Highlights of 2009: Murray Wins Under Lights at Wimbledon

The roof would ruin the atmosphere, it would change the nature of grass court tennis, it would make life difficult for the players, Andy Murray didn’t like it either. One dramatic late-evening fourth-round match later, only Murray and a few traditionalists were left grumbling, as a new Wimbledon tradition was born. Murray’s win over Stanislas Wawrinka finished at 10:38pm, with 12 million viewers on BBC television, and many more around the world.

Murray serving under the new roof on Centre Court

The new roof somehow added something to the atmosphere, building a sense of occasion, as the lights lit up the court, whilst the rest of SW19 lay in darkness. We can expect many more of these nights to come, but this will always be remembered as the start, and the All England Club deserve credit for being proactive and forward thinking, something they are not always associated with.

Highlights of the Decade: Round-up 2

The Guardian has published its complete list of the decade's highlights, sport by sport.

Highlights of 2009: Super Bowl XLIII

Super Bowl XLIII was a clash of the haves and have-nots of the NFL. The Pittsburgh Steelers are NFL royalty, with five previous titles illuminating a proud history as one of the most popular and best-run franchises in the sport. The Arizona Cardinals’ peripatetic history had seen them based in three different cities, and fail to win to much as a division title since 1975, testament to mismanagement on and off the field. However, the 2008 Cardinals were a different beast, and entering January 2009 and the postseason, they surprised their opponents at every turn, marching through the playoffs at the expense of more fancied opponents.

The Super Bowl itself was a classic (click here for highlights). The Steelers took a commanding first half 17-7 lead thanks in part to the longest play in Super Bowl history: a breathless, lung-bursting 100 yard interception return by the league’s defensive MVP, James Harrison, who spent much of the next half hour breathing from an oxygen mask to recover. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was also playing with assurance, his performance a long way removed from the nervy second-year player whose team won a title in spite of him three years prior.

An exhuasted James Harrison lies prostrate after his record-breaking 100 yard touchdown

The Cardinals did not look like a team who were outclassed however, and following a cagey third quarter, they came roaring back with a stunning fourth quarter fightback. Quarterback Kurt Warner, playing out another chapter in a fairytale career that took him from stocking shelves in a supermarket, to winning a Super Bowl for the St Louis Rams, then on to being an unwanted injury-prone backup, and now finally back to another Super Bowl, found Larry Fitzgerald, the breakout star of the year, who showed both sides to his scoring threat. First, Warner hit Fitzgerald for a leaping touchdown catch over the coverage, bringing the score back to 20-14.

Then, following a 2-point safety thanks to strong defense from the Cardinals, Warner picked out Fitzgerald in midfield, who showed the other side to his play, scorching away from defenders to complete a 63-yard touchdown and give his side the lead with less than three minutes remaining. Arizona were on the verge of history.

Fitzgerald celebrates his second touchdown

Pittsburgh got the ball back on their own 22-yard line with 2:37 and two timeouts left in the game. Despite at one stage facing 1st and 20, Roethlisberger did what he does best, especially behind a weak offensive line, rolling out of the pocket, extending the play, and waiting for his receivers to get open. Four times he found Santonio Holmes, as the Steelers marched downfield. With 43 seconds remaining, Roethlisberger looked to his right and fired a pinpoint pass over three defenders to a point where only Holmes could possibly reach it. Holmes leapt at full stretch, and grabbed the ball whilst managing to get his feet down and inside the end zone for the touchdown. The scoring drive had covered 78 yards in eight plays, with Holmes, the game's MVP, responsible for four of them, totalling 73 yards.

Holmes plucks Roethlisberger's pass from the air for the winning score

The Cardinals now had only 35 seconds left to find a winning score, but with eight seconds remaining, Pittsburgh’s league-leading defense came to the fore, with Lamarr Woodley sacking Warner, and team-mate Brett Keisel recovering the fumble to secure the 27-23 win for the Steelers.

In a decade that has seen some fantastic Super Bowls, this was one of the best. Momentum swung one way and then the other, and right up until the final seconds, no-one could be sure who would win. There were spectacular scores, fantastic defense, and great stories all over the pitch. Whilst it was sad for the Cardinals, who had instilled pride in a franchise that had been a joke for years, and for Kurt Warner, whose 377 passing yards was the second most of all time, behind his own record of 414, and ahead of himself again in third place, the Steelers fully deserved their own piece of history, becoming the first side to win six Super Bowls, and reminding fans why they are one of America’s best loved sports teams.

(For extended stylised highlights, click here, well worth 20 minutes of your time)

Highlights of 2009: Button and Brawn's Remarkable Turnaround

5 December 2008: Honda announces its withdrawal from Formula One for financial reasons, throwing the team’s future in doubt. The announcement probably comes too late for either of the team’s drivers, Rubens Barrichello or Jenson Button, to secure a competitive drive for the following season.

6 March 2009: Ross Brawn, the team’s technical director, announces that he has bought the team, renamed Brawn GP. Button and Barrichello will drive cars powered by Mercedes engines.

27 March 2009: Following complaints from other teams, the FIA investigates whether the rear diffuser used by Brawn and two other teams is illegal, and rejects the claims. The protesting teams, Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull, lodge an appeal.

28 March 2009: Brawn secure both places on the front row of the grid for the opening Grand Prix of the season in Australia, with Button, who has underachieved up to this point in his career, despite much-hype, taking his fourth ever pole, his first since 2006.
Team announces major sponsorship deal with Richard Branson’s Virgin.

Ross Brawn alongside team sponsor Richard Branson

29 March 2009: Brawn becomes the first constructor in over 50 years to secure pole position and a win in its first Grand Prix, as Button and Barrichello finish in first and second.
The team announces heavy job losses in order to cut costs, making more than a third of its staff redundant.

