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Most Noteworthy of 2009
By Jonathon Freeman-Anderson and Deirdre Loy
The following detailed events are Valley Scene's collection of the most shocking events of 2009.
In 2009, sports were ripe with phenomenal feats of athletic prowess as well as shameful examples of human excess and greed.
Tiger Woods: Representative Joe Baca (D-Calif) released a statement saying, "In light of the recent developments surrounding Tiger Woods and his family, I will not pursue legislation awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal this session. A small car crash became a train wreck of infidelity allegations from several women, backed up by a damning voice-mail message and finally an "I have let my family down" statement. It was the worst possible scenario for the AP Athlete of the Year, whose handlers had carefully crafted an image of him as classy, disciplined and beyond making mistakes. Initially, most of his sponsors announced they were sticking by their billionaire endorser, but the jury is still out.
Congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers, who earned their first NBA championship in seven years and 15th overall with a 99-86 win over the Orlando Magic in 2009.
For soccer, it was amazing to witness Barcelona defeat Manchester United and take the "Impossible Quadruple" championships in the English Premier League, FA Cup, World Club Cup and Champions League.
Dallas Cowboys debuted the World's Largest HDTV September 21: The new stadium's center-hung scoreboard, the brainchild of team owner Jerry Jones, is 160 feet long, 72 feet high and cost $40 million. Its roughly 30 million LED lights give it a resolution as good as the best home televisions. The Cowboys say they are working with the Guinness Book of World Records to get it certified as the world's largest high-definition video screen.
Manny Ramirez's terrible steroid scandal disturbed the Los Angeles world. On May 7, Major League Baseball suspended the Los Angeles Dodgers' star slugger Manny Ramirez for 50 games for violating the league's drug prevention and treatment policy. Ramirez waived his right to challenge that suspension and issued the following statement through the Players Association. "Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy… L.A. is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I'm sorry about this whole situation."
Alex Rodriguez met head-on allegations that he tested positive for steroids six years ago, telling ESPN that he did take performance-enhancing drugs while playing for the Texas Rangers during a three-year period beginning in 2001. "When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day," Rodriguez told ESPN's Peter Gammons in an exclusive interview in Miami Beach, Fla.
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt broke all world records at the Beijing Olympics. During the 100-m final at the track-and-field world championships this summer in Berlin, Bolt broke away from the field at the 30-m mark and finished the final in 19.19 sec., beating his own historic time.
Jockey Calvin Borel, after winning the Kentucky Derby on horse, Mine That Bird, decided to take a female filly, Rachel Alexandria, before the Preakness. Borel was the first Derby-winning jockey in 134 years to race on a different horse for the Preakness, and the gamble paid off with Rachel becoming the first filly in 85 years to take the Preakness.
Mike Perham of Hertford-shire, southern England, celebrated his 17th birthday somewhere in the south Indian Ocean as just another day in his quest to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. On Nov. 15, 2008, the teenager shoved off from Portsmouth, England, and spent the next nine months more or less alone on his 50-ft. racing yacht, Totally Money. Fewer than 250 people have managed to do the same since 1898. On Aug. 28, the day after Perham finally sailed into port, a Dutch court prohibited a 13-year-old girl from attempting a solo circumnavigation.
"It feels better than I remember it, man," Captain Derek Jeter said. "It's been a long time." Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs, Andy Petit won on short rest and New York beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 on November 4, finally seizing that elusive title - the most in all of sports. Paint the town in pinstripes! Nearly a decade after their dynasty ended on a blooper in the desert, the Yankees are baseball's best again. Alex Rodriguez and Co. christen their $1.5 billion ballpark: One season, one World Series crown - the team's first since winning three straight from 1998-2000.The season certainly ended a lot better than it started - with a steroids scandal involving A-Rod, followed by hip surgery that kept him out until May.
Following the Beijing Olympics, Phelps turned his 14 gold medals into cold, hard cash: his agent estimated that his endorsement deals with Mazda, Visa and others could top $100 million in his lifetime. However, Phelps' golden-boy image was tarnished on Jan. 31, when British tabloid News of the World published a photo of Phelps allegedly using a bong often associated with smoking marijuana at a University of South Carolina house party. His face was summarily dropped from cereal boxes around the world. Phelps released an apologetic statement and recorded a video apology with Mandarin subtitles for his fans in China.
In 2009, celebrity scandal was shocking, terrific, and ugly. Ridiculous is an understatement as the moral standard that the world holds celebrity culture up to, but even more ridiculous are the celebrities who test the limit of that morality.
After three decades on the run, Roman Polanski was arrested in September when he arrived in Switzerland to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival. The charges against the Oscar-winning director date back to 1977. Polanski, now 76 was indicted on six felony counts, including sodomy and child molestation, and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of unlawful sexual intercourse, i.e., statutory rape. He was released from jail after spending 42 days there for a psychiatric evaluation but fled the country the day of his sentencing; reportedly, because he thought the judge was going to send him to prison.
