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NORTHEAST GEORGIA - As we start to wind down 2009 and look towards 2010, we've decided to take a couple of days and look back at the year that was in local sports.
We have come up with a list of the top 10 local sports stories of the year and today we bring you numbers 10-6.
We'll start with our number 10 story of the year and let's go ahead and get the bad out of the way.
On December 2nd UGA announced that the contracts of defensive coordinator Willie Martinez and two other defensive coaches wouldn't be renewed.
Martinez spent 4 seasons as the dawgs defensive coordinator, but the dawgs shoddy defensive numbers finally caught up with him.
Our number 9 story of the year also comes from UGA. Last summer the Georgia women's softball team made the program's first trip to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Things looked bleak for the Dogs after they dropped their first game to Washington, but they fought back to finish in the top four in the nation and they were the only team to beat eventual champ Washington in Oklahoma City.
In at number seven on our countdown is Toccoa native Pat Swilling. On April 30th of this year Swilling was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
After starting his football career at Stephens County, Swilling went on to be an All-American at Georgia Tech and spent time in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, and Oakland Raiders.
Number seven on our list is perhaps the saddest sports story of the year. On November 19th, Georgia mascot Uga VII died unexpectedly at the age of 4.
Uga's half brother Russ stepped into the mascot role and led the dawgs to wins against Georgia Tech and Texas A and M to end the season.
Our number 6 local sports story of the year is also out of Athens. On January 30th the UGA Athletics Director Damon Evans announced that Bulldog's Men's Basketball coach Dennis Felton had been fired.
Felton led the dawgs to the SEC Tournament Championship in 2008, but Evans felt the need for a change and change came in the form of Mark Fox.
Fox was hired out of Nevada and has taken over the reigns as the dawgs new head man.
