2009 Minnesota Twins season, Tie-Breaker & Post Season
The Twins went on to face the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series, which they lost in three consecutive games.


2009 Minnesota Twins season, Player stats, Batting, Regular season
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases


2009 Minnesota Twins season, Player stats, Batting, Postseason
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases


2009 Minnesota Twins season, Player stats, Pitching, Regular season
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts


2009 Minnesota Twins season, Player stats, Pitching, Postseason
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts


2009 Minnesota Vikings season
The 2009 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 49th in the National Football League and their fourth under head coach Brad Childress. The Vikings improved upon their 10–6 record and defended their NFC North title from 2008, their first successful defense of a divisional title since they won six NFC Central titles in a row between 1973 and 1978.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season
They beat the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Divisional Playoff at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, but lost the NFC Championship Game in overtime to the eventual Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, missing out on what would have been their first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XI in 1976. This year's NFC Championship Game is also dubbed by many as the "Bountygate Game" that also resulted in several players and coaching staff (including head coach Sean Payton) receiving 12-month suspensions three years later. The Vikings had 10 Pro Bowlers and four All-Pros on their roster, both league-highs for the season.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves
Quarterback Brett Favre announced that he would not sign with the Minnesota Vikings on July 28, 2009, after much speculation that he would. Less than a month later, however, Favre signed a 2-year contract worth $25 million with the Vikings.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Releases and injuries
On February 18, the team released running back Maurice Hicks.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Releases and injuries
On March 4, free agent center Matt Birk left the Vikings to join the Baltimore Ravens.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Releases and injuries
On March 18, free agent safety Darren Sharper left the Vikings to join the New Orleans Saints.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On February 24, the team re-signed cornerback Charles Gordon to a 1-year $1 million contract.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On February 26, the team re-signed defensive end Jayme Mitchell to a 2-year deal.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On February 27, the Vikings traded a 2009 4th round pick to the Houston Texans for quarterback Sage Rosenfels. They then signed Rosenfels to a 2-year $9 million contract extension that will run through 2011.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On February 27, the team re-signed tight end Jim Kleinsasser to a 3-year $9 million contract.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On March 6, the team re-signed linebacker Heath Farwell to a 3-year $7.75 million contract.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On March 9, the team re-signed cornerback Benny Sapp to a 1-year contract.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On March 11, the team re-signed defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy to a 1-year contract.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On March 19, the Vikings signed cornerback Karl Paymah and wide receiver Glenn Holt.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On March 21, cornerback Cedric Griffin signed a 3-year contract extension.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On March 27, the team matched the Bengals' offer sheet for RFA fullback Naufahu Tahi.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On March 31, the team re-signed defensive end Otis Grigsby to a 1-year deal.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On April 6, the team re-signed defensive tackle Fred Evans to a 1-year deal.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On July 24, Antoine Winfield and the Vikings agreed on a 5-year extension through the 2013 season.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Player and personnel moves, Signings and extensions
On August 18, after months of negotiations, the team signed formerly retired quarterback Brett Favre.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Draft
The Vikings had five selections in the 2009 NFL Draft; they had traded their fourth-round selection to the Houston Texans for quarterback Sage Rosenfels and, back in 2007, they had traded their sixth-round selection to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for quarterback Kelly Holcomb. In 2008, they received an extra 2009 seventh-round selection from the Washington Redskins for defensive end Erasmus James, but they used that extra pick to move from spot #158 to #150 in the fifth round.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Offseason, Draft
The Vikings' top two selections, WR Percy Harvin and OT Phil Loadholt, both soon became 1st string players, while Jasper Brinkley finished the season as the team's starting MLB after E.J. Henderson suffered a broken leg in a Week 13 game against the Arizona Cardinals. Harvin was also voted the Offensive Rookie of the Year and was named as the NFC's starting kick returner for the 2010 Pro Bowl on January 31, 2010.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Preseason, Game summaries, Week 2: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Brett Favre made his Minnesota Vikings debut, going 1–4 for just four yards and no first downs converted in his two series under center; he nonetheless got a standing ovation from the sellout crowd at the Metrodome. Tarvaris Jackson completed two touchdowns, a 13-yard score to Visanthe Shiancoe and a 64-yarder to Darius Reynaud.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Preseason, Game summaries, Week 3: at Houston Texans
Brett Favre completed 13 of 18 passes for 142 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown pass to running back Chester Taylor. Favre even got physical, laying a block (albeit an illegal one) on Texans safety Eugene Wilson.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season
As well as playing their NFC North rivals both at home and on the road, the Vikings were scheduled to face opponents from the AFC North and the NFC West. They were also handed fixtures against the Carolina Panthers from the NFC South and the New York Giants from the NFC East by virtue of having won their division in 2008. Based on their opponents' results in 2008, the Vikings had the second-easiest schedule in the league in 2009, with their opponents having won 42.0% of their games in 2008.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: at Cleveland Browns
The Vikings began their season at Cleveland Browns Stadium for a Week 1 interconference duel with the Cleveland Browns. In the first quarter, Minnesota trailed as Browns kicker Phil Dawson got a 37-yard field goal. The Vikings answered with kicker Ryan Longwell making a 21-yard field goal. In the second quarter, Minnesota took the lead as running back Adrian Peterson got a 1-yard touchdown run. Cleveland retook their lead as Dawson kicked a 20-yard field goal, along with wide receiver Joshua Cribbs returning a punt 67 yards for a touchdown.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: at Cleveland Browns
In the third quarter, the Vikings took control as Peterson got a 1-yard touchdown run, along with quarterback Brett Favre completing a 6-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin. Afterwards, Minnesota put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter; Ryan Longwell nailed a 37-yard field goal, while Adrian Peterson got a 64-yard touchdown run. The Browns closed out the game with quarterback Brady Quinn completing a 26-yard touchdown pass to tight end Robert Royal.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: at Cleveland Browns
With the win, the Vikings began their season at 1–0.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 2: at Detroit Lions
Coming off their road win over the Browns, the Vikings flew to Ford Field for a Week 2 NFC North duel with the Detroit Lions. Minnesota trailed early as Lions kicker Jason Hanson got a 30-yard field goal. Detroit added to their lead in the second quarter as quarterback Matthew Stafford completed an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Calvin Johnson. The Vikings ended the half with a 1-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brett Favre to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 2: at Detroit Lions
In the third quarter, Minnesota took the lead as kicker Ryan Longwell made a 46-yard field goal, followed by running back Adrian Peterson getting a 27-yard touchdown run. The Vikings pulled away as Longwell nailed a 46-yard field goal, followed by Favre completing a 3-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin. The Lions completed the scoring as Hanson got a 48-yard field goal.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. San Francisco 49ers
Coming off their divisional road win over the Lions, the Vikings played their Week 3 home opener against the San Francisco 49ers. Minnesota opened in the first quarter with quarterback Brett Favre's 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Sidney Rice. The Vikings added onto their lead in the second quarter with kicker Ryan Longwell's 40-yard field goal, but the 49ers answered with quarterback Shaun Hill's 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Vernon Davis. Minnesota came back with Longwell's 52-yard field goal, but San Francisco took the lead prior to halftime as cornerback Nate Clements returned a blocked field goal 59 yards for a touchdown.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers increased their lead in the second half with kicker Joe Nedney's 37-yard field goal, but the Vikings immediately responded with rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin returning a kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, San Francisco got the lead again with Hill hooking up with Davis on a 20-yard touchdown pass. Afterwards, Minnesota came up with a dramatic win as Favre completed a game-winning 32-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Greg Lewis with 2 seconds remaining in the game. The pass was later awarded an ESPY for "Best Play". The game was also voted as the best game of the regular season by voters on NFL.com.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Green Bay Packers
at Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Green Bay Packers
Coming off their last-second win over the 49ers, the Vikings stayed at home, donned their throwback uniforms, and prepared for the highly anticipated Week 4 NFC North Monday Night Football duel with the Green Bay Packers. This was a key divisional match-up, as the division lead was on the line, while quarterback Brett Favre was pitted against his former team. Favre entered the stadium to a series of boos coming from Green Bay fans throughout the stadium.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Green Bay Packers
Minnesota started off the first quarter with Favre completing a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. The Packers responded with quarterback Aaron Rodgers completing a 62-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jermichael Finley. In the second quarter, the Vikings struck again with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Favre to wide receiver Sidney Rice, but Green Bay answered with linebacker Clay Matthews stripping running back Adrian Peterson of the ball and returning it 42 yards for a touchdown. The Vikings closed out the half with a 1-yard touchdown run from Peterson.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Green Bay Packers
Minnesota began to build a lead in the third quarter as Favre hooked up with wide receiver Bernard Berrian on a 31-yard touchdown pass. In the fourth quarter, the Vikings solidified their lead as defensive end Jared Allen sacked Rodgers in the Green Bay endzone for a safety. The Packers rallied with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to wide receiver Jordy Nelson (with a failed 2-point conversion), followed by kicker Mason Crosby nailing a 31-yard field goal. However, the Packers' push came too late and Minnesota was able to run out the clock for the win.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Green Bay Packers
With the victory, not only did the Vikings improve to 4–0, but Favre became the first quarterback in NFL history to defeat all 32 NFL teams.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Green Bay Packers
Allen had a spectacular single-game performance with a career-best 4.5 sacks. Favre was awarded the NFC Offensive Player of the Week, marking the 14th time in his career he has earned this award.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at St. Louis Rams
Coming off an impressive divisional home win over the Packers, the Vikings flew to the Edward Jones Dome for a Week 5 duel with the St. Louis Rams. Minnesota got off to a fast start in the first quarter as running back Adrian Peterson got a 5-yard touchdown run, followed by defensive end Jared Allen's 52-yard fumble return for a touchdown. The Rams got on the board with kicker Josh Brown making a 29-yard field goal, but the Vikings replied with kicker Ryan Longwell booting a 47-yard field goal.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at St. Louis Rams
Minnesota kept its dominating performance going in the third quarter as quarterback Brett Favre hooked up with tight end Visanthe Shiancoe on a 13-yard touchdown pass. In the fourth quarter, the Vikings continued to pull away as Peterson got a 7-yard touchdown run. St. Louis tried to rally with a 27-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Marc Bulger to wide receiver Donnie Avery, but Minnesota closed out the game with a 1-yard touchdown run from running back Chester Taylor.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at St. Louis Rams