Chris Brown and Rihanna were the golden couple of R&B: young, beautiful, talented and in love. "He makes me feel like a teenager," she told Allure. Then, Chris Brown assaulted Rihanna the evening before they were both set to appear at the Grammys. Police were called, and photos of Rihanna's bruised face made their way onto the Internet.
The British tabloids went nuts when the First Lady, Michelle Obama, briefly put her hand on the back of Queen Elizabeth II during the Obamas' official visit to England this past year.
"I'm not crazy, y'all. I'm just real." Such was rapper Kanye West's explanation for his bizarre upstaging of country singer Taylor Swift after she won Best Female Video at September's MTV Video Music Awards. West interrupted Swift's earnest acceptance speech by climbing onto the stage, taking her microphone and suggesting that the award should rightfully have gone to Beyoncé, and in the process, he introduced the ubiquitous "Imma let you finish" catchphrase. President Obama in an unguarded moment referred to West as a "jackass."
Oprah Winfrey told viewers that she will dim the lights on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" at the close of its 25th season in late 2011. "I love this show. This show has been my life. And I love it enough to know when it's time to say goodbye," she said, holding back tears. "Twenty-five years feels right in my bones, and it feels right in my spirit. It's the perfect number, the exact right time."
David Letterman is considered to be late-night TV's quirkiest uncle, but after October 1, he also became its creepiest. On that night, just before doing his Top 10 list, he told viewers a "little story" about how he had taken part in a sting against a guy who was blackmailing him for $2 million for keeping quiet about how the late-night host was bedding women on his staff. Even more bizarre, the alleged extortionist turned out to be a producer on another CBS show, 48 Hours, Robert (Joe) Halderman, 51, whose girlfriend was one of Letterman's conquests. Subsequently, Letterman apologized to his wife and his staff. While his reputation as an employer and husband took a blow, his ratings improved.
Science exploded with revolution this past year:
On October 9, NASA used a rocket to punch a hole about 100 ft. across the moon's surface, and then measured about 25 gallons of water vapor and ice in the resulting debris. In 2009, the moon, our recently neglected neighbor, regained her mystery.
The funding ban was lifted on stem-cell research on March 9; President Obama rescinded his predecessor's Executive Order prohibiting the use of federal money to fund research on stem cells. A congressional law still prevents scientists from using government funds to create new lines of embryonic stem cells, which can develop into any of the body's tissues, but at least scientists are now free to use that money to study the hundreds of stem-cell lines already in existence.
Gene Therapy Cures Color Blindness: Modern science already offers ways to enhance your mood, sex drive, athletic performance, concentration levels, and overall health, but a discovery in September suggests that revolutionary human enhancement may soon move from science fiction to reality. A study in Nature reported that a team of ophthalmologists had injected genes that produce color-detecting proteins into the eyes of two color-blind monkeys, allowing the animals to see red and green for the first time.
In a field that has seen more failure than success, experts received the news of an effective new AIDS vaccine with a fair share of skepticism. In September, a $105 million trial of a novel combination of two older vaccines was the first to show protection against HIV infection. The results of the trial, which involved more than 16,000 volunteers, suggested that the vaccine was 31% effective at preventing infection among those who were inoculated. Regardless of skepticism, this is still the best advancement in HIV research to date.
Yes, Gene Roddenberry, teleportation is finally possible, scientists at the University of Maryland's Joint Quantum Institute successfully teleported data from one atom to another in a container a meter away.
Reality has never been more surreal:
On Jan. 15, Sullenberger saved the lives of all 155 passengers aboard the U.S. Airways Airbus A320 he was flying. After birds hit the engines of Flight 1549, less than two minutes after takeoff and the plane lost power, the former Air Force pilot coolly told passengers to "brace for impact" and landed the aircraft in the Hudson River. What's more, Sullenberger did not leave the plane until he had completed two sweeps of the cabin to make sure all passengers were safely out.
Octomom - When a woman gives birth to eight babies at once, there is a certain amount of head-shaking wonder. When it turns out that she already has six kids under the age of seven, that wonder turns to consternation. And when it further develops that the new mother is single, unemployed and living with her own very put-upon mother, that consternation turns to, well, ridicule, cringing, joking, insulting, parody videos, morning-show discussing, nickname-calling and making the woman the poster child for all that ails America. But Nadya Suleman, more recognizably known as Octomom, eventually moved on to the lucrative stage of the tabloid life cycle; the first part of a documentary series cum reality show about her big brood aired in England in November.
Child in Helium Balloon: Not since the moon landing has a nation been so transfixed and fearful over the journey of a silvery object in the sky. According to a 911 call from a distressed father, there was a 6-year-old boy somewhere inside that flimsy Mylar balloon. Except there wasn't. After the balloon was brought to earth, the boy was discovered hiding in a box in the attic. Except he wasn't. The whole thing was a publicity stunt to make the family, the Heenes, known already to avid reality-TV viewers as two-time participants on Wife Swap, seem more attractive to the producers of other reality shows. Falcon, the boy who innocently gave the game away when Larry King asked him why he hid ("You guys said we did this for the show," he told his dad), then proceeded to accompany his family on a full round of media interviews. In a way, the Heenes got their wish of making a splash on TV: Falcon threw up on the Today show.
