2009 Sporting Challenger – Doubles
Carlos Berlocq and Frederico Gil were the defending champions. Berlocq didn't start this year. Gil partnered up with Rui Machado, but they lost to Bracciali/Starace in the semifinal. Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace defeated Santiago Giraldo and Pere Riba in the final 6–3, 6–4.


2009 Sporting Challenger – Singles
Fabio Fognini was the defender of title; however, he chose to not participate this year. Potito Starace defeated Máximo González 7–6(4), 6–3 in the final.


2009 Sporting Cristal season
The 2009 Sporting Cristal season is the 54th season of the team's existence. Sporting Cristal finished 10th overall in the Aggregate table and did not qualify for either the Copa Libertadores or the Copa Sudamericana.


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


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


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


2009 Sporting Cristal season, Squad, Transfers, Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2009 Sporting Cristal season, Peruvian Primera División, Second stage
The Second Stage will begin on September 13 where the 16 teams will be divided into two groups and play a total of 14 home-and-away fixtures. Each winner will qualify for the Copa Libertadores 2009 Second Stage.


2009 Sporting Cristal season, Aggregate table
The aggregate table will determine the third and last team to qualify to the 2010 Copa Libertadores, the three who qualify to the 2010 Copa Sudamericana, and the two teams to be relegated to the Segunda División. The aggregate table consists of the points earned in the First and Second stages.


2009 Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio
The 2009 Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio was the sixth round of the 2009 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio on August 8, 2009. Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud won their fourth consecutive race, beating the Highcroft Racing Acura by 8.3 seconds. After losing out at the previous round at Lime Rock Park, Fernández Racing Acura won the LMP2 category for the fifth time this season, ahead of class newcomer Team Cytosport's Porsche RS Spyder. Flying Lizard Motorsports also continued their winning streak by claiming the GT2 class victory, beating the debuting revamped Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R. Martin and Melanie Snow won the ALMS Challenge class by a gap of two laps over the second place Orbit Racing Porsche.


2009 Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio, Report, Qualifying
Gil de Ferran, driving the car of his own team, claimed pole position for Mid-Ohio by outpacing David Brabham's Highcroft car by less than .07 seconds. Acura also led the LMP2 category with Fernández Racing leading the two Dyson Racing Team entries. Jörg Bergmeister led Flying Lizard Motorsports to the top of the GT2 category, ahead of Jaime Melo's Risi Ferrari. Professional driver Guy Cosmo put the Orbit Racing Porsche on pole within the Challenge class.


2009 Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio, Report, Qualifying, Qualifying result
Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.


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


2009 Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg
The 2009 Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg was the second round of the 2009 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on April 4, 2009. The Acura ARX-02a earned its first overall victory under the Patrón Highcroft Racing team after early leader de Ferran Motorsports suffered mechanical issues. Acura also won the LMP2 category with Lowe's Fernández Racing, while GT2 was won by the Porsche of Flying Lizard Motorsports.


2009 Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg, Report, Qualifying
In qualifying solely for the GT2 category, due to the lack of GT1 class competitors for this event, Jaime Melo in the Risi Competizione Ferrari led the pack before a red flag stopped the session due to an incident involving eventual fifth place qualifier Patrick Long in the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche. Farnbacher-Loles and the two BMWs completed the top of the GT2 grid.


2009 Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg, Report, Qualifying
In prototype qualifying the Acura of Simon Pagenaud dominated by earning de Ferran Motorsports a pole position by nearly a second over the other Acura of Patrón Highcroft Racing. Acura also led the LMP2 category as the Lowe's Fernández Racing car was piloted by Luis Díaz to third overall, beating the closest Dyson Lola-Mazda by three tenths of a second.


2009 Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg, Report, Qualifying, Qualifying result
Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.


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


2009 Sprint Gas V8 Supercars Manufacturers Challenge
The 2009 Sprint Gas V8 Supercars Manufacturers Challenge was the second meeting of the 2009 V8 Supercar season. It was held on the weekend of 26 to 29 March at Albert Park Street Circuit, in the inner suburbs of Melbourne, the capital of Victoria. The meeting was a non-championship affair, conducted under a unique Holden vs Ford format. It was the lead support category for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix.


2009 Sprint Gas V8 Supercars Manufacturers Challenge, Top Ten shootout
The top ten shootout was held on Friday 27 March immediately before the first race. Craig Lowndes held onto the fastest position from qualifying, setting a new practice record while doing so. Will Davison was second fastest ahead of Jason Richards while the big mover from qualifying was Mark Winterbottom climbing from ninth to fourth, while second fastest from qualifying, the surprising Fabian Coulthard dropped to eighth.


2009 Sprint Gas V8 Supercars Manufacturers Challenge, Race 1
Race 1 was held on Friday 27 March immediately after the shootout.


2009 Sri Lanka Central and North Western Provincial Council elections
The Sri Lanka provincial council elections, 2009 were held on February 14, 2009 to elect members to Sri Lanka’s Central Provincial Council and North Western Provincial Council. The 2 councils were dissolved by their respective governors at midnight on December 8, 2008. The Elections Commission subsequently accepted nominations from December 24 to December 31, and set the date for the polls.


2009 Sri Lanka Central and North Western Provincial Council elections
A total of 1,746,449 people were eligible to vote in the Central Province, along with 1,661,733 in the North Western Province. They elected 56 and 50 members for the councils respectively. By the close of nominations, 1320 candidates from 15 political parties and 26 independent groups registered to contest the Central Provincial Council, and 937 candidates from 15 political parties and 17 independent groups filed nominations for the North Western Provincial Council.


2009 Sri Lanka Central and North Western Provincial Council elections
Buoyed by support for his handling of the Sri Lankan Civil War, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's United People's Freedom Alliance achieved resounding victories in all 5 districts. This included the districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, which are traditionally seen as strongholds of the opposition United National Party.


2009 Sri Lanka Central and North Western Provincial Council elections, Past elections
In the last election held to elect members to the Central Provincial Council, the United People's Freedom Alliance secured a majority in the council, obtaining 426,297 votes and 30 seats as opposed to 410,145 votes and 26 seats for the United National Party. The UPFA also secured a majority in the North Western Provincial Council, obtaining 491,000 votes and 31 seats with 311,773 votes and 19 seats going to the UNP.


2009 Sri Lanka Central and North Western Provincial Council elections, Contesting political parties, Parties contesting in only 1 districts
* - indicates nominations were submitted, but rejected by the Elections Commission


2009 Sri Lanka Football Premier League
The 2009 Premier League championship organized by the Football Federation of Sri Lanka, and was sponsored by Dialog Telekom. Renown SC won the championship by beating SL Air force SC. Mohamed Fazal of Renown SC is the top scorer.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections
Local elections were held in Sri Lanka on 8 August 2009 for two local councils in the north of the country: Jaffna Municipal Council and Vavuniya Urban Council. They were the first elections held in the country since the government declared victory in the 26-year-old civil war on 18 May 2009. They were also the first local elections held in the Northern Province in more than 11 years. Both towns had been under government control for many years. The government won the Jaffna Municipal Council contest by securing 13 of the 23 seats. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won the Vavuniya Urban Council contest by securing 5 of the 11 seats. Turnout was very low in Jaffna (22%) but it was better in Vavuniya (52%).


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Background
On 25 May 2009 the government announced that local elections would be held in Jaffna and Vavuniya. Nominations took place between 18 June 2009 and 25 June 2009. After the nominations closed the Sri Lankan Department of Election announced that the elections would take place on 8 August 2009, the same day as the Uva Provincial Council elections.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Background
The TNA has said that the elections are being held too early, with so many of the electorate displaced. It expected the Jaffna elections to be violent and the results to be rigged, just like the 2008 Eastern Provincial Council elections. The United National Party (UNP) and the People's Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL) have called on the election authorities to bring in foreign election observers.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Violence, intimidation and other irregularities
Veerasingham Anandasangaree, president of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), has accused a Tamil government minister of "terrorising the residents of Jaffna in the run-up to the Municipal Council elections". It is believed that the minister Anandasangaree was referring to is Douglas Devananda, leader of the paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP).


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Violence, intimidation and other irregularities
The UNP has accused the government of obstructing the UNP's campaign in Jaffna and Vavuniya. It says the government is preventing its free movement and has complained to the Election Department. The UNP has also accused armed supporters of the EPDP of threatening its candidates. It has said that the EPDP is using state resources, such as the police, in its election campaigns.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Violence, intimidation and other irregularities
In the early hours of 25 June 2009 armed men attacked newspaper delivery men and burnt thousands of copies of three Tamil language newspapers (Thinakkural, Uthayan and Valampuri) in Jaffna. The newspapers had refused to print a statement attacking the Tamil Tigers from a shadowy group calling itself the "Tamil Front Protecting the Country". The group telephoned the Thinakkural after the attack and warned that the newspapers would continue to be confiscated and torched until the statement was published. The newspaper published the statement under duress on 26 June 2009.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Violence, intimidation and other irregularities
On 27 June 2009 the group issued further threats against the Uthayan, this time ordering all its staff to resign by 30 June 2009 or face death.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Violence, intimidation and other irregularities
On 4 July 2009 two men were shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in the Parathipuram area of Vavuniya. The dead men were identified as 39-year-old Nadaraja Ramesh Kantha, principal of Parathipuram Tamil Mixed School, and 31-year-old Gunarathnam Peter Ruben.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Jaffna Municipal Council
The last election for Jaffna MC was held on 29 January 1998.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Jaffna Municipal Council
The following six alliances / parties / independent groups' nominations were accepted by the Sri Lankan Department of Election:


