Flash fiasco among other notable stories

They didn't garner quite as much attention as the Top 10 stories of 2009, but the following events also kept us tuned in and turning the Sports pages during the year:

JORDANGATE: How owner Brandt Anderson and the Utah Flash duped — or tried to dupe — the masses into believing Michael Jordan would take part in a one-on-one showdown with Bryon Russell a few weeks ago has been hashed and rehashed.

So, who pulled the bigger hoax:

The Flash by leading people on, raising prices and being disingenuous about the (un)likelihood of Jordan actually coming to Orem?

Or the hired Jordan impersonator who fooled the organization into thinking he actually even sorta resembled the real MJ, who happens to be a half-foot taller and a whole lot different looking?

VONN & VAN: Park City adoptee Lindsey Vonn wins the women's overall skiing World Cup championship for a second time — and sets herself up to be a major star at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Park City resident Lindsey Van, meanwhile, wins the inaugural women's ski jump World Cup but can't convince IOC or Canadian judicial powers-to-be to put her sport in the Olympics.

BEEHIVE STATE BASKETBALL: March Madness seemed promising going in. Utah earned a No. 5 seed following its MWC tourney title, BYU returned to the Big Dance after splitting the regular-season crown with the Utes, and Utah State headed to the NCAAs with a record 30 wins.

But it was Round 1 and done for the locals. The Utes ran into an Arizona buzzsaw, BYU's first-round woes continued with another loss to Texas A&M, and Wesley Matthews gave USU a sneak peek of his skills in Marquette's win.

Weber State won a Big Sky regular-season crown but settled for the NIT after losing in its tourney, and the Ute women advanced to the second round of the NCAAs.

The state's top hoops feat came from the Small Ball ranks, as the Salt Lake Community College men earned their first-ever junior college national championship.

BEES' BIG LOSS: This is how much Nick Adenhart meant to the Salt Lake Bees organization: When news broke that he'd been killed in an automobile accident the night before the PCL team's home-opener, the club opted to postpone the game to mourn the devastating loss.

Players wore a patch the rest of the season as a tribute to the beloved former Salt Lake pitcher, who died in Fullerton, Calif., only hours after a solid six-inning pitching performance for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in April.