2009 Dickies 500, Race, Post-race
Two days after the race, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing were given penalties for Martin Truex, Jr.'s car. Earnhardt Ganassi Racing's penalty, for actions "detrimental to stock car racing", race equipment that did not conform to NASCAR rules, and for the ride height of Truex's car being too low, included a fine of $50,000 for crew chief Kevin Manion, and the loss of 50 owner and driver points for Teresa Earnhardt and Truex. Manion was also placed on probation until December 31, 2009.


2009 Dickies 500, Race, Post-race
The race result left Johnson leading the Drivers' Championship with 6,297 points. Martin stood in second, seventy-three points behind Johnson, and thirty-nine ahead of Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch who finished first, moved into fourth position with 6,126 points. Stewart was fifth, as Montoya, Biffle, Hamlin, Newman, and Kahne followed in the top ten positions. The final two positions available in the Chase for the Sprint Cup was occupied with Edwards in eleventh and Vickers in twelfth. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet maintained their lead with 247 points. Toyota remained second with 192 points. Ford followed with 158 points, seven ahead of Dodge in fourth. 5.82 million people watched the race on television. The race took three hours, twenty-four minutes and eighteen seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 25.686 seconds.


2009 Division 1 (Swedish football)
The 2009 Division 1 was contested by 28 teams divided into two groups geographically. Degerfors IF and Östers IF won their respective groups, and were thereby qualified for play in the 2010 Superettan. IK Brage who finished second in their group were also promoted after winning their playoff.


2009 Division 1 (Swedish football), Young Player Teams Of The Year
At the end of each Division 1 season an all-star game is played called "Morgondagens Stjärnor" (English: "The Stars Of Tomorrow"). The two teams playing against each other consist of the best young players from each of the two leagues.


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


2009 Diyala governorate election, Campaign
A Sunni Arab candidate from the National Reform Trend was killed near the disputed town of Mandali.


2009 Diyala governorate election, Results
Immediately after the election, the Iraqi National List and the Iraqi National Dialogue Front claimed victory in Diyala. The final results saw them both winning seats, but no part having an overall majority.


2009 Diyala governorate election, Results
A month after the vote, 2000 supporters of ISCI protested at the results, saying internally displaced refugee supporters had been unable to vote, and a large number of their supporters had turned up to vote to find their names were not on the electoral roll.


2009 Diyala governorate election, Results
In March, the INDF said they would form an alliance with the State of Law Coalition and the Iraqi Islamic Party allied with the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.


2009 Djurgårdens IF season
Djurgården will in the 2009 season compete in the Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen. Djurgården sacked both managers after the terrible 2008 year, Siggi Jónsson and Paul Lindholm. The new coaches were presented on December 12, 2008, Andreé Jeglertz and former DIF-manager and two times Swedish champion with Djurgården, Zoran Lukic. Djurgården finished at place 14 after winning all the three last games and played Assyriska in qualification for Allsvenskan. Assyriska won the first game at home with 2–0, but Djurgården came back and won 3–0 at home in extra time, which means that Djurgården will play Allsvenskan 2010


2009 Djurgårdens IF season
On June 3, 2009, Zoran Lukic left the club. Andreé Jeglertz is still in the club. On June 12 former-Djurgården player Steve Galloway returns to the club as assistant manager. On November 11 Former club director Tommy Jacobson was selected as new club director. 25 million Swedish crown is coming with him to the club, and 15 of that 25 million is going to be spent on new players for next season.


2009 Djurgårdens IF season, Club, Other information
Updated to match played 25 JanuarySource: Djurgårdens IF and Stockholm Stadion


2009 Djurgårdens IF season, Friendlies
Last updated: 23 January1Djurgården goals come first.Country's flag depict country of foreign team to that of Djurgården.2 Ground: H = Home; A = Away; N = Neutral; HR = Home replacement; AR = Away replacement; GD = Goal difference


2009 Dominican general election
General elections were held in Dominica on 18 December 2009, to elect the 21 Representatives of the House of Assembly. The incumbent Dominica Labour Party increased its majority to 18 of 21 seats, winning a third term.


2009 Donegal County Council election
An election to Donegal County Council took place on 2 June 2009 as part of that year's Irish local elections. 29 councillors were elected from five electoral divisions by PR-STV voting for a five-year term of office.


2009 Donington Formula Two round
The 2009 Donington Formula Two round was the fifth round of the 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season. It was held on 16 August 2009 at Donington Park in North West Leicestershire, United Kingdom. The first race was won by Andy Soucek, with Mikhail Aleshin and Tobias Hegewald also on the podium. The second race was won by Julien Jousse, with Kazim Vasiliauskas and Mirko Bortolotti also on the podium. Only 24 cars competed at the event, after Henry Surtees' fatal accident at Brands Hatch left a vacant slot that was unfilled.


2009 Donington Park Superleague Formula round
The 2009 Donington Park Superleague Formula round was the third round of the 2009 Superleague Formula season, with the races taking place on 2 August 2009. Support race events included the Historic Formula One Championship, British Superkart and Formula Jedi.


2009 Donington Park Superleague Formula round, Report, Qualifying
Antônio Pizzonia took a fortunate second pole of the season, as qualifying was canned after the group stages due to heavy rain at Donington. As his lap time with much faster than the time of Davide Rigon, the quickest driver of Group B, he was given the benefit of pole position. Rigon will line up second, as all the Group B cars will fill that side of the grid.


2009 Donington Superbike World Championship round
The 2009 Donington Superbike World Championship round was the ninth round of the 2009 Superbike World Championship season. It took place on the weekend of 26–28 June 2009 at Donington Park.


2009 Dorset County Council election
Elections to Dorset County Council took place on 4 June 2009. The vote was delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament. A key issue in the election was an Audit Commission report on social care which reported a decline in standards since 2006, however the Conservative party responded that their administration was the best performing county council in England. There were fears however that voter turnout would be a record low.


2009 Down Senior Football Championship
The 2009 Down Senior Football Championship was the 2009 instalment of the annual Gaelic football club championship in Down. The tournament is a straight knockout competition between the 16 elite clubs in Down. The 2008 holders of the championship were Mayobridge. The competition ran from 6 August to 4 October 2009.


2009 Down Senior Football Championship, Tournament Qualification
The teams chosen to play in this competition are decided as follows:


2009 Down county football team season
The following is a summary of Down county football team's 2009 season.


2009 Down county football team season, National Football League Division 3
Compete in Division 3 final and automatic promotion to Division 2  Automatic relegation to Division 4


2009 Dr McKenna Cup
The 2009 Dr McKenna Cup was a Gaelic football competition played under the auspices of Ulster GAA. The tournament was won by Donegal, their first McKenna title since 1991. They defeated Queen's in the final, after extra-time, with goals from David Walsh and Ryan Bradley. Donegal were captained by Rory Kavanagh. Queen's had earlier knocked out title holders Down with a six-point win. They were also the first university side to reach the final.


2009 Dr McKenna Cup, Format
A group-based format was used, with the twelve teams divided into three groups of four. Each group included a University team, and three inter-county teams. Each team played three matches, with two points acquired for a win, one for a draw, and no points for a loss. The winner of each group, plus the best runner-up, qualified for the semi-finals, and the winners of the semi-finals played each other in the Final at Casement Park in February. format was used, with the twelve teams div


2009 Dr McKenna Cup, Draw
The draw for the 2009 McKenna Cup was made in the Armagh City Hotel, Armagh on Wednesday 11 November 2008. The competition will start on the weekend of 3 and 4 January 2009. In addition to weekend matches, some games will be played midweek, so the competition is completed before the start of the 2009 National League in early February. Television broadcaster TG4 has pledged to screen a minimum of four live games from the competition. The winners of Group B will play the winners of Group C in the semi-finals, while the Group A winners will face the best runners-up of the three groups.


2009 Dubai 24 Hour
The 2009 TOYO Tires Dubai 24 Hour was the 4th running of the Dubai 24 Hour endurance event. The race was held at the Dubai Autodrome and was organized by the promoter Creventic. The official event commenced on 8 January and finished on 10 January 2009.


2009 Dubai 24 Hour, Overview
Practice days for the event began on 5 January 2009, followed by qualifying on 8 January which decided the grid positions for the race. The 24-hour event began on January 9 and finished on January 10. A total 78 entrants from all over the world participated in the event.


2009 Dubai 24 Hour, Qualifying
Qualifying began on January 8 on a sunny afternoon. The cars from the A6 class dominated the top of the time table, and it was no surprise when one of the Porsche 997 GT3 cars occupied Pole Position. Apart from this, a notable curb in the domination of the Porsches was in the shape of a 3-Year Old Mégane driven by the Equipe Vershuur Team which took 3rd place on the grid with a stunning lap of 2:04.168, beating some of the more agile vehicles on the grid.


2009 Dubai 24 Hour, Qualifying
Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.


2009 Dubai 24 Hour, Race
After 24 hours of racing at the Dubai Autodrome, only 49.676 seconds separated the 1st and second 2nd cars in the fourth running of the TOYO Tires Dubai 24 Hour.


2009 Dubai 24 Hour, Race
The final hour of the race that saw no less than three changes of the lead, the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, entered by German team Land Motorsport and driven by Carsten Tilke, Gabriël Abergel, Andrzej Dzikevic and Niclas Kentenich, came out on top, only just defending its lead from the charging Al Faisal Racing Team’s BMW Z4 Coupé M that was shared by Abdualziz Al Faisal, Paul Spooner, Claudia Hürtgen and Stian Sorlie. 3rd was taken by another Porsche, the Besaplast Racing Team entry of Martin Tschornia, Franjo Kovac, former DTM-champion Kurt Thiim and the father-and-son pairing of Roland Asch and Sebastian Asch.


2009 Dubai 24 Hour, Race
The Autorlando Porsche, which started from pole-position with Richard Lietz behind the wheel, and the identical Land Motorsport entry, driven by Marc Basseng, were able to pull a gap over Claudia Hürtgen with the Al Faisal Racing BMW Z4 Coupé M on the first few laps. On lap seven, there was the first lead change as Basseng managed to overtake Lietz.