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Jaffna Municipal Council
A total of 174 candidates competed for the 23 seats available on the council.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Jaffna Municipal Council
The nominations of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and an independent group (Arumugam Sellathurai) were rejected by the Sri Lankan Department of Election. The SLMC appealed to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka but on 3 July the courts rejected the appeal. There were approximately 10,000 Muslim refugees from Jaffna living in other districts. Of these 7,104 applied to vote in the Jaffna elections. With the elimination of the SLMC and the UNP not fielding any Muslim candidates, most of the Muslims would most likely have voted for the United People's Freedom Alliance.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Jaffna Municipal Council
Extraordinarily there were no applications by Tamil refugees to vote in the Jaffna elections. There are hundreds of thousands of Tamil refugees from the Jaffna peninsula living in other parts of the country, either in refugee camps or with relatives. Many of these are from the Jaffna municipality area.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Jaffna Municipal Council
Veteran politician Veerasingham Anandasangaree is a candidate to become Mayor of Jaffna. Anandasangaree was a TNA Member of Parliament but left the TNA when it started taking a pro-Tamil Tiger stance. Since then he has reconstituted the TULF, a constituent party of the TNA, as a separate political party and formed alliances with government-backed anti-Tamil Tigers paramilitary groups, such as the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), in order to fight elections against the TNA. Most TULF members however remain within the TNA.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Jaffna Municipal Council, Results
The government (UPFA) took control of the Jaffna Municipal Council after securing 13 of the 23 seats.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Jaffna Municipal Council, Results
The EPDP has nominated Patkunam Yogeswary to be Mayor and Thurairajah Illango to be Deputy Mayor.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Vavuniya Urban Council
The last election for Vavuniya UC was held on 1 March 1994.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Vavuniya Urban Council
The following nine alliances / parties / independent groups' nominations were accepted by the Sri Lankan Department of Election:


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Vavuniya Urban Council
A total of 135 candidates competed for the 11 seats available on the council.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Vavuniya Urban Council
The TULF (Anandasangaree wing) filed a separate nomination but this was rejected by the Sri Lankan Department of Election.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Vavuniya Urban Council, Results
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) secured 5 of the 11 seats, making it the largest group on Vavuniya Urban Council. The TNA is seeking SLMC support to form a majority administration. The TNA's victory in Vavuniya was seen as a surprise by international observers because many people had predicted the end of the TNA following the LTTE's military defeat.


2009 Sri Lankan local elections, Vavuniya Urban Council, Results
The TNA has nominated S. N. G. Nathan to be Chairman and Muttu Sivasami Muguntharathan to be Deputy Mayor.


2009 St Helens RLFC season
St. Helens entered their 137th year in 2009, and were in contention for of rugby league's Super League and Carnegie Challenge Cup competitions.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 1
Saints come back from a 14-nil deficit early in the second half to beat Warrington Wolves 26-14.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 2
Saints turn over the much improved from last season Huddersfield Giants 23-6.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 3
Hull Kingston Rovers inflict Saints' first defeat of the season, with Michael Dobson scoring a late penalty goal to give the Robins a 20-19 win.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 4
Saints scrape past newly promoted Crusaders in the lowest scoring game in the Super League; Tom Armstrong scoring the only try in a 4-nil win.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 5
Saints brush aside the Salford City Reds by 38 points to 12.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 6
Saints edge a heated epic with Leeds Rhinos - winning 26-18 at Knowsley Road.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 7
Saints hammer Wakefield Trinity Wildcats by 42-18. The Wildcats are in mourning for reserve player Leon Walker, who died in a reserve game.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 8
Saints scrape past a fired up Wigan Warriors outfit, winning 19-12 after being 6-nil and 12-6 down.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 9
Saints bounce Hull F.C. in the second game of the Easter period by 44-22.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 10
Saints become the first team in Super League XIV to surpass 60 points, winning 68-22 at Castleford. Tony Puletua scores 4 tries but the game is halted for 30 minutes as Joe Westerman suffers a serious head injury.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 11
Saints suffer only their second defeat of the season as Bradford come back to win 34-30.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 12
Saints produce arguably their worst display of the campaign, losing 38-18 to arch rivals Wigan at the Magic Weekend.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 13
Saints defeat Catalans Dragons for the second time in a week, by coming back from 22-10 down to win 32-28 to move them back to the top of the table.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 14
Saints survive a second-half rally from Harlequins RL to win 22-12.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 15
Saints ease past the challenge of Hull FC, winning 30-6.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 16
Saints thrash Castleford for a second time this season in a 50 points to 10 success.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 17
Saints set a new record of 16 consecutive away wins in Super League after cantering to a 44-18 success over Bradford Bulls.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 18
Saints nil the Celtic Crusaders for a second time in the season - in a 30-0 win.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 19
Saints lose their fourth game of the season in a shock 20-10 loss to Salford.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 20
Saints beat neighbours Warrington for the second time in the league, in another fantastic game, this time by a margin of 40-26.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 21
Despite outscoring their opponents Wakefield by 5 tries to four, Saints crash to their second defeat in three games, losing 22-20.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 22
Saints bounce back from two defeats in three games with a convincing 44-24 win at Harlequins to take them back to two points clear at the top of the table.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 23
Saints edge a third game of the season against Wigan, with Kyle Eastmond scoring a late try to secure a 10-6 victory.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 24
Saints lost their third game in six as they crashed to a 26-10 loss at Hull KR.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 25
Another below-par performance saw Saints scrape past a youthful Huddersfield outfit by 12 points to 10, after being 10 points down.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 26
In a much improved performance, Saints are edged out by bitter rivals Leeds 18-10 in a third superb encounter of the season to all but end their hopes of a fifth consecutive League Leader's Shield.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Super League XIV, Round 27
Saints are beaten by Catalans in the last game of the regular season to finish second in the league ladder behind Leeds.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Challenge Cup 2009, Round 4
Saints just edge past a second epic in two weeks against Leeds in a bruising encounter - pulling through 22-18.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Challenge Cup 2009, Round 5
Saints thrash Catalans Dragons 42-8 to reach the Quarter Finals.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Challenge Cup 2009, Quarter-Finals
Saints trounce a spirited Gateshead Thunder side 66-6 to advance to a record ninth consecutive Semi-Final.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Challenge Cup 2009, Semi-Finals
Despite a Francis Meli hat-trick of tries, holders Saints were beaten 24-14 by Huddersfield.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Play-Off Series, Week 1
Saints beat Huddersfield in Week One to progress to the qualifying round in a 15-2 success.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Play-Off Series, Week 3
Saints reached a fourth consecutive Super League Grand Final after beating Wigan in a thrilling 14-10 win. They will take on Leeds for a third consecutive time at Old Trafford.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Play-Off Series, Super League Grand Final
Saints lose the grand final to Leeds Rhinos 18-10, this being the third consecutive Grand Final they lose to Leeds.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, Upcoming Fixture(s)
Saints will round off their Super League XIV campaign against Leeds Rhinos at the 2009 Super League Grand Final.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 season, News
It has been announced that, for the 2010 Super League Season, Saints have signed New Zealand World Cup winning centre Iosia Soliola from the Sydney City Roosters on a three-year deal. Additionally, Scrum-Half Sean Long will be leaving Knowsley Road after a 12-year stint. He is joining Hull F.C. on a two-year contract. Lee Gilmour is also on his way out of St Helens. The second-row has agreed a two year deal with Huddersfield Giants for the 2010 season. Young half-back Matty Smith will join Salford City Reds for the 2010 season in a loan agreement. Prop-forward Jason Cayless will be leaving Saints too after 4 seasons with the club owing to a shoulder injury. He will return to Australia. Hull Kingston Rovers prop Nick Fozzard will re-join Saints after being released from the final year of his Rovers contract.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, League table
Source: . Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference. Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 Squad
1 - Meli and Puletua won caps for New Zealand before switching to Samoa


2009 St Helens RLFC season, 2009 Squad
3 - Fa'asavalu switched his allegiance to England under the residency rule


2009 St Kilda Football Club season
St Kilda Football Club competed in the 2009 Australian Football League (AFL) premiership season. They won a club record 19 consecutive matches between Round 1 and Round 19 of the season and qualified for the 2009 finals series in first position as the minor premiers –  the club's third minor premiership. The club won through to the 2009 AFL Grand Final after qualifying and preliminary finals wins, but were defeated by Geelong by 12 points.


2009 St Kilda Football Club season, Summary, NAB Cup
St Kilda was eliminated from the 2009 National Australia Bank Cup in the opening round, with Brisbane 1.8.8 (65) defeating St Kilda 0.8.8 (56).


2009 St Kilda Football Club season, Summary, Home and away rounds
In Round 1 of the 2009 Australian Football League season, Zac Dawson made a surprise debut for St Kilda after being promoted from the rookie list in time to confront Sydney at Docklands as St Kilda defenders Matt Maguire and Max Hudghton were injured. St Kilda 12.8 (80) defeated Sydney 9.11 (65) at Etihad Stadium in front of 32,442 spectators. In Round 2, Adelaide 10.9 (69) lost to St Kilda 15.11 (101) before 41,189 at AAMI Stadium. St Kilda 25.11 (161) defeated West Coast 9.10 (64) at Etihad Stadium in front of 29,006.


2009 St Kilda Football Club season, Summary, Home and away rounds
Round 4 saw St Kilda defeat Fremantle by 83 points, and restrict them to 4.4 (28), their second-lowest ever score at that time and the equal-lowest score ever recorded at Etihad Stadium (tied with St Kilda's 3.10 (28) in 2002). In round 5, St Kilda restricted Port Adelaide to their second-lowest score in their club history, going down 15.12 (102) to 5.6 (36). The 6th round saw the Western Bulldogs 11.10 (76) lost to St Kilda 14.20 (104) in front of 36,302 at Etihad Stadium.


