Ching: Veazey an inspiration in sad year

In looking back over this year, it's difficult to not be happy to see 2009 coming to a close and a fresh start waiting in only a few days.

In broad terms, this has been a difficult year for our country, our economy and our city. Times were tough for our newspaper - as they were for newspapers everywhere. Even the stories I remember most from the year carry a largely negative tone.

The one that moved me most, however, hasn't even printed yet. A mammoth story I wrote on paralyzed Georgia baseball player Chance Veazey will appear in tomorrow's paper. All at once, the 19-year-old's story - he was expected to start for the Bulldogs as a freshman in the spring, only to see his baseball dreams crushed in October when he lost the use of his legs after a motor vehicle accident - is both sad and uplifting.

I've never been so affected by the subject of a story before. It depresses me to no end that he won't enjoy the opportunities in baseball that he'd built toward for his entire life. But he also inspired me with his battle to live a normal life again. When listening to Chance's friends and family members describe how hard he works and how he touches those around him, you are blown away by how he sets such a phenomenal example while coping with trying circumstances.

In many ways, I'm glad Chance's was the last big story I wrote in 2009 This year has not brought much positivity, but I enjoyed relaying his story of courage and how it has inspired strangers to help Chance and the Veazey family in the two months since his crash.

If nothing else, it reminded me that there is a lot of goodness in the world, even when it was so often overshadowed by the negativity in a year many of us would like to forget.

More on Chance later. Let's get to the list:

5. FELTON OUT, FOX IN

In the short time I've covered college sports, this was the first coach firing I've covered in a major sport, although it wasn't much of a surprise.

It wasn't particularly difficult to foresee Dennis Felton's firing when his Georgia men's basketball team stumbled and bumbled through the first half of last season - as Felton's teams seemed to do for most of his Georgia tenure. The only surprise was the timing.

I heard the afternoon of Georgia's Jan. 28 game at Florida that Felton would be fired the next day. Sure enough, after the Gators throttled the Bulldogs 83-57 that night, athletic director Damon Evans called a press conference the next morning to announce Felton's firing.

The rumor mill over Georgia's coaching search generated some truly entertaining names - remember the temporary insanity that possessed some Bulldogs fans who thought hiring Bobby Knight would be a good idea? - before a name many of us didn't know, Mark Fox, finally was introduced as Felton's successor in April.

It's still early, but Fox has been impressive thus far. Last weekend's win over Illinois - a team that beat Georgia by 34 points last year - was a huge step.

4. WILLIE FREED

For the last several months of football season, the 'Will he or won't he?' questions surrounded Georgia football coach Mark Richt.

It was not solely the fault of Willie Martinez, Jon Fabris and John Jancek - the three defensive coaches that Richt dismissed earlier this month - that Georgia's defense often performed poorly. But the Bulldogs were simply not getting the job done, and it became evident that Richt needed new blood on his staff.

But many fans and observers questioned whether Richt would remain loyal to his assistants or do what needed to be done to right the ship.

He pulled the trigger a few days after the Bulldogs' surprising win over Georgia Tech and, if he has settled on a new batch of coaches, he hasn't made the decision official yet.

That set