Picking just 10 sports moments impossible task

Every year Tri-County Newspapers ends the year by naming its top 10 sports stories of the year. And every year it seems to get harder paring the list down to just 10. With 13 schools competing in a multitude of sports, there are bound to be games and stories that could make the list from virtually every school we cover.

Each year is also different, as schools and teams retool after losing solid crops of senior athletes. Schools that may have been powerhouses in a particular sport one year may be in a rebuilding mode the next.

Not every team reaches a section championship game, but many are dominant during league play. This year alone if we included every team that earned a league championship the list would be at 13, and that is only those teams that did not go on to capture section crowns.

Since we also serve four areas, we attempt to include at least a couple teams' accomplishments from each area. In a given year one county or town may enjoy more success than another, but the top 10 list is a composite collection of the happenings from all the schools we cover.

Just as its tradition to end each year with the top 10 list, it's just as traditional that not everyone agrees with what Paul Gadbois and I put together — and there's a very good chance he and I are not in total agreement about what makes the final list.

The 10 we present are not in any particular order, because they are all of equal importance to the players who put in the effort to achieve the honors, their parents and their schools. We applaud every team and sport we've been privileged to cover.

We hope you enjoy this look back. Maybe you remember being at a few of the games, and the excitement you felt. We also enjoy looking forward, because we know 2010 will be just as rewarding for us, and will make this same task just as tough this year.

Happy New Year from the sports staff of Tri-County Newspapers!