2009 St Kilda Football Club season, Summary, Home and away rounds
Round 7 saw St Kilda and Collingwood play a Monday night game, the AFL's first for several seasons. St Kilda won easily 20.8 (128) to Collingwood 5.10 (40), making it the lowest Collingwood score under Mick Malthouse as coach. Round 8 saw St Kilda 13.12 (90) defeat Essendon 10.11 (71) at Etihad Stadium in front of 45,594. Round 9 saw St Kilda 14.13 (97) defeat the Brisbane Lions 13.3 (81) at Docklands Stadium in front of 30,673.


2009 St Kilda Football Club season, Summary, Home and away rounds
In Round 10 St Kilda held Melbourne goalless in the second half of their 37-point victory, St Kilda 11.17 (83) to Melbourne 6.10 (46). In Round 11 St Kilda won its 11th consecutive game, breaking the previous club record of 10 set in 2004 by beating North Melbourne by 46 points, despite trailing by almost five goals in the first quarter. In Round 12 Carlton 14.11 (95) were defeated by St Kilda 16.8 (104) at Docklands Stadium in front of 50,820. In Round 13, St Kilda 13.14 (92) defeated Richmond 5.6 (36) at Docklands Stadium in front 38,196.


2009 St Kilda Football Club season, Summary, Home and away rounds
The Round 14 clash between St Kilda and Geelong broke the previous record of the largest crowd at an AFL game held at Docklands Stadium with an attendance of 54,444. St Kilda 14.7 (91) defeated Geelong 13.7 (85). St Kilda extended its winning streak to 15 wins in round 15, with a hard-fought victory over West Coast 11.4 (70) to St Kilda 13.12 (90). Round 16 saw St Kilda 15.15 (105) defeat Adelaide 7.6 (48) at Etihad Stadium. In Round 17 St Kilda 16.10 (106) defeated Western Bulldogs 9.7 (61) at Etihad Stadium.


2009 St Kilda Football Club season, Summary, Home and away rounds
Round 18 saw Sydney 13.15 (93) defeated by St Kilda 13.15 (94) at the SCG. Round 19 saw Hawthorn 7.7 (49) defeated by St Kilda 10.14 (74) at Aurora Stadium. Round 20 saw St Kildas first loss of the season proper kicking 16.12 (108) to Essendon 16.14 (110) at Etihad Stadium. Round 21 St Kilda 8.11 (59) lost to North Melbourne 10.4 (64) at Etihad Stadium. St Kilda played its first game at the MCG in Round 22 and defeated Melbourne 10.7 (67) to St Kilda 17.12 (114).


2009 St Kilda Football Club season, Summary, Home and away rounds
St Kilda qualified for the 2009 finals series in first position, winning the clubs third minor premiership with 20 wins and 2 losses, one of the most dominant home and away seasons ever in AFL history.


2009 St Kilda Football Club season, Summary, Finals series
In the first qualifying final, St Kilda 12.8 (80) defeated Collingwood 7.10 (52) at the MCG. In the first preliminary final, St Kilda 19.6 (60) defeated the Western Bulldogs 7.11 (53) at the MCG. In the grand final St Kilda 9.14 (68) lost to Geelong 12.8 (80) at the MCG.


2009 St. George Illawarra Dragons season
The 2009 St. George Illawarra Dragons season was 11th in the joint venture Rugby League club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership under new coach Wayne Bennett and finished the season as minor premiers. However a series of losses late in the season saw them become the first minor premiers to bow out of the McIntyre System with two consecutive losses in the finals.


2009 St. George Illawarra Dragons season, Season Summary
Coming off a 2008 Qualifying Final loss to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and with a new Coach in the office being Wayne Bennett, the Dragons signed a number of new players but lost just as many. The Dragons were hoping to improve the previous years Qualifying Final loss, by making it even further this year. Five Toyota Cup players of 2008 have been promoted to the First Grade squad with more talented juniors rising through the ranks within the club.


2009 St. George Illawarra Dragons season, Season Summary
St. George led the competition in defence in 2009 and finished the season with the minor premiership, the club's first. Their strong performance also led to new records for home match attendances at WIN Jubilee Oval.


2009 St. George Illawarra Dragons season, Season Summary
St George exited the finals series in the second week of the finals.


2009 St. George Illawarra Dragons season, 2009 NRL Ladder
* Bulldogs stripped of 2 competition points after an interchange breach in round 2


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals' 2009 season was the 128th season for the franchise in St. Louis, Missouri and the 118th season in the National League. The Cardinals, coming off an 86–76 season and fourth place in the NL Central, got off to a strong start in April before a team-wide offensive breakdown caused them to fall behind the Cubs in the NL Central standings. Brilliant seasons from starting pitchers Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Joel Piñeiro helped St. Louis to stay in contention until the key midseason acquisitions of Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa, and Julio Lugo revived the Cardinal offense. An August 20–6 effectively ended the NL Central race, and the Cardinals won the division with a 91–71 record, seven-and-a-half games better than the second-place Cubs. However, their playoff run ended quickly when they were swept in three games by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Hitters
The Cardinals retained the services of backup catcher Jason LaRue, signing him to another one-year contract.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Hitters
On December 4, 2008, the Cardinals agreed to a trade with the San Diego Padres sending reliever Mark Worrell and a player-to-be-named-later (the Padres eventually chose minor-league pitcher Luke Gregerson) in exchange for shortstop Khalil Greene, who will make $6.5 mil, and will be eligible for free agency after 2009. Greene replaced César Izturis, who departed via free agency.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Hitters
Utility infielder Aaron Miles, a member of the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals, signed a two-year deal on December 31 to play with the Cubs. Felipe López, who became the starting second baseman after a 2008 deadline trade and hit .385 for the Cardinals in two months, became a free agent and signed with the Diamondbacks. The third and last second baseman on the 2008 Cardinals, Adam Kennedy, was given his unconditional release on February 9. With no second baseman with significant big-league experience on the roster, outfielder Skip Schumaker was tabbed to make the unusual transition. Late in training camp Schumaker was designated the official starting second baseman.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Hitters
Third baseman Troy Glaus underwent right shoulder surgery on January 21, 2009, and was originally expected to miss Opening Day (April 6) and probably most of April. Glaus' progress in rehabbing his repaired right shoulder stalled, and he did not return until September (see below).


