You're remembering wrong man. :P What happened was that as soon as "averages", "better supports", or "logic" was mentioned in any topic you would get a legion of people yelling at you about how their opinion was infallible. :P
But yeah, on the topic, tier lists are aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawesome. I mean, first of all, they generate loads of discussion. Second of all, they can only ever be useful. I don't think anyone just uses all the best characters every time they play, and no one is suggesting you do. I mean, in the end all it really is about is an intellectual exercise.