The Year That Was In Sports - Recap of 2009

It's the last day of 2009. Unless something huge in the sports world takes place in the next couple of hours, here are my picks for the top stories of 2009.
______________________________________________________________________

Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals to win NFL-leading 6th Super Bowl

• a game that featured the league's most successful franchise, against one the least successful, as the Cardinals hadn't won a Super Bowl in 62 years, the longest drought in the NFL
• James Harrison intercepted a pass, going 100 yards for the touchdown, setting a Super Bowl record, making it the longest play in SB history
  
• it was the catch that everyone tried to emulate ; Santonio Holmes applying the toe drill, catching the game-winning 6-yard touchdown pass on a slant, making sure he stayed in bounds
• 98.7 million people tuned into the game, making it the most-watched Super Bowl ever
• Santonio Holmes was named Super Bowl MVP, making him the 6th receiver and 3rd Steelers receiver to win it (Lynn Swann and Hines Ward)

____________________________________________________________________

Nick Adenhart, Chris Henry, and Steve McNair latest active pro athletes dead

• Nick was killed in a hit-and-run on April 9, which was tragic news because of the fact that he was a promising rookie that had good stuff as a pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels; he was 22
  
• the amount of outpoor for Adenhart's death was not seen in quite a long time
• Chris Henry died December 17 after a domestic dispute in which he fell out of the back of a pickup truck driven by his fiancee
• every game during the 15th week of the NFL season, which was from December 17-21, begun with a moment of silence for the talented wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, who had a troubled outside life, but was on his way to turning it around; he was 26
• Steve McNair died on July 4, after suffering gunshot wounds from his mistress
• he was a 3-time Pro Bowler, an All-Pro, Co-MVP, and is the Tennessee Titans' all-time leading passer; he was 36

____________________________________________________________________
Los Angeles Lakers capture their 15th NBA championship and coach Phil Jackson wins record 10th NBA championship as a coach

• the Lakers won the series against the Orlando Magic 4-1, in their NBA-leading 30th finals, appearance, to improve their record to 15-15 in the NBA finals
• Kobe Bryant was named Finals MVP, averaging 32.4 points per game and 7.4 assists

____________________________________________________________________

New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies to win their league-leading 27th MLB World Series title

• it was not only that, but the fact that Alex Rodriguez finally turned his postseason debacle of a career around, into something positive, providing the Empire State with sighs of relief
• Hideki Matsui won World Series MVP
• Johnny Damon provided the world with one of the smartest and interesting plays in MLB playoff history, when he took advantage of an open third base to complete the double steal that jump started a Yankees rally in game 4
• the latest start to a World Series (October 28) in MLB history

_____________________________________________________________________
Usain Bolt breaks the world record for the 100m and 200m race, with unprecedented times of 9.58 and 19.19 seconds in Berlin

• it seems more and more appropriate that the world's fastest man's last name is Bolt
• largest margin of improvement in the 100 m world record since the beginning of electric timing, after Bolt shattered his previous record of 9.69 seconds
• mainly because of that performance, Bolt was named the World Athlete of the Year by the IAAF
  

___________________________________________________________________
After serving 18 months in prison, one-time football sensation Michael Vick gets out and is signed by the Philadelphia Eagles

• already being one of the most hated men in professional sports, the one-time star quarterback was signed by the Eagles in a surprising move
  
• since then, he has had a steady season, being involved in quite a few Wildcat offense plays
• has stayed out of trouble, and even has been praised for some off-field involvements that he has been apart off

____________________________________________________________________

Brett Favre un-retires again, and signs with the Minnesota Vikings

• signs with one of the Packers' division rivals
• very successful with his team, with a current record of 11-4 heading into their last game of the regular season

____________________________________________________________________
Michael Phelps is suspended after a shocking photo of the Olympian smoking from a bong

• the legendary swimmer absolutely stunned fans all across the globe when USA swimming suspended him for 3 months after a photo was released of him smoking marijuana
• Kellogg's took away their endorsement deal with Phelps

____________________________________________________________________
The New Jersey Nets make NBA history by starting off the season 0-18

• it wasn't the kind of history that you want to make, as they became the worst team to start off a season in league history
• former head coach Lawrence Frank was fired after the 17th loss
• their current record is 3-29; a record of 3-11 since their atrocious start

____________________________________________________________________
Tiger Woods gets into an accident, and then admits infidelity

• after crashing into a tree while reversing his car out of his driveway, several reports surfaced that the star golfer was a victim to infidelity
• a couple of big-name companies have dropped their sponsorship with Woods, including Gillette
• this was surprising to people all over the world as Woods had a reputation before of being the perfect athlete (dominating the sport, having class, no scandals outside the playing field)