Chicago Bulls 108, Miami Heat 66. The Heat receive their championship rings from last season. Kirk Hinrich, who signed a five-year contract extension earlier today, scores 26 points for the Bulls and Chris Duhon adds 20. The Heat suffer their worst opening-night loss ever and the worst opening-night loss for a defending NBA champ, with Dwyane Wade (25 points) their only player in double figures.
Los Angeles Lakers 114, Phoenix Suns 106. The Suns hit their first nine shots and take a 19-point lead in the first quarter, but the Lakers, without the injured Kobe Bryant, come back, led by Lamar Odom with 34 points and 13 rebounds. Leandro Barbosa scores 30 in a losing effort.
Rugby league: Rugby League Tri-Nations. Controversy breaks out when it emerges that New Zealand fielded an ineligible player in last Saturday's match against Great Britain. Nathan Fien had claimed eligibility to play for New Zealand through a NZ-born grandmother, but it emerges that the lady in question was his great-grandmother. (BBC)
12th Match, Mohali, Chandigarh: Australia (252/4) defeats hosts India (249/8) by six wickets to advance to the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy. India has been eliminated from the competition. (Scorecard)
Jacksonville Jaguars 13, Philadelphia Eagles 6: With first-string quarterback Byron Leftwich injured, the Jaguars stick to the ground, running for 209 yards. The Eagles don't threaten to score until late in the third quarter
New York Giants 17, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3: The Giants' defense dominates, holding Tampa Bay to 9 yards on its first six possessions. The Bucs go 0-for-3 on fourth-down conversions
Cleveland Browns 20, New York Jets 13: The Browns win their second game when officials rule Chris Baker was out of bounds on a potential tying touchdown pass with 1:06 to play
For the second race in this chase, defending series champion Tony Stewart spoils things for the contenders
28 October 2006 (Saturday)
Basketball: Red Auerbach, who coached the Boston Celtics to eight straight titles from 1959 to 1966, dies at the age of 89. He was the team's president up until his death, winning a total of 16 championships; nine as head coach, seven in the front office. (AP via Yahoo)
New Zealand 18–14 Great Britain. Great Britain score two tries in the final 10 minutes, including one with a minute to go, but still couldn't catch New Zealand, who at one point led 18–2. (BBC)
11th Match, Group A, at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad: England (276/7) beat West Indies (272/4) by three wickets. Kevin Pietersen saw England all the way to victory with nine balls to spare, making 90 not out, while Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell both made fifties. For West Indies, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo made centuries, sharing a stand of 174, and Gayle's additional three wickets gave him the Man of the Match award in a losing cause. The match was insignificant in terms of semi-final qualification; West Indies were already qualified, while England were already eliminated. (Cricinfo)
Oregon State 33, (3) Southern California 31. The Trojans fall behind, 33–10, thanks to four turnovers, then fail on a two-point conversion attempt at the end of the game. USC's regular-season winning streak ends at 38 games.
10th Match, Group B, at Mohali, Chandigarh: South Africa (213/8) beat Pakistan (89) by 124 runs to qualify in first place from Group B. South Africa were 42 for five before Mark Boucher and Justin Kemp put on 131 for the sixth wicket. This was over 100 runs more than any other partnership managed, and 42 more than Pakistan's aggregate score. South Africa now face the runner-up in Group A in the semi-final. (Cricinfo)
9th Match, Group A, at Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad: Defending champions West Indies (224/7) defeat hosts India (223/9) by three wickets with two balls to spare, thus becoming the second team to qualify for the semi-finals. India captainRahul Dravid admitted the margin of result probably flattered his team. (Cricinfo)
8th Match, Group B at Mohali, Chandigarh: New Zealand (274/7) (Scott Styris 86, Stephen Fleming 80) defeats Pakistan (223) by 51 runs to qualify for the semi-final as the first team. The result also sees Sri Lanka eliminated, and the Pakistan v South Africa clash is now an effective quarter-final. (Scorecard)
American football: National Football League owners approve a plan to play one or two regular-season games each year at sites outside of the U.S., starting in 2007. Game sites have not been announced but are likely to include Canada, Mexico, Great Britain and Germany. (AP via Yahoo)
Baseball: Controversy surrounds Game 2 of the 2006 World Series after Detroit TigerspitcherKenny Rogers was found to have an unknown substance, believed by some to be pine tar, on a patch of his pitching hand during the first inning. Video shows a similar substance on his hand during Game 3 of the ALCS. Rogers washed his hands before coming out for the second inning. (FOX Sports)
Indianapolis Colts 36, Washington Redskins 22: The Redskins lead at halftime, but three Peyton Manning touchdown passes in the third quarter put the Colts up to stay. Manning finishes with 342 yards and 4 touchdowns.
