2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
On the ensuing possession, the Ravens drove down the field with ease, capping off their drive with a touchdown run by Willis McGahee. In the second quarter, Dixon hit WR Santonio Holmes on a play-action pass for a 33-yard touchdown, tying the game. The Ravens answered on the following drive, with a 52-yard strike from Joe Flacco to Mark Clayton, setting up a 10-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mason. In the third quarter, on the Ravens opening possession, Clayton made a 9-yard reception but fumbled the ball.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
The ball was kicked 20 yards towards the Steelers endzone by a Pittsburgh player, but recovered by Tyrone Carter. The Steelers drove, but were held to a field goal by Jeff Reed. Later in the fourth quarter, Joe Flacco was sacked by Lawrence Timmons and fumbled the ball, recovered by the Steelers near midfield. The drive resulted in a 24-yard run on a QB option by Dixon, giving the Steelers their first lead of the night. On the Ravens next possession, things were looking bad when the offense was facing a third-and-22 with around three minutes left.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Joe Flacco completed a pass to Derrick Mason for 17 yards, leaving John Harbaugh with a critical decision. Harbaugh opted to go for it and Joe Flacco found Ray Rice for a 44-yard reception, setting the Ravens up inside the Steeler 10-yard line with less than 2 minutes left. Billy Cundiff tied the game with a 24-yard field goal. On the following Steeler possession, Dennis Dixon was nearly intercepted by Lardarius Webb. The Steelers were forced to punt, giving the ball back to the Ravens with about 1:30 left in the game.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
A very good punt return into Steeler territory by Chris Carr was wiped off by a block in the back. Despite the setback, the Ravens managed to drive to the Steeler 40-yard line, where their drive stalled. On third-and-9 with 25 seconds left, Joe Flacco was sacked and fumbled, but the ball was recovered by Ben Grubbs. With the clock counting inside 10 seconds left and no timeouts, the field goal team managed to get into formation and get the kick off. The 56-yard attempt by Billy Cundiff was dead center, but about 2 yards short.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
In overtime, the Steelers won the toss and got the ball, but were forced to punt. The Ravens, also forced to punt deep in their own territory, gave the ball to Pittsburgh around the Steeler 40-yard line. On a third-and-5, Dennis Dixon threw an interception to LB Paul Kruger, who returned the ball 26 yards to the Steeler 28-yard line. Already in field goal range, the Ravens ran the ball down to the Pittsburgh 11-yard line where Billy Cundiff made a 29-yard field goal to win the game.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
With the win, both teams' records is 6–5. The Ravens hold the final wild card seed in the AFC due to the head-to-head tiebreaker over Pittsburgh.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 13: at Green Bay Packers
With injuries to Ed Reed and Mark Clayton, both the offense and defense failed to play up to standards and the team endured another painful defeat. With the loss, the Ravens fell to 6–6.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: vs Detroit Lions
With the win, the Ravens improved to 7–6 and allowed them outright second place in the AFC North with the Steelers' loss to the Browns. Also, the Ravens would set a record of most points scored in a single game until Week 10 of the 2012 season when they defeated the Raiders scoring 55 points against them.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Pittsburgh Steelers
Even with the loss to the Steelers, the Ravens playoff hopes were not yet vanished. All the Ravens needed was a win the following against the Oakland Raiders to clinch a playoff berth. The loss dropped the team to 8–7.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: at Oakland Raiders
This victory allowed the dethroning of the defending world champion Pittsburgh Steelers and ending the latter team's run at a repeat title. In turn, the Ravens got their Wild Card spot.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Wild Card Round: at New England Patriots
Entering the postseason as the AFC's sixth seed, the Ravens began their playoff run at Gillette Stadium in the AFC Wild Card round against the #3 seeded New England Patriots. This game was a rematch of their game played during Week 4 of the 2009 season. The Ravens drew first blood as Ray Rice took the handoff from Flacco and ran through a hole in the defense on his way to an 83-yard touchdown on the first offensive play of the game. It was the longest rush of his career and the second longest rush in NFL postseason history.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Wild Card Round: at New England Patriots
Less than two minutes later, LB and DE Terrell Suggs, forced a fumble from New England quarterback Tom Brady's hand on a third-and-11 pass attempt and recovered for the Ravens on the New England 17. Le'Ron McClain then capped a five-play Ravens scoring drive with a 2-yard touchdown plunge, extending the lead to 14–0. The Ravens capitalized on another New England miscue when cornerback Chris Carr intercepted a Tom Brady pass. After a 6-play, 26-yard drive, Ray Rice hopped into the end-zone for his second touchdown of the quarter.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Wild Card Round: at New England Patriots
On the Patriots very next possession, another Tom Brady pass was intercepted by safety Ed Reed. Reed took the interception and returned it 25 yards before handing it off to Dawan Landry, who took it another 25 yards. This led to a Ravens field goal and a 24–0 first-quarter lead. The Ravens went on to defeat the Patriots by a final score of 33–14. The Ravens would advance to face the top-seeded Colts in the Divisional Round.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Divisional Round: at Indianapolis Colts
Coming off their impressive road win over the Patriots in the Wild Card round, the Ravens flew to Lucas Oil Stadium for the AFC Divisional Round against the top-seeded Indianapolis Colts. Baltimore would trail to begin the first quarter as former Ravens kicker Matt Stover got a 44-yard field goal. The Ravens would respond with kicker Billy Cundiff making a 25-yard field goal. However, the Colts rebounded in the second quarter as quarterback Peyton Manning completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Austin Collie and a 3-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Reggie Wayne. Following a scoreless third quarter, Baltimore's deficit increased in the fourth quarter as Stover gave Indianapolis a 33-yard field goal.


2009 Baltimore Ravens season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Divisional Round: at Indianapolis Colts
With the loss, the Ravens' season ended with an overall record of 10–8.


2009 Bancolombia Open
The 2009 Bancolombia Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor red clay courts. It was part of the 2009 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Bogotá, Colombia between 16 and 22 March 2009.


2009 Bancolombia Open, Singles entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2009 Bancolombia Open, Champions, Men's doubles
Sebastián Prieto /  Horacio Zeballos def. Alexander Peya /  Fernando Vicente, 4–6, 6–1, [11–9]


2009 Bancolombia Open – Doubles
Brian Dabul and Ramón Delgado were the defending champions. Delgado chose to not participate this year. Delgado partnered up by Sebastián Decoud, however they lost to Santiago González and Jean-Julien Rojer. Sebastián Prieto and Horacio Zeballos won in the final 7–6(5), 6–4, against Alexander Peya and Fernando Vicente.


2009 Bancolombia Open – Singles
Marcos Daniel was the defending champion, but he decided to not defend his 2009 title. Horacio Zeballos defeated Santiago González in the final (7–6(7–3), 6–0).


2009 Bandy World Championship
The Bandy World Championship 2009 was held between 18 and 25 January in Västerås, Sweden. Men's teams from 13 countries participated in the 2009 competition: Belarus, Finland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Russia, Sweden (group A) and Canada, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Mongolia, the Netherlands and the United States (group B). Belarus retained their place in group A by beating the United States in a play off in the previous tournament held in 2008. 44 games were played. 4 out of these were played on other sites than Västerås. Games were played in Solna, Stockholm, Eskilstuna and Uppsala. The main venues were ABB Arena Syd in Västerås, Sweden's largest indoor arena for bandy, and Hakonplan, an outdoor stadium. These two arenas are placed on the same recreation area in Västerås, Rocklunda sports park. The time in Västerås is UTC+1.


2009 Bandy World Championship
The six teams of Group A competed for the championship, while the seven teams in Group B competed for a chance to play in Group A in 2010. Sweden defeated Russia in the final, 6–1, to take the gold medal. Finland took the bronze, while Kazakhstan and Norway earned fourth and fifth places, respectively. Belarus, after finishing at the bottom of the Group A pool, had to face the winner of the Group B pool to retain its place in the championship group for the next year. For the fifth straight year, Belarus beat the United States in this match.


2009 Bandy World Championship, Venues
ABB Arena Syd and Hakonplan in Västerås staged 40 games. The other venues were:


2009 Bandy World Championship, Rules
Team rosters are limited to 17 players in each game, with 11 playing and 6 reserves at a time. Game durations are 90 minutes for Group A matches and 60 minutes for Group B matches, in each case divided into equal halves.


2009 Bandy World Championship squads
Below are the squads for the 2003 Bandy World Championship final tournament in Sweden.


2009 Bangkok gubernatorial election
The ninth gubernatorial election for the city of Bangkok, Thailand was held on 11 January 2009. The election came about after the resignation of Apirak Kosayothin on 13 November 2008,  the incumbent who was only just re-elected a little more than a month (on 5 October 2008). the resignation stemmed from an indictment by the National Counter Corruption Commission or NCCC, in which Apirak was indicted for the controversial 6.6 billion Baht fire-engine procurement contract. The former Prime Minister and former Bangkok Governor Samak Sundaravej was also found guilty in the same verdict.


2009 Bangkok gubernatorial election
On 13 November Apirak announced his resignation saying: "Like the Democrat Party, I support a move that will perpetuate politics-for-people" at the same time maintaining his innocence and stating that his resignation should become an example of a change in Thai politics, his resignation triggered an automatic by-election. By the end of the 11 January 2009, Sukhumband was declared the winner of the race, becoming the 15th Governor of Bangkok.


