Here are my top stories of the year, and it should come as no surprise that they are heavily involved with my life, and stories you may have read here…
1. UC Bearcats pull off perfect 12-0 campaign
Every year in college football each team starts 0-0. For the 2009 Cincinnati Bearcats, the goal was to win each game and go undefeated. Although it seemed very distant to most “experts” who didn’t even rank the Bearcats in the Top 25 to start the season, it always seemed possible to all of us who have seen this team work.When UC blew the doors off of Rutgers to start the season everyone in America took notice. Even losing Heisman hopeful quarterback Tony Pike in the USF game midway through the year didn’t matter as Zach Collaros took over and lead UC to four straight victories.
Zach Collaros performed masterfully in relief of Tony Pike
Pike came back and suffered through the first half at Pittsburgh, throwing three interceptions before redeeming himself in the second half. His 29-yard strike to Armon Binns clinched the Bearcats second straight Big East title, second straight BCS Bowl berth and the first ever undefeated, untied season in Bearcat football history.
Binns was mobbed by his teammates after making the catch
We’ll see if the first day of 2010 will put a perfect end to a perfect season.
2. Mark Martin has outstanding return to NASCAR
Did anyone expect Mark Martin to finish second in points this season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series? The 50 year-old Arkansas native brought a youthful, optimistic approach to the season, and even after it seemed nothing could go right for Martin, he kept his head up and starting driving his tail off.
His first win in four years came at Phoenix, and he didn’t stop there. Martin won five races on the year and seven poles (including his first career pole at Indianapolis). Although he came up just short in the final championship tally, he stayed true to his fans and true to his word that he wouldn’t lose sleep at night over chasing a title.
And in September he vowed to come back in 2010 and beyond, sending NASCAR media types and Martin fans everywhere into a tizzy. “That shouldn't come as any big surprise,” he said referring to his contract extension. “Who would want to quit?”I know some folks who definitely don’t want Mark Martin to quit, and one of them is me.
3. Unprecedented access at Indy leads to meeting my hero
If you read this blog in July you’ll recall my meeting the aforementioned Mark Martin at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. With a media pass I obtained as a sports intern at WCPO Channel 9 in Cincinnati, I wandered around the garage area and watched the sport from an angle I had only dreamed of in years past.
My favorite moment of the trip, and possibly the year was walking up to Mark Martin, my childhood hero and idol, and shaking his hand while chatting with him for a few minutes.
“I’m so blessed to have a lot of great fans,” he told me. And all of his fans feel a reciprocal feeling toward the man himself. I’m just glad I got to meet him before he retired.
Mark and a crew member chatting before practice session number one at Indy
Before the race all I talked about was getting Mark’s signature, something that for years has evaded me at Indianapolis. After meeting Mark and chatting with him for less than two minutes I realized that I may never need a Mark Martin autograph. I got something more from him without having him sign anything, and I’m glad for that.
So thanks Mark Martin, you made 2009 one perfect year, not just for your fans, but especially for this fan.
4. Brian Kelly departs Cincinnati for “dream job” in South Bend
In one of the weirdest moves in sports, former UC Bearcat football head coach Brian Kelly led the team to a 12-0 record and then bolted for Notre Dame less than a week later. Although no one was shocked with Kelly’s departure, (and if you were you need to look up naïve in the dictionary) most people were shocked with the way Kelly departed.
Kelly pondering his post season job options
Kelly now sits in his office at South Bend and says he will be rooting for UC in the Sugar Bowl, but most people wonder how different the game and the UC program would be if Kelly has spurned the Irish job. His successor, Butch Jones (who was also his successor at Central Michigan), will be here in New Orleans, but won’t be coaching the Bearcats in the Sugar Bowl against Florida.
Butch Jones was introduced as UC Head Coach on Wed. Dec. 9th
Needless to say there will still be football in Cincinnati next season, and there will be football in South Bend. It’ll just be a little bit different. And after a while the city of Cincinnati will realize that Brian Kelly isn’t the devil, and thank him for what he accomplished in Cincinnati in three years.
5. Career path gets a little more defined, I think
As I mentioned earlier I had an awesome opportunity to get a taste of a possible future in journalism by being an intern at WCPO-Channel 9 in Cincinnati. Not only did my experience at Channel 9 offer me an opportunity to go watch and interview NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, but I also had an opportunity to check in on some NASCAR stars at Kentucky Speedway.
Joey Logano at the June Busch race at Kentucky Speedway
Yet it was so much more than that at Channel 9. I went to Cincinnati Reds games, Cincinnati Bengals practices, high school baseball games and even a chess tournament. Photographers Phillip Lee and Mark Slaughter taught me how to shoot television highlights and edit them into quick clips for the news. Anchor Dennis Janson (a fellow Elder grad) taught me how to ask interview questions while I helped him with his computer, and WCPO Sports Director John Popovich, a man affectionately referred to as “Popo”, taught me everything else I needed to know about the industry. Needless to say it was an enjoyable internship and gave me a jump start on my career.
And while I wouldn’t say I’m dead set on becoming a television guy when I graduate, I know that I certainly could see myself doing that for my career in the future if nothing else exciting comes up.
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2009 was a perfect year in many ways yet it was only one year in a long list of years. By far it was the busiest year of blogging for myself, and I set a very high bar for 2010. I’ll see what 2010 brings and hope that all of you, my faithful readers, will continue to read on into the new year. However you’re celebrating the ringing in of 2010, remember to do it safely, and tune in to the Allstate Sugar Bowl on FOX at 8:30 (Eastern) to see the game I’ve been waiting so many years for.
Until 2010, I’m out
Adam
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