Did you know on the original FFX on PS2 if you play more than 9999 hours the hours played flips over to 0000 again?
PS I also checked how many hours 9999 is because I wasn't sure if I was exaggerating how much I played the game, and it's less than two full years worth of hours, and I did in fact play more than that, easily.
You can 100% the Sphere Grid in only a few hours, if you’re smart about it. My guess is they were going around using Clear Spheres to wipe unneeded spheres off the map and replace them. The default Sphere Grid doesn’t actually allow you to max your stats; You need to clear the existing +2 or +3 spheres, and replace them with +4 spheres instead.
Even then, maxing your stats doesn’t require 9999 hours. Unless OP was farming experience in Besaid Island (the starting area) it shouldn’t take that long to navigate the grid and farm enough replacement spheres.
I honestly hadn’t considered Blitzball. I kind of forget it exists, since I only ever slogged through it to get Wakka’s ultimate weapon and overdrives.
People used to just play the endgame in single player games. I probably put more hours into Tales of Symphonia after I beat all the content than before.