2009 Bangkok gubernatorial election, Campaign
On 1 December, the Election Commission allowed the registration of candidates. A total of 14 candidates registered. In accordance with the law, they picked numbers by which they would be assigned for the campaign. The three highest profile candidates were: MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra, ML Nattakorn Devakula and Yuranun Pamornmontri.


2009 Bangkok gubernatorial election, Campaign
MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra, the 56-year-old candidate of the Democrat Party, is a former Foreign Minister. MR Sukhumband vowed to carry on with policies initiated by Governor Apirak and to continue the environmentalist agenda. He ran under the slogan: "Bring back Bangkokians' smiles".


2009 Bangkok gubernatorial election, Campaign
ML Nattakorn Devakula, a 32-year-old Independent candidate, was a former TV host, popularly known as "Khun Pluem". He ran on the slogan: "Vote for me. Vote for the governor of the future".


2009 Bangkok gubernatorial election, Campaign
Yuranun Pamornmontri, the 45-year-old Puea Thai Party candidate,  is a popular TV actor and film star.


2009 Bangkok gubernatorial election, Results
The election and results were announced on the same day:


2009 Bangladesh ferry accident
The 2009 Bangladesh ferry accident occurred on 4 December 2009 on the Daira river located in Mithamain Upazila, Kishoreganj District in Bangladesh. A passenger ferry collided head-on with a launch. At least 47 people were killed. The accident occurred in the morning when the river was covered by fog.


2009 Bangladesh ferry accident, Accident
At around 9.00am local time the ferry, which was overcrowded, was traveling on the Daira river about 100 km from the capital of Dhaka when it collided with a motor launch due to poor visibility caused by thick fog. The accident occurred only a week after another ferry disaster in Bangladesh killed nearly at least 85 people.


2009 Bangladesh ferry accident, Rescue effort
The police chief of Kishorganj district, Anwar Hossain, commented that most of the casualties were women and children and that 46 bodies had been retrieved after the ferry had been fully searched with the aid of specialist divers from Dhaka. He said in a media statement that the rescue was called off Friday evening with eight people unaccounted for. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, sent condolences to the families of those who had lost loved ones.


2009 Bangladesh ferry accident, Cause
Shah Kamal, the chief government official in Kishorganj district blamed the poor conditions caused by the early morning fog as well as citing driver error as the cause. Boat and ferry accidents due to lax safety standards and overloading are common in Bangladesh, which is criss-crossed by 230 rivers, More than 3,000 people are estimated to have lost their lives in ferry accidents since 1977.


2009 Bangladesh ferry accident, Cause
Bangladesh is the world's most densely populated country, with more than 1,000 people per square kilometre (0.4 square mile), and also one of the poorest.


2009 Bangladeshi presidential election
Indirect presidential elections were due to be held in Bangladesh on 16 February 2009 following the 2008 parliamentary election. They were originally scheduled to have taken place by 5 September 2007, when Iajuddin Ahmed's term expired, but was postponed due to the lack of an elected parliament. The Awami League, which resoundingly won the parliamentary election, nominated AL presidium member Zillur Rahman as its candidate for president, and he was expected to be elected at the parliamentary session. Rahman was the only candidate who submitted his papers by the nomination deadline of 9 February 2009, and as he did not withdraw by the withdrawal deadline of 11 February 2009, the Election Commission declared him elected. He was sworn in on 12 February 2009.


2009 Banja Luka Challenger
The 2009 Banja Luka Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor red clay courts. It was the eighth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2009 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 14 and 20 September 2009.


2009 Banja Luka Challenger, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2009 Banja Luka Challenger, Champions, Doubles
Dustin Brown /  Rainer Eitzinger def. Ismar Gorčić /  Simone Vagnozzi, 6–4, 6–3


2009 Banja Luka Challenger – Doubles
Attila Balázs and Amir Hadad were the defending champions, but they chose to not play together this year. Hungarian player, Balázs, decided to compete with Dušan Lojda. They were eliminated by Ismar Gorčić and Simone Vagnozzi in the semifinals. Player from Israel, Hadad, partnered with Philipp Marx, but they lost to Nikola Ćirić and Miljan Zekić in the quarterfinals. Dustin Brown and Rainer Eitzinger defeated Gorčić and Vagnozzi 6–4, 6–3 in the final.


2009 Banja Luka Challenger – Singles
Ilija Bozoljac chose to not defend his 2008 title. 1st-seeded Daniel Gimeno-Traver defeated 6th-seeded Julian Reister 6–4, 6–1 in the final.


2009 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy
The 2009 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 35th edition of the event known that year as the Bank Austria-TennisTrophy, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2009 ATP World Tour. It was held at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, from October 24 through November 1, 2009.


2009 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2009 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received lucky losers into the singles main draw:


2009 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy, Finals, Doubles
Łukasz Kubot /  Oliver Marach defeated  Julian Knowle /  Jürgen Melzer 2–6, 6–4, [11–9]


2009 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy – Doubles
Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram were the defending champions, but they chose not to participate this year. Łukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach won in the final 2–6, 6–4, [11–9] against Julian Knowle and Jürgen Melzer.


2009 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy – Singles
Philipp Petzschner was the defending champion, but withdrew before the tournament.


2009 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy – Singles
Jürgen Melzer defeated Marin Čilić in the final 6–4, 6–3 in his hometown of Vienna.


2009 Bank of Ireland robbery
The 2009 Bank of Ireland robbery was a large robbery of cash from the College Green cash centre of the Bank of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland, on 27 February 2009. It was the largest bank robbery in the Republic of Ireland's history. Criminals engaged in the tiger kidnapping of a junior bank employee, 24-year-old Shane Travers, and forced him to remove €7.6 million (US$9 million) in cash from the bank as his girlfriend and two others were held hostage.


2009 Bank of Ireland robbery
Ireland's Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, criticised the bank for its failure to follow what he termed "established protocols" during the robbery, as the Irish police force, the Garda Síochána, was not informed of the incident until the money had been removed from the bank. A manhunt was under way for the perpetrators, with seven people being arrested and €1.8 million of the stolen cash located, scattered across Dublin, on 28 February.


2009 Bank of Ireland robbery, Robbery
Late on the night of 26 February, Travers, whose father is a member of the Garda Síochána based at Clontarf, Dublin, was alone watching television at the home of his girlfriend near Kilteel, County Kildare. The woman and her mother were out shopping together. When they arrived home with the five-year-old nephew of Travers, six heavily built masked men, dressed in black and carrying handguns, jumped from the bushes.


2009 Bank of Ireland robbery, Robbery
The family was held overnight by the armed gang, during which time their mobile phones were confiscated and Travers' girlfriend was hit across the back of her head with a vase by one of the men. As dawn was arriving, the gang ordered all but Travers to enter their dark Volkswagen Golf family car. They were then bound together and driven to Ashbourne, County Meath.


2009 Bank of Ireland robbery, Robbery
The bank employee was given a mobile phone, ordered to collect €20, €50, €100 and €200 bank notes from his workplace, and supplied with a photograph of the rest of the family at gunpoint to convince his colleagues that their lives were under threat. Travers drove to Dublin in his red Toyota Celica car, acquired the cash through the assistance of colleagues who viewed the photo, and carried the money out of the building in four laundry bags. He took it to Clontarf Road railway station, whereupon he surrendered the cash and his sports car to a waiting gang member.


2009 Bank of Ireland robbery, Robbery
Travers then entered a garda station, the first point at which gardaí were notified that the robbery had taken place. One hour after this, the other family members succeeded in freeing themselves and walked to a nearby garda station. Travers' girlfriend required immediate medical treatment for a head wound she had received during a struggle with her captors, and the family were reported to be "traumatised" by their ordeal. Travers's car was later found burned out in an apartment block near Tolka House Pub in Glasnevin.


2009 Bank of Ireland robbery, Reaction
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Dermot Ahern said "proper procedures" were not followed during the course of the robbery, saying that gardaí should have been contacted before the money had left the bank. He also questioned how such a large sum of money could be taken as a result of one man being targeted. He has remarked, "Criminals are going for the line of least resistance, the human connection as it were. Given the fact there is so much detailed technology available to financial institutions, the line of least resistance is the human being."


2009 Bank of Ireland robbery, Reaction
The bank's chief executive, Richie Boucher, appointed just two days earlier, immediately wrote to all his staff to remind them that protocol should be followed in the event of future robberies, saying "Our priority is always for the safety and well-being of all staff. I am sure this incident will raise concerns. Our best defence is to follow tried and tested procedures. I would ask everybody to remind themselves of these procedures, which are there to protect you, your families and the bank."


2009 Bank of Ireland robbery, Reaction
The attack caused Charlie Flanagan, a Teachta Dála, to remark that "tiger kidnappings are taking place in Ireland ... at a rate of almost one per week."


2009 Bank of Ireland robbery, Arrests
€1.8 million of the stolen cash was recovered and seven people were arrested by gardaí in a number of incidents on 28 February. A house in Phibsboro was sealed off and ten more houses were searched. A total of five cars and one van were seized by gardaí. One of the men was arrested following a chase along the M50 near the Navan road, with two bales of packed cash being discovered in his car. Four other men were arrested in a car in Monk Place and in Great Western Square, Phibsboro, and two more were seized in a house on Great Western Villas, Phibsboro. Cash was also found in a car in Phibsboro.


