The New York Yankees just won their 27th World Series. My first thought as a fan was that with Lakers and Yankees wins in the same year, perhaps the sporting universe isn't too happy with me right now. But then I looked a little closer at a confluence of this year's championships. So far, in 2009:

• College Football: Florida Gators
• NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers
• Men's College Basketball: North Carolina Tar Heels
• Women's college basketball: Connecticut Huskies
• Men's College Lacrosse: Syracuse Orange
• Women's College Lacrosse: Northwestern Wildcats
• NBA: Los Angeles Lakers
• DCI: Blue Devils
• MLB: New York Yankees

What do all of these teams have in common? These are all teams which, either historically or recently, have been the banner carriers in their respective sports. In each case, it would have been entirely reasonable, before a ball was ever kicked, tipped, or pitched, to pick the team above as the champion and had a pretty good shot, or at least not have had everyone look at you like you were crazy.

2009: The Year of Chalk.