Last night was the annual REBNY awards for residential deals.

I congratulate the winners!

I’m generally not a fan of awards.

Especially those that are based on non-factual criteria.

It goes with my theme of “top ten lists” .

Regardless of the industry, these have ultimately become more about the event itself, not the actual awards.

The Grammy Awards is the best music show on earth, but year after year there are fewer awards given out at the event, and more acts performing. I like that!

Awards for artistic expression are based on opinion.

And usually, they pick the wrong “winner” (IMHO).

Hollywood does this as well. Less awards – more hoopla!

How about Miss America?

There are very few awards presented now that avoid a gray area. Running 100 meters, and crossing the tape first usually decides the victor – unless the drug test comes back positive for an illegal substance, which then the runner-up is awarded the title.

I’ve always wondered how the person in second place feels about suddenly becoming “Number 1”.

It’s honorable to acknowledge individuals for accomplishments in their respective industries, like The Nobel Peace Prize, but this should be an acknowledgement, and not a first place victory. There are plenty of “runner-ups” who deserve a place at the podium.

Everywhere I look, it seems as if there is a new list written by some “expert” about a caste system of the subject matter’s relative pedigree.

Our culture loves these.

I HATE it!

Here are some examples:

Forbes has a slew of them.

Crains‘ “40 under 40?” (I’m too old for this one).

The Observer’s “100 Most Powerful People in New York Real Estate”. (Very entertaining).

If you want to see a top list of Top Ten Lists, there’s a website dedicated to the phenomenon: www.toptenz.net. I’m putting them on my Top Ten List of “websites with grammatical errors in their domain name”.

David Letterman gets my top prize for Top Ten Lists.

I guess the wise old owl who once told me that “no matter who you are, there is always someone better or worse off than you” was wrong…if you’re lucky enough to be Number 1!