2006 World Series Game 2: Detroit Tigers 3, St. Louis Cardinals 1. WP:Kenny Rogers (1–0). LP:Jeff Weaver (0–1). SV:Todd Jones (1). HR: DET — Craig Monroe (2). For the third time in the postseason, Kenny Rogers does not give up a run in a start. He throws eight innings, allowing two hits and running his streak of scoreless innings in the 2006 postseason to 23. Series tied at 1–1.
In major non-postseason news, American baseball players and owners reach a tentative verbal agreement on a five-year labor contract.
Massa becomes the first Brazilian to win his home Grand Prix since Ayrton Senna. Alonso retains the F1 Drivers' Championship for the second successive year, Michael Schumacher finishes his astonishing driving career in fourth place today. Renault win the Constructor's World Championship.
Jeff Burton, who was the Chase leader entering this race, blew his engine and ended up 42nd, while Matt Kenseth claimed the points lead after the race. Johnson moved to third behind Kevin Harvick with the win, on the weekend of the second anniversary of losing key Hendrick Motorsports personnel in a plane cash on their way to this very race.
China finishes the World Championships with Eight overall medals, all of them Gold. The next closest nation is the United States with six overall medals and none gold while Romania is the closest to China gold medal wise with two.
2006 Champions Trophy, group A: England (169) lose to Australia (170/4) in the teams' first encounter since the 2005 Ashes. England were 83 for nought before Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson shared out three wickets each in the slide to 169 all out; the openers passed 40, while Paul Collingwood (22 not out) and James Anderson (15) were the only others to post double-figure scores. In reply, Australia were 34 for three before Damien Martyn and Michael Hussey put on 118 to take Australia within 18 runs of victory, and they won with six wickets and 13.1 overs to spare. (BBC)
NFL: The New York Times reports that New York Giants running back Tiki Barber will likely retire following the season to pursue other interests such as a broadcasting career.
Group G: CSKA Moscow 1–0 Arsenal. A spectacular 25th-minute goal by Daniel Carvalho is enough to beat Arsenal for the first time in any competition since 26 August.
Major League Baseball announces a new national-television package in which Fox and TBS will share regular-season and playoff broadcasting rights through 2013. TBS will in turn, will surrender national telecasts of Atlanta Braves games which they had held since 1976 following the 2007 season. (AP via San Jose Mercury News)
NFLMonday Night Football: Chicago Bears 24, Arizona Cardinals 23. The Bears remain unbeaten at 6–0, despite being down 20–0 at halftime and not scoring an offensive touchdown. Their comeback features two fumble returns for touchdowns and a punt return touchdown by Devin Hester. Neil Rackers misses a field goal with 53 seconds left that would have given the Cardinals the lead. In the postgame press conference, Cardinals head coach Dennis Green coined the phrase "They are who we thought they were!!" This quote did have meaning as both teams faced each other in the NFL Preseason. Green also gave permission for the media to "Crown the Bears Champions", in that same press conference.
Denver Broncos 13, Oakland Raiders 3: The Broncos become the first team since the 1934 Lions to allow only one touchdown through five games, while the Raiders go 0–5 for the first time since 1964.
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech undergoes surgery for a depressed skull fracture suffered in a collision with Stephen Hunt during the first minute of yesterday's match at Reading. The neurosurgeon who performed the operation said that Čech may be out for six weeks. (BBC)
St Helens Saints complete a clean sweep of trophies following triumphs in the league leader's shield and the Challenge Cup. They put five tries past Hull, including Keiron Cunningham's 150th career try. (BBC)
The match goes into extra time for the first time in the 127-year history of the Currie Cup after regular time leaves the teams level on 25 a piece. With 20 minutes of extra time unable to separate the two teams, the cup was awarded to both teams for the first time since 1979.
Stade Français defeat Biarritz 22–16 at France's national stadium, Stade de France in Saint-Denis. For the second straight year, the fixture between these two teams at this site sets a record for the largest crowd ever to see a regular-season league match in any French sport. The official attendance of 79,619 broke last year's record of 79,604.