With the win, not only did the Vikings make their first 5–0 start since 2003, but Favre earned his first 5–0 start in his career.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Baltimore Ravens
at Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Baltimore Ravens
Coming off their easy road win over the Rams, the Vikings went home for a Week 6 inter-conference duel with the Baltimore Ravens. Minnesota got off to a fast start in the first quarter with quarterback Brett Favre completing a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe and a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Bernard Berrian. Afterwards, the Ravens got the only points of the second quarter as kicker Steven Hauschka getting a 29-yard field goal.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Baltimore Ravens
In the third quarter, the Vikings picked up where they left off with a 40-yard field goal from kicker Ryan Longwell. Baltimore responded with a 22-yard touchdown run from running back Ray Rice, yet Longwell helped out Minnesota by nailing a 22-yard field goal. Afterwards, an action-packed fourth quarter ensued. Minnesota increased its lead with Favre hooking up with Shiancoe again on a 1-yard touchdown pass, but the Ravens continued to hang around as quarterback Joe Flacco found wide receiver Mark Clayton on a 32-yard touchdown pass.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Baltimore Ravens
The Vikings replied with Longwell's 29-yard field goal, but Baltimore took lead for the first time in the game as Flacco hooked up with wide receiver Derrick Mason on a 12-yard touchdown pass and Rice running 33 yards for a touchdown. Minnesota then regained the lead as Longwell booted a 31-yard field goal after a 58-yard pass from quarterback Brett Favre to wide receiver Sidney Rice. The Ravens got a last-minute drive into scoring range, but Hauschka's 44-yard field goal attempt went wide left, preserving the Vikings' perfect season.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Baltimore Ravens
With the win, the Vikings acquired their first 6–0 start since 2003 (unfortunately that team did not make the playoffs). Also, dating back to Week 17 of the 2008 season, Minnesota has won seven-straight regular season games for the first time since 2000.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 7: at Pittsburgh Steelers
Coming off their thrilling home win over the Ravens, the Vikings flew to Heinz Field for a Week 7 interconference duel with the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Minnesota trailed late in the first quarter as Steelers kicker Jeff Reed got a 39-yard field goal, but they took the lead in the second quarter as running back Adrian Peterson got a 1-yard touchdown. However, Pittsburgh retook the lead as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hooked up with wide receiver Mike Wallace on a 40-yard touchdown pass.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 7: at Pittsburgh Steelers
Both teams exchanged field goals in the third quarter as Reed nailed a 27-yard field goal, while Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell booted an 18-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, Minnesota began to trail big as Vikings quarterback Brett Favre was stripped by defensive end Brett Keisel, causing a 77-yard fumble return for a touchdown by linebacker LaMarr Woodley. The Vikings immediately struck back with rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin's 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, but the Steelers' defense answered right back with linebacker Keyaron Fox's 82-yard interception return for a touchdown. The Vikings could not come back to win. The Steelers ended up winning 27–17.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Green Bay Packers
Hoping to rebound from their first loss of the season to the Steelers, the Vikings flew to Lambeau Field for the highly anticipated Week 8 divisional rematch with the Green Bay Packers, as quarterback Brett Favre made his first return to Lambeau since initially retiring after the 2007 season.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Green Bay Packers
In the first quarter, the Packers scored the game's first points as kicker Mason Crosby made a 37-yard field goal following a miscue by Vikings center John Sullivan (Favre audibled for another play but Sullivan snapped the ball before Favre completed his audible). Minnesota responded with a 1-yard touchdown from running back Adrian Peterson. In the second quarter, the Vikings added onto their lead as Favre completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, followed by kicker Ryan Longwell (another former Packer) nailing a 41-yard field goal.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Green Bay Packers
Minnesota picked up where they left off in the third quarter as Favre hooked up with rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin on a 51-yard touchdown pass, yet Green Bay started to rally as Crosby booted a 26-yard field goal, followed by quarterback Aaron Rodgers finding tight end Spencer Havner on a 16-yard and a 5-yard touchdown pass. The Vikings answered in the fourth quarter with Favre connecting with tight end/fullback Jeff Dugan on a 2-yard touchdown pass. The Packers tried to come back as Rodgers completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Greg Jennings (with a failed 2-point conversion), but Minnesota pulled away with Favre finding wide receiver Bernard Berrian on a 16-yard touchdown pass.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Green Bay Packers
With their first season-sweep of the Packers in four years, the Vikings went into their bye week at 7–1, and took a commanding 2+1⁄2-game lead in the NFC North over the second-place Packers. Favre threw at least 4 touchdowns for the 21st time in his career, matching the NFL record held by Dan Marino. This also marks Vikings head coach Brad Childress' first win at Green Bay (he is 3–5 overall against the Packers) and the Vikings' first sweep of the Packers since 2005.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 9: Bye week
During the Vikings' bye week, both Green Bay and Chicago lost their games (to Tampa Bay 38–28 and Arizona 41–21 respectively), allowing the Vikings to gain a three-game lead in the division standings and moving them a step closer to qualification for the playoffs and first round bye.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 10: vs. Detroit Lions
at Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 10: vs. Detroit Lions
Coming off their bye week, the Vikings were at home and met in an NFC North duel with the Detroit Lions, who hadn't won in the Metrodome since 1997. In the first quarter, the Vikings scored the period's only points as kicker Ryan Longwell nailed a 22-yard field goal. They increased their lead in the second quarter as running back Adrian Peterson scored on a 22-yard touchdown run. However, Lions kicker Jason Hanson kicked a 38-yard field goal late in the quarter.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 10: vs. Detroit Lions
At the beginning of the second half, a fumble by the Lions on their first play from scrimmage was recovered at their 29-yard line by the Vikings. Peterson ran twice on the ensuing drive, scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run to make it a 17–3 lead. The Lions responded with a 15-play, 84-yard drive, capped off by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to tight end Will Heller. Nevertheless, the Vikings pulled away in the fourth quarter as Favre completed an 8-yard pass to tight end Jeff Dugan and kicker Ryan Longwell nailed a 35-yard field goal.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 10: vs. Detroit Lions
With the win, the Vikings moved to 8–1, and compiled a 4–0 record against their NFC North rivals. The Vikings accrued nearly 500 yards of total offense, including 303 yards in the first half alone. The Vikings also had 13 penalties, a season-high. Wide receiver Sidney Rice had a big day, catching seven passes for 201 yards, including a 56-yard reception in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. Rice was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 10, the first time he has received this award. Favre and Peterson were voted FedEx Air and Ground Players of the Week.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs. Seattle Seahawks
at Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs. Seattle Seahawks
Coming off their penalty-plagued blowout win over the Lions, the Vikings stayed at home and met in a Week 11 duel with the Seattle Seahawks. After a scoreless first quarter, the Vikings got on the board with quarterback Brett Favre completing a 23-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Percy Harvin. Later in the same quarter, the Vikings increased their lead with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Favre to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs. Seattle Seahawks
Closing out the first half was a 3-yard touchdown pass from Favre to wide receiver Bernard Berrian to make a 21–0 Vikings halftime lead, the first time of the season the Vikings kept their opponent scoreless in the first half. In the third quarter, the Vikings continued to dominate as Favre found wide receiver Sidney Rice on a 7-yard touchdown pass. Seattle scored their first points of the game when kicker Olindo Mare nailed a 40-yard field goal. Finally, the Vikings put the game away as second-string quarterback Tarvaris Jackson found Rice again on a 34-yard touchdown pass. The Seahawks tried to rally with a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Justin Forsett (with a failed two-point conversion), but the Vikings prevented the Seahawks comeback from advancing any further.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs. Seattle Seahawks
With the win, the Vikings improved to 9–1. Brett Favre threw four touchdown passes for the 22nd time in his career (second of the season), breaking the mark set by Dan Marino.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Chicago Bears
at Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Chicago Bears
Coming off their easy win over the Seahawks, the Vikings stayed at home, donned their throwback uniforms, and faced the Chicago Bears in a Week 12 duel. After a scoreless first quarter, the Vikings drew first blood as quarterback Brett Favre completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin. The Bears responded with quarterback Jay Cutler firing a 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Johnny Knox. The Vikings responded with Favre hooking up with running back Chester Taylor on a 10-yard touchdown pass, along with kicker Ryan Longwell nailing a 52-yard field goal.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Chicago Bears
Finally, the Vikings closed out the first half with Favre finding tight end Visanthe Shiancoe on a 6-yard touchdown pass. In the third quarter, the Bears tried to rally with kicker Robbie Gould nailing a 38-yard field goal. However, the Vikings finally shut out the Bears for the rest of the second half, and kicker Ryan Longwell made field goals of 37 and 20 yards. Running back Adrian Peterson also had a 5-yard touchdown run, though the extra point attempt was missed.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Chicago Bears
With the win, the Vikings improved to 10–1, and compiled a 5–0 record against their NFC North rivals. Their magic number decreased to two, meaning that any combination of two Vikings wins or Packers losses would result in the Vikings clinching their second consecutive NFC North division title. On Wednesday, December 2, Brett Favre was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for November; it was the sixth time in his career that he won the award.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 13: at Arizona Cardinals
Coming off their easy home win over the Bears, the Vikings flew to the desert for a Week 13 Sunday Night duel with the defending NFC champion Arizona Cardinals. In the first quarter, Minnesota got on the board with quarterback Brett Favre completing a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 13: at Arizona Cardinals
It was originally ruled an incomplete pass as Shiancoe was deemed to have stepped out of bounds, but Minnesota challenged and won based on the fact that Shiancoe had both feet inbounds and the referee counted Shiancoe's third step, thereby making the original ruling on the field to be overturned. The Cardinals then responded with quarterback Kurt Warner finding wide receiver Anquan Boldin on a 2-yard touchdown pass.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 13: at Arizona Cardinals
In the second quarter, Arizona took the lead with Warner finding Boldin again on a 39-yard touchdown pass. The Vikings responded with kicker Ryan Longwell nailing a 25-yard field goal. However, the Cardinals took the lead at halftime when Warner completed a 34-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. In the third quarter, Arizona increased their lead when kicker Neil Rackers kicked field goals of 31 and 30 yards. In the fourth quarter, Arizona kicker Neil Rackers nailed a 29-yard field goal. However, the Vikings tried to rally with Favre hooking up with rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin on a 31-yard touchdown pass. The Vikings tried an onside kick, which they did not recover and Arizona ran out the clock to seal their win.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 13: at Arizona Cardinals
With only their second loss of the season, the Vikings not only fell to 10–2, but they lost starting linebacker E. J. Henderson to a season-ending broken leg.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
at Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Hoping to rebound from their devastating Sunday Night loss to the Cardinals, the Vikings went home and met the Cincinnati Bengals in a Week 14 duel. After a scoreless first quarter, Minnesota took first blood as kicker Ryan Longwell nailed a 41-yard field goal. They increased their lead later in the quarter with quarterback Brett Favre finding wide receiver Sidney Rice on a 9-yard touchdown pass.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati responded with quarterback Carson Palmer finding wide receiver Chad Ochocinco on a 15-yard touchdown pass, however the Vikings quickly scored two field goals by kicker Ryan Longwell (from 23 and 44 yards out) to put the Vikings up 16–7 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Vikings scored the period's only points as running back Adrian Peterson got a 1-yard touchdown run. In the fourth quarter, Cincinnati tried to rally with kicker Shayne Graham nailing a 22-yard field goal, but the Vikings put the game away with running back Adrian Peterson's 3-yard touchdown run.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
With the win, the Vikings not only improved to 11–2 on the season, they also secured a playoff berth for the second consecutive season and improved upon the record from the previous season (10–6). Their "magic number" decreased to one, meaning that either a Green Bay loss at Pittsburgh or a Vikings win against Carolina on Sunday night would make Minnesota repeat division champions for the first time since 1978, when they won six consecutive NFC Central titles. Also, if the Eagles lost against San Francisco, the Vikings would also clinch a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 15: at Carolina Panthers
Coming off their home win over the Bengals, the Vikings flew to Bank of America Stadium to face the Carolina Panthers in a Week 15 Sunday Night duel. The Vikings clinched the NFC North about an hour before the game thanks in part to Pittsburgh's 37–36 last-second win over the Packers. With a win, the Vikings would be one game behind New Orleans to clinch homefield advantage. After a scoreless first quarter, Carolina got on the board with quarterback Matt Moore finding fullback Brad Hoover on a 1-yard touchdown pass. The extra point attempt was blocked, however.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 15: at Carolina Panthers
The Vikings then took the lead later in the quarter with running back Adrian Peterson's 4-yard touchdown run. After yet another scoreless quarter, it was all Carolina as Matt Moore completed a 42-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Steve Smith, as well as running back Jonathan Stewart running in a 3-yard touchdown , as well as catching a 2-yard touchdown pass from Moore.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 15: at Carolina Panthers
With the loss, the Vikings fell to 11–3. Reports surfaced after the game suggesting that there was tension between Vikings quarterback Brett Favre and head coach Brad Childress. The incident was later resolved.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Chicago Bears
Hoping to rebound from their fourth-quarter collapse to the Panthers, the Vikings flew to Soldier Field to face Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears in a Week 16 rematch to conclude the 40th season of Monday Night Football. Due to the Saints losing to Tampa Bay 20–17 in overtime the previous day, the Vikings needed to win their last two games and have the Saints lose to Carolina the next week in order to clinch homefield advantage.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Chicago Bears
In the first quarter, the Bears drew first blood as kicker Robbie Gould nailed a 22-yard field goal for the only score of the period. In the second quarter, the Bears increased their lead with Gould nailing a 42-yard field goal. They increased their lead with Cutler firing a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Greg Olsen. The Bears then closed out the first half with Gould's 41-yard field goal.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Chicago Bears
In the third quarter, the Vikes started to rally with running back Adrian Peterson's 1-yard touchdown run (with the extra point attempt blocked). The Bears increased their lead over the Vikings with Cutler's 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Desmond Clark. The Vikings then closed out the quarter with quarterback Brett Favre firing a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. An exciting fourth quarter ensued. The Vikings started out the quarter's scoring with kicker Ryan Longwell's 41-yard field goal, along with Adrian Peterson's second 1-yard touchdown run.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Chicago Bears
The Bears then responded with Cutler firing a 20-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Earl Bennett. The Vikings then completed the remarkable comeback with Favre finding wide receiver Sidney Rice on a 6-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-goal with 15 seconds left in regulation. The Bears then took a knee to force overtime. In overtime, the Bears won the toss and marched down the field, stopping at the 35-yard line. However, the potential game-winning 45-yard field goal attempt by Gould went wide right, giving the Vikings a chance to win.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Chicago Bears
After an exchange of punts, the Vikings had the ball at the 26-yard line with 11 minutes left in the period. On the first play of scrimmage, Favre fired a screen pass to Peterson who caught it and went 16 yards, before being confronted by Hunter Hillenmeyer, who caused Peterson to fumble the ball, which was then recovered by Bears' linebacker Nick Roach. The Bears then won on Jay Cutler's game-winning 39-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Devin Aromashodu.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Chicago Bears
With the loss, not only did the Vikings fall to 11–4, they also surrendered homefield advantage to the Saints.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. New York Giants
at Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. New York Giants
Hoping to break a two-game primetime losing skid, the Vikings went home to Mall of America Field for the Week 17 season finale against the New York Giants. The Vikings needed a win and an Eagles loss to Dallas later in the day in order to clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs. They also came into the game hoping to go 8–0 at home for the first time since the 15–1 season of 1998.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. New York Giants
The Vikings drew first blood in the first quarter with quarterback Brett Favre finding tight end Visanthe Shiancoe (a former Giant) on a 10-yard touchdown pass for the only score of the period. In the second quarter, the Vikings increased their lead with kicker Ryan Longwell's 41-yard field goal. Later in the quarter, it was all touchdowns as Adrian Peterson scored from one yard out, as well as Favre firing two touchdown passes to wide receiver Sidney Rice from 4 and 12 yards out.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. New York Giants
The 31–0 halftime lead was the second time of the season that the Vikes shut out their opponent in the first half, as well as tying a franchise record for the largest halftime lead. In the third quarter, the Vikings continued to destroy the Giants with Favre's 1-yard touchdown pass to fullback Naufahu Tahi on 4th-and-goal, along with kicker Ryan Longwell's field goals of 24 and 27 yards. The Giants only mustered a 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter by running back Danny Ware.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. New York Giants
With the win, the Vikings improved to 12–4, the franchise's best record since the 15–1 1998 campaign. With Dallas beating Philadelphia 24–0 later in the day, the Vikings clinched a first-round bye. Brett Favre threw at least four touchdown passes for the third time this season, as well as being honored with his third NFC Offensive Player of the Week award. The three awards are the most he has received in one season in his 19-year NFL career.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Postseason, Game summaries, NFC Wildcard Round: Bye week
As the NFC second-seed, the Minnesota Vikings received a bye to the Divisional Round.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Postseason, Game summaries, NFC Divisional Round: vs. Dallas Cowboys
at Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Postseason, Game summaries, NFC Divisional Round: vs. Dallas Cowboys
This game began while many TV show hosts and sports analysts were convinced that a red-hot Dallas team was going to end the Vikings' explosive season with Brett Favre. Tony Romo had been throwing more accurately than ever, and because the Vikings had a week off, even their own fans were feeling the pressure of facing a tough Dallas team.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Postseason, Game summaries, NFC Divisional Round: vs. Dallas Cowboys
Entering the playoffs as the NFC's number 2 seed, the Vikings began their playoff run at home in the NFC Divisional Round against the number 3 Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota delivered the opening strike in the first quarter as quarterback Brett Favre found wide receiver Sidney Rice on a 47-yard touchdown pass. The Cowboys got on the board in the second quarter with a 33-yard field goal from kicker Shaun Suisham, yet the Vikings came right back with Favre hooking up with Rice again on a 16-yard touchdown pass, followed by a 23-yard field goal from kicker Ryan Longwell. After a scoreless third quarter, Minnesota delivered the final strike in the fourth quarter as Longwell nailed a 28-yard field goal, followed by Favre's 45-yard touchdown pass to Rice and his 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Postseason, Game summaries, NFC Divisional Round: vs. Dallas Cowboys
With the win, the Vikings advanced to their ninth NFC Championship Game in team history, and their first appearance since the 2000 season with a 13–4 record. Brett Favre became the oldest player to start and win a playoff game, but also won his first postseason game in four against Dallas. This would be the Vikings' final win in a playoff game until (after) 2017. This was also the last playoff game ever in the Metrodome, as the Vikings would not win the division again until the 2015 season, when they were playing at TCF Bank Stadium while waiting for U.S. Bank Stadium to be completed.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Postseason, Game summaries, NFC Championship Game: at New Orleans Saints
Coming off their dominant divisional home win over the Cowboys, the Vikings flew to the Louisiana Superdome for the NFC Championship Game against the top-seeded New Orleans Saints. Minnesota delivered the opening strike in the first quarter with running back Adrian Peterson's 19-yard touchdown run. The Saints answered with quarterback Drew Brees completing a 38-yard touchdown pass to running back Pierre Thomas, yet the Vikings regained the lead as quarterback Brett Favre found wide receiver Sidney Rice on a 5-yard touchdown pass. In the second quarter, New Orleans tied the game again on Brees' 9-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Devery Henderson.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Postseason, Game summaries, NFC Championship Game: at New Orleans Saints
The Saints took the lead in the third quarter with Thomas' 9-yard touchdown run, yet Minnesota tied the game as Peterson got a 1-yard touchdown run. In the fourth quarter, New Orleans got the lead again as Brees hooked up with running back Reggie Bush on a 5-yard touchdown pass, yet the Vikings tied the game again with Peterson's 2-yard touchdown run.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Postseason, Game summaries, NFC Championship Game: at New Orleans Saints
After stopping the Saints offense the Vikings got the ball back and were close to field goal range in the final 30 seconds when they were flagged for too many men on the field; on the next play Favre rolled to the right as a hole opened up, but instead of running forward he threw the ball deep across his body and it was picked off by the Saints' Tracy Porter, forcing overtime.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Postseason, Game summaries, NFC Championship Game: at New Orleans Saints
In overtime, after a 40-yard kickoff return by Pierre Thomas, New Orleans drove downfield, converting on 4th-and-1 before a controversial pass interference penalty against linebacker Ben Leber brought them into field goal range. Three plays later, Saints kicker Garrett Hartley nailed the game-ending 40-yard field goal.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Postseason, Game summaries, NFC Championship Game: at New Orleans Saints
With the loss, the Vikings' season ended with an overall record of 13–5. Doomed by turnovers – the Vikings had an uncanny six fumbles, three of which they lost, plus two interceptions by Brett Favre – the Vikes lost another NFC Championship Game in overtime, this one reminiscent of the 1998–99 loss to the Falcons in the Metrodome. The Saints' performance in the game, and leading into it, would later be subject to investigation, as it was eventually revealed that the Saints had been involved in a bounty program beginning in the 2009 season.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Pro Bowl
Eight Minnesota Vikings players were originally selected for the 2010 Pro Bowl: five on offense (Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Bryant McKinnie and Steve Hutchinson), two on defense (Jared Allen and Kevin Williams) and one special teamer (Heath Farwell). Of these, six were selected to start the game, with Favre and Rice going as reserves.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Pro Bowl
However, as Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson was voted as a starter at both wide receiver and kickoff returner, a replacement had to be selected at KR; Percy Harvin was added to the roster on January 4, 2010, making it nine Vikings in the NFC roster. Antoine Winfield was added to the NFC roster as an extra cornerback on January 19, 2010, bringing the Vikings' contribution to the roster to 10 players.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Pro Bowl
Had the Vikings reached Super Bowl XLIV, none of their players would have appeared in the 2010 Pro Bowl, but they lost to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game. Nevertheless, QB Brett Favre (ankle), CB Antoine Winfield (foot) and KR Percy Harvin (migraine headaches) all pulled out as a result of their various ailments.