Celebrity Deaths 2009
The year has been rampant with celebrity deaths, most notably, the king of pop, Michael Jackson, but also some that may have not been noticed so much in there passing as they were in life. Nonetheless, the world will miss them all.
On June 25, a caller summoned an ambulance to Michael Jackson's Los Angeles mansion; the star was not breathing. The King of Pop was rushed to a Westwood hospital and later pronounced dead of cardiac arrest. He was the victim of a lethal cocktail of prescription pills. (In August, his death was ruled a homicide by the Los Angeles County coroner.) The summer death spawned one of the largest marketing frenzies in history. For days, the world kept vigil, and for months after that, battles were waged over everything from Jackson's place of burial to the custody of his children. This Is It, a film documenting Jackson's rehearsals for his planned string of 50 London concerts, earned glowing reviews.
January 2: Jett Trav-olta (Age 16): Son of John Travolta and Kelly Preston. COD: Fatal blow to the head after seizure.
January 28: Billy Powell (Age 56): Keyboardist for Lynyrd Skynyrd. COD: Heart attack.
February 4: Erick Purkhiser a.k.a. Lux Interior (Age 62): Lead singer and founding member of punk band The Cramps. COD: Heart condition.
March 18: Natasha Richardson (Age 45): British actress married to Liam Neeson. : COD: Traumatic brain injury.
April 25: Beatrice Arthur (Age 86): One of the Golden Girls. : COD: Cancer.
May 4: Dom Deluise (Age 75): American actor who played in numerous Mel Brooks movies such as Space Balls, Robin Hood: Men in Tights and History of the World Part I. COD: Kidney failure and respiratory problems.
June 3: David Carradine (Age 72): Star of the widely popular Kung Fu TV series and co-starred in Tarantino's Kill Bill movies. COD: Autoerotic asphyxiation.
June 23: Ed McMahon (Age 86): Popular sidekick of Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. COD: Various health irregularities.
June 25: Farrah Fawcett (Age 62): Actress in popular T.V. series Charlie's Angels and former playboy model. COD: Anal Cancer.
June 25: Michael Jackson (Age 50): King of pop music. COD: Cardiac Arrest.
June 28: Billy Mays (Age 50): Infomercial seller and co-star of the Pitchman show. COD: Heart disease.
July 4: Steve McNair (Age 36): Quarterback for the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens. COD: Murder-suicide.
July 6: Oscar Mayer Jr. (Age 95): Chairman of Oscar Mayer meat company. COD: Natural causes.
July 17: Walter Cronkite (Age 92): American broadcast journalist. COD: Cerebrovascular disease.
August 6: John Hughes (Age 59): Director and writer who became famous for such films as The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science and Ferris Beuller's Day Off. COD: Cardiac arrest.
August 13: Les Paul (Age 94): Inventor of the solid-body electric guitar. COD: Complications from pneumonia.
August 13: Allen Schellenberger (Age 39): Drummer for the American alternative rock band Lit. COD: Brain cancer.
August 25: Ted Kennedy (Age 77): Brother of John F. Kennedy and a member of the U.S. Senate. COD: Brain cancer.
August 28: Adam Goldstein (Age 36): A popular disc jockey who most notably survived a fatal Learjet accident with Blink-182's Travis Barker. COD: Suspected drug overdose.
September 14: Patrick Swayze (Age 57): Lead actor of Point Break, Ghost, Dirty Dancing, and Road House. COD: Pancreatic cancer.
October 22: Soupy Sales (Age 83): American comedian who worked with puppets. COD: Unknown cause of death.
2009 has seen an amazing takeover of the animation world with Disney on Marvel and Richard Branson has seriously introduced the notion of space tourism. Business isn't necessarily booming, but it is creative.
The Walt Disney Comp-any's surprise deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion redraws the architecture of Hollywood and spotlights how the media giant has become more aggressive than its peers about growth.
As Virgin Galactic unveiled its high-tech space liner. Steve Landeene, executive director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority said, "We're looking at 2011 as a potential time line for the first launch." In addition to ensuring the vehicle is safe and ready for routine flights, Virgin Galactic also must obtain a license from the Federal Aviation Administration. The plane SpaceShipTwo will be carried up to a certain distance by the WhiteKnightTwo before using rockets to propel itself into the sub orbital atmosphere. Would-be space tourists have already booked seats at $200,000 apiece for the first flights from Spaceport America, the state of New Mexico-owned facility under construction in southern Sierra County. The crew on the first official flight will carry Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson and his family.
Have a happy new year. May 2010 be as original as 2009.
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