2009 Bank of Ireland robbery, Arrests
The six men and one woman are believed to be members of a well-known gang from Dublin's north inner city and have connections to a major Dublin gangland figure. On 2 March, those arrested appeared before the High Court to challenge the lawfulness of their detention, viewing the warrants issued by the District Court the day before as invalid. That day, two of those arrested were released.


2009 Bank of Ireland robbery, Arrests
An unidentified bank employee was arrested on 28 January 2010 based on suspicion that the robbery had been an inside job.


2009 Bank of the West Classic
The 2009 Bank of the West Classic was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 38th edition of the Bank of the West Classic, and was part of the WTA Premier tournaments of the 2009 WTA Tour. It took place at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, California, United States, from July 27 through August 2, 2009. It was the first women's event on the 2009 US Open Series.


2009 Bank of the West Classic, WTA Entrants
Players committed to participating in the singles event for 2009.


2009 Bank of the West Classic, WTA Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw


2009 Bank of the West Classic, Finals, Doubles
Serena Williams /  Venus Williams defeated  Yung-Jan Chan /  Monica Niculescu, 6–4, 6–1


2009 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles
Cara Black and Liezel Huber were the defending champions, but lost in the quarterfinals to Yung-Jan Chan and Monica Niculescu.


2009 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles
Serena Williams and Venus Williams won in the final, 6–4, 6–1, against Yung-Jan Chan and Monica Niculescu.


2009 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
Aleksandra Wozniak was the defending champion, but lost to Daniela Hantuchová in the first round.


2009 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
Marion Bartoli reached her second straight final and won the title, defeating Venus Williams 6–2, 5–7, 6–4.


2009 Banka Koper Slovenia Open
The 2009 Banka Koper Slovenia Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 5th edition of the Banka Koper Slovenia Open, and was part of the WTA International tournaments of the 2009 WTA Tour. It took place in Portorož, Slovenia, from July 20 through July 26, 2009.


2009 Banka Koper Slovenia Open, WTA Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw


2009 Banka Koper Slovenia Open, Champions, Doubles
Julia Görges /  Vladimíra Uhlířová def. Camille Pin /  Klára Zakopalová, 6–4, 6–2


2009 Banka Koper Slovenia Open – Doubles
Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual were the defending champions, but both chose not to participate that year.


2009 Banka Koper Slovenia Open – Doubles
Julia Görges and Vladimíra Uhlířová won in the final, 6–4, 6–2, against Camille Pin and Klára Zakopalová.


2009 Banka Koper Slovenia Open – Singles
Sara Errani was the defending champion, but she was defeated by World No. 1 Dinara Safina in the final, 6–7(5–7), 6–1, 7–5. This was the final WTA title Safina won before her retirement in 2014.


2009 Baraawe raid
The Baraawe raid, code named Operation Celestial Balance, was a helicopter assault by United States Special Operations Forces against the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and associated al-Shabaab militants near the town of Baraawe in southern Somalia.


2009 Baraawe raid, Background
Nabhan was the facilitator between al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab, he had been wanted by the United States since 2006, as he was a member of the east-African al-Qaeda cell responsible for several terrorist attacks in East Africa, including the 1998 United States embassy bombings and the 2002 Mombasa attacks. In 2007, in the midst of the Battle of Ras Kamboni, Nabhan was unsuccessfully targeted by an American military airstrike in the town of Ras Kamboni.


2009 Baraawe raid, Background
A long-Running CIA CTC/SAD operation that hunted for the individual for a number of years, recruiting a network of Somali agents and paying off Somali warlords for information on the location of Nabhan and his associates. A team from the ISA began getting a precise location of the target from cell phone intercepts and surveillance from both short-range US Navy Scan Eagle UAVs and long range CIA Predators.


2009 Baraawe raid, Background
CIA and JSOC planners presented President Obama with 4 options: a Tomahawk cruise missile strike, an airstrike, an attack by Little Bird helicopters or an attempt to capture the target with an assault force of SEALs. Obama picked the airstrike option as it limited the any potential collateral damage and the chances of US casualties.


2009 Baraawe raid, Raid
On the day of the operation, Nabhan was seen traveling in a two-car convoy from the southern coastal town of Barawe, this was reportedly the best opportunity to target him as he would be away from civilian population, particularly as the convoy had stopped for breakfast. As a USMC AV-8B approached its release point, it reported a malfunction in its targeting system; so 4 helicopters (2 AH-6M Little Birds and 2 MH-6M Little Birds) piloted by members of the 160th SOAR, carrying a team of SEALs from DEVGRU launched from a Navy Ship off-shore.


2009 Baraawe raid, Raid
The AH-6s strafed the two-vehicle convoy, killing Nabhan and 3 al-Shabaab terrorists, the MH-6s dropped off the DEVGRU operators who cleared the vehicles and recovered Nabhan's body. The DEVGRU operatives placed the bodies of the four terrorists in body bags and loaded them onto their helicopters. The DEVGRU operatives extracted onto the helicopters and returned to their naval vessels. CBS News reported that two other wounded militants were also captured.


2009 Barcelona Ladies Open
The 2009 Barcelona Ladies Open was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 3rd edition of the Barcelona Ladies Open, and it was an International-level tournament on the 2009 WTA Tour. It took place at the David Lloyd Club Turó in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, from 13 April until 19 April 2009. Unseeded Roberta Vinci won the singles title.


2009 Barcelona Ladies Open, Finals, Doubles
Nuria Llagostera Vives /  María José Martínez Sánchez defeated  Sorana Cîrstea /  Andreja Klepač, 3–6, 6–2, 10–8


2009 Barcelona Ladies Open – Doubles
Lourdes Domínguez Lino and Arantxa Parra Santonja were the defending champions, but lost in the first round to Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez.


2009 Barcelona Ladies Open – Singles
Maria Kirilenko was the defending champion, but lost in the final to Roberta Vinci, 6-0, 6-4.


2009 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell
The 2009 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell (also known as the Trofeo Torneo de Godó) was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 57th edition of the event known that year as the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, and was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2009 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain, from 20 April through 26 April 2009.


2009 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, Champions, Doubles
Daniel Nestor /  Nenad Zimonjić defeated  Mahesh Bhupathi /  Mark Knowles 6–3, 7–6(11–9)


2009 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell – Doubles
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan were the defending champions, but lost in the semifinals to Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles.


2009 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell – Doubles
Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić won in the final 6–3, 7–6(11–9), against Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles.


2009 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell – Singles
Four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal successfully defended his title, defeating David Ferrer in a rematch of the previous year's final, 6–2, 7–5, to win the Singles title at the 2009 Barcelona Open. It was his record-extending fifth title at the Barcelona Open.


2009 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell – Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2009 Barrow Raiders season
The Barrow Raiders, the English professional rugby league team from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, competed in the second tier competition of British rugby league, the 2009 Co-operative Championship.


2009 Barrow Raiders season, Table
Source: Note (a): Toulouse were exempt from relegation. Note: (b): Doncaster lost 9 competition points for entering administration. Classification: 1st on league points; 2nd on match points difference. League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0. Pld = Games played; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; PF = Match points scored; PA = Match points conceded; PD = Points difference; BP = Bonus Points; Pts = League points.


2009 Barum Czech Rally Zlín
The 2009 Barum Czech Rally Zlín was 8th round of 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season, it was won by local driver Jan Kopecký with Škoda Fabia S2000.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2009 proceeded according to revised rules enacted in 2001 and further revamped in 2007. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) held an election to select from among recent players, and elected Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
In keeping with the 2007 rules changes, the Veterans Committee held an election for players who were active in the years 1943 to 1987, but not before or after that period; for the fourth consecutive election cycle, this election produced no selections. An election to select from among players who were active prior to 1943 was conducted by a separate Veterans Committee panel of 12 Hall of Famers, writers, and baseball historians, chosen by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors, and this election produced the first player selection by the Veterans Committee since 2001, Joe Gordon. An election to select managers, umpires and executives had been held for the 2008 inductions; the next such election was held prior to the 2010 inductions.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Induction ceremonies in Cooperstown were held July 26, 2009, with Commissioner Bud Selig presiding.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The BBWAA was again authorized to elect players active in 1989 or later, but not after 2003; the ballot, announced on December 1, 2008, included candidates from the 2008 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 2003. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote; ballots had to be returned by December 31.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Voters were instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate who received votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall. Results of the 2009 election by the BBWAA were announced on January 12. The ballot consisted of 23 players, the lowest number ever; there were 13 candidates returning from the 2008 ballot, also a record low.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
539 ballots were cast (including two ballots which supported no candidates), with 405 votes required for election. A total of 2,902 individual votes were cast, an average of 5.38 per ballot. Those candidates who received less than 5% of the vote will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (†). The candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics. The candidates who received less than 5% of the vote, thus becoming ineligible for future BBWAA consideration, are indicated with an asterisk (*).