2009 Minnesota Vikings season, Pro Bowl
OT Bryant McKinnie was cut from the NFC roster on January 30 after missing four of the five practice sessions and attending only one team meeting; he claimed, via text message to the Star Tribune, that his absence was due to a lack of physical fitness. McKinnie was not replaced in the roster and was also fined his game check.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes
The following is a list of 2009 Minnesota tornadoes. Minnesota is a state located in the North Central United States along the northern edge of Tornado Alley, and on average receives 24 tornadoes per year. 2009 was an average year historically, with 24 confirmed tornado touchdowns. Twenty-two of the tornadoes (91%) were considered minor, rated EF0 or EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. The remaining two tornadoes were rated as significant, at EF2.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes
The 24 tornadoes combined to cause $4.5 million in damage, and they did not cause any fatalities or injuries. The date range of the tornadoes was smaller than normal, lasting just over two months, from just June 17–August 19. The first tornado date of June 17 marked the third-latest-starting tornado season on record in Minnesota since 1950, behind only 1951 (June 19) and 1952 (June 23).


2009 Minnesota tornadoes
The most unusual tornado event of the year occurred on August 19. Seven tornadoes were recorded in Minnesota that day, including one that touched down in Minneapolis. What made this day unusual is that a unique atmospheric setup allowed several of the tornadoes to be spawned from rain showers where no lightning was present.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes, June, June 17
A weak area of surface low pressure moved into extreme southeast North Dakota late on the afternoon of the June 17, with a warm front stretching across southeastern Minnesota. The warm front combined with pre-existing moisture from morning rainfall which led to rapid destabilization of the atmosphere during the afternoon hours. To the east of the low pressure area, surface dew point values rose into the middle 60s °F (18 °C) with temperatures near 80 °F (27 °C), causing a very unstable air mass to develop.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes, June, June 17
Two tornadoes were reported in west-central Minnesota in Wilkin County. Other, strong thunderstorms developed later just south of the warm front near Albert Lea and moved northeast. The thunderstorms quickly became tornadic north of Albert Lea, near Geneva, where a touchdown was observed. There were several reports of funnel clouds throughout the early evening with one more official touchdown near Waseca. The storms later turned to the southeast and impacted the Austin area, causing serious damage.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes, June, June 18
Moisture levels were high on June 18, with surface dew points in the middle 60s °F (18 °C). Some morning cloud cover along the North Dakota/South Dakota border lifted north by afternoon which allowed a period of heating. Although the upper-level winds were fairly light, another in a series of upper-level disturbances shifted over this region by mid-afternoon. This helped initiate thunderstorm development over southeast North Dakota and west central Minnesota, leading to two tornadoes near Carlisle and Dent.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes, June, June 21
During the late afternoon a very warm and humid air mass lifted northward across northern Iowa and into far southern Minnesota. Several weak storms formed in northwest and north central Iowa and moved into south central Minnesota where a warm front laid. Winds shifted from the south to the east and southeast across Freeborn and Faribault counties of far south central Minnesota. The combination of increasing wind shear near the boundary layer and enough lift from thunderstorms allowed brief tornadoes to develop.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes, July, July 7
Thunderstorms produced damaging winds, hail, and one tornado in Murray and Cottonwood Counties in southwest Minnesota on the late afternoon of July 7.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes, July, July 14
A strong cold front, deep moisture and a high wind shear environment led to severe weather across portions of central Minnesota during the late-afternoon hours. Several individual storms developed across west central Minnesota and moved quickly northeast; spawning three tornadoes.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes, July, July 14
A tornado moved through portions of Kandiyohi County near the town of Spicer. Portions of downtown Spicer were damaged including the partial destruction of the upper level of a home, there was roof damage to multiple houses, several outbuildings were destroyed, and a dozen or more car windows blown out at the local Green Mall parking lot. Maximum winds were estimated between 100 miles per hour (161 km/h) to 110 miles per hour (177 km/h) and $250,000 in damage was reported.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes, August, August 8
A very unstable air mass was in place across the upper Midwest with a warm front draped from the Twin Cities area into west-central Wisconsin. A strong capping inversion suppressed thunderstorm development until near sunset, when a supercell thunderstorm developed in the western part of Hennepin County ahead of an advancing cold front near a surface low pressure center. The supercell would produce a tornado in Hennepin county before tracking eastward across the northern Twin Cities metro area and into Wisconsin where it produced two more tornadoes.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes, August, August 19
Low pressure was moving into Minnesota from the west-southwest on Wednesday, August 19, causing a large area of shower activity to shroud east-central and south-central Minnesota during the morning and early-afternoon hours. The low began to deepen rapidly in the late morning and early afternoon as it moved northeast over the Twin Cities metro area.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes, August, August 19
Embedded circulations began to develop within the shower activity by 2:00 pm CDT, when the deepening low started to produce strong atmospheric wind speeds which were turning in the lower portion of the atmosphere. These circulations were moving quickly to the north and many were not associated with thunderstorms; there were only a handful of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes all afternoon in the areas where damage was reported.