Indiana 31, (15) Iowa 28. The Hoosiers upset the Hawkeyes.
Vanderbilt 24, (16) Georgia 22. The Commodores stun the Bulldogs "between the hedges" with a last-second field goal for their first win in Athens in 22 years.
The Reading–Chelsea match, won by visiting Chelsea 1–0, sees both Chelsea goalkeepers, Petr Čech and Carlo Cudicini, stretchered off with head injuries. Čech was hospitalized, and Cudicini was treated and released. (BBC)
National League Championship Series, Game Two, St. Louis Cardinals 9, New York Mets 6. WP:Josh Kinney (1–0). LP:Billy Wagner (0–1). HRs: STL — Jim Edmonds (1), So Taguchi (1); NYM — Carlos Delgado 2 (2). Carlos Delgado's two homers both give the Mets a lead, but the Redbirds come back both times. So Taguchi, who came in as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the eighth, homers in the top of the ninth gives the Cards the lead, and they add two more runs in the inning and shut down the Mets for the win. Series tied at 1–1.
5th Qualifying Match: Bangladesh (231/6) beats Zimbabwe (130) by 101 runs. Man of the Match Shahriar Nafees ends an unbeaten innings seven runs short of outscoring the Zimbabwe team. Shakib Al Hasan claimed three wickets. (Cricinfo)
4th Qualifying Match, Jaipur: Bangladesh (161 all out) lose to West Indies (164/0) by ten wickets. West Indies and Sri Lanka qualified for the main round. (Cricinfo)
Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov draw in game 11. The series is still tied 5.5–5.5 and only one regular game is left. The winner of that match will be World Champion, another draw will start some rapid matches.
Minnesota Vikings 26, Detroit Lions 17: The winless Lions self-destruct in the fourth quarter, turning the ball over three times and giving up 23 points.
San Francisco 49ers 34, Oakland Raiders 20: The Raiders collapse in the second half for the second straight week, giving up 24 unanswered points. Frank Gore has a career-high 134 yards rushing.
To win the Drivers' Championship Alonso requires 1 more point from the final race of the season, in Brazil, or for Michael Schumacher to not win that race. Schumacher suffered a rare engine failure in Japan.
(1) Brian Vickers, (2) Kasey Kahne, (3) Kurt Busch — Vickers gets his first career NEXTEL Cup win, but he is booed by the fans in victory lane. On the final lap, Jimmie Johnson tries to pass Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the lead, followed closely by Vickers, but Vickers clips Johnson's rear during the attempt, taking out both Johnson and Earnhardt. Vickers is the Hendrick Motorsports teammate of Johnson and Jeff Gordon, but has been locked out of team meetings as a result of his announced move to Toyota after the completion of this season. Jeff Burton retains the lead in the Chase, now six points over Matt Kenseth.
In non-postseason news, the New York Daily News reports that Joe Torre would be fired with one year left on his current contract with the New York Yankees and Lou Piniella would return for a third term as the Yankees skipper.
The top three all lift the same weight, meaning the lightest person (Ilin) takes the gold. Ilin lifts his weight in his first turn and fails twice to break the world record, which is currently Kolecki's.
Detroit Tigers 4, New York Yankees 3. WP:Jamie Walker (1–0). LP:Mike Mussina (0–1). SV:Todd Jones (1). HRs: DET — Carlos Guillén (1); NYY — Johnny Damon (1). After Damon's three-run homer in the fourth gives the Yankees a 3–1 lead, the Tigers come back with runs in each of the next three innings. Guillén's homer in the sixth ties the game, and an RBI triple from Curtis Granderson supplies the winning margin. Series tied at 1–1.
Veselin Topalov wins the eighth game of the Championship to make it all square at 4–4. It was Topalov's first regular win, after the awarded game earlier in the tournament.
The men's épée team competition is won by France, although they were almost eliminated in the round of 16 versus the Netherlands. Spain became runners-up after they lost the final versus France, while Ukraine was too strong for Hungary in the bronze medal match.
Russia took away the gold in the women's foil team competition. They were the better side in the final versus Italy who took the silver. Poland lost their bronze medal match versus South Korea.
Cao Lei adds another gold medal to China's collection at the Championships. She beat Nadezhda Evstyukhina by only 1 kg in the −75 kg class to claim the gold. Zarema Kasaeva finished in third position for the bronze.