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Pitchers
Kyle Lohse, who went 15–6 with a 3.78 ERA after signing a one-year contract with the 2008 Cardinals, was re-signed to a hefty four-year, $41 mil. contract on September 29, 2008, the day after the season ended. Mark Mulder's injury-plagued time in St. Louis ended when the Cardinals declined to pick up his $11 mil. option, but instead bought out the remaining year of his contract in 2009 for $1.5 mil.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Pitchers
In December, the Cardinals declined to offer arbitration to relief pitchers Russ Springer and Jason Isringhausen, starter Braden Looper, and relievers Tyler Johnson and Randy Flores. St. Louis made no attempt to retain lefty reliever Ron Villone, who eventually signed with the Mets. On Dec 3, to fill the lack of left-handed relievers caused by the departure of Flores, Johnson, and Villone, they signed lefty relief specialist Trever Miller to a one-year deal potentially worth $2 million if he reaches all the incentives in the contract.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Pitchers
On January 5, the Cardinals signed lefty reliever Royce Ring who was with the 2008 Atlanta Braves, to a one-year contract. However, two months later the Cardinals signed Dennys Reyes, a 31-yr.-old left-handed relief specialist, to a two-year deal worth approximately $3 mil. A few weeks after the acquisition of Reyes, Ring was placed on waivers, eventually accepting an assignment to the minor leagues.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Spring training
St. Louis went 19-12-2 in Grapefruit League play, their most victories since they had 21 wins in 1997. Attendance at RDS was 106,266 in 18 home games (9-7-2) for an average home attendance of 5,901. In 15 road games (10-5-0), attendance 84,499; road average 5,633.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Spring training
On March 30, relief pitcher Chris Perez was optioned to AAA, finalizing the pitching situation for Opening Day. Cardinals will carry 12 pitchers, including seven relievers which include long-reliever Brad Thompson. Rookie Jason Motte appeared to win the closer job, although the Cardinals made no official announcement.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Spring training
Joe Mather was the final cut in spring training. Among the players making the Cardinals out of camp were utility infielders Joe Thurston and Brian Barden and two players making their big-league debuts: David Freese, who took the injured Troy Glaus' spot at third base, and former first-round draft pick (and highly anticipated prospect) Colby Rasmus. Mather's demotion left Ryan Ludwick as the only outfielder on the roster who hits right-handed.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, April
Opening Day 2009 looked a lot like 2008: a blown save and a bullpen loss. Rookie closer Jason Motte gave up four runs with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Pirates beat the Cardinals 6–4.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, April
On April 7, the Cardinals beat the Pirates 9-3 as Albert Pujols hit his first home run of the season and reached base five times. As such, Pujols became only the third Cardinals player in the last 55 years to reach base four or more times in each of the first two games of the season. On April 8, the Cardinals lost to the Pirates by a score of 7–4, but Albert Pujols set the franchise record for most assists by a first baseman in a 9-inning game with seven. It was the most assists by a Major League first baseman since the National League record of eight was set in 1971. Pujols also collected his 700th career walk in the game.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, April
On April 9, Chris Carpenter and relievers Franklin and Reyes combined on a one-hitter as the Cardinals beat Pittsburgh 2–1. It was Carpenter's first victory since Game 3 of the 2006 World Series, October 24. St. Louis followed up the Pittsburgh series with a three-game sweep over Houston. In the second game of the Astro series (Apr. 11), Pujols tied a career best with seven RBI as the Cardinals won 11–2; while in the final game Kyle Lohse retired 24 consecutive batters en route to a 3-0 complete game victory.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, April
On April 14, staff ace Chris Carpenter injured his left rib cage while batting. Early estimates were that he would miss at least a month, and it might be as long as two months. An MRI exam on April 16 revealed an oblique tear on his left side. On April 17, rookie pitcher P. J. Walters was called up from AAA-Memphis to take Carpenter's spot in the rotation.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, April
On April 20 the Cardinals attempted to buttress a sagging bullpen by trading former Rule 5 draft pick Brian Barton for Atlanta Braves' relief pitcher Blaine Boyer. Boyer was tabbed to join the big-league club, leaving St. Louis with 13 pitchers on the 25-man roster, with David Freese optioned to Memphis.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, April
On Saturday, April 25, in a nationally televised game on Fox, with the Cardinals leading 3–1 in the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs, Albert Pujols hit his 8th career grand slam, helping the team win its 5th consecutive game (8-2) and solidifying their lead in the NL Central division. The slam also gave him 1,002 RBIs, making him the 260th player to reach the 1,000-level.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, April
Brendan Ryan went to the 15-day DL with a hamstring strain on April 30, and former first-round draft pick Tyler Greene was called up to be Ryan's replacement. The Cardinals finished the month of April with a 16–7 record, best in baseball. Albert Pujols was named Player of the Month for April and Brian Barden Rookie of the Month.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
Center fielder Rick Ankiel ran face-first into the outfield wall while making a catch on May 4. Three days later, he was placed on the DL (retroactive to May 5), and minor-league outfielder Shane Robinson was called up to take his place on the roster. On May 12, right fielder Ryan Ludwick joined Ankiel on the DL after straining his right hamstring against the Pirates. The team recalled Nick Stavinoha from its AAA-Memphis team to take Ludwick's spot on the roster.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
The injuries to Ankiel and Ludwick, combined with the continuing absence of Carpenter, contributed to a 4-10 stretch that dropped the Cardinals out of first place in the NL Central. In a showdown series between the Cardinals and Brewers May 16–18, Milwaukee swept St. Louis in St. Louis, winning three games by a combined score of 17–6. In the opener, Wainwright held the Brewers to two hits in eight innings but still lost, 1–0, on a Corey Hart home run. In the second game, Cardinal pitchers walked eight batters and hit four; in the third game, they walked eleven and hit one. Milwaukee took over first place in the Central.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
On May 20, Chris Carpenter returned after missing a month with a strained oblique. Carpenter pitched five shutout innings, and the Cards won a pitching duel with the Cubs, 2–1. In his next start Carpenter was perfect for six innings, but St. Louis lost in 10 innings to Milwaukee, 1–0. Carpenter's ERA remained at 0.00 after his first four appearances. The two Carpenter starts were part of a nine-game streak for Cardinal pitching in which they held the opposition to three runs or less in every game and did not allow a home run.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
On the 29th Ludwick was activated from the DL. To make room, the Cardinals put Khalil Greene on the DL with "social anxiety disorder". Greene, signed with the intention of being the everyday shortstop in 2009, played poorly in the field, was hitting .200 at the time he hit the DL, and had been playing less and less frequently in May. St. Louis went 13–14 in May and finished the month at 29–21, one game behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. The Cardinals spent the month of May in a horrific team batting slump that saw them post a .299 OBP for the month, dead last in baseball; exceptionally strong pitching in May (3.56 team ERA) helped St. Louis stay close to the top of the NL Central standings.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
On June 4, the Cardinals released newly acquired pitcher Blaine Boyer and called up Jess Todd to take his place. One day later, Kyle Lohse, still suffering from the aftereffects of a hit-by-pitch on his throwing forearm, May 23, went to the DL for the first time in his career, and infielder Tyler Greene recalled. The day after that (June 6), pitcher Blake Hawksworth became the 13th rookie to play for the Cardinals in 2009 (a major-league high for any team) and the seventh to make his major-league debut, when he was called up and Jess Todd was sent down.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
The continuing team-wide offensive blackout reached its nadir in the second week of June, when the Colorado Rockies, second-worst team in the NL with a 21–32 record prior to the series, came to St. Louis and swept the Cardinals in four games, outscoring the Cardinals 33–9.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
Khalil Greene, after three weeks on the disabled list due to anxiety disorder, was activated on June 18. In his first start since being activated, on June 19, Greene started at third base and hit a home run. He went on to hit a home run in each of his first three games back, helping the Cardinals to sweep Kansas City in Kansas City and reclaim sole possession of first place in the NL Central. However, Greene went 0 for his next 16, suffered a relapse of his social anxiety disorder, and went back on the disabled list.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
On June 27, in an effort to revive a sputtering offense, the Cardinals acquired Mark DeRosa from Cleveland for Chris Perez and a player to be named later. DeRosa, who in his career has played every position but pitcher, catcher, and center field, was expected to play third base for St. Louis. One month later Cleveland selected Jess Todd to complete the deal.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
A continuing inability to hit (.310 OBP for June) weighed down the Cardinals for another month: they went 12-17 for June to drop their record for 2009 to 41–38.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
On July 5, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina were named as winners of the fan balloting and starters for the National League in the 80th All-Star Game. Ryan Franklin, 20 for 21 in save opportunities with a 0.84 ERA, was selected to be one of the relief pitchers. On July 14, St. Louis hosted the All-Star Game for the first time in 43 years. The AL beat the NL 4–3. Albert Pujols was 0-for-3 with an error that led to an AL run, Yadier Molina had an RBI single, and Ryan Franklin pitched a scoreless inning.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
After appearing in only three games for St. Louis, new addition Mark DeRosa went onto the disabled list (retroactive to July 1) on July 7, suffering from a strained wrist. However, the rest of the Cardinals, buoyed by Pujols, a hot Colby Rasmus, and a resurgent Ryan Ludwick, went 6–4 on their ten-game road trip before the break, and entered the All-Star break with a 49–42 record and a 2.5 game lead in the NL Central.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
The middle of July saw major changes to the Cardinals lineup. On July 18, Mark DeRosa, suffering from a torn tendon sheath in his wrist that eventually required offseason surgery, was reactivated from the DL and returned to the starting lineup. Four days later, Chris Duncan, one of the few remaining players from the 2006 world champion Cardinals, was traded to the Boston Red Sox for shortstop Julio Lugo, along with a player-to-be-named-later or cash; and the team recalled Brian Barden. Two days after that, on July 24, the Cardinals traded three prospects, including their #1 prospect, third baseman Brett Wallace, pitcher Clayton Mortensen, and outfielder Shane Peterson, for Oakland Athletics outfielder Matt Holliday.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
On July 28, Todd Wellemeyer was demoted to the bullpen. Mitchell Boggs was called up from AAA-Memphis to take his July 31 start. At the time of the move, Wellemeyer's 5.79 ERA was second-worst in the National League among players with enough innings to qualify for the ERA title.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
Buoyed by the arrival of Holliday and Lugo plus the return of DeRosa to the lineup and a hot Rick Ankiel, the Cardinals won six of their last nine games in July, and went 16-11 for the month. They ended July 1/2 game ahead of the Cubs in the NL Central. Ryan Ludwick earned honors as the National League Player of the Month for July, after batting.340 with 6 HR's and a league-high 28 RBI. The Cardinals have had the NL's top player three of the first four months with Albert Pujols winning the award in both April and June.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
Albert Pujols tied the all-time NL season record set by Ernie Banks in 1955 by hitting his fifth grand slam of the year, (and his second HR of the game) on August 4 at New York. Pujols' slam was the exclamation point in a 12–7, 10-inning victory, in which Pujols went 4-for-5 with five RBIs and three runs scored. The Cardinals previously forced extra innings by rallying for two runs in the ninth off Mets' ace closer Francisco Rodríguez.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
After briefly returning to the starting rotation, Todd Wellemeyer went on the DL with elbow inflammation. Mitchell Boggs was again tabbed to take his place in the rotation. Later in the month, starting pitcher Kyle Lohse joined him on the DL with a strained groin.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
The team came to terms and signed their #1 draft pick, pitcher Shelby Miller, on August 17, just hours before the deadline.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
John Smoltz signed with the team on August 19 as a probable fifth starter and also possible reliever after the Red Sox released him. In his first start, against San Diego, Smoltz threw five scoreless innings, striking out nine, and got the win.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
The Cardinals played some of their best baseball of the season in the middle of August. Consecutive series victories against Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, San Diego, and Los Angeles, plus a win in the first game of another series with San Diego, pushed St. Louis to 17 games over .500 at 70–53, the furthest over .500 the franchise had reached since the 2005 team went 100–62. St. Louis opened up a six-game lead over the second-place Cubs during this stretch.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
A 7–0 victory from Chris Carpenter, giving him an NL-tying 14th win, over San Diego at Petco Park on August 22, was the unofficial 10,000th win in franchise history. The official total (9,219) is lower because the Cardinals franchise does not count its ten years in the American Association in its all-time statistics.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
On August 28, Albert Pujols hit his eighth career walk-off home run in John Smoltz's first home game at Busch Stadium in a 3–2 win over Washington.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
A sweep of the Nationals ended one of the best Augusts in franchise history. The Cardinals went 20-6 for the month, pushing their overall record to 22 games over .500 at 77–55, and opening up a ten-game lead over the Cubs. They did not lose a series all month. Albert Pujols had a 1.092 OPS for the month while Matt Holliday, whose acquisition at the end of July coincided with the sudden takeoff of the Cardinals, posted a .963 OPS for August. Aces Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter had ERAs of 1.30 and 2.20 for August. Closer Ryan Franklin did not allow a run all month. Wainwright's 2–1 win over the Nationals on August 30 made him MLB's first 16-game winner. Carpenter was named the NL's Pitcher of the Month for August.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September/October
Third baseman Troy Glaus, out all year with a shoulder injury, became the first September call-up after maximum roster size expanded to 40. Adam Wainwright was touched for six runs in five innings by the Pirates but still earned his league-leading 17th victory on September 4. Albert Pujols hit only his second career pinch-hit home run in the 10th for a dramatic 2–1 game-winner over the Pirates, at PNC Park, September 5.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September/October
Chris Carpenter threw a one-hitter on September 7 against the Brewers at Miller Park, striking out 10, earning his first shutout since September 11, 2006, and reaching 1,300 career strikeouts.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September/October
A three-game sweep by the Braves September 11–13 marked the first time St. Louis had lost a series since July 24–26 against Philadelphia, and the first time the Cardinals lost the opening game of a series since July 20 against Houston.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September/October
After the Memphis Redbirds' season ended with a loss in the AAA National Championship Game, the Cardinals announced four more September call-ups: David Freese, Tyler Greene, Josh Kinney, and Matt Pagnozzi. Pagnozzi, nephew to former Cardinals All-Star catcher Tom Pagnozzi, first appeared in a game on September 29, becoming the tenth player to make his big-league debut with the 2009 Cardinals. The other nine rookies were Freese, Greene, P. J. Walters, Shane Robinson, Jarrett Hoffpauir, Colby Rasmus, Blake Hawksworth, Clayton Mortensen, and Jess Todd.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September/October
The Cardinals finally clinched the NL Central championship at Colorado (September 26), with their 90th win, 6–3, on a tie-breaking home run by replacement catcher Jason LaRue in the 7th inning. Ryan Ludwick later added a pinch-hit 2-run home run in the 9th inning. Adam Wainwright got his NL-leading 19th win, going 8 innings with 130 pitches, giving up 10 hits, walking one, and striking out 11. It was the Cardinals' seventh NL division championship in the last ten seasons, and eighth for manager Tony La Russa in 14 seasons as Cardinal manager, although one championship was a shared one with Houston in 2001.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September/October
On October 1, Chris Carpenter threw five shutout innings in a 13–0 victory over Cincinnati. Carpenter finished his season with a 17–4 record. He lowered his ERA to 2.24, securing his first ERA title and the first ERA title for any Cardinal since Joe Magrane was National League ERA champion in 1988. Carpenter also hit the first home run of his big league career, a grand slam, and drove in six runs to double his career RBI total.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September/October
In that same game Carpenter pitched (Oct 1, 2009), Tony La Russa passed John McGraw for second-most games managed in baseball with his 4,770th game managed (2,552-2,214-4). La Russa gets three more games (October 4) to extend his managed games to 4,773 (2,552-2,217-4) by the end of the 2009 season.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September/October
The next night, a bullpen collapse robbed Adam Wainwright of his chance to be the only 20-game winner in baseball, but Wainwright still finished as the National League leader in wins, with a 19–8 record and a 2.63 ERA.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September/October
The Cardinals finished the 2009 season losing 8 of their last 10 and 14 of their last 21 to go 91-71 for the year. Albert Pujols won his first home run title with 47, despite not homering after September 9. He also broke the all-time single-season record for assists by a first baseman with his record 185th in the last game.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September/October
On October 5, Chris Carpenter was named NL Comeback Player of the Year (second time) for his superb season, after leading the NL with a 2.24 ERA and an .810 winning percentage (17-4).