2009 Minnesota tornadoes, August, August 19
While there was relatively little instability, there was enough rising air and surface inflow to stretch these circulations at times and form short-lived tornadoes.


2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi presidential campaign
Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh (In Persian: میرحسین موسوی خامنه) served as the last Prime Minister of Iran, from 1981 to 1989, before the position of Prime Minister was abolished in the 1989's review of the Iranian constitution. Just before the Islamic Revolution, he and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard moved to the United States of America and came back to Iran right after the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.


2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi presidential campaign
After they had been admitted to the structure of the government, two of the proponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, namely, Hassan Ayat [Ph.D. holder] and Abdolhamid Diyalameh [Ph.D. holder and an MP] went to their lengths to remove Mousavi and Rahnavard from the political structure of the government but both were suspiciously martyred. After 20 years of absence from the political scene of Iran, on March 9, 2009 he announced his candidacy in the 2009 Iranian Presidential election.


2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi presidential campaign, Past elections
Mousavi refused to run for President in the 1997 Presidential election, which caused the reformists to turn to Mohammad Khatami, who won a landslide victory. Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, explained in an interview that the reason for her husband not running in the 1997 election had been receiving discouraging messages from "the higher officials", a hint possibly at the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and/or the then President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.


2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi presidential campaign, Past elections
Mousavi was considered as one of the possible candidates of the reformist alliance to run in the Iranian Presidential election, 2005. However he officially turned down the invitation of a number of parties in the reformist alliance on October 12, 2004, after a meeting with President Mohammad Khatami and the two other high-ranking members of the Association of Combatant Clerics, Mehdi Karroubi and Mohammad Mousavi-Khoiniha.


2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi presidential campaign, Campaign news, Platform
Mousavi ran as an independent Principled Reformist candidate. Although he is one of the original founders of the Iranian reformist camp, he shares many principles of the conservatives. Many reformist parties, among them reformist Islamic Iranian Participation Front, whose main candidate was Khatami, have supported his candidacy after the latter withdrew from the race. Many supporters of the reformist movement have however objected to Mousavi's candidacy on the grounds that he is not committed to the principles of the reformist parties.


2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi presidential campaign, Campaign news, Platform
Although Mousavi stated that he was not running as a reformist, he indicated that he welcomed the support of different parties, both reformist and conservative. He started his campaign from the center of the Iranian politics, however over time he shifted more towards the reformist camp by declaring his support for reforms. Although some active members of the conservative camp, such as Emad Afroogh, as well as the conservative newspaper Jomhouri Eslami, supported Mousavi's candidacy, he did not receive the official backing of any major conservative party. His candidacy made it harder for the conservatives to support Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and large conservative parties, such as the Combatant Clergy Association, did not back the current President for the second term of office.


2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi presidential campaign, Campaign news, Platform
The BBC reported that Mousavi "called for greater personal freedoms in Iran and criticised the ban on private television channels", but "refused to back down from the country's disputed nuclear programme, saying it is "for peaceful purposes".


2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi presidential campaign, Campaign news, Platform
On May 30, Mousavi pledged that if elected he would amend "discriminatory and unjust regulations" against women, and take other measures in favour of women's rights and equality.


2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi presidential campaign, Campaign news, Platform
Mousavi addressing supporters during a presidential campaign stop in Zanjan


2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi presidential campaign, Campaign news, Iran blocks Facebook
On May 23, 2009, the Iranian government blocked access to Facebook across the country but lifted the blockage after protests from the public. Gulfnews.com reported that the former move had been a response to the use of Facebook by the candidates running against the incumbent Mr Ahmadinejad; Mousavi has great support by those using social networking sites such as Facebook. PC World reported that Mousavi's  had more than 6,600 supporters at the time of the writing of the article.


2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi presidential campaign, Election
According to official results, Mousavi lost the 2009 election. However, accusations of fraud were widespread and the announcement of the results lead to widespread protests. These protest were suppressed by the Iranian government.


2009 Misano Superbike World Championship round
The 2009 Misano Superbike World Championship round was the eighth round of the 2009 Superbike World Championship season. It took place on the weekend of June 19–21, 2009 at the Misano Adriatico circuit.


2009 Misano Superbike World Championship round, Results, Supersport race
The Supersport race was stopped after 8 laps, because of an accident that spilled oil on the track. It was later restarted, with the final result being the aggregate of the two heats.


2009 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team
The 2009 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Mississippi State has been a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) since the league's inception in 1932, and has participated in that conference's Western Division since 1992. The Bulldogs played their home games in 2009 at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field in Starkville, Mississippi, which has been MSU football's home stadium since 1914.


2009 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team
Head coach Sylvester Croom resigned at the end of the 2008 season. The position was filled by former Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen, making this Mullen's first stint as a head coach. The Bulldogs finished the season 5–7 (3–5 SEC). The NCAA rated MSU's 2009 schedule as the toughest in the country and the 2nd toughest in the past 10 years.


2009 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team
On November 30, 2009, Mississippi State running back Anthony Dixon was awarded the Conerly Trophy as the best college football player in the State of Mississippi. He joined previous MSU Conerly Trophy winners J.J. Johnson and Jerious Norwood.


2009 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football team
The 2009 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football team represented Mississippi Valley State University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Head coach Willie Totten resigned after the end of the season, the Delta Devils' third straight 3-win season.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team
The 2009 Missouri Tigers football team, represented the University of Missouri in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Gary Pinkel, who returned for his ninth season with Mizzou, and played their home games at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Changes to Memorial Stadium for the 2009 season included a new scoreboard and expanded seating capacity following a reconfiguration of the student seating section.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team
On December 6, the Texas Bowl picked the 8-4 Tigers to play in their fourth annual game against the 9-4 Navy Midshipmen at Reliant Stadium in Houston on December 31.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team
On December 22, Mizzou Sports Properties (owned by Learfield Sports) announced a contract for a new radio home on all its coaches' and daily shows for five years, starting with the 2010–11 season. KFRU, owned by Cumulus Media, had the radio rights for the Tiger Network.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Recruits
23 seniors (not incl. Jeremy Maclin) played their final game in the Alamo Bowl.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Recruits
25 student-athletes signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Missouri and play football for the Tigers in 2009.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Recruits
Missouri and Coach Pinkel said they were pleased with its recruits, and Pinkel doesn't listen to how the recruiting services rank his recruits (Scout.com as 38th, Rivals.com as 41st) since they have had great results in the evaluations they look for in the athletes recruited. This year, the breakdown by position in the 25-man class was: five DBs, four LBs, four OLs, four DLs, two QBs, three WRs, two TEs, and one RB. Ten of the 25 are native Missourians.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Recruits
Pinkel said regarding Missouri's evaluation system: "I was at a national convention and a couple coaches from Texas said to me that we ask more about players, were more thorough, than any coaches that they've seen and any program that they've seen." The recruiting class breaks down to 14 on defense compared to 11 on offense.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Coaching staff
On February 20, 2009, Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberflus announced he was leaving the Tigers to join the Cleveland Browns.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Game Summaries, Illinois
Blaine Gabbert passed for three touchdowns and 319 yards (25–33), in a runaway 37–9 victory over rival Illinois. Missouri WR Danario Alexander posted a career-high with 10 receptions totaling 132 yards. Gabbert became the third straight Missouri quarterback to earn Big 12 Player of the Week honors in his first start.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Game Summaries, Bowling Green
After trailing most of the game, Missouri scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to escape at home.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Game Summaries, Nevada
Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert posted a career-high 414 yards on 25 of 40 passing. Missouri wide-out Danario Alexander once again posted career high numbers with 9 catches for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns. The turning point in this game was when Nevada running back Luke Lippincott fumbled on the Missouri 4 yard line, setting up a 96-yard touchdown drive by the Missouri offense.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Game Summaries, Nebraska
Game in the rain ends with a dramatic switch from a 12–0 Missouri lead after the 3rd quarter, changed to a 27–12 loss with an injured Blaine Gabbert's leg for the final half with the first two interceptions of his career.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Game Summaries, Texas
Kickoff time: 7:12 pm  • End of Game: 10:02  • Total elapsed time: 2:50 Referee: Tom Walker  •  Umpire: John Mascarello •  Linesman: Chad Green  •  Line judge: David Oliver  •  Back judge: Brad Van Vark  •  Field judge: Reggie Smith  •  Side judge: Brad Horchem  •  Scorer: Tim Knaar  •  Temperature: 56 F  • Wind: S 5  • Weather: Cool and clear


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Game Summaries, Kansas
These rivals put on a show in last year's game and somehow topped it, trading big plays, scores and momentum seemingly with every snap.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Game Summaries, Kansas
Missouri tackled the quarterback for a safety with 2:39 remaining and Grant Ressel hit a 27-yard field goal, his fourth of the game, as time expired, giving the Tigers a 41–39 win over Kansas on Saturday in another wild Border Showdown at Arrowhead Stadium.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Game Summaries, Kansas
Ressel was subsequently named the Big 12 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week, for his perfect day (4-for-4) in field goal kicking. It was the first time since 1972 that a Missouri team has won a game from a field goal kicker after trailing in the final seconds of a game.