2009 Dubai 24 Hour, Race
Later on, the Autorlando Porsche lost about 45 minutes in the pits when the rear section of the car needed repair after another driver had run into it. There was a close battle between the Al Faisal Racing BMW and the ARC Bratislava Porsche (Miroslav Konopka, Jiri Janak, Mauro Casadei, Rudiger Klos) for many hours during the night. Around 05.00 h, the BMW took the lead, partly as a result of its slightly better fuel-efficiency, and stayed there for the next couple of hours, with the ARC Bratislava-Porsche and the Porsches of the Besaplast Racing Team and Land Motorsport following closely.


2009 Dubai 24 Hour, Race
Later in the morning, the battle between the Al Faisal Racing BMW and the ARC Bratislava Porsche heated up again. With 1 hours and 10 minutes remaining the BMW came into the pits with a puncture and resulting damage to the right rear bodywork of the car, which handed the lead to the ARC Bratislava Porsche. That team stayed in front for a while and looked on its way to victory, especially as the BMW team were given a one lap penalty because of taking a shortcut. However, with 42 minutes remaining, the Porsche came in for another fuel stop and soon after that came in with apparent suspension problems, losing more valuable time and dropping back to fourth.


2009 Dubai 24 Hour, Race
At that time, the Land Motorsport Porsche found itself in the lead with Niclas Kentenich behind the wheel, but the young German was put under massive pressure by Claudia Hürtgen in the Al Faisal Racing BMW Z4 Coupe M, who was lapping up to twelve seconds per lap faster than the Porsche. Eventually, Kentenich drove the victory home for the Land Motorsport Porsche team, finishing just 49.676 seconds ahead of the BMW. The Besaplast Racing Porsche finished third, although finishing driver Sebastian Asch had to overcome massive brake problems in his final stint.


2009 Dubai Sevens
The Dubai Sevens is played annually as part of the IRB Sevens World Series for international rugby sevens (seven-a-side version of rugby union). The 2009 competition was held on December 4 and December 5 at The Sevens. It is the first of eight events in the 2009–10 IRB Sevens World Series. New Zealand won the tournament with a 24–12 victory over Samoa in the final.


2009 Dubai Sevens
This was the second edition of the Dubai Sevens to be held at The Sevens. Previous editions were held at the Dubai Exiles Rugby Ground.


2009 Dubai Sevens, Format
The tournament consists of four round-robin pools of four teams. All sixteen teams progress to the knockout stage. The top two teams from each group progress to quarter-finals in the main competition, with the winners of those quarter-finals competing in cup semi-finals and the losers competing in plate semi-finals. The bottom two teams from each group progress to quarter-finals in the consolation competition, with the winners of those quarter-finals competing in bowl semi-finals and the losers competing in shield semi-finals.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships
The 2009 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships was a 500 Series event on the 2009 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2009 WTA Tour. Both of the events took place at The Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The women's tournament took place from 15 to 21 February 2009, while the men's tournament will takefrom 23 to 28 February 2009.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships
The men's draw was led by only 3 of the world's Top 10 men: ATP No. 3 Novak Djokovic, Doha, Rotterdam champion Andy Murray and ATP No. 8 Gilles Simon. Australian Open runner-up and four-time champion Roger Federer was scheduled to take part, however he was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a back injury. ATP No. 1, Rotterdam finalist, 2006 titlist & recent Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal was also due to compete but was also forced to withdraw from the event due to a knee injury sustained at the previous event in Rotterdam. Defending champion Andy Roddick withdrew from the event due to the Shahar Pe'er incident and chose not to defend his title as a protest. Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco were also scheduled to play but withdrew due to injuries.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships
In the women's event, nine of the ten highest ranked players participated. The top four seeds were Serena Williams, the 2009 Australian Open champion, Dinara Safina, the 2009 Australian Open runner-up, Jelena Janković, a former World No. 1, and Elena Dementieva, the runner-up at the recent Open GDF SUEZ tournament in Paris. Also in the field were Vera Zvonareva, a 2009 Australian Open semifinalist and winner of the recent Pattaya Women's Open, Venus Williams, the reigning Wimbledon champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Ana Ivanovic.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships, Shahar Pe'er controversy
The tournament became embroiled in controversy when the Dubai government refused to grant a visa to Israeli player Shahar Pe'er, denying her the ability to take part in the 2009 Dubai Tennis Championships. The refusal to allow Pe'er to participate drew immense criticism from top seed players. WTA chief executive Larry Scott said the women's tour was "deeply disappointed" by the decision. "Ms. Pe'er has earned the right to play in the tournament and it's regrettable that the UAE is denying her this right", he said.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships, Shahar Pe'er controversy
"Ms. Peer and her family are obviously extremely upset and disappointed by the decision of the UAE and its impact on her personally and professionally." Scott said the WTA would "review appropriate future actions with regard to the future of the Dubai tournament". In reaction to the move, the Tennis Channel decided not to televise the event, and The Wall Street Journal dropped its sponsorship. In response to the move by the UAE, the Dubai Tennis Championship was fined a record US$300,000. Pe'er was awarded US$44,250, an amount equal to the average prize money she earned per tournament in 2008.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships, Shahar Pe'er controversy
A number of highly ranked tennis players, including 2008 winner Andy Roddick, pulled out of the men's ATP tournament in Dubai in protest. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal also pulled out of the tournament, although they both cited injury as their reason for withdrawal, not the incident involving Pe'er. The WTA Tour Board also demanded that Dubai organizers confirm that qualifying Israeli players will get visas at least eight weeks in advance for the 2010 event.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships, Finals, Men's Doubles
Rik de Voest /  Dmitry Tursunov defeated  Martin Damm /  Robert Lindstedt 4–6, 6–3, [10–5]


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships, Finals, Women's Doubles
Cara Black /  Liezel Huber defeated  Maria Kirilenko /  Agnieszka Radwańska 6–3, 6–3


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles
Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles were the defending champions, but lost in the quarterfinals to Rik de Voest and Dmitry Tursunov.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles
Rik de Voest and Dmitry Tursunov won the final against Martin Damm and Robert Lindstedt, 4–6, 6–3, [10–5].


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's Singles
Andy Roddick was the defending champion, but chose not to participate to protest the United Arab Emirates decision to deny Israeli player Shahar Pe'er a visa to enter the country for the women's tournament.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Men's Singles
In the final, Novak Djokovic defeated David Ferrer, 7–5, 6–3.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Women's Doubles
Cara Black and Liezel Huber were the defending champions, and won in the final, 6–3, 6–3, over Maria Kirilenko and Agnieszka Radwańska.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Women's Doubles, Seeds
The top four seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Women's Singles
Elena Dementieva was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Venus Williams.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Women's Singles
Venus Williams won in the final, 6–4, 6–2, over Virginie Razzano.


2009 Dubai Tennis Championships – Women's Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2009 Dubai World Cup
The 2009 Dubai World Cup was a horse race held at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse on Saturday 28 March 2009. It was the 14th running of the Dubai World Cup. It was the last edition of the Dubai World Cup to be run on dirt at Nad Al Sheba before being switched to the synthetic Tapeta surface at Meydan Racecourse.


2009 Dubai World Cup
The winner was WinStar Farm's Well Armed, a six-year-old bay gelding trained in the United States by Eoin Harty and ridden by Aaron Gryder. Well Armed's victory was the first in the race for his jockey, trainer and owner.


2009 Dubai World Cup
Well Armed had been trained in England by Clive Brittain in the early part of his career before being transferred to the Harty's American stable in 2007. Racing in California, he showed his best form on synthetic tracks winning the San Antonio Handicap, the San Diego Handicap and the Goodwood Stakes. In the 2008 Dubai World Cup he finished third behind Curlin and Asiatic Boy.


2009 Dubai World Cup
In the 2009 Dubai World Cup he started at odds of 10/1 and won by a record margin of fourteen lengths from the French-trained Gloria de Campeao, with the South African-bred, Saudi Arabian-trained runner Paris Perfect four and a half lengths away in third. The 2/1 favourite Asiatic Boy finished twelfth of the fourteen runners.


2009 Dublin Central by-election
A by-election was held in the Dáil Éireann Dublin Central constituency in Ireland on Friday, 5 June 2009, following the death of the Independent Teachta Dála (TD) Tony Gregory on 2 January 2009. The by-election was held on the same day as the 2009 European and local elections. A by-election was held in the Dublin South constituency on the same date. There was no legal requirement on when to hold a by-election in Ireland in 2009 but they were generally held within six months.


2009 Dublin Central by-election
The independent candidate Maureen O'Sullivan, Gregory's former election agent, was elected on the eighth count.


2009 Dublin City Council election
An election to Dublin City Council took place on 5 June 2009 as part of that year's Irish local elections. 52 councillors were elected from thirteen electoral divisions by PR-STV voting for a five-year term of office.


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship
The 2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship is the inter club Gaelic football competition between the top teams in Dublin GAA.


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, First round
The winners of the first round progress to the second round, the losers go on to a backdoor round with a chance to progress to the second round.


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Qualifier Round
The Backdoor round or the qualifier round features  all the teams who lost in the first round of the championship. It gives each team a second chance to progress in the championship by moving on to the third round. The losers of the backdoor games will go on to the relegation playoffs with the eventual loser moving to the Dublin Intermediate Football Championship. The teams taking part in the backdoor round are Whitehall Colmcille, St Annes, Ballyboden St Endas, Erins Isle, St Marks, Kilmacud Crokes, St Brigids, UCD, Raheny, Naomh Olaf, St Sylvesters, Trinity Gaels, Parnells, Naomh Mearnóg, Templepgue Synge Street.


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Relegation Playoffs
The teams fighting for survival in the 2009 championship are: Whitehall Colmcille, Fingal Ravens, Templeogue Synge Street, Naomh Olaf, St Annes, Naomh Mearnóg and Fingallians.


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Third round
The third round will be contested by the teams that won their respective backdoor games and the teams who lost their second round games. The winners of the third round progress to the last sixteen of the Dublin football championship. The teams taking part are UCD, Clontarf, St Marks, Parnells, St Brigids, Na Fianna, Raheny, Naomh Maur, Thomas Davis, Ballyboden St Endas, Erins Isle and Ballinteer St Johns.


