Time has come for the annual Exceptional DBA Awards contest, sponsored by Red Gate and judged by four really exceptional DBAs:

• Steve Jones                   (blog|twitter)
• Rodney Landrum            (blog|twitter)
• Brad McGehee               (blog|twitter)
• Brent Ozar                   (blog|twitter)

The judges picked their finalists and it would really be hard to choose the winner if I didn’t happen to know one of them.

I won’t talk around it: please vote for Jeff Moden!

I don’t know the other three finalists and I am sure that they really are very good DBAs, probably exceptional DBAs, otherwise they would not have made it to the final showdown. But I have no doubt that Jeff is the one to vote.

There is something that goes beyond being exceptional. I can’t give it a name, but I will try to explain it.

Some years ago, I was working primarily as a developer at a big shoe company and I was one of those “Accidental” DBAs lurking on the SQL Server Central forums struggling to expand their knowledge. I already had a long experience in database development, but, at that time, I also needed to start learning how to take care of my databases. Whenever I had an issue, SQL Server Central had a thread with an answer for me.

One day, I stumbled upon a question and, surprisingly enough, I happened to know the answer. That day, when I hit the “reply” button, I had no idea of the great journey that was ahead of me.

SQL Server Central people are exceptional and the forums are totally addictive. Long story short, I became one of the “regulars”. I could not stay away from the forums and checking the e-mail notifications became part of my morning tasks.

Among the other regulars, there was one folk with a funny signature, a sort of manifesto of the anti-RBAR party. “RBAR”: a made-up word that probably very few people knew at the time, which now is just the right word to say it when you do it “Row By Agonizing Row”!

That guy with the funny signature was one of the most active members and it looked like he spent the whole night posting on the forums (and he probably did). His replies were always smart, spot-on and humorous.

He also had published some articles where he preached avoiding cursors like the plague and replacing them with the T-SQL Swiss army knife “par excellence”: the Tally table.

Needless to say, the folk’s name is Jeff Moden.

His articles are always enlightening and thorough, shipped with the complete code and solid performance demonstration. Jeff’s writing style is unique and engaging: you would recognize one of his articles even if he published under a pseudonym (which he did, actually. Remember Phil McCracken?).

I have never met Jeff in person, but I consider him a good friend. He also helped me write my first article for SSC: his hair must have turned white when he read the first draft and his beard must have grown an inch when he saw my poor English. Nonetheless, his kind words, encouragement and suggestions helped me accomplish that article and I consider him one of the main culprits if now I’m not just a thread-aholic, but I also turned into a blog-aholic.

Jeff deserves your vote, because he is an exceptional person and an exceptional DBA. People like him are more than exceptional: they’re one of a kind. I don’t know the other three finalists, but I want to believe they’re not as exceptional as Jeff, otherwise I would have to feel even more humbled compared to them.

Go vote for Jeff, and, even more important, read his articles. You will find them enjoyable and inspiring.