2009 Missouri Tigers football team, Game Summaries, Navy (Texas Bowl)
The Tigers lost to Navy in the worst bowl defeat (in terms of the point differential, -22), in team history.


2009 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Popularly referred to as "Arch Madness", the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament as part of the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season was played in St. Louis, Missouri March 5–8, 2009. The tournament was won by the Northern Iowa Panthers, who will receive the Missouri Valley Conference's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.


2009 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer season
The 2009 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer season was the 19th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference.


2009 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer season
The 2009 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Tournament was hosted and won by Drake.


2009 Mitsubishi Electric Europe Cup
The 2009 Mitsubishi Electric Europe Cup was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor red clay courts. It was part of the 2009 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Monza, Italy between 6 and 12 April 2009.


2009 Mitsubishi Electric Europe Cup, Singles entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2009 Mitsubishi Electric Europe Cup, Champions, Men's doubles
James Auckland /  Travis Rettenmaier def. Dušan Karol /  Jaroslav Pospíšil, 7–5, 6–7(6), [10–4]


2009 Mitsubishi Electric Europe Cup – Doubles
Stefano Galvani and Alberto Martín were the defenders of title, but they chose to not participate this year. James Auckland and Travis Rettenmaier won in the final 7–5, 6–7(6), [10–4], against Dušan Karol and Jaroslav Pospíšil.


2009 Mitsubishi Electric Europe Cup – Singles
Albert Montañés was the defending champion, but he chose to not defend his 2008 title. The next champion became other Spaniard player, David Marrero, who won in the final 5–7, 6–4, 6–4, against Antonio Veić.


2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards
The 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) was the eleventh of the annual music awards in Seoul, South Korea that took place on November 21, 2009 at the Seoul Sports Complex.


2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards
Newcomer girl group 2NE1 lead the nominations with 4 counts, followed by label-mate G-Dragon, soloist Baek Ji Young, and boy group 2PM with 3 each. At the end of the ceremony, 2NE1 received the most wins with 3 out of 4 including the Song of the Year daesang award. Next to them was boy and girl groups 2PM and Brown Eyed Girls respectively with 2 wins.


2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards, Background
After ten years of holding the event under the name "M.net Korean Music Festival" (MKMF), the award-ceremony started to have a new name called "M.net Asian Music Awards" or simply "MAMA". This marked a change in concept and the way they will handle how people may vote for which artists win the awards. With its slogan "Asian Wave", MAMA was broadcast live in China, Japan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia through Channel V International.


2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards, Background
A VTR of artists congratulating the event was also shown including Janet Jackson, Nicole Scherzinger, Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, Mai Kuraki, and Ludacris. Taiwanese artists Ming Dao, future Miss A member Wang Feifei, and Sarah also presented an award, which was broadcast live in Taiwan.


2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards, Multiple awards, Artist(s) with multiple wins
The following artist(s) received two or more wins (excluding the special awards):


2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards, Presenters and performers
The following individuals and groups, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.


2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards, Controversy, Boycott
S.M. Entertainment and Inwoo Production boycotted the event on November 21, hence none of their artists attended the event. The latter company, representing trot singers Jang Yun-jeong and Park Hyun-bin, announced the boycott and questioned the fairness of the awards ceremony. Meanwhile, the former stated through a press release that they have reservation regarding the standard of fairness and criteria used in their selections, citing that Girls' Generation had topped a music chart for nine consecutive weeks but was never placed first place on their show and only debut on their charts a month after the album was released. They also asked that their artists be removed from a mobile poll which requires participants to pay a fee in order to vote saying they "do not want to see fans suffer any damage from the poll which has commercial intentions".


2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards, Controversy, Boycott
SS501 from DSP Media, Son Dam-bi and After School from Pledis Entertainment also did not attend the award ceremony but cited scheduling conflicts rather than boycott.


2009 Mohammad Khatami presidential campaign
Mohammad Khatami, former President of Iran, announced his candidacy for the 2009 Iranian presidential election on 8 February 2009. Khatami later pulled out of the race.


2009 Molde FK season
The 2009 season was Molde's 2nd consecutive year in Tippeligaen, and their 33rd season in the top flight of Norwegian football. They competed in Tippeligaen where they finished in 2nd position and the Norwegian Cup where they were defeated by Aalesund in the Norwegian Cup Final.


2009 Molde FK season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 Molde FK season, Transfers, Winter
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 Molde FK season, Transfers, Winter
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 Molde FK season, Transfers, Summer
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 Molde FK season, Transfers, Summer
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 Molson Scotia Cup
The 2009 Molson Scotia Cup (Nova Scotia's men's provincial curling championship) was held February 10-15 at the Chester Curling Club in Chester, Nova Scotia. The winning team represented Nova Scotia at the 2009 Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary.


2009 Monaco GP2 Series round
The 2009 Monaco GP2 Race was a GP2 motor race held on 22 May and 24 May 2009 at the Circuit de Monaco on the streets of the country. It was the second race of the 2009 GP2 Season. The race was used as a support race for the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix


2009 Monaco GP2 Series round, Report
The first race once again resulted in a one-two finish for Barwa Addax Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Vitaly Petrov, with Lucas di Grassi promoted to third for Fat Burner Racing Engineering, after Nico Hülkenberg was demoted after cutting a corner.


2009 Monaco GP2 Series round, Report
The red flagged second race was won by Pastor Maldonado for ART Grand Prix, with Jérôme d'Ambrosio and Hülkenberg also on the podium. Romain Grosjean had a big accident in the final stages, where he was unhurt, but it did bring out the red flag which ended the race 2 laps shy of the end.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix
The 2009 Monaco Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2009) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 24 May 2009 at the Circuit de Monaco, in Monaco. The race, which was contested over 78 laps, was the sixth round of the 2009 Formula One season. It was won by Brawn GP driver Jenson Button, with his teammate Rubens Barrichello second, and Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen third.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix
This year a peace and sport initiative was introduced on this Grand Prix under the High Patronage of Albert II, Prince of Monaco. Sébastien Bourdais scored his last world championship points at this race.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Background
The first five races of the championship ended with Brawn driver Jenson Button leading the Drivers Championship by 14 points from teammate Rubens Barrichello, having claimed 41 points out of a possible 45. Their Brawn GP team was leading the Constructors Championship with 68 points; second-placed Red Bull had 38.5, with their driver Sebastian Vettel third place in the drivers championship. Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was only in seventh place, having accumulated nine points.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Background
Red Bull had a new two-tier diffuser ready for their RB5 car in Monaco, with chief designer Adrian Newey believing it could be a real benefit to the team. The Austrian drinks company team had won the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix . They had finished third and fourth in the previous race at Barcelona. Force India had prepared several important upgrades for the VJM-02, focused upon giving high downforce by modifying the front and rear wings. This was to improve performance to score their first points, having not scored points before in a Formula One race. Most other teams, including Toyota and BMW Sauber, had modified cars to give good downforce and high mechanical grip; important for the Monaco circuit's low speed and twisting, slow corners.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Background
In the run up to the race, Ferrari issued a statement declaring that "Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula One World Championship." if "the introduction of two different sets of regulations based on arbitrary technical rules and economic parameters." were to take place. This was in reference to proposed regulations by the FIA World Motor Sport Council to introduce a Budget Cap for 2010, and allow technical freedom to those teams operating under it.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Background
The Renault Formula One team made a similar statement, announcing "If the decisions announced by the World Council on the 29th of April 2009 are not revised, we have no choice but to withdraw from the FIA Formula One World Championship at the end of 2009." These statements were the start of the FIA–FOTA dispute over the 2010 regulations. During the event, scenes for the 2010 film Iron Man 2 were shot, which features an historic Monaco Grand Prix race. Prior to the race the drivers complained about a billboard for Martini featuring model Jessiqa Pace was distracting and in the line of sight of drivers as they exit Loews hairpin.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
The early practice sessions at Monaco are traditionally run on the Thursday of the week so that the roads can be opened on the Friday for public access. As such, two practice sessions were held on the Thursday, with the third on Saturday morning, followed shortly by qualifying.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
The Thursday practice sessions began with Brawn GP establishing its dominance once again; Rubens Barrichello was fastest by three-tenths of a second from countryman Felipe Massa with a time of 1:17.199, and the two McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen following shortly thereafter. The Brawns continued their form in the second session, placing third and fourth behind Nico Rosberg – who topped practice for the ninth time this season with a 1:15.243 – and Hamilton once again. A similar story held true for the Saturday session, with Jenson Button narrowly being beaten by Fernando Alonso in the Renault.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
The first qualifying session was marked by 2008 winner Lewis Hamilton crashing at Mirabeau and damaging his suspension, putting him out of qualifying and gradually knocking him down the order until he would finish sixteenth, ahead of the BMW Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica and the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock. The second session saw the departure of the two Force Indias, both Toro Rossos and Nelson Piquet, Jr.'s Renault while Finland's Kimi Räikkönen and Heikki Kovalainen topped the timing sheets.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Giancarlo Fisichella had two times disallowed for cutting the corners at the Swimming Pool Complex and Nouvelle Chicane. The third and final session was dominated by Rubens Barrichello and Sebastian Vettel until a late lap from Jenson Button saw the championship leader take his fourth pole from six starts this season with Kimi Räikkönen the highest-placed KERS-equipped car in second place.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
At the start, Button maintained his lead as Barrichello passed Räikkönen on the approach to the first corner. Both Brawn cars and Sebastian Vettel started the race on the super-soft tyres; the Ferraris and Williams started on the soft compound.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
This provided an advantage, as the super-soft tyres – which had proven to be the better of the two all weekend – started to lose grip exponentially after twelve laps as championship contender Sebastian Vettel proved when he started losing up to four seconds per lap on leader Button, because of the difficulty in overtaking at Monaco, this greatly helped the Brawn GP drivers and Kimi Räikkönen (the only three drivers ahead of Vettel when his tyres started to lose grip), because for several minutes all cars behind him found themselves unable to overtake, opening a huge gap between third and fourth, even for several laps after Vettel had been overtaken.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
Sébastien Buemi had an accident running into Nelson Piquet Jr. on lap 10 during a passing attempt at Sainte Devote, while Vettel slid into the barriers under brakes at the same spot several laps later. Button maintained a fifteen-second lead over teammate Barrichello for most of the race, who had a smaller gap over the Ferraris of Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa; Massa raised the ire of the stewards after crossing the chicane at the Swimming Pool Complex twice, though no penalty was awarded as both occasions were due to driver error.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
In the late stages of the race, Heikki Kovalainen crashed out at the Swimming Pool, spinning and colliding with the barriers. Kazuki Nakajima also crashed out on the last lap of the race at Mirabeau. Robert Kubica was the only other retirement, his race ending with brake problems. In the final phase of the race, the Ferraris pitted for the super-soft tyres, discovering the same graining problem as everyone else over longer stints. The distance between Button and Barrichello halved over the final few laps, though Button was deliberately slowing to avoid encountering backmarkers who were fighting for position. He won by seven-and-a-half seconds from Barrichello, with the Ferraris of Räikkönen and Massa third and fourth.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
After the end of the race, Button mistakenly parked his car in parc fermé in the pit lane as is normal for other Grands Prix, rather than on the main straight with the other two podium finishers as is the norm for Monaco. As a result, he had to run down the start/finish straight to the podium.