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Last 16
Round Towers, Clondalkin, Lucan Sarsfields, Ballymun Kickhams, St Vincents, St Judes, St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh, O'Tooles, Kilmacud Crokes, St Brigids, Ballyboden St Endas, UCD, St Sylvesters, St Marys, Saggart, Parnells, Raheny and Peregrines are in the last 16 of the 2009 championship. The biggest upset of the round was St Mary's of Saggart's win over 2008 All-Ireland club champions St Vincents. O'Tooles, Parnells, St Brigids, Round Towers, Clondalkin, St Peregrines, St Vincents, St Sylvesters and Raheny all exited the competition at the Last 16 stage but retain their place in the Senior Championship for 2010.


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Quarter finals
UCD, Kilmacud Crokes, Lucan Sarsfields, St Judes, Ballyboden St Endas, St Marys and St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh have qualified for the last eight the first time of asking. The game between Ballymun Kickhams and Parnells finished all level and the replay was played at Parnell Park on Wednesday September 9. Ballymun won the replay setting them up with a quarter final game against reigning champions Kilmacud Crokes. St Mary's were the first team to qualify for the semi finals of the Dublin Championship in a tight encounter with UCD. UCD, Ballymun Kickhams and Lucan Sarsfields were knocked out of the Dublin senior football championship at the quarter final stage. Underdogs St Judes beat St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh by three points after a replay at Parnell Park on September 23.


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Semi finals
Ballyboden St Endas, Kilmacud Crokes, St Judes and St Mary's, Saggart have qualified for the semi finals of the Dublin Senior Football Championship. All teams remaining in the competition are from South Dublin.


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Dublin Senior Football Final
Team:D WalshC DolanI ClarkeM O'SullivanD NelsonJ O'HaraS DurkinMD MacAuleyD. O'MahonyS LambertD DaveyC SmythC KeaneyK NaughtonA Kerin.


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Dublin Senior Football Final
Substitutes:P Galvin for Davey (42), D Shovlin for Lambert (50), P OBrien for OSullivan (54).


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Dublin Senior Football Final
Match rules:60 minutes. Replay if scores still level. Maximum of 5 substitutions.


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Dublin Senior Football Final
Team:P CopelandC McBrideS BrehenyC GuckianP CunninghamN O'SheaS RyanC MurphyA GloverR O'BrienB McManamonB MonaghanJ DonnellyD DonnellyK McManamon


2009 Dublin Senior Football Championship, Dublin Senior Football Final
Substitutes:S Gallagher for Donnelly (ht), R Joyce for O'Brien (23), M Lyons for Monaghan (46), C Voyles for B McManamon (55).


2009 Dublin Senior Hurling Championship
The 2009 Dublin Senior Hurling Championship is a Dublin based GAA club competition between the top clubs in Dublin Hurling.


2009 Dublin Senior Hurling Championship, Semi finals
The semi finals will feature O'Tooles, Lucan Sarsfields, Ballyboden St Enda's and Craobh Chiaráin.


2009 Dublin Senior Hurling Championship, Dublin Senior Club Hurling Final
Team:G. MaguireJ. DuffyS. PerkinsA. RyanM. TraversD. SpainT. SweeneyS. DurkinD. O'ConnorD. SweeneyD. CurtinC. KeaneyP. RyanS. LambertN. McMorrow


2009 Dublin Senior Hurling Championship, Dublin Senior Club Hurling Final
Substitutes:M. O'Sullivan for A. Ryan (51)E. Carroll for McMorrow (57)M. Griffin for O'Connor (58)J. Doody for T. Sweeney (58)B. Kennedy for Curtin (64)


2009 Dublin Senior Hurling Championship, Dublin Senior Club Hurling Final
Match rules:60 minutes. Replay if scores still level. Maximum of 5 substitutions.


2009 Dublin Senior Hurling Championship, Dublin Senior Club Hurling Final
Team:S ChesterDamien OReillyE FarrellD ShanleyD KellyDerek OReillyG KellyK ElliottA McCrabbeP OBoyleK McGuirkD KirwanK WarrenD KeaneS McDonald.


2009 Dublin South by-election
A by-election was held in the Dáil Éireann Dublin South constituency in Ireland on Friday, 5 June 2009, following the death of the Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) Séamus Brennan on 9 July 2008. As Brennan was a Fianna Fáil TD, that party had the responsibility of deciding when the by-election should take place. It was held on the same day as the 2009 European and local elections. There was no legal requirement on when to hold a by-election in Ireland in 2009 but it was generally held within six months. A by-election in the Dublin Central constituency was held on the same date.


2009 Dublin South by-election
Eight candidates contested the vacant seat, with victory going to the Fine Gael candidate, George Lee who was elected on the first count.


2009 Dublin South by-election, Result
George Lee resigned from Dáil Éireann on 8 February 2010 after serving 8 months as a TD.


2009 Dublin county football team season
The following is a summary of Dublin county football team's 2009 season.


2009 Duel in the Pool
The 2009 Duel in the Pool was a swimming competition between a team from the United States and a combined British, German and Italian "E-Stars" team held on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 December 2009 at the Manchester Aquatics Centre, United Kingdom. The naming rights are held by Mutual of Omaha and British Gas in the United States and Europe respectively – the event was therefore promoted as the 2009 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool and 2009 British Gas Duel in the Pool.


2009 Duel in the Pool
The duel was won by the United States with a final score of 185–78, with eight short course world records broken – all by the USA team.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Background
In March 2009 it was announced that British Swimming were looking at proposals to host a Duel in the Pool style meet between the US and a combined European team in Manchester, dubbed the Ryder Cup of swimming. On 21 October 2009, it was announced that a Duel in the Pool will take place between a "European select team" and the US in Manchester on 18 and 19 December 2009. This event will include the first competitive performance by Michael Phelps in Britain.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Teams, E-Stars
The E-Stars team was announced on 25 November following a delay in confirming availability of some of the originally selected swimmers. It was originally intended that the European team would include 12 swimmers from each of the three participating nations, however the team list included fourteen each from Great Britain and Italy, with just eight from Germany.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Teams, E-Stars
Middle-distance freestyle swimmers Joanne Jackson (GBR) and Federica Pellegrini (ITA) were originally included on the team list, however their withdrawals were announced on 4 December – Jackson due to recovering from a lung infection, and Pellegrini due to a clash with an awards dinner in Italy. Jackson's position in the team was filled by Jazmin Carlin (GBR). German Steffen Deibler was present on the original team list, however he withdrew from the event due to illness on 14 December and was replaced by Marco Orsi of Italy. Alessia Filippi (ITA) also withdrew due to illness on this date. Keri-Anne Payne (GBR) was drafted into the team as a replacement for Filippi just a few days prior to the start of the competition. The final team list consisted of 13 Italian, 7 German and 15 British members.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Teams, United States
USA Swimming announced their team list on 28 October. Ryan Lochte pulled out of the team on 11 December due to injury.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Format
The competition followed the format of previous Duel in the Pool events, and were held in a short course (25 m) pool. Up to three swimmers from each team competed in each of the twenty-six individual events – thirteen each for men and women. Points were awarded to the top 3 finishers in each individual event – five points for the gold medal finisher, three for silver and one for bronze. Swimmers in fourth to sixth position were awarded no points. The winning team in each of the relay events were awarded seven points, with none for the losing team. In the event of a tie, a mixed 4×50 m medley relay would have been held with a single decisive point to the winner.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Format
Gold medallists in each event received a prize of 1,000 US Dollars, with world record swims receiving a bonus of 15,000 US Dollars.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Format
Events were swum in the following order, with women followed by men in each event.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Venue
Following Manchester's successful hosting of the 2008 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) at the Manchester Evening News Arena, the Manchester Aquatics Centre (which was the training and warm up venue for the 2008 championships) was chosen to host the 2009 Duel in the Pool. The venue was also that used for the aquatic sports at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Venue
The main pool was used for the 2009 Duel in the Pool – it was converted to the short course (25 m) format with temporary seating for 3000 positioned atop of the moveable floor sections of the diving pool and Oxford Road end of the main pool.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Results
The results for each event are shown below. World (WR), European (ER) and United States national (AM) records are indicated in the notes column as per the official results sheets, whilst British (BR), Italian (IR) and German (GR) national records are individually referenced where the time was not also a world or European record.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Results, 400 m freestyle
After day 1 of the Duel, USA were leading the E-Stars 89–33.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Results, Final points tally
Legend: WR – World record; ER – World record; AM – United States record; BR – British record; GR – German record; IR – Italian record; DSQ – Disqualified


2009 Duel in the Pool, Broadcast
In the United Kingdom the event was broadcast live on the BBC's channels and via its website. Friday's session was on BBC Three, and Saturday's on BBC One.


2009 Duel in the Pool, Broadcast
NBC broadcast highlights of the event on 27 December in the United States.


2009 Duhamel municipal election
The 2009 Duhamel municipal election took place on November 1, 2009, to elect a mayor and councillors in Duhamel, Quebec. David Pharand was elected as the community's new mayor.


2009 Duhamel municipal election, Results
Source: ; Affaires municipales, Régions et Occupation du Territoire, Government of Quebec.


2009 Duke Blue Devils football team
The 2009 Duke Blue Devils football team represented Duke University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was Duke's 57th season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and fifth in its Coastal Division. The Blue Devils were led by second-year head coach David Cutcliffe. Duke finished the season 5–7 overall and 3–5 in ACC play, failing to qualify for a bowl game for the 15th straight season.


2009 Dunlop Townsville 400
The 2009 Dunlop Townsville 400 was the sixth race meeting of the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It contained Racess 11 and 12 of the series and was held on the weekend of 11–12 July at Townsville Street Circuit, in Townsville in Queensland, Australia.


2009 Dunlop Townsville 400, New event
The 2009 Townsville 400 is the inaugural running of this race. The first time a major motorsport has been held in North Queensland, the race has been assembled around a specially created street circuit, as no permanent racing facilities exist in north Queensland, apart from clay surface speedway circuits. Apart from Speedway racing, the largest event previously held in this part of Australia have been rounds of the Queensland Rally Championship.


2009 Dunlop Townsville 400, New event
The race will follow V8 Supercar's most familiar street circuit format with two races evenly split over the Saturday and Sunday of the event. Similar to the Hamilton 400 event the races will be 200 kilometres in length, rather than those of the Adelaide 500 which are 250 kilometres long.