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, Division Series
In the 2009 National League Division Series, St. Louis faced off against the Los Angeles Dodgers, NL West champions. The Cardinals went 5–2 against the Dodgers in the regular season, and were the favorites in the National League, but the Dodgers swept the Cardinals in three games to bring St. Louis' 2009 season to a quick end. It was only the second time in eight trips to the postseason that a LaRussa-led Cardinals team lost in the first round.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Awards
Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina won Gold Gloves, the first for Wainwright and second for Molina. Albert Pujols won the Silver Slugger Award as the best hitting first baseman in the NL, and the Hank Aaron Award as the best hitter in the National League. In a close race, Wainwright finished third in voting (90 pts.) for the Cy Young Award despite getting the most first place votes (12). Chris Carpenter finished second (94 pts. ), six points behind winner Tim Lincecum. Albert Pujols won his second consecutive Most Valuable Player award, winning all 32 first place votes.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Game log
Microsoft Outlook, Palm (PDA)      All game times are in Central Time Zone.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B= Doubles; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Walks;  Avg. = Batting average; OBP = On-base percentage; SLG = Slugging percentage


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Batting
* Currently not on active roster † on 15-day disabled or rehab list ^ Traded to or away from Cardinals dates


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Starting pitchers
Note: GS = Games Started; IP = Innings Pitched; W = Wins; L = Loss; ERA = Earned Run Average; WHIP = (Walks + Hits) per Innings Pitched; HBP = Hit by Pitch; BF = Batters faced; O-AVG = Opponent Batting Ave.; O-SLG = Opponent Slugging Ave.; R support avg = Average Runs support from his team per Games Started


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Starting pitchers
* not on active roster † on 15-day disabled list


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Relief pitchers
22–17, 3.61 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 432.0 IP, 379 H, 193 R, 173 ER, 42 HR, 191 BB, 335 SO


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Relief pitchers
Saves / Opp: 43/58 (74%)   1st Batter / Retired: 338/474 (71%) Holds: 86          Inherited Runners / Scored: 56/242 (23%)


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Relief pitchers
Blown Saves by bullpen: 17   Franklin (5), McClellan (4), Perez (1), Kinney (1), Miller (2), Motte (4) Games lost by bullpen:   16


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Scoring more than 3 runs    66-19       Scoring 3 runs             17-17 Scoring fewer than 3 runs      8-35


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Leading after 7 innings       72-5        Tied after 7 innings        9-7 Trailing after 7 innings         9-59


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Leading after 8 innings     79-3        Tied after 8 innings     7-9  Trailing after 8 innings      4-59


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Blown Saves by bullpen: 17 (Franklin (5), McClellan (4), (Perez [1], Kinney [1], (Miller [2], Motte [4]) Games lost by bullpen:   16


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Out-hit opponents           62-12  Same hits as opponents 13-5  Out-hit by opponents     16-54


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Mon. 8-9 Tue. 14-11 Wed. 15-10 Thu. 14-5 Fri.    15-10 Sat. 15-11 Sun. 10-15


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
NL Central    24-16   22-18    46-34 NL East        7-7     10-9    17-16 NL West     10-8       9-7   19-15 AL Central      5-4      4-2      9-6


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Busch Stadium (Indexes)
2009   (100 = Neutral Park, > 100 Ballpark favors, < 100 Ballpark inhibits   81 HOME G; Cardinals: 2,654 AB;   Opponents: 2,790 AB)   81 AWAY G: Cardinals: 2,811 AB;   Opponents: 2,670 AB)


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Busch Stadium (Indexes)
(Cardinals batting: HOME .263    ROAD .263    OVERALL .263) (Opponents batting: at StL .254   on ROAD .261    OVERALL  .258)


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Busch Stadium (Indexes)
BA 100  R  93  H  99  2B 93  3B 90  HR 80  BB 99  SO 95  E 107  E-inf. 108  LHB-BA 101  LHB-HR 82  RHB-BA 99  RHB-HR 78


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Draft picks
St. Louis' picks at the 2009 Major League Baseball draft at MLB Network Studios, New York City on June 9 – 11, 2009.


2009 St. Louis Cardinals season, Draft picks
For the entire draft, the Cardinals selection breakdown was as follows: 29 pitchers(21-RHP, 8-LHP), 11 infielders, six catchers and four outfielders. The Cardinalssecond-round pick, Robert Stock out of USC, will begin his pro career as a catcherand that is reflected in these numbers. St. Louis selected 43 college players andseven high school prospects.


2009 St. Louis Rams season
The 2009 season was the St. Louis Rams' 72nd in the National Football League, and their 15th in St. Louis. Due to the Rams winning only against the Detroit Lions, they finished with the NFL's worst record at 1–15, earning the first overall selection in the 2010 NFL Draft in Steve Spagnuolo's first season as a head coach.


2009 St. Louis Rams season
The 2009 Rams scored 175 points (10.9 per game), the sixth-fewest for a 16-game NFL season. The Rams threw only twelve combined touchdown passes all season – including one by kicker Josh Brown. Quarterback Marc Bulger led the team with five touchdown passes. Pro Football Reference argues that the 2009 Rams were the worst team fielded in the NFL since the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers of 1976 and 1977, having a much weaker schedule than the winless 2008 Lions.