2009 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
With his win, Button scored the  third-best  start to a season in Formula One history, with five victories and one  third place. Only Nigel Mansell  in 1992 and Michael Schumacher in 1994 recorded better starts, with each  taking five victories and one second place in the first six rounds. Also, his victory in the Brawn-Mercedes  marked the first time in modern F1 history that a single engine has won  three races in a row – engines in the  1950s lasted most of a season, sometimes more than one season. It was also the first time since 2006 that a driver had won three races in succession. Michael Schumacher was the last to do so, as he won the United States, French  and German Grands Prix.


2009 Monaghan County Council election
An election to Monaghan County Council took place on 5 June 2009 as part of that year's Irish local elections. 20 councillors were elected from four electoral divisions by PR-STV voting for a five-year term of office.


2009 Mongolian Premier League
The 2009 Mongolian National Championship was the forty-second recorded edition of top flight football in Mongolia and the fourteenth season of the Mongolian Premier League, which took over as the highest level of competition in the country from the previous Mongolian National Championship. Ulaanbaatar DS were champions, their first title, Erchim were  runners up, with Khasiin Khulguud in third place.


2009 Mongolian Premier League, Format
The 2006 season consisted of three distinct stages: the first stage consisted of a single group of eight teams all playing each other in a single round robin of matches. From this, the top six teams then qualified for the second stage, where they were split into two groups which again played a single round robin of matches. From this, the top two teams in each group qualified for single legged semi finals with the bottom teams progressing directly to the fifth place match.


2009 Mongolian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Mongolia on 24 May 2009. They were contested between incumbent Nambaryn Enkhbayar, supported by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, and Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, who had support of the Democratic Party and the opposition parties. Elbegdorj declared himself the victor before the count was official but based on his party's counts. Enkhbayar admitted a narrow defeat shortly after and said that he would respect the results, marking the second time an incumbent president had lost their bid for re-election - following Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat in the 1997 election.


2009 Mongolian presidential election, Background
There had been fears that a close result could lead to civil unrest as happened in the 2008 legislative election, where allegations of vote rigging had sparked street protests and clashes with the police during which five people lost their lives and hundreds were injured. Although, police and army units were on stand-by to contain any protest, the people seemed satisfied with the report of the election monitors in that there was no finding of fraudulent votes.


2009 Mongolian presidential election, Candidates
Presidential candidates were only allowed from parties which had representation in the State Great Khural. The eligible parties were the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP), Democratic Party, Civic Will Party and Mongolian Green Party. The MPRP fielded the incumbent president Nambaryn Enkhbayar as its presidential candidate. The Democratic Party chose former prime minister Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj as their candidate. The Civic Will and Green parties did not field a candidate and instead chose to support Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, the Democratic Party's candidate, thus providing the electorate with a choice between the incumbent or a candidate supported by all of the opposition parties.


2009 Mongolian presidential election, Candidates
Elbegdorj, who served twice as prime minister, campaigned on a theme of anti-corruption and a need for change which proved popular in urban areas. Both candidates' campaigns were dominated by the issue of how Mongolia's mineral wealth should be distributed.


2009 Mongolian presidential election, Results
The United States Senate passed Resolution number 192 supporting Mongolia's democracy and economic development and noting Elbegdorj's election victory on the day he was sworn in on 18 June 2009.


2009 Monmouth Hawks football team
The 2009 Monmouth Hawks football team represented Monmouth University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC). The Hawks were led by 17th-year head coach Kevin Callahan and played their home games at Kessler Field. They finished the season 5–6 overall and 4–4 in NEC play to tie for fourth place.


2009 Mont-Saint-Michel municipal election
The 2009 Mont-Saint-Michel municipal election took place on November 1, 2009, to elect a mayor and councillors in Mont-Saint-Michel, Quebec. Incumbent mayor Roger Lapointe was re-elected to another term without opposition.


2009 Mont-Saint-Michel municipal election, Results
Source: , Affaires municipales, Régions et Occupation du territoire Québec.


2009 Montana Grizzlies football team
The 2009 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by head coach Bobby Hauck and played their home games at Washington–Grizzly Stadium.


2009 Montana State Bobcats football team
The 2009 Montana State Bobcats football team represented Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference in the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bobcats were led by third-year head coach Rob Ash and played their home games at Bobcat Stadium. They finished the season 7–4 overall and 5–3 in the Big Sky to place third.


2009 Monte Carlo Rally
The 2009 Monte-Carlo Rally, officially 77ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo was the first round of the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season. The rally took place between January 21–24, 2009 and was won by Sébastien Ogier, who was making his début in the series.


2009 Monte Paschi Strade Bianche - Eroica Toscana
The 2009 Monte Paschi Strade Bianche - Eroica Toscana was the third edition of the Strade Bianche road bicycle race, held on 7 March 2009 in Tuscany, Italy. The race was 190 km, starting in Gaiole in Chianti and finishing in Siena, and included eight sectors of strade bianche, totaling 57,2 km of gravel road. Compared to the previous edition of the Strade Bianche, the race was 10 km longer and featured one more sector of sterrato.


2009 Monte Paschi Strade Bianche - Eroica Toscana
Swedish rider Thomas Lövkvist won the race ahead of German Fabian Wegmann and Swiss Martin Elmiger. Linus Gerdemann attacked five kilometres from the finish, but faded on the steep climb to the centre of Siena and was caught and passed by a chase group. Thomas Lövkvist powered up the cobbled street and was the first to enter the Piazza del Campo and crossed the line 4 seconds ahead of Wegmann and Elmiger. Edvald Boasson Hagen was fourth at eight seconds.


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
The 2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters was a men's tennis tournament for professional players held from 11 April until 19 April 2009, on outdoor clay courts. It was the 103rd edition of the annual Monte Carlo Masters tournament, which was sponsored by Rolex for the first time and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament on the 2009 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, near Monte Carlo, Monaco.


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
Except for Andy Roddick, all the top ranked male tennis players participated. World No. 2 Roger Federer had initially decided not to participate in this tournament but changed his mind and accepted a wild-card invitation to play. World No. 1 and first-seeded Rafael Nadal achieved a record fifth straight singles title at the event (the first to win five consecutives titles in any Masters tournament).


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
The 2009 Monte Carlo Masters tournament was the only one of the nine "Masters 1000" events scheduled for that year without a mandatory player commitment. In 2007, the Association of Tennis Professionals had decided to make participation in the eight newly rebranded "Masters 1000" compulsory for all top players. The tournaments in Monte Carlo and Hamburg were originally due to be removed from the top tier of events; however, the tournament directors filed lawsuits, and Monte Carlo was allowed to remain a top tier event while Hamburg became a 500 Series event.


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Tournament, History
The Monte Carlo Masters has been held since 1897, firstly as a tournament for amateur players until it became a professional tournament from 1969 onwards with the start of the Open Era. Spaniard Rafael Nadal, the defending champion from 2008, has been the most successful player of the Open Era, winning the previous four titles at the event. Since 1969, Ilie Năstase, Björn Borg, Mats Wilander, Thomas Muster, Gustavo Kuerten and Juan Carlos Ferrero have all won multiple titles. Players such as Reginald Doherty, Laurence Doherty, Anthony Wilding and Gordon Lowe also managed to win a number of titles during the early 20th Century. Nadal was bidding to become the first player to win five successive titles in Monte Carlo.