2009 Dunlop Townsville 400, New event
The 2.85 kilometre Townsville Street Circuit becomes the sixth race track in Queensland to host a round of the Australian Touring Car Championship (of which the V8 Supercars form a part of its history), following Lowood circuit, Lakeside Raceway, Surfers Paradise Raceway, Queensland Raceway and most recently the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit.


2009 Dunlop Townsville 400, New event
The race also represents an important litmus test for V8 Supercar, as this is the second time they have attempted to grow a street race event in a region where motor racing had not previously had a following, after the failure of the Canberra 400.


2009 Dunlop Townsville 400, Changes
Mark McNally makes his V8 Supercar series debut, replacing Dale Wood in the #16 Kelly Racing Holden Commodore. Wood remains with the team, although it has not yet been confirmed that Wood will form part of the team's endurance racing squad.


2009 Dunlop Townsville 400, Changes
Jason Bright debuts his new race car, the first built by his new team. Stone Brothers Racing. The Ford FG Falcon replaces the Ford BF Falcon that Bright brought to the team from his former team, Britek Motorsport. The only drivers left in the series still running the older BF Falcons now are PCR's Michael Patrizi and the car of Marcus Marshall whose proposed sale of the team to Grant Sherrin of Sherrin Motorsport fell through since the previous round of the series at Hidden Valley Raceway.


2009 Dunlop World Challenge
The 2009 Dunlop World Challenge was a professional tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the second edition of the tournament which was part of the 2009 ATP Challenger Tour and the 2009 ITF Women's Circuit. It took place in Toyota, Japan between 23 and 29 November 2009.


2009 Dunlop World Challenge, Singles main draw entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2009 Dunlop World Challenge, Champions, Doubles
Andis Juška /  Alexandre Kudryavtsev def. Alexey Kedryuk /  Junn Mitsuhashi, 6–4, 7–6(6)


2009 Dunlop World Challenge – Men's Doubles
Frederik Nielsen and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, who were the defending champions, chose to not play this year. Andis Juška and Alexandre Kudryavtsev defeated Alexey Kedryuk and Junn Mitsuhashi 6–4, 7–6(6) in the final.


2009 Dunlop World Challenge – Men's Singles
Go Soeda, the 2008 champion, tried to defend his title, but retired due to fatigue in the first round match against Yuichi Ito. Uladzimir Ignatik won the tournament after beating Tatsuma Ito 7–6(7), 7–6(3) in the final match.


2009 Dunlop World Challenge – Women's Singles
Ayumi Morita, the 2008 champion, tried to defend her title, but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Bojana Jovanovski Petrovic . Kimiko Date won the tournament after beating Bojana Jovanovski Petrovic 7–5, 6–2 in the final match.


2009 Duramed Futures Tour
The 2009 Duramed Futures Tour was a series of professional women's golf tournaments held from March through September 2009 in the United States. The Futures Tour is the second-tier women's professional golf tour in the United States and is the "official developmental tour" of the LPGA Tour. In 2009, total prize money on the Futures Tour was $1,795,000, the highest in the 29-year history of the Tour.


2009 Duramed Futures Tour, Leading money winners
The top ten money winners at the end of the season gained membership on the LPGA Tour for the 2010 season, with those finishing in the top five positions gaining higher priority for entry into events than those finishing in positions six through ten. Finishers in positions six through ten had the option to attend LPGA Qualifying School to try to improve their membership status for 2010.


2009 Duramed Futures Tour, Schedule and results
The number in parentheses after winners' names show the player's total number of official money, individual event wins on the Futures Tour including that event.


2009 Durand Cup
The 122nd edition of the Durand Cup began on September 11 at the Dr. Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi. Nine I-League teams were scheduled to take part. The qualifiers were held starting on September 2, with the final on September 20. Two teams from the qualifier joined to make it a 12 team battle in the quarterfinals.


2009 Durand Cup
Participating teams included reigning champions Mahindra United, Churchill Brothers SC, Army XI, Sporting Clube de Goa, Air India FC, Dempo SC, JCT FC and newly promoted Shillong Lajong FC. Mohun Bagan AC and East Bengal FC had not been part of the Durand Cup in previous years, but according to DFTS Secretary General Major S.S. Maan, they were expected to participate.


2009 Durand Cup, Qualifying Round One
16 teams played a one-off match to determine the 8 clubs to reach the second qualifying round.


2009 Durand Cup, Qualifying Round Two
8 teams play a one off match to determine 4 clubs to advance to the third qualifying stage.


2009 Durand Cup, Qualifying Round Three
4 clubs remain, 2 will advance to the Group Stage


2009 Durham mayoral election
The 2009 Durham mayoral election was held on November 3, 2009 to elect the mayor of Durham, North Carolina. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Bill Bell.


2009 Dutch Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The 2009 Dutch Championships took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and it served as the National Championships for the gymnasts from the Netherlands.


2009 Dutch Figure Skating Championships
The 2009 Dutch Figure Skating Championships took place between 19 and 21 December 2008 in Heerenveen. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and synchronized skating across the levels of senior, junior, novice, and the pre-novice level debs.


2009 Dutch National Road Race Championships – Women's road race
The Women's road race of the 2009 Dutch National Road Race Championships cycling event took place on 27 June 2009. The race started in the province Limburg in Heerlen and finished in Landgraaf, the Netherlands. The competition was run over a 117 km course. 64 women's finished the race.


2009 Dutch National Time Trial Championships – Women's time trial
The Women's time trial of the 2009 Dutch National Time Trial Championships cycling event took place on 27 August 2009 in and around Zaltbommel, Netherlands. The competition was run over a 22.3 km flat course and the first rider started at 17:10. Riders started 1 minute apart from each other. 35 cyclists participated in the contest.


2009 Dutch National Time Trial Championships – Women's time trial
Regina Bruins won the time trial in a time of 29' 06.55", ahead of Kirsten Wild and Ellen van Dijk.


2009 Dutch National Track Championships
The 2009 Dutch National Track Championships were Dutch national Championship for track cycling. There were separate championships for endurance and sprint disciplines. The endurance disciplines (individual pursuit, scratch race, points race and madison) took place at Sportpaleis Alkmaar in Alkmaar, the Netherlands from October 9 to October 11. The sprint disciplines (sprint, time trial and keirin) took place from December 28 to December 30. Competitions were held of various track cycling disciplines in different age, gender and disability categories.


2009 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's individual pursuit
The women's individual pursuit at the 2009 Dutch National Track Championships in Alkmaar took place at Sportpaleis Alkmaar on October 10, 2009. 10 athletes participated in the contest.


2009 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's individual pursuit
Kirsten Wild won the gold medal, Vera Koedooder took silver and Amy Pieters won the bronze.


2009 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's individual pursuit, Preview
Titleholder Ellen van Dijk took not part in this competition. Two weeks before the national championships she rode the time trial at the Road World Championships. Van Dijk wanted to take some rest in preparation for the qualification moment for the Track World Championships during the World Cup competitions in November.


2009 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's individual pursuit, Competition format
The tournament started with a qualifying round. The two fastest qualifiers advanced to the gold medal final. The numbers three and four competed against each other for the bronze medal.


2009 Dutch National Track Championships – Women's individual pursuit, Race
Kirsten Wild rode in the qualification round with 3:44 the fastest time, a second faster than the number two Vera Koedooder. In the gold medal match, Kirsten wild rode more than 2 seconds faster than Vera Koedooder.


2009 Dutch Open (darts)
The 2009 Dutch Open was the 37th edition of the Dutch Open.


2009 Dutch TT
The 2009 Dutch TT was the seventh round of the 2009 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 25–27 June 2009 at the TT Circuit Assen.


2009 Dutch TT
Valentino Rossi won the MotoGP race, his 100th career victory, ahead of teammate Jorge Lorenzo, with Australia's Casey Stoner, who led early on, finishing third.


2009 Dutch TT, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round seven has concluded.


2009 Dwars door Vlaanderen
The 2009 Dwars door Vlaanderen was the 64th edition of the Dwars door Vlaanderen cycle race and was held on 25 March 2009. The race started in Roeselare and finished in Waregem. The race was won by Kevin van Impe.


2009 Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council election
An election to Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council took place on 5 June 2009 as part of that year's Irish local elections. 28 councillors were elected from six electoral divisions by PR-STV voting for a five-year term of office.


2009 E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
The 2009 E3 Prijs Vlaanderen was the 52nd edition of the E3 Harelbeke cycle race and was held on 28 March 2009. The race started and finished in Harelbeke. The race was won by Filippo Pozzato of Team Katusha.


2009 EAP Under-19 Cricket Trophy
The 2009 EAP Under-19 Cricket Trophy was a cricket tournament organised by the EAP for Under-19 teams from its member nations. The event also served as qualification for the 2009 Under-19 World Cup Qualifier. Five teams took part in the tournament, which was held from 30 May-8 June in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea, won the tournament with runner-up Vanuatu joining them in qualification.


2009 EAP Under-19 Cricket Trophy, Matches
The teams played one another on a round-robin basis. The teams were then ranked based on number of wins.


2009 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2009 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 48th tournament in league history. It was played between March 6 and March 21, 2009. First Round and Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were played at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York. By winning the tournament, Yale received the ECAC Hockey automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.


2009 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The tournament features four rounds of play. In the first round, the fifth and twelfth, sixth and eleventh, seventh and tenth, and eighth and ninth seeds as determined by the final regular season standings play a best-of-three series, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals. There, the first seed and lowest ranked first round winner, the second seed and second lowest ranked first round winner, the third seed and second highest ranked first round winner, and the fourth seed and highest ranked first round winner play a best-of-three series, with the winner advancing to the semifinals.


2009 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
In the semifinals, the highest and lowest seeds and second highest and second lowest seeds play a single-game, with the winner advancing to the championship game and the loser advancing to the third place game. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament.


2009 ECAC Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format, Regular season standings
Note: GP = Games Played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against


2009 ECM Prague Open
The 2009 ECM Prague Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 13th edition of the ECM Prague Open, and was part of the WTA International tournaments of the 2009 WTA Tour. It took place in Prague, Czech Republic, from July 13 through July 19, 2009.