2009 St. Louis Rams season
In the three seasons from 2007 to 2009, the Rams won a total of six games, this being the worst record over such a period since the Chicago Cardinals during World War II until the 2015 to 2017 Cleveland Browns won only four games. Ironically, the Cardinals never won fewer than four games in any season during their tenure in St. Louis from 1960 through 1987.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason, Player movement
The Rams announced that Jim Haslett would not be returning as head coach after a disastrous 2–14 finish to the 2008 season. On January 16, New York Giants’ Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo signed a four-year $11.5 million. deal to be their new head coach.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason, Player movement
Jason Brown, a center who formerly played for the Baltimore Ravens before becoming a free agent, was signed on February 27, 2009, to a five-year deal to bolster the offensive line.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason, Player movement
Ron Bartell, a cornerback, signed a four-year deal on March 2, worth $13.6 million. Guaranteed, with incentives it could be as much as $28 million.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason, Player movement
James Butler, a safety, signed a four-year deal on March 10, that with incentives could be worth almost $17 million.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason, Player movement
Orlando Pace, the premier offensive tackle in the NFL, was released by the Rams to save six million dollars in salary cap space.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason, Player movement
On March 13, wide receiver Torry Holt was released after ten seasons with the Rams. Holt was later signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason, Player movement
On May 8, Pisa Tinoisamoa, the Rams’ leading tackler in 2008, was given his release.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 1: at Seattle Seahawks
The Rams began their season at Qwest Field with a Week 1 divisional duel with their NFC West rival, the Seattle Seahawks. After a scoreless first quarter, St. Louis trailed in the second quarter as Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end John Carlson. The Rams appeared to have a game-tying touchdown after blocking a Seattle field goal by Seahawks kicker Olindo Mare late in the quarter. However, it was overturned because there were twelve Rams’ players on the field, leading to a Seahawks 12-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Nate Burleson. In the third quarter, Seattle continued its dominance with Hasselbeck completing a 33-yard touchdown pass to Carlson, along with running back Julius Jones getting a 62-yard touchdown run. From there on out, the Seahawks’ defense helped secure a shutout win.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 1: at Seattle Seahawks
With this loss, the Rams began their season at 0–1.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 2: at Washington Redskins
Hoping to rebound from their shutout loss to the Seahawks, the Rams flew to FedEx Field for a Week 2 duel with the Washington Redskins. St. Louis trailed early as Redskins kicker Shaun Suisham got a 21-yard field goal. In the second quarter, the Rams’ deficit increased a Suisham made a 28-yard field goal. Afterwards, St. Louis took the lead as quarterback Marc Bulger completed a 2-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Laurent Robinson. However, Washington got their lead again as Suisham nailed a 23-yard field goal. From there on out, the Rams were unable to obtain further points.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 3: vs. Green Bay Packers
Still searching for their first win of the season, the Rams played their Week 3 home opener against the Green Bay Packers. St. Louis immediately trailed early in the first quarter as Packers kicker Mason Crosby got a 48, a 38, and a 25-yard field goal. Green Bay would increase their lead in the second quarter as fullback John Kuhn got a 1-yard touchdown run. The Rams would respond with the arm of quarterback Kyle Boller, as he hooked up with tight end Daniel Fells on a 16-yard touchdown pass. However, the Packers would strike back with quarterback Aaron Rodgers's 21-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Donald Driver. St. Louis would close out the half with Boller and Fells hooking up with each other again on a 19-yard touchdown pass.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 3: vs. Green Bay Packers
The Rams would inch closer in the third quarter with kicker Josh Brown's 53-yard field goal. However, Green Bay would pull away in the fourth quarter as Rodgers got a 4-yard touchdown run (with a failed PAT) and completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kuhn.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 3: vs. Green Bay Packers
Starting quarterback Marc Bulger (3-of-4, 23 yards) left the game in the second quarter with an injury to his right shoulder.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 4: at San Francisco 49ers
Following their home loss to the Packers, the Rams flew to Candlestick Park for a Week 4 NFC West duel with their hated rival, the San Francisco 49ers. Due to an injury to Marc Bulger, quarterback Kyle Boller got the start.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 4: at San Francisco 49ers
After a scoreless first quarter, St. Louis’ seasonal struggles continued on the 49ers’ second punt of the game. The ball would hit backup cornerback Quincy Butler's foot and roll into the endzone where backup Niners linebacker Scott McKillop would land on it for a touchdown. San Francisco would continue its dominating run in the third quarter with quarterback Shaun Hill hooking up on a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Vernon Davis, followed by linebacker Patrick Willis returning an interception 23 yards for a touchdown. The 49ers would wrap up their victory march in the fourth quarter with Hill finding wide receiver Josh Morgan on a 24-yard touchdown pass, followed by defensive tackle Ray McDonald returning a fumble 11 yards for a touchdown.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 4: at San Francisco 49ers
With their second shutout loss of the season, the Rams fell to 0–4.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 5: vs. Minnesota Vikings
Hoping to get their first win of the season, the Rams went home, donned their throwback uniforms, and prepared for a Week 5 duel with the Minnesota Vikings. Even though quarterback Marc Bulger was almost back to 100% health, backup quarterback Kyle Boller got the start.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 5: vs. Minnesota Vikings
In the first quarter, St. Louis continued to struggle as Vikings running back Adrian Peterson got a 5-yard touchdown run and defensive end Jared Allen returned a fumble 52 yards for a touchdown. The Rams would get on the board in the second quarter with a 29-yard field goal from kicker Josh Brown, but Minnesota came right back with kicking Ryan Longwell nailing a 47-yard field goal.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 5: vs. Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings would continue to make their presence felt in the third quarter with quarterback Brett Favre completing a 13-yard touchdown to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. Minnesota would follow it up in the fourth quarter with Peterson's 7-yard touchdown. St. Louis tried to rally as quarterback Marc Bulger completed a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Donnie Avery, but the Vikings would close out the game with running back Chester Taylor's 1-yard touchdown run.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 6: at Jacksonville Jaguars
Still on the hunt for their first win of the season, the Rams flew to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium for a Week 6 interconference duel with the Jacksonville Jaguars. St. Louis got the opening charge in the first quarter with quarterback Marc Bulger's 17-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Donnie Avery. The Jaguars would answer with running back Maurice Jones-Drew getting a 4-yard touchdown run (with a failed PAT). Afterwards, the Rams would get the only points of the second quarter as kicker Josh Brown nailed a 52-yard field goal.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 6: at Jacksonville Jaguars
After a scoreless third quarter, a back-and-forth quarter would ensue. Jones-Drew would help Jacksonville take the lead with a 1-yard touchdown run, yet Rams defensive end Leonard Little would return an interception 36 yards for a touchdown. Following a 3-yard touchdown run by Jones-Drew, St. Louis would tie the game with Brown's 27-yard field goal. However, in overtime, the Jaguars got the last laugh as kicker Josh Scobee booted the game-winning 36-yard field goal.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 7: vs. Indianapolis Colts
Still trying to get their first win of the season, the Rams went home for a Week 7 interconference duel with the Indianapolis Colts. St. Louis would trail early in the first quarter as Colts quarterback Peyton Manning completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Reggie Wayne. The Rams would answer with a 30-yard field goal from kicker Josh Brown, but Indianapolis answered with Manning's 27-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dallas Clark. Afterwards, the Colts would get the only score of the second quarter with running back Joseph Addai's 6-yard touchdown run.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 7: vs. Indianapolis Colts
St. Louis would begin the third quarter with Brown booting a 45-yard field goal, yet Indianapolis continued their domination as cornerback Jacob Lacey return an interception 35 yards for a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, the Colts closed out the game with Manning's 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Austin Collie and running back Chad Simpson's 35-yard touchdown run.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 8: at Detroit Lions
Still in the hunt for their first win of the season, the Rams flew to Ford Field for a Week 8 duel with the Detroit Lions. St. Louis got the game's first points in the opening quarter as kicker Josh Brown booted a 41-yard field goal. In the second quarter, the Lions got on the board due to a Rams miscue. Safety James Butler got an interception in his endzone. He would then run out and then back in, where he would be tackled by Detroit running back Kevin Smith for a safety. Afterwards, St. Louis would close out the half with a trick play. On a fake field goal attempt, Brown would complete a 36-yard touchdown pass to tight end Daniel Fells.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 8: at Detroit Lions
After a scoreless third quarter, the Lions began to rally in the fourth quarter as quarterback Matthew Stafford got a 4-yard touchdown and completed a 2-point conversion pass to running back Maurice Morris. The Rams prevailed as running back Steven Jackson got a 25-yard touchdown run.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 8: at Detroit Lions
With this win, St. Louis snapped a seventeen-game losing streak – their previous win having been against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 7 of the 2008 season – and provided the first win for rookie head coach Steve Spagnuolo before the Rams entered their bye week at 1–7.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 10: vs. New Orleans Saints
Coming off their bye week, the Rams went home for a Week 10 duel with the undefeated New Orleans Saints. After a scoreless first quarter, Saints running back Reggie Bush got a 3-yard touchdown run to open the scoring, but the Rams would answer when quarterback Marc Bulger found wide receiver Donnie Avery on a 29-yard touchdown pass. Although New Orleans retook the lead with quarterback Drew Brees’ 15-yard touchdown pass to Bush, St. Louis would close out the half with running back Steven Jackson's 2-yard touchdown run.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 10: vs. New Orleans Saints
The Saints would deliver a huge strike in the third quarter as wide receiver Courtney Roby returned the second half's opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, yet the Rams would keep it close with kicker Josh Brown's 32-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, New Orleans would increase their lead with Brees’ 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Robert Meachem. St. Louis tried to rally as Bulger completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Avery (with a failed 2-point conversion), but the Saints’ defense would prevent any further progress.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 11: vs. Arizona Cardinals
Hoping to rebound from their loss to the Saints, the Rams went home for an NFC West rivalry match against the Arizona Cardinals.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 11: vs. Arizona Cardinals
In the first quarter, St. Louis got on the board first with kicker Josh Brown getting a 40-yard field goal. The Rams fell behind with QB Kurt Warner making a 5-yard touchdown pass to WR Anquan Boldin and then to WR Larry Fitzgerald on an 11-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. The Cardinals lead extended as rookie RB Beanie Wells made a 1-yard touchdown run to end the half.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 11: vs. Arizona Cardinals
The Rams replied in the third quarter with kicker Josh Brown making a 20-yard field goal. The Rams tried hard to come back into the game in the fourth quarter with RB Steven Jackson running 1 yard to the end zone for a touchdown, but the Cardinals’ defense prevented the case, giving the Rams another loss.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 11: vs. Arizona Cardinals
With this loss, the Rams fell to 1–9 and stay winless at home, with their home record at 0–5.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 12: vs. Seattle Seahawks
With this loss, the Rams fell to 1–10 and were officially eliminated from postseason contention.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 17: vs. San Francisco 49ers
The Rams ended their season 1–15 and clinched the first overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season summaries, Week 17: vs. San Francisco 49ers
The Rams became the ninth team to finish a season with a 1–15 record, following the 2007 Dolphins. They would later on be joined by the 2016 Cleveland Browns and the 2020 Jacksonville Jaguars.


2009 St. Louis Rams season, Local television blackouts
In the 2009 season, the Rams had three regular season games blacked out on local television. After selling out their first five games, attendance began to drop and the Rams couldn't sell out their final three games against the Seahawks, Texans, and 49ers. In all of these instances, the Rams fell well short of a sellout and did not even ask for a deadline extension from the NFL to try to sell remaining tickets and avert a blackout. Since 2007, the Rams had only won two games at the Edward Jones Dome.