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Tournament, Tournament details
The singles competition had a 56 player draw, with the top eight seeds receiving automatic entry into the second round. The doubles followed a similar concept, with a 28 player draw facilitating that the top eight seeds went into round two. Both the singles and doubles were played on outdoor clay courts at the Monte Carlo Country Club.


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Summary, Singles
In the men's singles tournament, nine of the top ten ranked players in the world competed with top eight seeds of the tournament receiving byes in the first round. Of the other seeded players, Gaël Monfils (9) and Radek Štěpánek lost in the first round to Janko Tipsarević and qualifier Nicolás Lapentti, respectively. In the second round, seeds Juan Martín del Potro (5), Marin Čilić (14), Gilles Simon (6), and Tommy Robredo (11) were defeated by lower-ranked players.


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Summary, Singles
Lapentti's run ended in the third round when he lost to World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Andy Murray (4), Nikolay Davydenko (8), Fernando Verdasco (7), and Novak Djokovic (3) progressed to the quarterfinals, but second-seeded Roger Federer was defeated by 13th-seeded and fellow Swiss player Stanislas Wawrinka. Wawrinka then defeated in straight sets one of the two non-seeded players left in the competition, qualifier Andreas Beck. In the other matches, Nadal beat wildcard Ivan Ljubičić, Murray defeated Davydenko, and Djokovic needed three sets to beat Verdasco.


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Summary, Singles
Murray faced Nadal in the semifinals in Murray's first career clay court semifinal. Nadal came into the match having lost just 14 times on clay in his career and won the match 6–2, 7–6. Djokovic recovered from losing the first set against Wawrinka to win the next two sets and the match 4–6, 6–1, 6–3. The top and the third ranked players in the world played each other in the final, with Nadal bidding to equal Federer's total of 14 Masters titles while Djokovic was appearing in his eighth Masters final. In their sixteenth meeting, Nadal took the first set 6–3, Djokovic won the second 6–2, but Nadal won the third 6–1 to seal his fifth successive title at the Monte Carlo Masters and the 35th of his career.


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Summary, Doubles
The top eight doubles pairs automatically gained places in round two. The first round saw many top singles players teaming up, with Gaël Monfils/Stanislas Wawrinka, Marc Gicquel/Paul-Henri Mathieu and Feliciano López/Fernando Verdasco among the pairs to reach the second round. Novak Djokovic also teamed up with fellow Serbian Victor Troicki and beat unseeded doubles specialists Marcelo Melo and André Sá. In the second round, fifth-seeded Bruno Soares and Kevin Ullyett were one of only two seeded pair to depart the competition, losing to Marin Čilić and Nicolas Kiefer on a champions tiebreak. Jeff Coetzee and Jordan Kerr were the other seeds to lose, against Djokovic and Troicki. The Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike defeated Monfils and Wawrinka, while second seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić also reached the quarter-finals.


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Summary, Doubles
In the quarter-finals, Djokovic and Troicki's run continued as they knocked out Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles. Bob and Mike Bryan, Nestor and Zimonjić and Lukáš Dlouhý and Leander Paes also progressed, with Nestor and Zimonjić the only pair to defeat an unseeded pair in Čilić and Kiefer. In the semi-finals the Bryans beat Dlouhý and Paes 6–7, 6–3, [14–12] and Nestor/Zimonjić ended the run of Djokovic and Troicki 3–6, 6–1, [10–5].


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Summary, Doubles
The top two seeds met in the final. In a one-sided match Nestor and Zimonjić beat the Bryans 6–4, 6–1 to win their ninth title as a partnership.


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Finals, Doubles
Daniel Nestor /  Nenad Zimonjić defeated   Bob Bryan /  Mike Bryan, 6–4, 6–1


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters – Doubles
Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo were the defending champions, but Nadal chose not to participate, and only Robredo competed this year. Robredo partnered with Albert Montañés, but lost in the second round to Lukáš Dlouhý and Leander Paes. Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić won in the final 6–4, 6–1, against Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters – Singles
Four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal successfully defended his title, defeating Novak Djokovic in the final 6–3, 2–6, 6–1, to win the Singles title at the 2009 Monte-Carlo Masters.


2009 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters – Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2009 Montenegrin parliamentary election
Early parliamentary elections were held in Montenegro on 29 March 2009. In addition to elections for the unicameral Parliament of Montenegro, concurrent local elections were held in Nikšić and Budva, as well as municipal presidential elections in Herceg Novi and Tivat. The parliamentary elections were the eighth since the reintroduction of multi-party system in 1990, and the second since regaining full independence in 2006.


2009 Montenegrin parliamentary election, Background
President Filip Vujanović called the parliamentary elections on 27 January 2009, after the parliament decided the previous day to shorten its term, although this decision was controversial.


2009 Montenegrin parliamentary election, Background
Constitutional Act that proclaimed the new constitution of 2007 stipulated that elections had to be held by the end of 2009.


2009 Montenegrin parliamentary election, Background
Application of electoral lists occurred from 16 February to 4 March 2009, and election silence began on 27 March 2009. The number of MPs being elected was uncertain, because the matter was never solved before the election was scheduled. Based on a count of one MP per six thousand eligible voters, the number of MPs should have been 82. However, the Constitution stipulated 81, as there were in the present outgoing session, and this was the number of MPs actually elected.


2009 Montenegrin parliamentary election, Background
The pre-electoral process had been marked by several major incidents, such as the revocation of citizenship of Predrag Popović, president of the People's Party, the violation of the human right to work during the formation of the coalition treaty of Prime Minister Milo Đukanović's ruling coalition, which would make party affiliation a criterion for employment, and repeated protests by discontented workers pushed into poverty. Additionally, representative groups of Montenegro's minority communities unanimously declared the forthcoming elections illegal and contrary to constitutional protections granted to ethnic communities.


2009 Montenegrin parliamentary election, Electoral system
Elections in Montenegro are free, with the right of secret ballot guaranteed. Because the country has a single national voting district, all votes cast at individual voting stations across the country went towards a single total. The electoral threshold was 3%, so electoral lists receiving under three percent of the total votes cast were crossed out, and the MPs within the assembly were split amongst the remaining lists. Seats were distributed by the D'Hondt method, which slightly favors leading lists above the smaller ones. The Parliament's mandate lasts four years.


2009 Montenegrin parliamentary election, Campaign
Several alliances were created prior to the elections; the Coalition for a European Montenegro led by Milo Đukanović included the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, the Social Democratic Party of Montenegro, the Croatian Civic Initiative and the Bosniak Party. The People's Coalition was formed by the People's Party and the Democratic Serb Party, whilst For a Different Montenegro, led by Goran Batričević, consisted of the Democratic Centre and the Liberal Party of Montenegro.


2009 Montenegrin parliamentary election, Results
The Coalition for a European Montenegro won an absolute majority of seats, with approximately 65 percent voter turnout, securing Milo Đukanović (DPS) new term as Prime Minister.


2009 Monterey Sports Car Championships
The 2009 Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by Patrón was the tenth and final round of the 2009 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California on October 11, 2009. The race was won by the Acura of de Ferran Motorsports, driven by Simon Pagenaud and retiring driver Gil de Ferran, which wore a tribute livery based on Jim Hall's Chaparrals. Adrian Fernández and Luis Díaz won the LMP2 category in the Fernández Racing Acura while only six tenths of a second behind the overall winning de Ferran car.


2009 Monterey Sports Car Championships
The GT2 class was won by the #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche after contact with the #3 Corvette Racing while approaching the finish line on the final lap. Guy Cosmo and John Baker of Orbit Racing won their first race in the ALMS Challenge category after the Velox Motorsport entry was disqualified.


2009 Monterey Sports Car Championships, Report, Qualifying, Qualifying result
Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.


2009 Monterey Sports Car Championships, Report, Race, Race result
Class winners are marked in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).


2009 Monterrey Open
The 2009 Monterrey Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the first edition of the Monterrey Open and was categorized as an International tournament on the 2009 WTA Tour. It took place at the Sierra Madre Tennis Club in Monterrey, Mexico, from March 2 through March 8, 2009.


2009 Monterrey Open
The tournament included four players who were ranked in the top 20: Agnieszka Radwańska; Marion Bartoli, the 2009 Brisbane runner-up; Flavia Pennetta, the 2009 Acapulco runner-up; and Zheng Jie. Also in the field were Ágnes Szávay; Iveta Benešová, the 2009 Hobart runner-up and a 2009 Acapulco semifinalist; Gisela Dulko, the 2009 Bogota runner-up; and Maria Kirilenko.


2009 Monterrey Open, Finals, Doubles
Nathalie Dechy /  Mara Santangelo defeated  Iveta Benešová /  Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová 6–3, 6–4


2009 Monterrey Open – Doubles
In the final, Nathalie Dechy and Mara Santangelo defeated Iveta Benešová and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, 6–3, 6–4.


2009 Monterrey Open – Singles
Marion Bartoli won in the final 6–4, 6–3 against Li Na.


2009 Montgomery mayoral special election
The 2009 Montgomery mayoral special election took place on March 10, 2009, to elect the Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama. It saw the election of Todd Strange.