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Tommy John and Jim Rice were on the ballot for the 15th and final time; Rice became the first player elected in his final year of BBWAA ballot eligibility since Ralph Kiner in 1975, while John's eligibility ran out.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
The newly eligible candidates included 22 All-Stars (12 of whom were not included on the ballot), who were selected a combined total of 58 times – a slight increase from 2008, when 17 All-Stars who had been selected a total of 43 times became eligible. Rickey Henderson, a 10-time All-Star, was the only new candidate who was selected more than five times. The ballot included two MVPs (Henderson and Mo Vaughn), and one Cy Young Award-winner and perfect game thrower (David Cone), none of them winning more than once.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
Players eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Steve Avery, Jason Bere, Mike Bordick, John Burkett, Omar Daal, Joe Girardi, Mark Guthrie, Joey Hamilton, Bill Haselman, Darren Holmes, Trenidad Hubbard, Todd Hundley, Brian L. Hunter, Félix José, Chad Kreuter, Graeme Lloyd, Keith Lockhart, Albie Lopez, Pat Mahomes, Al Martin, Orlando Merced, Charles Nagy, Denny Neagle, Troy O'Leary, Lance Painter, Dean Palmer, Craig Paquette, Tom Prince, Jeff Reboulet, Rick Reed, Rich Rodriguez, Terry Shumpert, Luis Sojo, Dave Veres, Matt Walbeck, Mike Williams and Kevin Young.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, BBWAA election
None of the newly eligible candidates would appear on any future ballots. As expected, Henderson was elected on his first appearance; no other first-timer received the 5% of votes required to remain on the ballot. As a result, the 2010 ballot broke the record set this year for fewest returning candidates, with only 11 players returning.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
Rules for election by the Veterans Committee were revised in July 2007 following complaints that the three elections conducted under the previous format (in 2003, 2005, and 2007) had resulted in no selections. After the February 2007 election, Bud Selig expressed frustration over the ongoing difficulties, and voiced his support for a revision of the process.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
Under the revised format, a Historical Overview Committee composed of 11 sportswriters appointed by the BBWAA's Board of Directors met in spring 2008 to develop a ballot of 20 former players active between 1943 and 1987; the committee members were: Dave Van Dyck (Chicago Tribune); Bob Elliott (Toronto Sun); Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch); Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau); Moss Klein (formerly Newark Star-Ledger); Bill Madden (New York Daily News); Ken Nigro (formerly Baltimore Sun); Jack O'Connell (MLB.com); Nick Peters (The Sacramento Bee); Tracy Ringolsby (Rocky Mountain News); and Mark Whicker (The Orange County Register).


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
A six-member panel of Hall of Famers also met to independently select five players for consideration; these lists were merged to create a preliminary ballot of 21 names: Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, Bert Campaneris, Rocky Colavito, Mike Cuellar, Steve Garvey, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Ted Kluszewski, Mickey Lolich, Roger Maris, Lee May, Minnie Miñoso, Thurman Munson, Tony Oliva, Al Oliver, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Joe Torre and Maury Wills.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
Following the elections of 2003 through 2007, when the voting membership of the Veterans Committee included not only the living members of the Hall but also recipients of the Ford C. Frick Award and J. G. Taylor Spink Award, voting was now limited to Hall members; they met at the Hall during induction weekend in 2008, and reduced the ballot to 10 names through voting by mail in August. This final ballot was then sent to the 64 living members, and they voted by mail, casting votes for up to four candidates each.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
Any candidate receiving votes on 75% of ballots would be inducted to the Hall; a maximum of five inductees was possible. The final ballot was announced on September 16; all ten finalists were returnees from the 2007 final ballot. Results were announced on December 8 at Major League Baseball's winter meetings in Las Vegas, Nevada, but no candidate received the necessary number of votes. All 64 eligible voters cast ballots, with 48 votes required for election. Players elected in subsequent years are indicated in plain italics.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
A total of 213 votes were cast for the 10 candidates, an average of 3.33 votes per ballot cast, suggesting that most voters cast votes for the maximum number of candidates but that the votes were too scattered for any one candidate to reach the required number.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
Although Hall of Fame officials had hoped that reducing the field of candidates on the final ballot from approximately 25 names to 10 would help focus attention on the most popular candidates and increase the chances of a selection, the coinciding move to reduce the allowable number of votes per ballot from ten to four appeared to counteract any potential benefit, as every candidate but one saw his percentage of the vote drop from 2007 (Tiant improved slightly from 18.3% to 20.3%).


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
Hall of Fame chairwoman Jane Forbes Clark stated, "When our board of directors restructured the Veterans Committee after the 2007 election, it did so with the goal of ensuring the voters – the living Hall of Famers – would review their peers. The 10 post-1942 ballot finalists all spent a substantial part of their playing career in the 1960s or the 1970s, and a vast majority of the voters were either actively playing, managing or involved in baseball in those two decades."


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
She added, "The process was not redesigned with the goal of necessarily electing someone, but to give everyone on the ballot a very fair chance of earning election through a ballot of their peers. The vote reinforces the selections of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and maintains the high standards set by the BBWAA. A 75-percent threshold is extremely difficult to attain, but the highly selective process helps ensure that enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame remains the greatest honor in the game."


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
Former manager Dick Williams, who had been inducted into the Hall earlier in the year, noted, "It's not our job to vote someone in," and added, "It's our job to consider the candidates." Noting his support for some of the candidates, he stated, "I thought Kaat would get in. I voted for him. And I think Joe Torre will, too, when he's done managing. I missed quite a few times before I got in. I know what that's like."


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
In announcing the lack of selections from this ballot, Hall president Jeff Idelson noted that the Hall's board of directors would review the results at its annual spring meeting, in keeping with their regular practice, and consider whether to further alter the selection process; he stressed that this was the first use of the new process featuring a smaller voting body and a reduced ballot. He added that the voting levels indicated that the members believed there were worthy candidates for induction, although no agreement could be reached as to the best ones. Hall member Joe Morgan, also a member of the Hall's board, argued that the current members were not trying to keep candidates out, but observed that the addition of strong new candidates each election might have the effect of reducing the support for any single player.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
The ballot was composed almost entirely of players who were active in the 1960s and 1970s, with all but Hodges being active during the period from 1967 to 1972 (Hodges was a manager in that time period); even among the 21 players initially considered, only six had their rookie seasons before 1958, and only Hodges, Ted Kluszewski and Minnie Miñoso debuted before 1955. Other players who were on the 2007 ballot who were eligible for consideration were Bobby Bonds, Curt Flood, Sparky Lyle and Don Newcombe.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
In addition to Ken Boyer, Rocky Colavito, Kluszewski, Roger Maris, Miñoso and Newcombe, other potential candidates whose rookie seasons were before 1958 were Billy Pierce, perhaps the American League's top pitcher in the mid-1950s, Roy Face, the National League's first great reliever, and Dick Groat, a solid-hitting shortstop who was the NL's MVP in 1960.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
Among the players who were eligible for the first time were Dusty Baker, Vida Blue, Ron Cey, Cecil Cooper, George Foster, Steve Garvey, Bobby Grich, Dave Kingman, Davey Lopes and Bill Madlock, with only Garvey being included among the 21 semifinalists.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
In addition to improving on the fruitless outcome of the previous three elections for players, there may have been particular urgency in the 2009 vote resulting in the selection of one or more new members, as in 2011 a large group of potentially popular candidates would become eligible – possibly further diluting the support for any single candidate.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
Under the then-current Veterans Committee rules, those becoming eligible in 2011 would have included Buddy Bell, Dave Concepción, Ron Guidry, Tommy John, Graig Nettles and Ted Simmons; another sizable group of potentially popular candidates, including Bob Boone, Dwight Evans, Keith Hernandez, Fred Lynn, Dave Parker and Dan Quisenberry, would have become eligible in 2013.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
As it turned out, this would be the last election for the Veterans Committee in this particular form. In July 2010, the Hall announced a new voting procedure to consider individuals not eligible for the BBWAA ballot. Starting with the elections for 2011 induction, the Veterans Committee was split into three 16-member subcommittees, each made up of Hall of Famers, executives, baseball historians, and media members. Each subcommittee votes once every three years on candidates from a composite ballot including both long-retired players and non-playing personnel.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, 1943 and later
The ballots and subcommittees were divided by era, with the first vote involving figures from what the Hall calls the "Expansion Era" (1973 and later). The following year saw candidates considered from the "Golden Era" (1947–1972), with candidates from the "Pre-Integration Era" (1871–1946) following in the 2013 election. The first player elected under the new procedure was Ron Santo, elected in 2011 by the Golden Era subcommittee as part of the class of 2012.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, Pre-1943
For the first and ultimately only time, a separate election was held for players whose major league careers began before 1943; these elections are scheduled to occur every five years. The election was conducted on December 7, 2008 at the winter meetings in Las Vegas, among a committee of twelve Hall members and members of the media, with results announced the following day; votes by proxy would be allowed only in emergencies, but this was not necessary.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, Pre-1943
The Historical Overview Committee of the BBWAA selected 10 candidates to appear on the ballot, with votes from 75% of the committee necessary for election; each committee member could vote for up to four candidates, allowing for a maximum of five selections. The final ballot was announced on August 25; the candidate who received at least 75% of the vote and was elected is indicated in bold italics.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, Pre-1943
The committee members apparently made an effort to vote for as many candidates as they were allowed, casting at least 41 of a possible 48 individual votes (vote totals for three candidates were not released), for a minimum possible average of 3.42 votes per ballot.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, Pre-1943
Of the ten final candidates, none were living; Vernon was alive at the time the final ballot was announced, but died a month later. The finalists included candidates spanning the entire period from 1868 (White) to 1960 (Vernon), although six of the ten were active in the 1940s; four of the top five finishers were active in the 1940s, with the four pre-1930 candidates gaining no more than 12 total votes.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, Pre-1943
The Historical Overview Committee was permitted to nominate candidates who played in the Negro leagues prior to 1946, as long as their time in the Negro leagues and major leagues totals at least ten seasons; this rule would seem to include players such as Minnie Miñoso (who debuted with the New York Cubans in 1945) and Don Newcombe (who debuted with the Newark Eagles in 1944), even if they did not appear in the Negro leagues until after 1943.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, Pre-1943
Negro league first baseman Buck O'Neil, whose playing career began in 1937, was eligible to be included on this ballot; however, if the overview committee believed that his contributions to baseball after his playing career ended outweigh his playing accomplishments, he could be instead considered in the election for non-players in 2010.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, Pre-1943
The rules state that: "Those whose careers entailed involvement as both players and managers/executives/umpires will be considered for their overall contribution to the game of Baseball; however, the specific category in which such individuals shall be considered will be determined by the role in which they were most prominent. In those instances when a candidate is prominent as both a player and as a manager, executive or umpire, the BBWAA Screening Committee shall determine that individual's candidacy as either a player (Players Ballot), or as a manager, umpires, executive or pioneer (Managers/Umpires Ballot, or Executives/Pioneers Ballot)."