2009 ECM Prague Open, WTA Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw


2009 ECM Prague Open, Finals, Doubles
Alona Bondarenko /  Kateryna Bondarenko defeated  Iveta Benešová /  Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, 6–1, 6–2


2009 ECM Prague Open – Doubles
Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká was the defending champions, but lost in the semifinal with Iveta Benešová and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová.


2009 ECM Prague Open – Doubles
Alyona Bondarenko and Kateryna Bondarenko won in the final 6–1, 6–2, against Iveta Benešová and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová.


2009 ECM Prague Open – Singles
Vera Zvonareva was the defending champion, but was sidelined due to an ankle injury.


2009 ECM Prague Open – Singles
Sybille Bammer won in the final 7-6(4), 6-2 against Francesca Schiavone.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly was the eleventh biennial Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It convened in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, from August 17–23, 2009. The Churchwide Assembly is the 'highest legislative authority' of the ELCA.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
At the time of the Assembly, the ELCA consisted of nearly 4.6 million members organized into nearly 11,000 congregations. The Assembly consisted of 1,045 voting members and was chaired by The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the ELCA from 2001–2013. David Swartling, the Secretary of the ELCA from 2007–2013, served as secretary.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
The 2009 Assembly was dominated by debate on the proposed Social Statement,  and its accompanying Recommendations for Ministry Policies. The Statement allowed for differing understandings of same-gender sexual relationships within the ELCA. The Recommendations proposed the development of a process in which congregations, synods, and churchwide units that chose to do so could call pastors and other officially recognized church leaders who were in publicly accountable same-gender lifelong monogamous relationships.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
The assembly's agenda also included a proposed agreement of full communion between the ELCA and the United Methodist Church, the UMC's first such agreement, along with other business matters, including: the passage of the ELCA Churchwide organization's budget, elections of officers and committee members, reports from Churchwide units and greetings from ecumenical partners.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
Nevertheless, "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" is the legacy of the 2009 Assembly. Its eventual adoption, with its recommendations, opened the way for people in same-sex relationships to serve as pastors and other rostered leaders in the ELCA. After its adoption, many congregations and pastors who believed that such relationships were contrary to Holy Scripture, the tradition of the Church, and the Lutheran Confessions left the ELCA. The 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly reshaped American Lutheranism.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Process leading to the Social Statement
The conservative Judeo-Christian understanding is that sexual relationships between people of the same sex are not part of God's intention for humanity and are an expression of sinful human desire (citation needed). The Biblical texts which are most commonly interpreted as proscribing homosexual activity are  and . Conservative Jews and Christians see there being a divine intention for sexual intimacy between a man and a woman in  and .


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Process leading to the Social Statement
Debates about human sexuality, specifically the legitimacy of homosexual sexual relationships for Christians, had been on the ELCA's agenda for almost two decades. 1990's 'Vision and Expectations,' the standards for ELCA pastors, stated 'Pastors who are homosexual in their self-understanding are expected to abstain from homosexual sexual relationships.' This statement reaffirmed the teaching statements of two of the predecessor bodies of the ELCA, the Lutheran Church in America and the American Lutheran Church.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Process leading to the Social Statement
In 1993, a draft Social Statement, "The Church and Human Sexuality: A Lutheran Perspective," which took a permissive view on same-sex relationships, was leaked to the press, resulting in many parishioners being upset with what was misunderstood as new ELCA policy and was withdrawn. In 1996, the ELCA Church Council adopted "Sexuality: Some Common Convictions," which articulated shared understandings of ELCA Lutherans regarding human sexuality.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Process leading to the Social Statement
The issue continued to simmer while full-communion agreements with the Presbyterian Church USA, Reformed Church in America, United Church of Christ, and Episcopal Church (United States) were debated and adopted in 1997 and 1999. As a response to the 1999 adoption of full communion with the ECUSA, a congregationally centered organization called Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) was formed in 2001 for congregations that did not agree with the decision.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Process leading to the Social Statement
Groups such as Lutherans Concerned/North America continued to advocate for full inclusion of LGBT persons in the life of the ELCA. In 2003, the Episcopal Church (United States) ordained an openly gay man in a same-sex relationship, the Rev. Canon Gene Robinson, as Bishop of New Hampshire.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Process leading to the Social Statement
By a 581-386 vote, the 2001 Churchwide Assembly acted "to initiate a process in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to develop a social statement on human sexuality." Over the next two years, a Task Force on Human Sexuality developed resources for study in the ELCA. Over 28,000 responses were received to the study documents, The Task Force put forth three recommendations to the 2005 Churchwide Assembly. The third recommendation would have retained the current ministry standards 'on the books,' but allowed congregations the discretion to call leaders in same-sex relationships 'for the sake of mission.' This recommendation of the Task Force, which would have required a two-thirds majority to pass, failed at the 2005 Churchwide Assembly, 490-503. A renewal group, Lutheran CORE, organized to advocate defeat of the recommendations.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Process leading to the Social Statement
At the 2007 Churchwide Assembly, many memorials from ELCA synods urged the Assembly to open the way for LGBT persons to serve as leaders in the ELCA. These memorials were debated but ultimately defeated. However, the Assembly adopted a resolution for the Task Force to make specific recommendations regarding ministry standards to go with the 2009 Social Statement, and also adopted a resolution to encourage restraint in discipline of those congregations and pastors who were not abiding by the ministry standards,. These resolutions set the stage for change at the 2009 Assembly.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Social Statement
In the ELCA, Social Statements "are teaching documents that assist members in their thinking about social issues. They are meant to aid in communal and individual moral formation and deliberation. Social statements also set policy for this church and guide its advocacy and work in the public arena."


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Social Statement
In 2008, the Task Force on Human Sexuality released a draft of "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust." As eventually adopted, the Statement claims a 'distinctly Lutheran approach,' building on Lutheran principles of justification by grace and Christian freedom to serve the neighbor. It emphasizes that central to human vocation, in relation to human sexuality, is the building and protection of trust in relationships. It affirmed that human beings are called to be trustworthy in the exercise of human sexuality and to build social institutions and practices in which trust and trustworthy relationships can thrive.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Social Statement
Regarding marriage, the adopted Statement recognizes that 'The historic Christian tradition and the Lutheran Confessions have recognized marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman.' Nonetheless, the statement continues, "Recognizing that this conclusion differs from the historic Christian tradition and the Lutheran Confessions, some people, though not all, in this church and within the larger Christian community, conclude that marriage is also the appropriate term to use in describing similar benefits, protection, and support for same-gender couples entering into lifelong, monogamous relationships. They believe that such accountable relationships also provide the necessary foundation that supports trust and familial and community thriving."


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Social Statement
Recognizing the lack of consensus within the ELCA, the Statement opens the way for congregations to publicly recognize same-sex relationships and LGBQT persons to serve as pastors and other leaders by appealing to a theological concept of 'bound conscience'. The concept recalls Martin Luther's statement at the Diet of Worms: 'it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience.' The Statement recognizes that members of the ELCA are bound by conscience to differing understandings of the legitimacy and desirability of same-sex sexual relationships in Christian life.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Social Statement
Those different understandings may be lived out within the Church, and the differing opinions need not be church-dividing. Instead of having a definitive teaching regarding homosexual practice, the ELCA recognizes a varied but limited range of opinions on the matter, and leaves the decision to Christian freedom and the individual Christian, with all members of the ELCA respecting the other's bound consciences.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Social Statement
The Ministry Recommendations appealed to the bound consciences of believers with regard to same-sex relationships. Congregations, synods, and churchwide units that chose to do so would be permitted to recognize and celebrate such relationships and call leaders either in such relationships or seeking such relationships. Persons or congregations would also be free to understand same-sex activity as sinful, to refuse to bless them, and to refuse to call leaders in same-sex relationships.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Social Statement
Two dissenting positions were attached to the Statement and Recommendations. Dissenting Position One urged retention of the existing ministry standards proscribing homosexual practice. Dissenting Position Two argued for a more unequivocal statement of full inclusion for LGBQT persons in the life of the ELCA.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Social Statement
In the months and weeks leading to the Assembly, the Statement and Recommendations were discussed and debated by theologians, seminary professors, pastors, ethicists, and advocacy groups, and debated in Synod Assemblies. The  was devoted to discussion of the Ministry Policies.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Debate and Adoption of Statement and Recommendations
The Assembly opened on the evening of Monday, August 17, with a strong media presence. Advocacy groups from all over the nation were present, including Soulforce and representatives from the Westboro Baptist Church. Lutheran CORE and Goodsoil, a group of Lutherans Concerned/North America, represented the two key ELCA advocacy groups.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Debate and Adoption of Statement and Recommendations
The Assembly began with a fierce debate on the adoption of the Rules of Procedure which would be key to the events that followed. Although a two-thirds vote on a Social Statement is necessary for passage, passage of the Social Statement alone would not have changed ministry standards. Therefore, the debate was over whether a two-thirds majority would be required for both the Statement and Recommendations, or for the Statement alone. The Rules eventually adopted required a simple majority for the Recommendations if the Statement passed. This was a defeat for Lutheran CORE, which had argued strenuously against a simple majority deciding a matter of such importance. However, some who supported the recommendations also desired a 2/3 majority, for the sake of the unity of the ELCA.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Debate and Adoption of Statement and Recommendations
Debate on the Statement and Recommendations was reported to be generally respectful. Those in favor urged adoption for some of the following reasons:


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Debate and Adoption of Statement and Recommendations
Those against urged defeat for some of the following reasons:


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Debate and Adoption of Statement and Recommendations
On Wednesday, August 19, the Assembly adopted the Social Statement as amended by a vote of 676-338: precisely the two-thirds majority needed for passage. On Thursday, August 20, the assembly also adopted 15 implementing resolutions by a vote of 695-285.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Debate and Adoption of Statement and Recommendations
Among the implementing resolutions were resolutions that: asked the Presiding Bishop's office to explore the feasibility of developing liturgical rites for use at the time of divorce; affirmed the 2001 ELCA Message "Commercial Sexual Exploitation," and called upon churchwide units to implement the statement and report to the Church Council by 2012.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Debate and Adoption of Statement and Recommendations
From Thursday, August 20, to Friday, August 21, voting members debated and adopted the four resolutions proposed by the Church Council based on those contained in the “Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies.” The assembly adopted the resolutions in the following order:


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, Debate and Adoption of Statement and Recommendations
Resolutions 1 and 2 passed by less than a 2/3 majority. Therefore, had the Rules of Procedure been adopted to require a 2/3 majority for the Recommendations, the standards for ministry would have remained the same regardless of the adoption of the Social Statement.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Full Communion with the United Methodist Church
Full communion is not a church merger, but rather "when two churches develop a relationship based on a common confessing of the Christian faith and a mutual recognition of baptism and sharing of the Lord’s Supper... In reaching agreements, churches also respect differences. These denominations likewise jointly worship, may exchange clergy, and also share a commitment to evangelism, witness and service in the world."


