The decision to leave the college ranks and become an NFL has been unsuccessful for coaches.

The latest person to give this project a shot is new Seattle Seahawks’ head coach Pete Carroll. Some people may know Carroll as the coach who brought Southern California back to national prominence during the last decade. His success at USC is undeniable. The Trojans won the national title in 2004 and split the championship in 2003. The Trojans won or split the PAC 10 conference title seven consecutive years under Carroll while winning a record six BCS bowl games.

The 2009 season was one of the most successful for the Texas State baseball program in school history.

The Bobcats set school records for conference wins (24) and regular season wins (41) en route to a regular season conference title and an appearance in the NCAA Regional Championship. Former first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and former pitcher Kane Holbrooks were the first players to garner All-American honors for the team and were two of the four alumni drafted into the MLB last year.

Coach Ty Harrington knows a new season without these players has its challenges.

A conference title, the Conference Player of the Year and a NCAA Tournament run were all on the list of Texas State softball accomplishments last season.

The Bobcats finished first in the Southland Conference for the 2009 season, allowing the fewest — and scoring the most — runs of any team before falling in the NCAA regional round. This year’s team will continue the previous season without SLC Player of the Year shortstop Alex Newton, outfielder Taylor Hall, second baseman Ryan Kos and pitcher Katie Garnett.

In the sports world of 2009 — like any other year in sports — the nation and Texas State had its ups and downs.

The Los Angeles Lakers returned to glory by defeating the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals, while the New York Yankees bought another World Series championship. The Pittsburgh Steelers gave us a Super Bowl to never forget. Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin gave the common sports fan a reason to watch hockey again.

The eggnog is gone, ESPN’s 12 days of Christmas in the form of endless college football is over and the calendar has turned to 2010.

Bobcat fans can look toward 2010 with anticipation as two teams take the diamond looking to defend their Southland Conference Championship titles.

The Texas State men’s and women’s track teams are looking forward to the 2010 season with hopes of improving their conference standings.

The women’s and men’s teams finished second and sixth, respectively at the 2009 conference championship.

Coach Galina Bukharina is expecting Katie Evans, international studies senior, to stand out for the women’s team and excel in the multi-events and high jump. Evans will compete in the triple jump for the first time this season.

The season may be over for the Bobcat football team but that doesn’t mean fans aren’t still buzzing about the program.

Lebron James. King James. “The Chosen One,” whom we are all so fortunate to witness. We love you — every last little arrogant ounce of you.

Why? Why not.

You are tall, handsome, superbly athletic, charming and funny. You are so glamorous; even I’m smitten by it.
I haven’t even touched on your game.

At 6’8,” 260 pounds, you glide down the court like a gazelle weaving between defenders like trees in the jungle. Then you fly above everybody, delivering a graceful — yet powerful — slam dunk that even the French judges would give a ten.

Texas State women’s golfer Valdis Jonsdottir, pre-interior design freshman, was named Iceland’s 2009 Golfer of the Year. She was honored Jan. 7 by the Icelandic Golf Association and the Kylfingur News.

“It’s a great honor to be named the Golfer of the Year,” Jonsdottir said. “Although we’re not a big population, there is a big competition in the golf world back home, so I’m very pleased.”

The Texas State men’s basketball team would have liked to have played every game on its home court during the Christmas break.

Texas State has yet to lose at home, as it went 4-3 during the break to close out non-conference play in its schedule before taking on Texas-Arlington earlier this month.

The Bobcats kicked off their seven-game stretch in early December with an 80-70 win over Texas-Pan American.

The following three games tested the Bobcats as they faced a three-game road trip that included a visit to Austin to play nationally-ranked Texas.