Have you ever noticed how some awards shows don't use the word best anymore?

Instead, they recognize winners for "outstanding" or "extraordinary" achievement. The idea being that it is somehow unseemly to choose one person, place or thing from out of the pack and declare it to be THE BEST.

Reminds us of the time our junior bowling league coaches threw 10 frames of gutter balls so that every kid in the league would get an "I Beat My Coach" patch. Around here, we think it means something to be voted East Tennessee's Best.

It means that a lot of people like you. Really, really like you. It means a whole year's worth of bragging rights. Don't be shy. Put a sign right out there where people can see it: HOME OF THE BEST!

It means a bar of achievement has been placed way up high. To be THE BEST again next year will take a lot of hard work. This year's winners all have competitors who will go all out to prove they're THE BEST.

Friendship. Pride. Healthy competition.

There's just nothing bad about being THE BEST.

Nearly 3,500 ballots were counted to come up with the winners in 100 categories.

Everyone who voted in at least half the categories was eligible for our cash prize drawing.

The $750 grand prize went to Steve Young of Knoxville.

The $500 prize went to Thresa J. Olmsted of Knoxville.

The $250 prize went to Marshall West of Knoxville.

The East Tennessee's Best Readers Poll is divided into three categories: Dining & Food, Shopping & Services and Pastimes.

Two of the categories -- Best Kept Secret and Best Category We Missed -- don't have winners. Instead, we've listed a sampling of reader submissions.

The other 98 categories include a list of runners-up. Some categories have only one runner-up while others have several. Those who made the list all had a significant number of votes. The runners-up are listed alphabetically and not in order of the number of votes received.

The short essays on each of the category winners were written for the News-Sentinel entertainment department by Doug Mason and Kevin Saylor.