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Veterans Committee, Pre-1943
Because of the 2010 changes to Veterans Committee voting, this would be the only vote of the pre-1943 committee.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
The J. G. Taylor Spink Award has been presented by the BBWAA at the annual summer induction ceremonies since 1962. It recognizes a sportswriter "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing". The recipients are not members of the Hall of the Fame, merely featured in a permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Museum, but writers and broadcasters commonly call them "Hall of Fame writers" or words to that effect.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
Three final candidates, selected by a three-member BBWAA committee, were named on July 15, 2008 in New York City in conjunction with All-Star Game activities: Nick Peters of The Sacramento Bee, Dave Van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune, and Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to cast ballots in voting conducted by mail in November.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
On December 10 at baseball's winter meetings, Nick Peters was announced as the recipient. Peters, who covered the San Francisco Giants from 1961 to 2007, received 210 votes out of the 447 ballots cast, with Elliott receiving 123 votes and Van Dyck receiving 107; seven blank ballots were submitted.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
The Ford C. Frick Award has been presented at the annual summer induction ceremonies since 1978. It recognizes a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball". The recipients are not members of the Hall of the Fame, merely featured in a permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Museum, but writers and broadcasters commonly call them "Hall of Fame broadcaster" or words to that effect.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
To be eligible, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, a network, or a combination of the two.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
Ten finalists were announced on October 6, 2008. In accordance with guidelines established in 2003, seven were chosen by a 20-member committee composed of the 15 living recipients, along with 5 additional broadcasting historians and columnists: Bob Costas (NBC), Barry Horn (The Dallas Morning News), Stan Isaacs (formerly of New York Newsday), Ted Patterson (historian) and Curt Smith (historian). The seven finalists chosen by the committee were: Billy Berroa, Ken Coleman, Dizzy Dean, Lanny Frattare, Tony Kubek, Graham McNamee and Dave Van Horne. Three additional candidates – Tom Cheek, Jacques Doucet and Joe Nuxhall – were selected from a list of 210 candidates through results of voting by fans conducted throughout September at the Hall's official website, with 145,138 ballots cast.


2009 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
On December 9 at baseball's winter meetings, it was announced that Tony Kubek would be the recipient. Kubek, who was a television analyst for NBC, the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees from 1965 until his 1994 retirement, became the first recipient of the Frick Award whose broadcasting career was solely in television (1995 recipient Bob Woolf is best known as a television play-by-play man, but has also worked in radio), and also the first recipient to have called games for a Canadian team. He was selected in a November vote by the same committee which selected the finalists. They voted by mail, and based the selection on the following criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans.


2009 Baseball World Cup
The 2009 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 38th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the 1986 AWS. The 2009 tournament was held, for the first time, across a continent – with games played in 27 cities across eight European countries, from September 9 to 27. The final was a repeat of the previous BWC final, with the United States again defeating Cuba, winning its fourth title.


2009 Baseball World Cup
There were 22 participating countries (which stands as the most ever in tournament history), with 20 teams split into five groups for the first round, after which "official" host Italy and 2007 European Champion Netherlands joined the advancing 14 teams in the second round.


2009 Baseball World Cup
The next competition would be the last amateur championship held as the BWC tournament, which was replaced in 2015 by the quadrennial WBSC Premier12.


2009 Baseball World Cup, Format
Previous editions of the World Cup were held with no more than 18 teams. These teams were initially broken up into two pools, with the top teams from each pool qualifying for the final knockout stage. With 22 teams competing in the 2009 tournament, the format has been expanded into three phases. Teams that play from the first round and finish among the top eight teams of the tournament will now have played as many as 15 games, making it one of the longest campaigns for any international baseball tournament.


2009 Baseball World Cup, Format
All of the teams, with the exception of Italy and Netherlands, will compete in the first round (as hosts for the second-round games, Italy and Netherlands receive a bye through the first round). The teams will be broken into five pools of four teams each. Each pool will be held in a different country, with the hosts Czech Republic, Spain, Sweden, Croatia and Germany assigned to the corresponding pools. (Previously, Russia had been set as the host nation for Pool D, however they were replaced by Croatia in an announcement from the IBAF.)


2009 Baseball World Cup, Format
Unlike the 2009 World Baseball Classic, the pools will be conducted in single round-robin format. The top two teams from each pool will automatically qualify for the second round, while four of the five third-place finishers will also qualify as wild cards. In some respects, the first round is like a final qualifying tournament, similar to the format used for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.


2009 Baseball World Cup, Format
The second round operates similarly to the first, but on an expanded scale. The field of teams is split into two pools, one hosted in Italy, the other in the Netherlands. The fourteen qualifiers from the first round are assigned to the pools, and commence a single round-robin competition. The top four teams from each pool then qualify for the third and final round.


2009 Baseball World Cup, Format
The third round is broken into two parts: a partial round-robin and then four classification games, including the final. Each team will play four games during the round-robin phase, against the teams they have not yet faced (in Round 2) who also qualified – i.e. the teams from the Italian pool will face the teams from the Netherlands pool, but not each other. The teams are then ranked on their results in this phase and in games of the 2nd round between qualified teams, but in two groups based on the pool they qualified from.


2009 Baseball World Cup, Format
Each team then plays a classification game against their counterpart from the opposite group to determine their final placings in the tournament – i.e. the fourth place Italian qualifier faces the fourth place Netherlands qualifier to determine seventh and eighth positions, the third place qualifiers compete for fifth and sixth positions, and so on. The winner of the final classification game will be declared the winner of the World Cup for 2009.


2009 Baseball World Cup, Format, Tiebreaking procedures
The IBAF employs a standard tiebreaking system across all tournaments it sanctions, though it will use a modified version for this World Cup. Ordinarily there are five criteria available to be used when two or more teams finish the tournament (or a section thereof) with the same winning percentage; if the first method does not split the teams involved, the next one is used, continuing down the list of methods until a distinction is achieved. The criteria used to determine the higher placed finishing team, in order, are:


2009 Baseball World Cup, Format, Tiebreaking procedures
For this World Cup though, a simplified method of tiebreaking will be used:


2009 Baseball World Cup, Format, Tiebreaking procedures
In the case of determining the four wild card teams that will progress from the first to the second round, the first measure will automatically be skipped, as it will be impossible for the teams to have played against each other.


2009 Baseball World Cup, Teams
Twenty-two teams qualified for the tournament, either through finishing high enough in the 2007 World Cup, placing high enough in regional tournaments that doubled as qualifying tournaments for the event, or by automatic qualification by hosting some part of the tournament.


2009 Baseball World Cup, Awards
The IBAF announced the following awards at the completion of the tournament.


2009 Basel Summer Ice Hockey
The 2009 Basel Summer Ice Hockey is an ice hockey tournament that was held in Basel, Switzerland for the first time between 19 and 22 August 2009. All matches were played at host EHC Basel's home St. Jakob Arena. Six teams, split into two groups of three, took part.


2009 Basel Summer Ice Hockey, Teams participating
The list of teams that were confirmed for the tournament are as listed:


2009 Basque regional election
The 2009 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 1 March 2009, to elect the 9th Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with a regional election in Galicia. It would be the first time that the elections for two of the Spanish "historical regions"—namely, those comprising Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country itself—were held simultaneously. This would evolve into an unwritten convention in subsequent years, with Basque and Galician elections being held concurrently in 2012, 2016 and 2020.


2009 Basque regional election
The 2009 Basque election was the first one to be held without any major electoral candidacy from the abertzale left, after their previous iterations—the Communist Party of the Basque Homelands (PCTV/EHAK) and Basque Nationalist Action (ANV)—had been outlawed in September 2008 because of their reported ties to ETA and the outlawed Batasuna party. In early February 2009, two political groupings formed by abertzale left members to contest the election, Demokrazia Hiru Milioi (D3M) and Askatasuna ("Freedom"), were barred from contesting the election by both the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court. In response, the abertzale left asked their voters to cast invalid ballots, both in protest to the court rulings and seeking to prevent tactical voting in favour of either Lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe's Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) or Eusko Alkartasuna (EA).


2009 Basque regional election
The election resulted in an upset, as Basque nationalist parties lost their parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years, paving the way for a non-PNV led government. The Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE) under Patxi López gained seven seats to command a 25-strong caucus, the best historical showing of the party in a Basque regional election.