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Full Communion with the United Methodist Church
The ELCA had previously entered into five full communion agreements: with Reformed church bodies (PCUSA, UCC, RCA) in 1997; and with the Episcopal Church, U.S.A. in 1999 and Moravian Church in America in 1999. Of those full communion agreements, the one with the ECUSA was the most controversial, as a condition of that agreement was the inclusion of future Lutheran bishops and clergy into the Episcopalian apostolic succession. This agreement was seen by some Lutherans as violating the Lutheran Confessions and spurred the creation of LCMC.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Full Communion with the United Methodist Church
The UMC approved the full communion agreement in 2008; it was the UMC's first such agreement. Although some debate occurred, the adoption of the agreement was not nearly as controversial as the agreements of 1997 and 1999, passing by a vote of 958-24.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Other actions
Carlos Peña was re-elected to a second term as vice-president of the ELCA. The church adopted an HIV/AIDS funding proposal, and the Assembly approved the Lutheran Malaria Initiative. By a vote of 754-176, the Assembly requested the development of a Social Statement on justice for women in church and society to be brought before the 2015 Assembly.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, August 19th tornado event
On August 19, disturbances in the jet stream caused severe thunderstorms to form in Iowa and the Dakotas. The storms moved to the north and east during the day, spreading into Wisconsin and Minnesota. At 1:50 pm CDT, an EF0 tornado touched down in south Minneapolis, Minnesota, uprooting trees and causing minor structural damage to buildings, including Minneapolis' neo-Gothic-styled Central Lutheran Church. The tornado continued north-northwest for 4.5 miles (7 km) before dissipating near the Minneapolis Convention Center in downtown Minneapolis where the Churchwide Assembly was being held.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, August 19th tornado event
The coincidence of this tornado with the day of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly's vote on the Social Statement "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" sparked an increased interest in the Assembly across social media, local print and broadcast news, the religious blogosphere, and a few national-level media outlets including the magazine Christianity Today and a blog by the religion editor of The Washington Times. While this was the first significant tornado to strike the city of Minneapolis since June 14, 1981, ten additional tornadoes also touched down that day in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, After the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, In the ELCA
While some believed that the Statement did not go far enough in its support for sexual minorities, the adoption of the Statement and Recommendations was hailed by many within the ELCA as a long-overdue redress of justice for LGBT Christians. In 2010, many pastors who had been removed from their positions were reinstated, including Anita C. Hill and Bradley Schmeling. The way was opened for LGBT persons to enter candidacy for ministry. ' Vision and Expectations' was revised to allow for people in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-sex relationships.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, After the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, In the ELCA
Lutherans Concerned/North America and Goodsoil continue to advocate for full inclusion of LGBT people in the life of the ELCA. The 2011 Churchwide Assembly passed an 'anti-bullying' memorial which was supported by Goodsoil and passed in many ELCA Synods.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, After the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, In the ELCA
Also in 2011, Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson participated in the 'It Gets Better' campaign, recording a YouTube video and contributing to the book. The ELCA Youth Ministry page also linked to the "It Gets Better" campaign and The Trevor Project.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, After the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, In the ELCA
In matters unrelated to "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust," the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted the ELCA Malaria Initiative, pulling out of the shared relationship with Lutheran World Relief, the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, and the United Nations. It also took action to put further social statements on hold until a review of the process for social statements is sent before the 2012 Church Council, and after 2013, Churchwide Assemblies will be held every three years instead of every two. While work continues on the Justice for Women Social Statement, it will not come before an Assembly until at least 2016.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, After the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, In the ELCA
Those who opposed the Statement's adoption responded in many different ways. After the 2009 Assembly, several hundred pastors and congregations left the ELCA for new and existing Lutheran church bodies. Other pastors and congregations remained in the ELCA but in various degrees of tension with the current situation.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, After the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, In the ELCA
Many congregations who were voting to leave the ELCA affiliated with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) or other smaller Lutheran 'micro-synods.' Other congregations desired to be part of a church body with more accountability and less congregationally based. In response, Lutheran CORE proposed a new church body, the North American Lutheran Church (NALC), for congregations that had left or were planning to leave the ELCA, while continuing Lutheran CORE as a 'community of confessing Lutherans' across judicatorial lines.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, After the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, In the ELCA
The constituting convention of the NALC was held in Grove City, Ohio, in August 2010. The Rev. Paull Spring, a former ELCA synodical Bishop, was elected Bishop for a provisional one-year term. In September, 2011, The Rev. John Bradosky was elected to a four-year term as Bishop. As of September 2012, the NALC has more than 125,000 baptized members in over 300 congregations across North America. As of October 2010 LCMC has over 550 congregations with 500 in the United States.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, After the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, In the ELCA
At the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, it was reported that in 2010, the ELCA had a net membership loss of 270,349, or 5.95% of its baptized membership, and a net loss of 340 congregations. From the years 2000 to 2010, the baptized membership of the ELCA had decreased from 5,125,919 to 4,272,688, and the number of congregations decreased from 10,816 to 10,008. Most mainline Protestant denominations have decreased in numbers in the past half-century.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, After the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, Inter-Lutheran Reaction
Other Lutheran denominations, such as the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod(LCMS), the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), the Lutheran Church Canada (LCC), and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS), expressed serious disagreement with the passage of "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust."


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, After the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, Inter-Lutheran Reaction
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod retreated further from its already limited cooperation with the ELCA. In July 2011, LCMS President Matthew C. Harrison announced the end of cooperative ministry, including cooperative training, between ELCA and LCMS military chaplains, beginning in 2012. President Harrison wrote, "Today, like two ships at sea sailing apart on different compass headings, the ELCA and the LCMS have lost sight of each other," also citing the decision of the ELCA and ECUSA to pursue cooperative training for their chaplains. The cooperative ministry had been in existence between the LCMS and the ELCA's predecessor bodies since May 1941.


2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, After the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, Inter-Lutheran Reaction
In October 2009, the board of one of the ELCA's partner churches, the board of the Evangelical Mekane Yesus Fellowship in North America, voted to declare disunity with the ELCA. An announcement stated the board was no longer "in good conscience able to commune and partner with ELCA Church that has willfully disobeyed the word of God and regrettably departed from the clear instructions of the Holy Scriptures," since the Word of God "declares marriage is only between a man and a woman."


2009 EMCO Gears Classic
The 2009 EMCO Gears Classic was the sixth round of the 2009 Rolex Sports Car Series season. It took place at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on June 20, 2009.


2009 ENnie Award winners
The following are the winners of the 9th annual ENnie Awards, held in 2009:


2009 ESC Youth League
The 2009 ESC Youth League was the inaugural season for the ESC Youth League in 10 metre air rifle and 10 metre air pistol, for shooters born 1991–1995. Three regional competitions were held in May, and six teams per event advanced to the final round, held in Helsingør, Denmark, on 3–4 October.


2009 ESC Youth League, Eastern region
The Eastern regional qualification groups were held in Belgrade on 30 and 31 May. Russia, Serbia, Croatia and Bulgaria had entered teams in both events, Bosnia and Herzegovina only in air rifle, and Romania only in air pistol. Thus, no teams had to be eliminated prior to the qualification stage. Romania and Bulgaria withdrew before the qualification stage.


2009 ESC Youth League, Eastern region
Serbia and Croatia advanced in air rifle, while the Russians won both their air pistol matches 3–0 and advanced together with Serbia.


2009 ESC Youth League, Northern region
In the Northern region, Poland (1168), Norway (1167), Finland (1166), Denmark (1163) and Sweden (1163) qualified from the 2008 preliminary air rifle rounds while Latvia (1142) and Lithuania (1139) were eliminated. In air pistol, all five teams (Poland, Sweden, Lithuania, Finland and Norway) qualified. Finland, while qualified in both events, withdrew from the competition before the qualification stage.


2009 ESC Youth League, Northern region
The Northern regional qualification groups were held in Rottne, Sweden, on 23 and 24 May. The air rifle group was dominated by Sweden, achieving the highest possible total (9–0), with Poland finishing second; the same teams advanced in air pistol, although in reversed order.


2009 ESC Youth League, Western region
In the Western region, joint preliminary rounds were held in 2008 at Nitra (Slovakia) and Fleury-les-Aubrais (France). In air rifle, Spain (1166), Italy (1164), Hungary (1163), Slovakia (1159) and Slovenia (1157) qualified for the group stage while France (1153), Austria (1148), Luxembourg (1111) and Belgium (1096) were eliminated. Slovakia withdrew prior to the qualification stage and were replaced by France. Spain (1116), Italy (1100) and Slovenia (1094) also had qualified in air pistol, along with Belgium (1096) and France (1094). Slovakia (1083) and Hungary (1078) were eliminated.


2009 ESC Youth League, Western region
The Western regional qualification groups were held in Milan on 30 and 31 May, just after Milan's 2009 ISSF World Cup competition. Hungary and Slovenia advanced to the finals in air rifle, Spain and Italy in air pistol.


2009 ESC Youth League, Finals
The finals were held in Helsingør, Denmark, on 3–4 October. They were originally scheduled for Copenhagen but had to be moved because of weapon regulations surrounding the 13th Olympic Congress, held simultaneously in the capital.


2009 ESC Youth League, Finals
The top two teams from each region qualified for the finals, where they were divided into two groups of three teams each. Round-robins were held in these groups on Saturday. The next day, the group runners-up faced each other for the bronze medals, and the group winners competed for the gold medals.


