open( BEST, "< $best_file") || die "Sorry, can't open $best_file: $!";

my @best_array = ();  # Silences strict

while( <BEST> ) {
   print STDOUT "\t Reading next line...\n";
   chomp;                    # Works on $_
   s/^\s+//;                 # Ditto
   my @NewRow = split /\s+/; # Ditto, note scoping with my
   print STDOUT $NewRow[0], " ", $NewRow[1], "\n";
   push( @best_array, \@NewRow ); # Take reference, avoid copy
   print STDOUT "\t Proceeding to next line...\n";
}