2009 Basque regional election
The People's Party (PP), which had switched leaders less than a year before the election as former leader María San Gil quit over disagreements with the national leadership of Mariano Rajoy, had a net loss of two seats from 2005. The new Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) party, founded in 2007 by former PSOE member and regional minister Rosa Díez was able to achieve a breakthrough in Álava and have its regional candidate Gorka Maneiro elected. Meanwhile, PNV's previous coalition partners, Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) and Ezker Batua (EB), suffered a harsh electoral downturn with both their leaders losing their seats and resigning in the aftermath of the election.


2009 Basque regional election
The PSE formed a minority government with López as the first non-PNV lehendakari since 1979 through a confidence and supply agreement with the PP. While both parties had established an uneasy alliance in the Basque Country since the late 1990s despite their overall national rivalry, this would constitute the most relevant agreement reached between both parties at any level of administration.


2009 Basque regional election, Overview, Electoral system
The Basque Parliament was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of the Basque Country, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the regional Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a lehendakari.


2009 Basque regional election, Overview, Electoral system
Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in the Basque Country and in full enjoyment of their political rights. The 75 members of the Basque Parliament were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency.


2009 Basque regional election, Overview, Electoral system
Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, being allocated a fixed number of 25 seats each to provide for an equal representation of the three provinces in parliament as required under the regional statute of autonomy. This meant that Álava was allocated the same number of seats as Biscay and Gipuzkoa, despite their populations being, as of 1 January 2009: 315,280, 1,154,628 and 704,173, respectively.


2009 Basque regional election, Overview, Electoral system
The use of the D'Hondt method might result in a higher effective threshold, depending on the district magnitude.


2009 Basque regional election, Overview, Election date
The term of the Basque Parliament expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election was held on 17 April 2005, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 17 April 2009. The election decree was required to be published in the BOPV no later than 24 March 2009, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 17 May 2009.


2009 Basque regional election, Overview, Election date
The lehendakari had the prerogative to dissolve the Basque Parliament at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a lehendakari within a sixty-day period from the Parliament re-assembly, the Parliament was to be dissolved and a fresh election called.


2009 Basque regional election, Overview, Election date
Lehendakari Ibarretxe had been scheduled to announce a snap election for autumn 2008 following his expected failure in holding a proposed referendum on the Basque Country's political status for 25 October 2008, to be averted by the Spanish government. The electoral defeat of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) in the 2008 Spanish general election in the region and internal opposition from the PNV leadership to an immediate election delayed the scheduled snap vote to early 2009.


2009 Basque regional election, Overview, Election date
Finally on 3 January 2009, Ibarretxe took advantage of Galician president Emilio Pérez Touriño's previous announcement of a Galician election for 1 March to call the Basque election simultaneously, a move which was interpreted by the media and by political parties as intending to caught his political rivals by surprise (particularly, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the People's Party (PP), by forcing them to run two simultaneous election campaigns).


2009 Basque regional election, Background
The Ibarretxe Plan, a major proposal by Lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe to reform the 1979 Basque Statute of Autonomy and turn the region into an associated state to Spain as a way to ending the ongoing conflict with the paramilitary ETA group, was brought to a standstill following its parliamentary defeat in a vote in the Congress of Deputies on 1 February 2005 and the subsequent electoral setback of Ibarretxe's coalition in the April 2005 regional election. On 22 March 2006, ETA declared a "permanent ceasefire" to allow for a peace process to ensue with the Spanish government under then-Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, but peace talks terminated as a result of the 2006 Madrid–Barajas Airport bombing on 30 December.


2009 Basque regional election, Background
Later into the legislature on 28 September 2007, Ibarretxe attempted to revive his statute reform plan by announcing a new "right to decide roadmap" which provided for a referendum on the proposal being held by 25 October 2008, whether it was in agreement with the Spanish government or without it. The law establishing the legal framework allowing the Basque government to hold the vote was approved by the Basque Parliament in June 2008, but was subsequently suspended and overturned by the Constitutional Court, which ended up ruling that the law and the proposed referendum were unconstitutional.


2009 Basque regional election, Background
On 31 August 2006, the leadership of Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) had voted for terminating their electoral alliance with the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) ahead of the 2007 foral and local elections, after seven years of collaboration; on 10 November 2008, the decision was made irreversible after EA announced its maintainment ahead of the incoming 2009 regional election.


2009 Basque regional election, Background
The 2007 elections had seen strong gains for the Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE) and a decline for the parties supporting Ibarretxe's government, PNV, EA and Ezker Batua (EB), a situation confirmed one year later in the 2008 Spanish general election in the region as the PSE–EE emerged as the most voted party with 38.1% and 9 out of 18 Congress seats.


2009 Basque regional election, Background
Concurrently, and in application of the 2002 Law of Political Parties—which allowed the outlawing of parties "whose activity violates democratic principles, particularly when it seeks to deteriorate or destroy the regime of freedoms or prevent or eliminate the democratic system by promoting, justifying or exculpating attacks on the life or integrity of people, legitimizing violence as a method to achieve political objectives or politically supporting the action of terrorist organizations to achieve their purposes of subverting the constitutional order"—the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court barred several parties from contesting elections because of their reported ties to ETA and the outlawed Batasuna party; namely, the Communist Party of the Basque Homelands (PCTV/EHAK), Basque Nationalist Action (ANV), several groupings created specifically to contest the 2007 local elections (such as Abertzale Sozialisten Batasuna and Abertzale Sozialistak) or the 2009 regional election (Demokrazia Hiru Milioi and Askatasuna).


2009 Basque regional election, Parliamentary composition
The Basque Parliament was officially dissolved on 6 January 2009, after the publication of the dissolution decree in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country. The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.


2009 Basque regional election, Parties and candidates
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.


2009 Basque regional election, Parties and candidates
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:


2009 Basque regional election, Opinion polls
The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Basque Parliament.


2009 Basque regional election, Aftermath, Invalid votes
After Demokrazia Hiru Milioi (D3M) and Askatasuna ("Freedom") were outlawed in February 2009, Basque separatists were asked to cast their vote for D3M, whose ballots would be counted as invalid. According to some sources, the pro-independence Basque left (that were formerly represented by Batasuna and later by EHAK) was surprised by the lower support of their void option. If the void votes are to be counted as the support of this option, it would have obtained the worst results in their history, having received 100,924 void votes, 50,000 less than in the previous regional election and less than half their historical top in the 1998 election.


2009 Basque regional election, Aftermath, Invalid votes
Major electoral analysis has been performed on the results and the issue of the void votes by pro-Basque nationalist and non-Basque nationalist parties alike. It is a frequent misunderstanding that, had the votes for the illegal lists been counted as valid, they would have been entitled to seven seats. Actually, taking into account that the average of "normal" void votes (struck-out names, double-voting, etc.)


2009 Basque regional election, Aftermath, Invalid votes
in the last three Basque regional elections (1998, 2001 and 2005) was about 0.4%, and assuming that all the void votes that could not be accounted for by that statistic alone were cast for a hypothetical unitary abertzale list (instead of for two different lists, Askatasuna and D3M), those ~97,000 votes would have accounted for at most 6 seats.


2009 Basque regional election, Aftermath, Government formation
The election results saw the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) of Lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe securing a clear victory with 38.1% of the vote and 30 seats, but it came at the expense of Ibarretxe's erstwhile allies, Eusko Alkartasuna (EA) and Ezker Batua (EB).


2009 Basque regional election, Aftermath, Government formation
Together with Aralar, which had seen a remarkable rise of support in absence of electoral competition from other abertzale left parties—a result of their illegalization because of their ties with ETA and Batasuna—the parties in support of Ibarretxe could only muster 36 out of the 75 seats in the Basque Parliament, against 39 of the combined totals for the Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE), the People's Party (PP) and Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD), meaning that for the first time since 1979 the possibility existed for a non-PNV lehendakari to be appointed. Upon learning of the results, PP regional leader Antonio Basagoiti proclaimed his satisfaction and announced his support for Socialist Patxi López as new lehendakari, who had previously announced that he felt "legitimated to lead the change" and would be running for investiture.


2009 Basque regional election, Aftermath, Government formation
As the PNV–EA–EB alliance—in government since 2001—was no longer workable, the PNV attempted to figure out a coalition agreement with the PSE to remain in power, mirroring the historical collaboration that the two parties had maintained from 1986 to 1998, and hinting at withdrawing PNV's support to Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's government in the Cortes Generales if the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) did not back their plan. The PSE rejected supporting a new PNV administration even if Ibarretxe was replaced with a different candidate, conditioning any agreement on Patxi López becoming lehendakari, which the PNV refused.


2009 Basque regional election, Aftermath, Government formation
Instead, the PSE proposed the formation of a minority cabinet led by López that could be supported by the PP, ruling out a full-fledged coalition. Concurrently, the PSOE's national leadership supported López's bid and defended the PSE's autonomy to agree on any pact that their local branch deemed fit, despite the PNV's threat of withdrawing their support nationally.


2009 Basque regional election, Aftermath, Government formation
Seeking to provide the new government of parliamentary stability, the PSE and the PP—which had been and still were arch-rivals at the national level—reached an unprecedented confidence and supply agreement on 30 March that would see the Basque nationalists ousted from power after 30 years of uninterrupted government.