2009 ESC Youth League, Finals, Air pistol, group 2
Serbia had qualified for this group but withdrew; to compensate for this, the remaining teams faced each other twice.


2009 ESPY Awards
The 2009 ESPY Awards (for the 2008 Olympics and the 2009) were announced from Nokia Theatre on July 15 and showed during the telecast on ESPN, July 19. It was co-presented by Under Armour and Land Rover.


2009 ESPY Awards, Voting
The ESPY nomination show was televised on Friday, June 26, 2009 at 8p.m. ET on ESPN2. Fans voted online at www.espys.tv or via mobile phone at www.espn.mobi. The voting started on June 25 and ended on July 11, 2009.


2009 ESPY Awards, Categories
There are 37 categories and 3 special awards. The winners are listed first in bold. Other nominees are in alphabetical order.


2009 EU Cup Australian rules football
The 2009 EU Cup of Australian rules football was held in Samobor (Croatia) from 3 till 9 October 2009, with 15 national teams.


2009 EU Cup Australian rules football, Venue
Matches were played on the small stadium of NK Samobor (main and auxiliary ground).


2009 EU Cup Australian rules football, Final standings
1. England (EU Cup Winners)2. The Netherlands (Silver)3. Croatia (Bronze)4. Spain5. Scotland (Plate Winners) 6. Ireland7. Finland8. Germany9. Iceland (Bowl Winners) 10. EU Crusaders 11. Andorra12. France 13. Italy 14. Austria 15. Czech Republic


2009 EU Cup Australian rules football, Final standings
EU Cup Best & Fairest: Tomas Lundon (Ireland) & Josip Kravar (Croatia) – 16 votes


2009 EagleBank Bowl
The 2009 EagleBank Bowl was a college football bowl game. It marked the second edition of the EagleBank Bowl, played at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. The game, in which UCLA of the Pacific-10 Conference defeated Temple of the Mid-American Conference, 30–21, started at 4:30 PM US EST on Tuesday, December 29, 2009. The game was telecast on ESPN and was organized by the DC Bowl Committee, Inc., the Washington Convention and Sports Authority, and its title sponsor.


2009 EagleBank Bowl, Teams
The 2009 edition of the EagleBank Bowl was originally to match Army and the eighth team selected from the ACC. Army finished the regular season at 5–7 after failing to defeat rival Navy to become bowl eligible. Only seven teams from the ACC finished with bowl-qualifying regular season records (6–6 or better.)


2009 EagleBank Bowl, Teams, Temple Owls
A number of teams were up for consideration. The matchup was originally planned to be Army vs. a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference. If Army were not bowl-eligible (at least 6–6), a team from Conference USA would have been selected as the opponent for the ACC team. All of the bowl-eligible teams from the ACC and Conference USA were selected by bowls with a higher selection priority. The Bowl was also under partnership with the MAC to select a team if neither an ACC or a C-USA team is available. Under this provision, the bowl selected the Temple Owls.


2009 EagleBank Bowl, Teams, UCLA Bruins
With the 7–5 teams all selected from the Football Bowl Subdivision, the 6–6 teams from other conferences are available to be selected. Notre Dame was a likely choice, but the team would not participate in a bowl following the firing of Charlie Weis. The choice then ultimately fell to UCLA, which would take Army's spot if Army did not defeat Navy and finish 6–6. UCLA was permitted to practice for the bowl, per NCAA rules, since they were eligible to participate in a bowl.


2009 EagleBank Bowl, Teams, UCLA Bruins
Army was required to beat Navy on Saturday, December 12, 2009, in order to qualify for the bowl. Army fell short by losing 17–3 in the Army-Navy game, thereby allowing UCLA (6–6) to play Temple (9–3).


2009 EagleBank Bowl, Game summary
Temple wore their home cherry jerseys and UCLA wore their away white jerseys.


2009 EagleBank Bowl, Game summary
UCLA rallied from a 21-10 halftime deficit to defeat Temple for their first winning season in 3 years. Temple did not score in the second half of the game after star tailback Bernard Pierce left the game with an injured shoulder. Pierce had recorded 53 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries before his early exit. UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince completed 16 of 31 passes for 221 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. His counterpart, Vaughn Charlton, had more interceptions (two) than completed passes (one) in the second half. Bruins linebacker Akeem Ayers returned an interception 2 yards for a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and was named the game's MVP for his efforts.


2009 EagleBank Bowl, Game summary
The temperature was 32 degrees at kickoff with the wind chill at 19, and it only got colder as the evening wore on, leading many (including Temple alumnus Bill Cosby) to assume UCLA would struggle with the conditions. The game drew 23,072 to RFK Stadium, a decline of more than 5,000 from last year's inaugural game.


2009 East Asian Games
The 2009 East Asian Games (simplified Chinese: 2009年东亚运动会; traditional Chinese: 2009年東亞運動會; pinyin: Èr líng líng jiǔ nián Dōngyà yùndònghuì; Jyutping: ji6 ling4 ling4 gau2 nin4 dung1 ngaa3 wan6 dung6 wui2), officially known as the V East Asian Games, was an international multi-sport event that hosted by Hong Kong, China, between 5 December and 13 December 2009. A total of 2,377 athletes from 9 East Asian national competed in 262 events in 22 sports. It was the biggest sporting event ever held in the territory.


2009 East Asian Games, Organisation, Bid
In 2003 Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei and Mongolia entered the bidding process as potential host cities for the 5th East Asian games. Mongolia subsequently withdrew. On 3 November 2003 at a meeting in Macau, Hong Kong was selected as the host.


2009 East Asian Games, Organisation, Bid
June 2004 saw the formation of the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong East Asian Games, chaired by Timothy Fok, president of Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong.


2009 East Asian Games, Organisation, Costs
On 13 January 2006 the Legislative Council had approved the government spending of HK$123 million for the games. The total expenditure for the games is estimated to be HK$240 million. The estimated total revenue is also HK$240 million, including HK$123 million government funding, HK$43 million from ticket and merchandise sales and HK$74 million from cash sponsorship.


2009 East Asian Games, Organisation, Emblem
During the 2005 East Asian Games in Macau, a competition was held to determine the logo for the 5th East Asian Games. On 11 July 2005 a fireworks emblem, designed by Clement Yick Tat-wa, was selected. The design makes reference to the five Olympic rings, and the sparkling fireworks symbolise the energy of athletes striving to fulfill their potential and to achieve sporting excellence.


2009 East Asian Games, Organisation, Slogan
A slogan contest was held at the Asian Games in 2006 and the winning suggestion was "Be the Legend" (Chinese: 創造傳奇一刻; Jyutping: cong3 zou6 cyun4 kei4 jat1 hak1); fitting well with the ideals of athletes reaching their potential and achieving legendary victories. This slogan was submitted by secondary school student Choi Sau-chu (蔡秀珠). The event song is You are the Legend (Chinese: 衝出世界; Jyutping: cung1 ceot1 sai3 gaai3).


2009 East Asian Games, Organisation, Mascot
The event has two fluffy mascots, "Dony"(Chinese: 東仔; Jyutping: dung1 zai2) and "Ami"(Chinese: 亞妹; Jyutping: ngaa3 mui6). Fire and lion are the creative elements for the design. Fire has many different forms and radiates light and heat, representing the flexibility of Hong Kong people. Lion is the symbol for strength and confidence. Below the Lion Rock, Hong Kong people nurtured a mutually helping and continuously striving spirit.


2009 East Asian Games, Organisation, Stamps
A set of "Heartwarming Stamps" were released in March and another set was available in August while commemorative stamps were issued on the opening day of the event, 5 December.


2009 East Asian Games, Countdowns, One year
The 1 year countdown to the 2009 East Asian games began with Hong Kong Chief executive Donald Tsang inaugurating a special countdown clock in Hong Kong Cultural Centre on 5 December 2008. The ceremony was also attended by chairman of the East Asian Games planning committee Timothy Fok and heads of delegations of the nine countries. The countdown clock is based on the Mascot "Dony". The Cantonese version of the theme song You are the Legend was also performed for the first time by 30 Hong Kong singers including Alan Tam. Representatives of the Hong Kong 18 district councils were also present. For the 300-day countdown, 24 athletes were invited to sing the theme song at the Alan Tam Hacken Lee concert.


2009 East Asian Games, Countdowns, 200 days
A flower show was opened to the public on 13 May at Victoria Park. The show lasted 10 days featuring 60,000 pots of themed flower. Around 200 organizations from 20 countries participated in the show. The new Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground was opened on 19 May to celebrate the 200 days count down. A relay race was held between the HK police, HK immigration department, Leisure and Cultural department, HK Fire service, Customs and Exercise department, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Sai Kung District sports association. There was a dragon and lion dance performance and a tree planting ceremony. A cheerleading competition was also held.


2009 East Asian Games, Torch relay
A torch relay was held on August 29 as part of the 100-day Countdown. The relay held the theme "Light the way to the EAG". The torch is a curvy cylinder with a square top and round bottom. It resembles the horn of an ox as 2009 is the year of the Ox. They create the patterns of "Lucky Clouds" to put forward the concept of yin and yang. This also convey the message that Hong Kong is a place where the Chinese and Western cultures meet.


2009 East Asian Games, Calendar
In the following calendar for the 2009 East Asian Games, each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport were held.


2009 East Asian Games, Games, Opening ceremony
State Councilor Liu Yandong graced the official opening ceremony on December 5, which featured an extensive firework display and a large scale music and dance performance at Hong Kong Cultural Centre section of Victoria Harbour. IOC President Jacques Rogge and some IOC members also attended the ceremony. Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of Hong Kong, in his speech said in part: "Through sport, we will celebrate the cultural diversity, friendship and indomitable spirit of our region. Hong Kong extends the hand of friendship to all our guests and visitors." Following this, the torch was brought into Victoria Harbour and the cauldron was lit, signalling the climax of the opening ceremony.


2009 East Asian Games, Games, Sports
2009 East Asian Games featured 262 events in 22 sports (including 16 Olympics sports), a new record of East Asian Games history.


