running joke in the game threads this year, so that's the song I used.  Plus it's an old song, so it's cheap.  :-)

It's sort of a large file (37 Mb), so I had to host it on 4shared.com.  I recommend downloading it rather than viewing it there.

Happy New Year!