2009 St. Louis mayoral election
The 2009 St. Louis mayoral election was held on April 7, 2009 to elect the mayor of St. Louis, Missouri. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Francis Slay to a third term.


2009 St. Louis mayoral election
The election was preceded by party primaries on March 3.


2009 St. Louis mayoral election, Democratic primary
Incumbent mayor Francis Slay was challenged for renomination by alderman Irene J. Smith as well as by Denise Coleman.


2009 St. Petersburg Bowl
The 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl was the second edition of the college football bowl game and was played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The game began at 8:00 PM US EST on Saturday, December 19, 2009, was telecast on ESPN and featured the UCF of Conference USA and Rutgers of the Big East. Rutgers defeated UCF 45–24 in a game where Mohamed Sanu, the game's MVP, caught 4 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown in addition to rushing 14 times for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Through sponsorship from the Beef O'Brady's restaurant franchise, the game was officially known as the 2009 St. Petersburg Bowl presented by Beef 'O' Brady's.


2009 St. Petersburg Bowl
The game marked the Scarlet Knights' fifth consecutive bowl appearance, and their fourth consecutive victory, after not playing in a bowl game from 1979 to 2005. Rutgers was one of nine BCS teams to win a bowl game in each of the last three seasons. This was UCF's third bowl game, the last one was in the 2007 Liberty Bowl. With the loss, Central Florida dropped to 0–3 in the postseason. The bowl game marked the first ever meeting between Rutgers and UCF, both teams being called "Knights".


2009 St. Petersburg Bowl, Game summary
Rutgers wore their home red uniforms, and UCF wore their away white uniforms.


2009 St. Petersburg Open
The 2009 St. Petersburg Open was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 15th edition of the St. Petersburg Open, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2009 ATP World Tour. It was held at the Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex in Saint Petersburg, Russia, from October 25 through November 1, 2009.


2009 St. Petersburg Open, ATP entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2009 St. Petersburg Open, ATP entrants, Other entrants
The following players received into the singles main draw as special exempt:


2009 St. Petersburg Open, Finals, Doubles
Colin Fleming /  Ken Skupski defeated  Jérémy Chardy /  Richard Gasquet, 2–6, 7–5, [10–4]


2009 St. Petersburg Open – Doubles
Travis Parrott and Filip Polášek were the defending champions, but they chose to participate with different partners.


2009 St. Petersburg Open – Doubles
Parrott partnered up with Rohan Bopanna, but they lost in the first round against Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski, who eventually went on to beat Jérémy Chardy and Richard Gasquet in the final.


2009 St. Petersburg Open – Singles
Andy Murray was the defending champion, but he chose not to compete this year.


2009 St. Petersburg Open – Singles
Sergiy Stakhovsky won in the final over Horacio Zeballos 2–6, 7–6(10–8), 7–6(9–7).


2009 St. Petersburg, Florida mayoral election
The 2001 St. Petersburg mayoral election took place on September 1 and November 3, 2009 to elect the mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida. A non-partisan primary election was first held on September 1. No candidate won a majority of the vote, so the top two finisher advanced to a runoff. It saw the election of Bill Foster.


2009 Staffordshire County Council election
Elections to Staffordshire County Council took place on 4 June 2009 as part of the 2009 United Kingdom local elections, having been delayed from 7 May, in order to coincide with elections to the European Parliament. 62 councillors were elected from the various electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. The electoral divisions were the same as those used at the previous election in 2005. The council continues to be administered on the Leader and Cabinet model.


2009 Staffordshire County Council election
All locally registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) who were aged 18 or over on Thursday 2 May 2013 were entitled to vote in the local elections. Those who were temporarily away from their ordinary address (for example, away working, on holiday, in student accommodation or in hospital) were also entitled to vote in the local elections, although those who had moved abroad and registered as overseas electors cannot vote in the local elections.


2009 Staffordshire County Council election
It is possible to register to vote at more than one address (such as a university student who had a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) at the discretion of the local Electoral Register Office, but it remains an offence to vote more than once in the same local government election.


2009 Staffordshire County Council election, Summary
The election was won by the Conservatives with 49 seats (a net gain of 22 seats), defeating Labour who were reduced to just 3 seats (a net loss of 29 seats) who were the ruling party for 28 years running. The Liberal Democrats came joint second with UKIP with 4 seats each, and there were 2 independent candidates elected.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team
The 2009 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal was led by third-year head coach Jim Harbaugh and played their home games at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Recruiting
Stanford's 2009 recruiting class was ranked 15th in the nation by Scout.com and 20th by Rivals.com, and included these top-rated recruits:


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Washington State
Toby Gerhart rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns, and redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Luck made his collegiate debut by throwing for 193 yards and a touchdown pass to Chris Owusu as Stanford defeated Washington State in Pullman. The Cardinal dominated the first half, but as the second half began, the Cougars took the early momentum, driving 80 yards and scoring on a 5-yard pass from Kevin Lopina to Jared Karstetter. However, Owusu answered immediately for the Cardinal with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to keep the game out of reach.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Wake Forest
Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck threw two first half touchdown passes to Ryan Whalen, and Nate Whitaker added a 54-yard field goal—the longest Stanford field goal in 20 years—to give the Cardinal a 17–3 lead at the half. But the Demon Deacons dominated the second half with three unanswered touchdowns: a 3-yard run from Mike Rinfrette, a 9-yard pass from quarterback Riley Skinner to Jordan Williams, and then, with 2 seconds left in the game, a one-yard keeper by Skinner to give Wake Forest its first lead in the game and the 24–17 victory.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, San Jose State
Stanford's Chris Owusu returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to set the pace as Stanford routed San Jose State 42–17. Owusu also caught a touchdown pass from Andrew Luck, and Toby Gerhart rushed for two touchdowns. The Cardinal added another special teams touchdown on Richard Sherman's 48-yard punt return, and Corey Gatewood rounded out the scoring with a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown. The Spartans scored on a 1-yard pass from Jordan La Secla to Jalal Beauchman, a 14-yard run from Lamon Muldrow, and a 30-yard field goal by Tyler Cope.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Washington
The Cardinal rushed for 322 yards, including a career-best 200 yards from Toby Gerhart to down the Huskies. For the second week in a row, Chris Owusu returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown to start the scoring for Stanford. Soon after, the Huskies tied the score on a dropped lateral from Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck to tight end Jim Dray; neither Luck nor Dray realized the throw was not a forward pass, but Washington's Justin Glenn picked up the ball and ran it 51 yards for the touchdown. However, on the next play from scrimmage, Gerhart ran 60 yards for a score to put Stanford ahead to stay.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, UCLA
Coming into the game, the Bruins were the only undefeated team in the Pac-10 Conference although they had yet to a play another Pac-10 team. Toby Gerhart, the Cardinal's 237-pound tailback who had 138 yards against UCLA last year, is averaging 129 yards a game.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, UCLA
After UCLA recovered a fumble, Kai Forbath kicked a 29-yard field goal to give the Bruins the early lead. Gerhart rushed 5 yards for a touchdown for Stanford in the first quarter and aided by a UCLA penalty in the second quarter, scored a second touchdown. The Bruins kicked a field goal before halftime, aided by a partially blocked punt.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, UCLA
With a 46-yard flea flicker in the third quarter to put Stanford in the red zone, Gerhart scored his third touchdown from the 5-yard line. He finished the game with 134 rushing yards. Later in the quarter, Nate Whitaker kicked a 29-yard field goal to give the Cardinal a 24–6 lead. The Bruins began the fourth quarter with a Johnathan Franklin 1-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 11, and a Forbath 35-yard field goal with about four minutes left in the game cut the lead to 24–16. UCLA took over with 3 minutes left but was unable to complete the comeback.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Oregon State
The Beavers scored on every drive in the first half to take a 31–7 halftime lead on their way to a 38–28 defeat of the Cardinal. Jacquizz Rodgers ran for a career-high 189 yards and a school record-tying four touchdowns. His brother James added the fifth touchdown and a Justin Kahut 31-yard field goal completed the scoring for the Beavers. After falling behind early, Stanford was forced out of its usual Toby Gerhart-led power rushing game, though Gerhart still managed 96 yards and two touchdowns. Andrew Luck added two touchdown passes, one to Chris Owusu and another to Jim Dray.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Arizona
In a game that featured more than a thousand offensive yards, the Wildcats rallied back late to defeat the Cardinal. The quarterbacks were evenly matched: Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck threw for 423 yards and three touchdowns, while Arizona's Nick Foles also tossed three touchdown passes and had a total of 415 yards. Stanford's Toby Gerhart had 123 yards and two touchdowns. Arizona managed a total of just 138 rush yards, but 57 of those came on Nic Grigsby's go-ahead touchdown with under three minutes left. Stanford drove to the Arizona 17 with seconds to play, but a fourth-down pass to Chris Owusu was batted away and the Wildcats escaped with a victory.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Arizona State
Toby Gerhart rushed for more than 100 yards for the 15th time in his college career as the Cardinal downed the Sun Devils. All four Stanford touchdowns were on rushes, but uncharacteristically for Stanford, only one  was by Gerhart. Fullback Owen Marecic, who is almost exclusively used to block for Gerhart, scored on his seventh career carry; freshman Jamal-Rashad Patterson scored on a 22-yard reverse; and backup running back Stepfan Taylor had a 33-yard touchdown run. Arizona State scored on two Danny Sullivan touchdown passes, the last coming just before Sullivan left the game with a bruised knee.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Oregon
The Cardinal surprised the Ducks, 51–42, to become bowl-eligible for the first time in eight years. Toby Gerhart ran for three touchdowns and a school-record 223 yards on 38 carries, breaking the previous record of 220 set by Jon Volpe in 1988. He also broke his single-season rushing record set last year with 1,217 yards. Andrew Luck finished 12 for 20 for 251 yards, throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jim Dray in the second quarter and a 31-yarder to Chris Owusu after Oregon cut the Cardinal lead to 10 points early in the third quarter. Oregon closed within six points late in the fourth quarter following a missed Stanford field goal, but Stanford recovered the ensuing onside kick. A field goal with 11 seconds remaining put the game away.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, USC
Facing its second top-10 opponent in as many weeks, Stanford won 55–21, handing USC a 34-point loss—its biggest loss of the Pete Carroll era and its biggest loss since 1966. Stanford's 55 points was the highest number of points any team had scored against a USC Trojans football team in the 121-year history of Trojan football. The 55 points included three Toby Gerhart touchdown runs and one by Andrew Luck. Richard Sherman returned an interception of a Matt Barkley fourth-quarter pass to spark a 27-point fourth quarter to put away the Trojans and keep the Cardinal's slim Rose Bowl hopes alive.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, USC
This was Stanford's third victory against USC in their last five games against each other at the Coliseum (Stanford winning 2001, 2007, and 2009, with USC winning in 2003 and 2005). USC has defeated every other opponent in the Coliseum since Stanford's September 29, 2001 victory in the Coliseum. It was the first defeat in a November game for the Trojans in Carroll's nine-season tenure. For the first time since Carroll's first season, USC lost more than two games in one season.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, USC
For the second time in three weekends, Carroll suffered the worst loss of his USC tenure, the other being its game against the Oregon Ducks. This was the largest margin of victory for Stanford in a Stanford-USC game since the two teams' rivalry began in 1918. Harbaugh became only the third coach in college football with a winning record against Carroll, going 2–1 in the three times the two coaches have faced each other.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, California
Both teams faced each other in the 112th Big Game with seven wins each, the first time this had happened since 1991. The Cardinal had scored a combined 106 points in two previous games against higher ranked opponents, with consecutive upsets over Oregon and USC, two teams which had blown out Cal 42–3 and 30–3, respectively. Cal also played its second game without star running back Jahvid Best, again starting backup Shane Vereen.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, California
The Cardinal scored on their first possession when Toby Gerhart broke free on the game's third play for a 61-yard touchdown. After successfully blocking a punt, which gave Stanford field position on the Cal 19-yard line, Gerhart scored again on a 2-yard run. The Bears responded with a scoring drive of their own that resulted in a field goal. In the second quarter, a Cal drive was halted when Richard Sherman intercepted Kevin Riley deep in Stanford territory. The Cardinal were unable to capitalize on the turnover however, and the Bears went on a five-minute scoring drive that saw Vereen score his first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run with just over a minute left in the quarter to make it 14–10 Stanford at the half.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, California
Cal took its first lead in the third quarter with a 92-yard scoring drive resulting in a 4-yard run by Vereen. Stanford was able to move downfield in turn, but missed a 45-yard field goal. The Bears marched downfield again and scored on a 3-yard run by Vereen. Stanford responded on the ensuing possession by scoring on a 1-yard run by Gerhart. The Bears in turn scored in the beginning of the fourth quarter with a 12-yard pass from Riley to Marvin Jones.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, California
Midway through the quarter, the Cardinal put together an 87-yard touchdown drive which resulted in Gerhart getting his fourth score of the game on a 5-yard run. After getting the ball back with just under 4 minutes left in the game, Stanford attempted a fourth down conversion which failed. The Bears took possession on the Stanford 23-yard line, but ended up settling for a field goal, making the score 34–28 and giving the Cardinal a chance to win with more than two and a half minutes left if they could score a touchdown.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, California
Stanford started out with good field position at its 42-yard line and was able to drive down to the Cal 13-yard line. Cal linebacker Mike Mohammed saved the game for the Bears when he intercepted Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck, allowing Riley to take three straight knees and Cal to retain the Stanford Axe.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, California
The loss, as well as a double overtime win later in the day by Oregon over Arizona, eliminated Stanford from Rose Bowl contention and the possibility of sharing the Pac-10 conference title. Luck threw for 157 yards, while Gerhart rushed for 136 yards and all of Stanford's four touchdowns, tying a single Big Game record previously set by Cal players Chuck Muncie and Lindsey Chapman. Cal's victory marked the 100th coached by Jeff Tedford, matching Pappy Waldorf for the most wins at Cal in the modern era, with 67. Riley threw for 235 yards and a score, while Vereen had another career game, rushing for 193 yards on 42 carries with three scores.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Notre Dame
In a nationally televised game, the Cardinal scored a last-minute touchdown to defeat the Fighting Irish 45–38. Cardinal running back Toby Gerhart made a strong statement for Heisman Trophy consideration, rushing for 205 yards and three touchdowns and throwing his first career touchdown pass to Ryan Whalen. The win was Stanford's first in the annual series since 2001. Notre Dame lost its sixth of the season, all six of which have been by a touchdown or less. Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen threw for 340 yards and five touchdowns, three to Golden Tate and two to Michael Floyd. The game was Charlie Weis's final game as head coach of Notre Dame; he was fired the following Monday.