5 April 2009: Malaysian Grand Prix is abandoned after 31 laps with Button leading. He is awarded the win and half points, as the race did not go the full distance.

15 April 2009: FIA court rules that the controversial rear diffuser is legal. Brawn’s results stand.

19 April 2009: Barrichello starts on pole position in China, with Button second. The Englishman finishes third in the race, with his Brazilian team-mate fourth.

7 June 2009: In Turkey, Button secures his sixth win out of seven races, opening up a 16-point Drivers’ Championship lead over Barrichello.

21 June 2009: Button struggles at the British Grand Prix, finishing sixth.

18 October 2009: Button wins the Driver’s Championship, his first, by finishing fifth in Brazil, opening up an unassailable 15-point advantage over Sebastian Vettel with one race to go. Brawn secures the Constructor’s Championship, in only its first season in existence.

Button celebrates his title win in Brazil

16 November 2009: Mercedes announces that it has bought Brawn GP, which will be renamed, meaning that Brawn will be unique in winning the title in its only season, leaving with an 100% championship success rate, and a 47.05% race success rate (8 wins in 17).

18 November 2009: Jenson Button signs for McLaren, where he will race alongside 2008 world champion, Lewis Hamilton, a man to whom Button had been previously been unfavourably compared to due to years of underachievement and Hamilton’s remarkable success in his first two seasons in the sport.

Highlights of 2009: England's win at Lords

The odds were against England before the second Ashes test match at Lords. In the twentieth century, England had only beaten Australia there once, in 1934. In the twenty-first century, England had lost two out of two at Lords to Australia, even in the historic Ashes win of 2005 a win at the home of cricket proved one curse too many in a series where curses had been lifted one after the other. England had been hammered in the first test at Cardiff, their bowling appeared impotent and their batting lacked the assurance of their Australian counterparts, only hanging on for a draw by the narrowest of margins. On the eve of the test, England’s talismanic all-rounder, Andrew Flintoff announced that he would be retiring from test matches at the end of the series.

Strauss led by example on day one

Yet from the moment Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat, everything went right for him, and by the end of the match, the captain was building a reputation as a different kind of talisman to Flintoff, as he and Alistair Cook scored a record-breaking 196 runs for the first wicket. Whilst the Australians did fight back, the English bowlers followed their captain’s example, and swung their way through a batting line-up that had appeared untouchable days earlier. In the second innings, all the English batsmen pitched in, and left the visitors with an unprecedented 522-run deficit.

From this point onwards, it became Flintoff’s test match. In the cold light of day, his career was never quite the success it might have been. For three years from 2003, he was the finest all-rounder in the world, but injuries restricted him outside of that period, and even at his peak, he never quite accumulated the runs, and particularly the wickets that one might have expected. However, given the fitness problems that would dog him for the rest of the summer, Lords would turn out to be his final moment of glory, and what a moment it was. He may not have been consistent throughout his career, but Flintoff always had a knack of coming to the fore at the crucial moment. A vicious opening spell of fast bowling took 2 for 9, removed both openers and put the visitors on the back foot. When the other bowlers could not match him, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin led an impressive Australian rearguard action that created the smallest glimmer of hope for their team, but the following morning, with history to be made one way or the other, Flintoff removed Haddin. Graeme Swann then dismissed Clarke, and Flintoff took two more wickets to secure a five-wicket haul and a place on the Lords honours board, leaving Swann to wrap up the victory.

Flintoff enjoying one final moment of history

The bare facts do not do justice to Flintoff’s effort however. He was not really fit to play by this stage, bowling through an injury that should have put him on the sidelines, and yet he was not going to let the pain deny him his moment. Pushing himself through a hostile and focused ten-over spell, he created a bittersweet spectacle for England fans: a glorious moment of sporting pleasure; but also a moment that had come too infrequently, and which would surely never be seen again. For that afternoon however, the cricket world belonged to Andrew Flintoff for one last time, and it was fitting that he used it to make his mark on history, breaking England’s curse at Lords.

Highlights of the Decade: Best of the Press

A round up of various end of the decade lists:

Deadspin's best pieces of American sports writing of the decade.

The Guardian picks its six best moments, six best footballers, six best goals and top ten rugby matches. The paper also takes a fascinating and damning look at the state of English football's finances over the last ten years.

Comedian and Cricinfo blogger, Andy Zaltzman gives part one of his cricketing highlights.

NFL Network runs down the top ten performances of the decade.

Highlights of 2009: England Qualify for the World Cup

The remarkable thing about England’s qualification for the World Cup was just how unremarkable it was. Fabio Capello sternly looked on as the side won their group with ease, only finally losing a game after qualification was wrapped up. Along the way every box was ticked. Qualification? Check. Exorcising the demons from the traumatic defeat to Croatia in 2007? Check. Come away free from major injuries, free from scandal, and with a good idea of the first choice eleven? Check. Find a way to fit Gerrard and Lampard into the same team whilst getting the best from them? Check.

Capello overseeing an England training session in July this year

The whole process was disconcertingly simple for England fans used to an emotional roller coaster ride. Even qualification specialist Sven-Göran Eriksson never made it this easy.

Of course, all of this means nothing without a strong performance in South Africa next year, and for a major footballing nation, anything less than a win will hurt. Moreover, although Capello knows most of his first choice team, he still has a couple of positions to decide on, most notably the goalkeeper. However, these are problems for 2010. In 2009, Capello and England did all that was asked of them, and did it better than anyone could have hoped for. There are sterner challenges ahead, but if nothing else, Capello with his presence and his calm command of his charges, has restored dignity to the England team, and to the post of manager, and after the debacle of the failure to qualify for Euro 2008, that is all any fan could have hoped for.