Dong Punches of 2009

Though the MGoBlogosphere coined the term, ours was not the only community to suffer the Great Dong Punch of 2009. Here are some notable Dong Punch candidates: STANFORD: The Cardinal capped their first winning season in eight years with an inspired win over Notre Dame, then saw their tailback get beat out of the Heisman Trophy by the Pac-10's de facto media blackout and ess-eee-cee media hype - to a player with a third fewer touchdowns and five sub-100 yard games. Then their quarterback was revealed to have broken a finger, putting a fifth-year senior who was rusty at best into the Sun Bowl game against the best defense Stanford had seen in three years. NOTRE DAME: Tough to sympathize with the Schadenfreude-prone Domers, but being touted as a BCS lock halfway through the season, then losing Michael Floyd to a broken collarbone, dropping another one to Navy and getting run over by Stanford qualifies as a dong punch, even for the laughably overconfident ND fanbase. MICHIGAN: Illinois. Nuff said. USC: Seven years of Pac-10 championships came to a crashing end with double-digit losses to Oregon and Stanford within three weeks. Jim Harbaugh's rubbing-it-in two point conversion attempt spawned a new catchphrase, "what's your deal?" BYRON HOUT: Punched not in the dong, but in the face by LeGarrette Blount. CINCINNATI: Cincy had to deal with not one but three coaches over the month of December - Brian Kelly, then interim head coach Jeff Quinn, then the newly-named head coach Butch Jones (who is aping Brian Kelly's career moves). Then Cincy got destroyed by Florida, and all the announcers could bear to talk about was how bad Mardy Gilyard had it growing up. NEBRASKA: Every time the Cornhusker offense had the ball a dong punch was in the offing. TEXAS TECH: A Kafkaesque scenario erupted that within five days saw the most successful coach in school history summarily dismissed over the frustrations of a whiny player and his Little League dad. As many players stood up to support the coach and impeach the alleged victim, Leach vainly tried to secure a court hearing to argue his case. This one ain't done and it's unclear who will wind up with the more-punched dong. CONNECTICUT: No matter what you think of their program, their basketball teams, the ESPN knob-polishing, the upcoming game against Michigan, having a player get murdered midseason just plain sucks beyond belief. I give major props to the team and the coaches for keeping it together - losing four games in a row by less than a touchdown is very impressive given the circumstances. If you don't think this was the worst dong punch of 2009, you should watch some chick flicks until you get your emotions back.