2009 East Asian Games, Games, Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony took place on 13 December at Kowloon Hong Kong Coliseum. After the country entrances, the event featured a host of performance art section on stage and the transfer of the East Asian Games flag to the host of the next host Tianjin. Three sections including Color, Flower and Ocean were on display along with a host of international popstars.


2009 East Asian Games, Games, Medal table
A total of 262 gold medals are presented in East Asian Games. The following table shows the Final Medal Tally of regions:


2009 East Asian Games, Participation
All of the 9 East Asian Games Association (EAGA) that existed as of 2009 participated in the 2009 East Asian Games. China had the largest team, with 474 athletes.


2009 East Asian Games closing ceremony
The 2009 East Asian Games closing ceremony was an event that took place on 13 December 2009 at Kowloon Hong Kong Coliseum on the last day of the hosting of the 2009 East Asian Games. The show is 2 hours long. The ceremony cost HK$3 million, while the admission cost was HK$200, $400 or $600.


2009 East Asian Games closing ceremony, Entrances
Countries entered in this order: China, North Korea, Japan, South Korea, Macau, Chinese Taipei, Guam, Hong Kong.


2009 East Asian Games closing ceremony, Entrances
East Asian games president Timothy Fok began with an opening statement; Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing followed with another statement. Chief executive of Hong Kong Donald Tsang announced that the official closing ceremony had begun.


2009 East Asian Games closing ceremony, Entrances
HK squash player Rebecca Chiu carried out the East Asian games flag onto the stage. She passed it to Timothy Fok, who then passed it to Tsang Tak-sing and finally to Tianjin mayor Huang Xingguo who is scheduled to host the 2013 East Asian Games. He then handed the flag to Liu Feng-shan (劉鳳山), secretary of the next East Asian Games organising committee. The flag was then wrapped up by members of the Hong Kong police. A "Meet Tianjin" (2013相約天津) video is broadcast. Tianjin, the city, was introduced.


2009 East Asian Games closing ceremony, Performing arts
A group of stage dancers from Tianjin began the performance art section on stage. This was split into three sections. First was the Color segment which contained elements of Beijing opera. It was performed by 30 artists including famous opera actor Meng Guanglu. The Flower segment featured dancers performing a number of moves. The angels represent the mascot of the next East Asian Games. The Ocean segment had the dancers dressed in the color of water. They danced on stage and finished this section.


2009 East Asian Games closing ceremony, Finale
A tribute was paid to the athlete's sportsmanship and spirit. The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, led by conductor Yan Hui-chang (閻惠昌), played the song "My Pride". PRC's Dadawa then performs "Heaven sing" (天唱). Kousuke Atari of Japan then performs (各自遠颺). Richie Ren of Taiwan performed "Friend, change you have not" (朋友，你變了沒有). Chae Yeon of South Korea then performed "Opening" (熱力開場). This is completed by Hong Kong's Eason Chan "Road, to this point" (路，一直都在). An international version of You are the Legend was performed by all five singers together.


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony
The 2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony was held on December 5, 2009 at Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. The opening began at 8pm at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on a floating stage set up at Victoria Harbour. The production team was the same one that ran the 2008 Beijing olympics opening ceremony. The ceremony involved 44 decorated vessels and cost HK$40 million (about US$5 million) to stage, lasting 90 minutes. Tickets to the opening ceremony was sold at HK$1000.


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony, Leader entrances
Special guest People's Republic of China State Councilor Liu Yandong is first introduced. Chief executive of Hong Kong Donald Tsang, IOC President Jacques Rogge and East Asian games president Timothy Fok are then introduced. They are seated among a panel of VIPs.


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony, Fireworks & entrances
Fireworks at the harbour begins. Then Ode to the Motherland is played while the Hong Kong police parade in. The HKSAR and PRC flag is raised to the national anthem March of the Volunteers. The theme song "Be the Legend" (創造傳奇) is played. Then the different countries enter via the harbour by boat accompanied by fireworks. They enter alphabetically by English characters. The You are the Legend theme song is also played.


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony, Performances, Part 1
The "Fishing lights on Fragrant waters" (香江漁火) took place on a floating stage with colourful night view with dance scene. It plays the popular HK song "Below the Lion Rock (獅子山下). The song was performed many years ago by Cantopop singer Roman Tam. These are accompanied by sailboat and wave dances. This portion represents HK history with the junk sailing ships.


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony, Performances, Part 2
The (活力都會) part then focus on a more modern HK. On the floating stage Joey Yung sang the song "Run forward" (跑步機上). She is accompanied by dancers. The junk boats then use a more modern lighting. This part ends with five firework shots display.


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony, Performances, Part 3
The "Blessings for Hong Kong" (祝福香港) section is then opened up by Andy Lau. He sings "If one day" (如果有一天) accompanied by violin virtuoso Li Chuan Yun. This part also ends with five firework shots.


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony, Performances, Part 4
The "Conglomeration of the Nine Dragons" (九龍匯聚) section celebrate the nine participating countries. Usually nine dragons represent Kowloon. Alan Tam performs the song You are the Legend. He is accompanied by HK students. Afterwards the 10 male, 14 female group Phoenix music troupe (鳳樂團) perform the "Nine nation drum beats" (九國鼓樂). Flag waving performers then come out.


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony, Performances, National flag bearers
The athletes of the 9 nations then come out onto the stage. The host region Hong Kong marched last. Guam entered as the penultimate region, as it is a member of the Oceania National Olympic Committees and an invitation team. Other countries and regions entered in English alphabetical order of their Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) designated names. Whilst most countries entered under their short names, a few entered under more formal or alternative names, sometimes due to political disputes.


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony, Performances, National flag bearers
Taiwan (Republic of China) entered with the compromised name and flag of "Chinese Taipei" under T so that they did not enter together with conflicting "China", which entered under C. Similarly, South Korea entered as "Korea" under K while North Korea entered as "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" (shortened as DPR Korea on the placard).


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony, Performances, Speech
Donald Tsang then gave a speech. It was the first large scale international games ever hosted in HK. It was also the largest east Asian games. Timothy Fok then followed up with a speech. They both gave their speech first in English, then again in Cantonese. State Councilor Liu Yandong then opened the games up with a statement in Mandarin. The firework displays begin.


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony, Performances, Games flag bearer
The flag of East Asian games enters the stage carried by eight HK athletes.


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony, Performances, Games flag bearer
The flag is then raised and the East Asian games song is played. HK ping pong player Li Ching (李靜) takes an oath. Gary Au Yeung Kwok-kei (歐楊國棋) then take an oath. Lee Lai-shan and Wong Kam-po arrives with the torch from the 2009 East Asian Games torch relay. They join Cheung King-wai, Hannah Wilson and Chan Hei-man (陳晞文). They all light the wave.


2009 East Asian Games opening ceremony, Performances, Fireworks
Final major firework display is accompanied by live singing from the float performed by artists such as Yumiko Cheng, Nicholas Tse, Vincy Chan, Priscilla Chan. The ceremony finishes with You are the Legend.


2009 East Asian Games torch relay
The 2009 East Asian Games torch relay was the torch relay portion prior to the opening of the East Asian Games. It took place on 29 August 2009 on the 100th day countdown to the games. About 500 local schools held torch relay activities from September 2009 to November 2009 prior to the start of the games in December. The torch pipe was designed by HK designer Kan Tai-keung (靳埭強). The relay held the theme "Light the way to the EAG".


2009 East Asian Games torch relay, Torch
The torch is a curvy cylinder with a square top and round bottom. It resembles the horn of an ox as 2009 is the year of the Ox. They create the patterns of "Lucky Clouds" to put forward the concept of yin and yang. This also convey the message that Hong Kong is a place where the Chinese and Western cultures meet.


2009 East Asian Games torch relay, Torch relay route
The relay point begins at Kowloon Park that travels to Austin Road and Nathan Road. Then it turns to Salisbury Road and Tsim Sha Tsui East before reaching the Avenue of Stars and Kowloon Public Pier. The bearers then cross Victoria Harbour by water and reach Expo drive east on the other side of the harbour. It continues to Harbour Road before going to Expo drive and finish at the Golden Bauhinia Square with the last torch bearer.


2009 East Asian Games torch relay, Torchbearers
There were a total of 65 torchbearers. The route was divided by 3 sections.


2009 East Carolina Pirates football team
The 2009 East Carolina Pirates football team represented East Carolina University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season and played their home games in Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium. The team was coached by Skip Holtz, who was in his fifth and final year with the program. The 2009 Pirates were defending their first ever Conference USA Football Championship.


2009 East Carolina Pirates football team
The Pirates finished the season 9–5, 7–1 in CUSA play, winning the East Division in their final regular season game against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles 25-20, and won their second consecutive CUSA Championship Game 38–32 against the Houston Cougars in Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium. The Pirates were invited to their second consecutive Liberty Bowl where they were defeated by Arkansas 20–17 in overtime.


2009 East Carolina Pirates football team, Before the season, Purple/Gold Spring Game
The annual Purple/Gold Spring Game was held in the spring during the PirateFest and Pigskin Pigout weekend activities on April 18 in downtown Greenville, NC and put the "Pirates" team led by Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Josh Jordan against the "ECU" team led by Senior Quarterback Patrick Pinkney. The ECU team defeated the Pirates team 31-10.


2009 East Carolina Pirates football team, Game summaries, Appalachian State
The Pirates renewed their rivalry with their former Southern Conference opponent for the first time since 1979. The Mountaineers led the all-time series 19-10, but the two schools had only played once since the split of Division I college football, with the Pirates defeating the Mountaineers 38-21 in 1979. This marked the first time since 2001 that the Pirates have played a school from the Football Championship Subdivision. After being dominated in the first half, Appalachian State staged a comeback but fell short after a sack and a blocked pass with seconds left in the 4th Quarter. ECU would hold on to win 29-24, improving their record against the Mountaineers to 11-19.


2009 East Carolina Pirates football team, Game summaries, West Virginia
The Pirates went to Morgantown, WV to take on the 2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl Champion West Virginia Mountaineers, who remained undefeated at home in this series and led the all-time record 17-3. Last year, East Carolina blew out West Virginia 24-3 in Greenville. After going up 10-0 early in the first half, the Pirates would enter the second half trailing by 1, but the Mountaineers would pull ahead to win 35-20, improving their record to 18-3.