MOst Influential Men Of 2008

# 10
John McCain’s nonconformist, bipartisan Senate reputation is so pronounced that in 2004 his name was mentioned as a possible running mate with John Kerry. He reminds us that in 2008, a man of honor can not only exist, but he can also thrive














# 9
Cristiano Ronaldo was an upstart Portugese soccer player who caught the eye of Britain's Manchester United brass and was promptly signed by them in 2003. The first Portuguese player on the team, he would win back-to-back FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year awards and crack the top 20 of FIFA player rankings in 2005.

One of Cristiano Ronaldo's most dominant seasons came in 2006-2007, when he won the Players' Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Player of the Year awards from the Professional Footballers' Association. It was quite the haul and a sure sign of recognition.


# 8
There are few people who haven’t, at one time or another, harbored dreams of chucking it all and hitting the road as a musician, which has surely played a substantial role in the massive success of Rock Band. Rob Kay has effortlessly allowed millions of guys to tap into their inner musician, and as a result the man has become an integral part of the current renaissance surrounding video games. Along with such touchstone titles as Wii Fit and the Grand Theft Auto series, Rock Band has proved instrumental in opening up the world of video games to everyday users and affords those who play it the temporary sensation of becoming a bona fide rock star.

# 7
Few actors had a bigger impact on this summer’s box office bonanza than Christian Bale, who helped guide The Dark Knight to the biggest three-day opening weekend of all time. And the fun didn’t stop there -- the deliciously macabre superhero tale would go on to shatter one record after another en route to grossing nearly $1 billion worldwide. Although Christian Bale remains coy about committing to a third installment of the Batman franchise, The Dark Knight’s astounding commercial and critical success promises to keep him in the public eye for years to come.

# 6
Gordon Ramsay flexes his culinary muscles for men to see each week on TV and, because of his high standards, it's given them something to think about when it comes to restaurant expectations. Now we know what to say the next time we get bad service… shut it down!
As the 2008 GQ Entrepreneur of the Year and recipient of 12 Michelin stars, Gordon Ramsay is also expanding his horizons. He opened his first West Coast restaurant in Los Angeles, ensuring that if you don't see him on television, you can still sample his delicacies on either coast. Gordon Ramsay is the fiery kitchen perfectionist that every guy wants to be.

# 5
Stephen Colbert has accumulated many unique honors: Oshawa, Ontario, named March 20, 2007 “Stephen Colbert Day,” Virgin America named one of their airplanes “Air Colbert,” and his coined phrase “truthiness” was named the 2005 Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society.

In October 2007, Stephen Colbert announced his candidacy for U.S. president on his show, however, his application was refused. Then, in 2008, The Colbert Report won an Emmy for best writing, cementing him as one of late night’s best. That year, he also received his third Peabody Award and had a bit part in the big-screen flick The Love Guru.


# 4
Robert Downey Jr. gave Iron Man a heart. The film grossed over $300 million in North America with critics applauding his performance. Robert Downey Jr. gained over 20 pounds of muscle and used his own life experiences to make alter-ego Tony Stark a very human character that guys could understand.

He wowed audiences again in Tropic Thunder. As a self-centered Australian actor who undergoes cosmetic surgery to look black, Robert Downey Jr. earned laughs without being offensive. With the Oscar favorite The Soloist still on his plate, Robert Downey Jr. has earned a decade's worth of kudos in only one year.


# 3
Michael Phelps changed North American TV habits when it came to swimming. Thirty million people watched the 2008 Summer Olympics swimming event in 2008, and there will be increased coverage of the sport until the 2012 Olympics.

Watching is one thing, but playing is another. Michael Phelps hopes that his fans will try the pool out for themselves. For guys, it's a chance to get in shape and work toward a sporty physique -- as long as they stay clean. Through Project Believe, Michael Phelps was voluntarily tested beyond the Olympic requirements to show his commitment to keeping swimming free of performance-enhancing drugs.


# 2
The Steve Jobs premature-demise model gave many the opportunity to see into the future, and few liked what they saw. One unnamed exec said he believed that Steve Jobs’ death could drive Apple’s stock down by 25%.

No other CEO in the world is so intimately associated with his company’s products. Does anyone think of Subrah lyar while using a WebEx application? Who thinks of Steve Ballmer as their XBox powers up? But iPod and Jobs, Mac and Steve -- one ceases to be without the other. After all, while in some ways, Steve Jobs may seem like the accidental CEO, an eccentric hippie in the right place and time, when in fact he’s as savvy as they get. Furthermore, his design aesthetic is impeccable: He blends form and function into visionary elegance, making products so hip and so useful, they divide the world into Apple owners and Apple enviers.

So if you have ever wondered which contemporary your grandkids will pester you about, wonder no more: Steve Jobs is posterity’s wet dream. We’re merely lucky enough to have known him when.



# 1
For millions of young guys voting for the first time, Barack Obama isn’t a symbol of change -- he is the emissary of their legacy. His arrival tells them that they aren’t doomed to inherit the archaic cynicism of their parents, but are free to entertain their own hopes and dreams.

More so than his opponent, if Barack Obama wins, those first-time voters who supported him stand poised to claim fair credit for a watershed event in their country’s history, and thus to assume a greater responsibility for shaping its future.

After all, American politics have not produced a candidate like him since 1960 -- yet the comparisons with Camelot should end there; for Barack and the Obama family, there was no compound in Hyannis and no entitlements. His inspirational rise has revived another idea cynics tried to snuff out: that in America, how low you start out has no bearing on how high you can go.

Win or lose come November, Barack Obama reminds us that the American Dream is real -- real enough to believe in, and that it has no room for cynics.