2009 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Oklahoma (Sun Bowl)
Stanford made its first bowl appearance since 2001 without starting quarterback Andrew Luck, who was sidelined due to a broken finger. Tavita Pritchard, who hadn't started a game at quarterback since the 2008 season, played the entire game, and was 8 for 19 with two interceptions as the Sooners outlasted the Cardinal 31–27. Toby Gerhart, who had finished second in the closest Heisman Trophy race ever a few weeks earlier, ran for 135 on 32 carries and scored two touchdowns for Stanford. Meanwhile, Sooners wide receiver Ryan Broyles set a Sun Bowl record with three touchdown receptions and was named Sun Bowl MVP. Broyles had 156 yards receiving and set Oklahoma's single-game record with 13 receptions from quarterback Landry Jones, who passed for 418 yards overall.


2009 Stanley Cup Finals
The 2009 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2008–09 season, and the culmination of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins and the Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings. It was Detroit's 24th appearance in the Finals and Pittsburgh's fourth appearance in the Finals. This was a rematch of the previous year's Stanley Cup Finals where Detroit had defeated Pittsburgh in six games. This time, Pittsburgh defeated Detroit in seven games to win their third Stanley Cup in franchise history. Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin would win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the 2009 playoffs, becoming the first Russian-born player to win the trophy. Until 2021, this was the last time the finals were played entirely in the Eastern Time Zone.


2009 Stanley Cup Finals, Road to Finals, Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins were the reigning Eastern Conference Champions. After playing 57 games of the 2008–09 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins had a record of 27–25–5 and were five points out of playoff position. The organization fired head coach Michel Therrien and replaced him with Dan Bylsma, head coach of the organization's American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre. Under Bylsma, the team went 18–3–4, including 10–1–2 in March, losing one home game. Before the trade deadline, the Penguins acquired Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin from the Anaheim Ducks and the New York Islanders respectively.


2009 Stanley Cup Finals, Road to Finals, Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins qualified for the playoffs for their third consecutive season. They did not repeat as champions of the Atlantic Division, but earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with 99 points. They began the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs on April 15 against their cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers. They beat the Flyers 4–2, Washington Capitals 4–3, and Carolina Hurricanes 4–0 to earn a second-straight berth in the Stanley Cup Finals.


2009 Stanley Cup Finals, Road to Finals, Detroit Red Wings
Entering the 2008–09 season as the Stanley Cup Champions, the Detroit Red Wings signed head coach Mike Babcock to three-year contract extension. Marian Hossa signed with the Red Wings after turning down a $49 million offer from the Penguins, whom he played for throughout the 2007–08 playoffs. The Red Wings also signed Ty Conklin, who had played for the Penguins throughout the 2007–08 season.


2009 Stanley Cup Finals, Road to Finals, Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings won the Central Division title with 112 points before defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4–0, rival Anaheim Ducks 4–3, and then-division rival Chicago Blackhawks 4–1 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the sixth time in the past 14 seasons.


2009 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game one
The Red Wings took game one, 3–1, as three different Detroit players scored goals off of unusual bounces. The first period featured back and forth action, with each team having a variety of chances. Detroit scored the first goal of the game at 13:38 into the first period when Brad Stuart's shot missed wide left, bounced off the end boards, and then deflected off the back of Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury's leg into the net. The Penguins tied the game at 18:37 when Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood mishandled a shot by Evgeni Malkin, allowing Ruslan Fedotenko to score.


2009 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game one
Malkin gained the initial opportunity after forcing defenceman Stuart into a turnover. The Penguins dominated the early portion of the second period, but Osgood kept the game even, including when he bailed his team out by stopping Malkin on a breakaway. The Red Wings bounced back and went ahead at 19:02 of the period after Brian Rafalski's shot rebounded off the end boards to Johan Franzen, who banked a shot off Fleury and into the net.


2009 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game one
Detroit's third goal of the game came at 2:46 of the third period when, after a save by Fleury on Ville Leino, the puck bounced high into the air and was swatted by Detroit rookie Justin Abdelkader from midair to his stick. Abdelkader then went around Pittsburgh's Jordan Staal (who had lost sight of the puck) and shot it above Fleury. Only three total penalties were called in the game, two on Detroit and one on Pittsburgh, but neither team could take advantage on their respective power plays as Osgood stopped 31 out of 32 shots while Fleury stopped 27 out of 30.


2009 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game two
Game two was another 3–1 victory for Detroit. Pittsburgh started out the game strong, setting up numerous chances from behind the net that were stopped by Chris Osgood. The Penguins then struck first at 16:50 of the opening period. After the Red Wings' Niklas Kronwall was sent to the penalty box for cross checking, Evgeni Malkin fired from the slot, and a scramble in front of the net ensued after Osgood gave up a rebound. The puck eventually came to Malkin for a second crack, and the shot was inadvertently deflected by Brad Stuart into his own net.