2009 Basque regional election, Aftermath, Government formation
The PNV, which had dubbed any such agreement as "legitimate" but as a "fraud to the electorate" and an "act of political aggression", announced a "harsh" opposition to López's government and vowed to put forth Ibarretxe as their candidate in the investiture session, citing their "right" to head the government as the top-voted party. As part of their agreement, the PSE would support PP's Arantza Quiroga as new president of the Basque Parliament and treat the PP as their "preferred" parliamentary partner, whereas the PP would refrain from moving or supporting any vote of no confidence on the new cabinet.


2009 Basque regional election, Aftermath, Government formation
López was elected as new lehendakari on a 39–35 vote in the investiture session held on 5 May 2009, garnering the additional support of the sole legislator from Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD), and was sworn in two days later. Simultaneously, his political defeat led Ibarretxe to announce his farewell from politics altogether, a move which would allow his party to reorganize itself from opposition hands-free and, eventually, lead to the abandonment of Ibarretxe's sovereigntist plans and discourse.


2009 Basra governorate election
The Basra governorate election of 2009 was held on 31 January 2009 alongside elections for all other governorates outside Iraqi Kurdistan and Kirkuk.


2009 Basra governorate election, Background
One seat in the election is reserved for Assyrian Christians


2009 Basra governorate election, Background
Basra is the main oil-producing and transit centre in Iraq, which has led to intense competition over control of its Governorate. It has been the centre of competition between the al-Maliki Federal government, which controls the police and army, the Islamic Virtue Party Governor of Basra which controls the Oil Protection Corps and local militias from the Sadrist Movement and Tharallah. Following the Battle of Basra in 2008, the central government seized control of the city's streets from the Sadrist Movement and the security situation improved.


2009 Basra governorate election, Background
In April 2007, SIIC successfully brought a no-confidence motion against Governor Waili. This dismissal was ratified by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in July, but eventually overturned by the Supreme Court.


2009 Basra governorate election, Background
The central government has organized "Local Support Committee" militias, has spent $100 million in reconstruction projects and has started paying unemployment benefits in the province. This was expected to lead to an increased support for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party.


2009 Basra governorate election, Background
Meanwhile, the Islamic Virtue Party dropped Waeli from its candidate list, reportedly due to his "polarizing" effect.


2009 Basra governorate election, Background
In a move away from their traditional apolitical stance, a list with a core support from the Shaykhiya religious community stood for the first time.


2009 Basra governorate election, Basra Region
In November 2008 Wael Abdul Latif, an Independent Islamist MP backed by tribal Sheikhs, submitted a petition to the Electoral Commission of Iraq signed by 34,800 people calling for a vote on a Region of Iraq covering only the governorate of Basrah. The Sadrist movement opposed the move, saying it was "playing with fire" as did the Islamic Dawa Party of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. SCIRI remained neutral, as it supports a nine-province Region covered the whole of southern Iraq.


2009 Basra governorate election, Basra Region
As the petition was signed by more than 2% of the population, the commission published an official request for signatures; if more than 10% of the population had signed it before 15 January 2009, a referendum would have been held within 15 days. In the event, the initiative failed to reach 10% and was struck down by the Electoral Commission. Backers accused the al-Maliki federal government of blocking their media campaign and appealed the decision to the Federal Court.


2009 Battle of Rafah
The 2009 Battle of Rafah was a battle, fought between the police forces of the Islamist group Hamas controlling Gaza, and the radical Islamist group Jund Ansar Allah. The fighting began on 14 August 2009 and concluded the next day. In total, 24 people were killed in the fighting, including six Hamas police officers and an 11-year-old girl, and a further 150 were wounded.


2009 Battle of Rafah, The raid
A day before the Hamas raid, Jund ansar Allah leader, Abdel Latif Moussa, declared an Islamic state in Gaza, and swore allegiance to Al-Qaeda. About 100 of his fighters were seen in a video where he pledged allegiance in his base, a mosque in Rafah. The next day, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades attacked the Mosque and other bases of the group in Rafah. The fighting lasted 7 hours. It was reported, that when the Hamas reached the positions if Moussa, and Jund Ansar Allah's military commander, Abu Abdullah al Suri, they detonated themselves.


2009 Battle of Rafah, The raid
About 13 Jund ansar allah fighters were killed, and 40 captured, 5 civilians were also killed, including 6 Hamas soldiers. al-Qassam brigades commander Abu Jibril Shimali, was  also killed during the battle. The group was virtually destroyed after the fighting, having both of its leaders killed, and its bases captured. It was reported that Hamas later released some of the captured.


2009 Bauer Watertechnology Cup
The 2009 Bauer Watertechnology Cup was a professional tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the thirteenth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2009 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Eckental, Germany between 2 and 8 November 2009.


2009 Bauer Watertechnology Cup, ATP entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2009 Bauer Watertechnology Cup, Champions, Doubles
Michael Kohlmann /  Alexander Peya def. Philipp Marx /  Igor Zelenay, 6–4, 7–6(4)


2009 Bauer Watertechnology Cup – Doubles
Yves Allegro and Horia Tecău, who were the winners in 2008, chose to not compete this year. Michael Kohlmann and Alexander Peya became the new champions, by defeating Philipp Marx and Igor Zelenay 6–4, 7–6(4) in the final.


2009 Bauer Watertechnology Cup – Singles
Denis Gremelmayr, who was the defending champion, lost to Alexander Peya already in the first round. Daniel Brands won in the final match 6–4, 6–4, against Dustin Brown.


2009 Bavarian Cup
The 2009 Bavarian Cup was the twelfth edition of this competition, organised by the Bavarian Football Association (BFV), which was first  held in 1998. The winner and runners-up were both qualified for the 2009–10 DFB-Pokal. Additionally, this year's semi-finalist, SpVgg Unterhaching, was also qualified because it finished in the top-four of the 3. Liga.


2009 Bavarian Cup
The competition was open to all senior men's football teams playing within the Bavarian football league system and the Bavarian clubs in the Regionalliga Süd (III) and 3. Liga.


2009 Bavarian Cup, Rules and History
The seven Bezirke in Bavaria each play their own cup competition which in turn used to function as a qualifying to the German Cup (DFB-Pokal). Since 1998 these seven cup-winners plus the losing finalist of the region that won the previous event advance to the newly introduced Bavarian Cup, the Toto-Pokal. The two finalists of this competition advance to the German Cup. Bavarian clubs which play in the first and second Bundesliga are not permitted to take part in the event, their reserve teams however can.


2009 Bavarian Cup, Rules and History
The seven regional cup winners plus the finalist from last season's winners region were qualified for the first round.


2009 Bavarian Cup, Participating clubs
The following eight clubs qualified for the 2009 Bavarian Cup:


2009 Bavarian Cup, DFB Cup 2009–10
The two clubs, SpVgg Weiden and Wacker Burghausen, who qualified through the Bavarian Cup for the 2009–10 drew the following first-round opposition:


2009 Bayern–Rundfahrt
The 2009 Bayern–Rundfahrt was the 30th edition of the Bayern–Rundfahrt cycle race and was held on 27 May to 31 May 2009. The race started in Kelheim and finished in Gunzenhausen. The race was won by Linus Gerdemann.


2009 Baylor Bears football team
The 2009 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Art Briles. The Bears played their home games at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. Baylor finished the season with a record of 4–8 and 1–7 in Big 12 play.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Before the season, Program history
The Baylor Bears football program finished 2008 with a 4–8 record and a 521–523–43  (0.499) all-time record, marking the first time in decades that Baylor's overall record was losing. The program has not won its conference or attended a bowl game since 1994, when it both won the Southwest Conference and played in the 1994 Alamo Bowl; it has not had a winning season record since 1995.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Before the season, Program history
The Bears are currently the only Big 12 team to not have made a bowl game since the Big 12's inception, and the team has gone the longest of any team in a BCS conference without a bowl game appearance (Duke Blue Devils last played in a bowl game two days later in the 1995 Hall of Fame Bowl)


