2009. Did you love this year? Unless you are a Park View Little Leaguer or a foreclosure specialist, the answer is probably no. But 2009 was memorable in more ways than one, and in the world of San Diego sports, there were enough great/important moments to fill a pair of Top 10 lists. That’s what we’ve done, as the creators of 619Sports.Net, Craig Elsten and Chris Ello, have laid down their Top 10 San Diego sports moments from 2009.
After the jump, Chris and Craig share their memories of the year, and each of their Top 10 lists for San Diego sports in 2009. Please, take some time and click through each of the links…you’ll find some of our best stories, podcasts and interviews from the year.
We also talked…a lot. Enjoy this podcast, as both of us break down our Top 10 and rehash the biggest stories of the year that was:
Craig Elsten: This didn’t start as a good sports year, for me or for San Diego. 20 days into 2009, the Chargers were out of the playoffs and I was out of a job. The economy wasn’t any good, and neither were the Padres.
The old bromide goes like this: necessity is the mother of invention. I didn’t begin 2009 with the intent of inventing 619Sports.Net. But as 2010 begins, I’m not sure what else I’d rather be doing.
We started 619Sports.Net because San Diego sports media was shrinking. There are plenty of stories in this town beyond the Chargers and the Padres. A six-page sports section isn’t going to give this city the coverage it deserves.
Hopefully you agree that in 2009, 619 Sports helped bring you closer to San Diego sports, and helped show that this is a great sports town, no matter what the East Coasters might think.
Elsten’s Top 10 San Diego sports moments of 2009:
- Park View Little League wins the LLWS
- Jake Peavy traded to the White Sox
- Chargers win 10 straight to close out ‘09
- A magical season for Stephen Strasburg
- Kevin Towers fired as Padres GM
- Postseason tournament success for SDSU men’s and women’s basketball
- Chargers win OT thriller over Indy in the playoffs
- Jimmie Johnson, Meb Keflezighi share their national achievements with their hometown
- Oceanside Pirates win 2nd State Bowl championship, 6th straight section title
- UCSD baseball reaches the D-II College World Series
Chris Ello: Craig and I were sitting in, of all places, a buffet sushi bar in Fort Worth, Texas, having lunch with San Diego State’s assistant baseball coach Anthony Johnson.
It was late May and we’d been at this 619Sports.net thing for a couple of months. We didn’t yet know where this project was headed, but we were about to find out.
On the table sat one of those walkie-talkie phone devices belonging to Johnson – and suddenly a voice squawked through loud and (mostly) clear. “Anthony just got traded to the Padres!”
The squawking voice belonged to the Aztecs’ head baseball coach, the legendary Tony Gwynn. The Anthony of which he spoke was his son, apparently about to become the new starting center fielder for his hometown team.
Nobody anywhere knew this — not even as it turned out, Anthony Gwynn. “I haven’t even told him yet,” Tony announced.
Craig and I glanced at each other and dropped our chopsticks. We had just become privy to our first breaking story. Up to our hotel room we raced, and within a matter of minutes, we had posted the news on the web page that you now read.
Within a half-hour our little start-up contribution to the information super highway had become the center of the baseball universe. The word quickly spread to Milwaukee, from where the younger Gwynn had just been dealt. Major League Baseball rumor sites and national sports web pages were reporting the story — and giving us all the credit.
Our number of page views quadrupled in 30 minutes time. We looked at each other and said, “We may have something here.”
Three months later, we were sure of it. I did an interview with Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman shortly after his controversial dalliance with the reality TV star Tila Tequila broke into the news.
Less than 12 hours later, Tequila herself had passed the interview around to her celebrity friends, and so many people attacked 619Sports.net for more insight, the page crashed. Tequila apologized to us.
We were thrilled. 619Sports.net was on the map. And all of you have helped keep it there. For us, 2009 has been a year of conquering uncharted territory, learning and entertaining. It has been exhilarating, presenting something new and exciting to the San Diego sports fan.
But, of course, we would have nothing if it weren’t for the sports events themselves, the ones which shaped 2009 in America’s Finest City.
Ello’s Top 10 San Diego sports moments of 2009:
3. Jimmy Johnson 4-time NASCAR champ
4. Aztecs’ March Madness in hoops
5. Kevin Towers fired by Padres
6. Strasburg no-hits Air Force
7. Sproles, Bolts beat Colts in Wild Card
8. Jeff Schemmel resigns in shame at SDSU
10. Oceanside High’s 6th-straight title