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Before the season, Predictions
Many agreed that the difficult schedule of the Bears would likely hurt their chances of reaching a bowl game. One ESPN analyst even criticized Baylor's decision to move its 2009 home game against Texas Tech to the Cowboys Stadium, a more neutral and media-friendly location.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Facilities
In fall 2008, two new facilities, the Highers Athletic Complex and the Simpson Athletics and Academic Center, were completed. The 2009 football season is the first in which the two facilities are available for use year-round. With five consecutive record-breaking fund-raising years for the Baylor Bear Foundation and the "Above and Beyond" and "Victory with Integrity" Board of Regents campaigns, the Highers Athletic Complex and Simpson center were built and Grant Teaff Plaza and club seating were improved, in addition to various other non-football construction and improvements.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Facilities, Highers Athletic Complex
The Alwin O. and Dorothy Highers Athletic Complex is a set of three full-size practice football fields, two of natural turf and the third of artificial turf. Located on the main Baylor Campus next to the Baylor Marina, the Highers Athletic Complex is now the main location of football practice. Its location is much closer than that of Floyd Casey Stadium, the current home stadium of Baylor and previous practice location.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Facilities, Highers Athletic Complex
Construction began in November 2008 for the Jay and Jenny Allison Indoor Practice Facility. The final facility of the Highers Athletic Complex was completed in August 2009 and offers an 80-yard synthetic turf field with ten-yard end zones. At an estimated $11 million cost, the facility provides Baylor its first indoor practices ever, allowing for practice in most weather, including extreme heat, cold, and rain.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Facilities, Simpson Athletic and Academic Center
The Simpson Athletic and Academic Center is located adjacent to the Highers Athletic Complex and Baylor Marina. The Simpson Center has the main athletics training room and equipment room for most Baylor athletes, the football locker room and weight room, football coaches' offices, football meeting rooms, academic center for all student-athletes, and the Baylor Athletic Department administrative offices. In 2008, for the third straight year, Baylor University had the highest NCAA Graduation Success Rate in the Big 12 Conference.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Facilities, Floyd Casey Stadium
Floyd Casey Stadium, located about four miles from the Baylor University campus, is the site of the Baylor Bears' home games. The stadium, built in 1950, has an official capacity of 50,000 and has an artificial turf field, fixed aluminum bleachers, and the Big 12's largest locker room.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Coaching
Art Briles remained at Baylor as head coach for his second season there, following four seasons as head coach at the University of Houston and other previous coaching jobs at Texas Tech and various high schools in Texas. As a head coach at Baylor, Briles has a 4–8 record, and a career head coach record of 38–36. In the 2008 season, all Baylor victories were achieved with the opponent scoring 21 points or fewer, and all Baylor losses taken when the opponent scored more than 21 points.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Coaching
Randy Clements and Philip Montgomery are the offensive co-coordinators, Brian Norwood is the defensive coordinator, and Dino Babers is the Special Teams coordinator. Colin Shillinglaw is the 2009 director of football operations.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Wake Forest
Baylor University entered their season opener as underdogs by two to three points; the game score over-under given by various bookmakers ranged from 51.5 to 54 points. Never trailing at any point in the game, Baylor won on the road, 24–21 (for a combined score of 45), for the first time in the ten games since 22 September 2007. The game also was Baylor's first win in a season opener since 2005, four years prior; Baylor had lost 13 straight road season openers, dating back to 1965.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Wake Forest
Following the game, Baylor received 17 votes in the AP Poll for week 2, giving the Bears an unofficial #40 rank, and 15 votes in the week 3 poll, for an unofficial #38 ranking. The Coaches' Polls awarded Baylor 2 votes in week 2, for an unofficial #47 rank, and no votes in week 3. Several Baylor players received honors. Baylor had the highest net average punting yardage (46.0 yards per punt) in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) after weeks 1 and 2. In addition, Baylor had the second-highest turnover margin (3.0) in the FBS after week 2, behind Arizona State. Baylor's defense was ranked 37th nationally using the pass efficiency defense rating, and 36th nationally in total defense.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Wake Forest, Series history
Baylor's 2009 game at Wake Forest's BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is the first away game in the Baylor-Wake Forest series and sixth overall; including the 2009 game, the past four games in the series have been the season openers for both teams. Baylor first played Wake Forest on 1 January 1949, at the 1948 postseason Dixie Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama; Baylor's first bowl game and Wake Forest's second ended in a 20–7 victory.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Wake Forest, Series history
Baylor hosted Wake Forest for the 17 November 1951 game, in which #10 Baylor won 42–0; this remains Baylor's largest margin of victory in a shutout ever, and the last shutout in a season opener victory. In the 20 September 1952 game, Baylor won at home again, 17–14. Baylor again welcomed Wake Forest on 23 September 1961 and won 31–0. On 28 August 2008, Baylor hosted Wake forest for the first time in over 40 years; Wake Forest won for the first time in series history, 41–13.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Connecticut
For the Bears' second game, they hosted Connecticut at Floyd Casey Stadium during Baylor's Parents Weekend. Various bookmakers gave Baylor a ten- to eleven-point advantage for the game, with the over-under within 44 to 45.5 combined points, and sports pundits were divided on which team would win.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Connecticut, Series history
Baylor had only played Connecticut once before, in the preceding 2008 season. In that 19 September 2008 game at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut, the Huskies won by a narrow 31–28 points. The game was Baylor's first away game of the season.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Northwestern State
Baylor held its second home game and third overall at home, hosting the Northwestern State Demons. Baylor received the ball first, but a fourth-down rushing attempt failed, and the Demons recovered the ball, eventually resulting in a touchdown. Baylor responded with four consecutive touchdowns before Northwestern State could finally score again, with a field goal; the Bears finished the first half with two more touchdowns.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Northwestern State
Quarterback Robert Griffin III did not return for the second half due to an injury that required season-ending surgery, but Blake Szymanski still helped the Bears to four more touchdown passes before initiating the quarterback kneel in the fourth quarter to prevent Baylor from scoring further; the Demons managed one field goal in each of the third and fourth quarters. Baylor's score was the team's largest since its 68–0 shutout of the Blackland Army Air Field football team in 1942; the 55-point margin of victory was Baylor's largest since the 20 October 1979 55–0 result in the away game against the Army Black Knights.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Northwestern State, Series history
Baylor has played and beaten Northwestern State, of the Football Championship Subdivision, twice before. On 9 September 2006, Baylor hosted Northwestern State and won 47–10. On 6 September 2008, Baylor hosted again and won 51–6 in Robert Griffin III's first game as starting quarterback; the score was the largest margin of victory for Baylor since the 24 November 2001 home game against Southern Illinois University, also of the FCS.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Kent State
The general bookmaker consensus for this game was a Baylor win by at least 20 points, with a combined score of about 50. The Bears opened up the game worried about how their season would progress without Robert Griffin III. Third string quarterback Nick Florence showed himself capable of maintaining Baylor dominance of the Mid-American Conference as he passed 20-27 without an interception, only getting sacked twice throughout the whole game, and rushing for two touchdowns.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Kent State, Series history
Baylor has never played a football game against Kent State until this season.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Oklahoma
Baylor entered Oklahoma Memorial Stadium seeking their first-ever win against Oklahoma, with the nation's longest current home game winning streak (at 26 games), and their first win since 2004 against a ranked opponent. Uncertainty about the outcome of the game was expressed by many, due largely to the fact that 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford was not certain to lead Oklahoma against Baylor following a shoulder injury that left him out of earlier games.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Oklahoma
A few days before the game, though, Bradford was confirmed as starting quarterback for the game; bookmakers listed Oklahoma as the obvious favorite, with the spread at least 25 points and a combined score over/under of about 54. Despite a strong showing from the Baylor defense, keeping Oklahoma scoreless until midway through the second quarter, the offense, led by third string Nick Florence, was just as unable to score. After Oklahoma made two touchdowns to bring the game to 14–0, Baylor was able to act as well, responding with a touchdown of their own.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Oklahoma
In the second half, Oklahoma consistently moved the ball down the field, but was held by Baylor's defense to four field goals, before finally scoring a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Blake Szymanski, Baylor's second-string quarterback, led the Bears' final drive; despite a 42-yard pass from Szymanski to David Gettis, Baylor did not score due to an end zone interception.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Oklahoma, Series history
Baylor has played Oklahoma eighteen times, with thirteen games in Big 12 play. The Bears have never defeated the Sooners, making Oklahoma the only opponent Baylor has faced at least five times and never beaten. The closest recent game was in 2005, when the Sooners won 37–30 in a double-overtime game.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Iowa State
Baylor meets Iowa State for a game that will break a losing streak for one of the teams. Baylor has lost twelve consecutive Big 12 road games dating back to 2006, and Iowa State has lost eleven straight Big 12 games, including a loss to Baylor at Floyd Casey Stadium in 2008 (Iowa State also has lost fifteen consecutive Big 12 road games, dating back to 2005). For Iowa State, the game is particularly important, as it aims for its first Homecoming game victory since 2005.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Iowa State
Sports betting websites gave Iowa State a narrow 1.5-point advantage, with an over/under between 50 and 55.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Iowa State
Despite scoring first with a field goal, Baylor was kept out of the endzone for nearly the whole game, finally scoring a touchdown in the final minute of play. Iowa State University, dominant throughout the entire game, secured their first conference win since 2007. Starting quarterback Blake Szymanski threw three interceptions, the most by a Baylor player since the 2007 game against Texas.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Iowa State, Series history
Baylor and Iowa State have met eight times, splitting victories equally between them. Baylor has won their last two meetings; in 2008, the Bears won one their two conference games against Iowa State, 38–10.


2009 Baylor Bears football team, Game summaries, Oklahoma State
Having lost its last nineteen games against ranked opponents, Baylor was hoping for a Homecoming miracle to beat #12 Oklahoma State. Unfortunately, Oklahoma State, facing major injuries like Baylor, was preparing for its showdown with the Texas Longhorns for the Big 12 South leadership, and used Baylor to do it. OSU quarterback set a team record with his 85 percent completion rate, and Baylor scored its first points, a touchdown and successful try, in the fourth quarter. Statistically, the teams' efforts were similar, except in OSU's much better ability to rush the ball, and its better kickoff yardage.


2009 Beach Volleyball World Championships
The 2009 SWATCH FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships is a beach volleyball event, that was held from June 26 to July 5, 2009 in Stavanger, Norway. The Swatch FIVB World Championships are organized every two years, and Norway is the first Northern European country to host the event. The city of Stavanger had earlier hosted ten Open and Grand Slam events at the SWATCH FIVB World Tour.


2009 Beach Volleyball World Championships
The 2009 event was the seventh official edition of the championship, after ten unofficial championships (1987–1996) all held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.