Non-postseason news: The Texas Rangers fired manager Buck Showalter after four seasons helming the club. Showalter becomes the fifth overall manager — and first in the American League — to be replaced since Saturday (September 30).
Jaan Kirsipuu announces his retirement from professional cycling after Paris–Tours, which will be held on 8 October. The 37-year-old Estonian had won 4 Tour de France stages and a total of 126 career wins.
China's sixth gold medal out of nine events was won in the women's −63 kg class. Quyang Xiaofang lifted a total of 246 kg to create a gap of 5 kg to Russia's Svetlana Shimkova who finished in second position. The bronze was won by Armenian Meline Daluzyan.
Russians were on top at the women's −69 kg class. Oxana Slivenko excelled by lifting a total amount of 263 kg, which was 18 kg more than her compatriot Tatiana Matveeva lifted for the silver. Jean Elisabeth Lassen of Canada won the bronze.
The Netherlands's easy 6–1 win over China earns them a place in the semifinals together with Argentina and Australia who already qualified from the other pool. Three more nations are in the run for the last available spot. Spain, England and Germany will decide which team will qualify on October 4.
Feyenoord chairman Jorien van den Herik sends a letter to about 100.000 fans to clarify the recent problems at the club as well the financial situation and their projects like their Fetteh Football Academy in Ghana. He also stated he will only resign when someone intends to buy Feyenoord.
St. Louis Cardinals 5, San Diego Padres 1. WP: Chris Carpenter (1–0). LP: Jake Peavy (0–1). HR: STL — Albert Pujols (1). Pujols' two-run homer in the fourth inning was all Chris Carpenter needed as the Cards beat the Padres for the fourth straight post-season meeting in two years. Cardinals lead series, 1–0.
Non-postseason news: The Florida Marlins fired manager Joe Girardi after serving the first year of a three-year guaranteed contract, replacing him a few hours later with Fredi González, who previously served as the third-base coach for the Atlanta Braves. It is expected that Girardi will take over the Chicago Cubs in the near future.(ABC News America)
Taner Sağır from Turkey turned out to be the world's best weightlifter in the −77 kg class. He lifted 2 kg more than his opponent Li Hongli (silver) and 4 kg more than Armenian Ara Khachatryan (bronze).
2 October 2006 (Monday)
General sport:
The World Anti-Doping Agency and Interpol are cooperating in the charge against doping. Both organisations reached a Memorandum of Understanding to get the deal started.
Men's Finals: (3) UST Growling Tigers 76, (1) Ateneo Blue Eagles 74 (Overtime) – With Ateneo leading by five in regulation, the Tigers answered with five unanswered points to force overtime. In the extra period, the Eagles committed several blunders to set up a thrilling finish; with UST up by one point with three seconds left, the Tigers split their freethrows, as Ateneo missed a desperation three-pointer, sealing UST's 19th men's basketball trophy. Jojo Duncil was named Finals MVP.
Argentina's 2–0 win in group B over South Korea and Australia's 0–0 draw versus Japan in the same group are good enough to already qualify for the semi-finals while there is still a match to play. The teams face each other on 4 October to decide who will be the groups winner.
As of 2010 South Korea will held a Grand Prix during the Formule One season. The yet to be built circuit will be located near Cholla and will cost about €210 million.
Tennis: French player Anthony Dupuis is suspended by the ITF for a total of two months after testing positive to have used salbutamol. He also had to pay back his prize money worth €24,000. Dupuis states he used the substance as a medicine against his asthma. However Dupuis is suspended the ITF believes his story and only put him on hold for two months instead of two years which is a standard.
Yang sets a triple World record (snatch, press and total); Aree, Miyake and fourth placed Svetlana Ulyanova all lift 188 kg in total. The lightest person in weight (Aree) is placed in the highest position.
Kansas City Royals 10, Detroit Tigers 8 (12 Innings): The Tigers fail to get the win that would have given them the Central title.
Minnesota Twins 5, Chicago White Sox 1: The Twins take advantage of the Tigers' loss, and win the Central by one game. The Tigers are now the wild card.
Milwaukee Brewers 5, St. Louis Cardinals 3: The Redbirds return to their recent losing ways, but nonetheless back into the Central crown thanks to the Astros' loss.
Corendon Kinheim claims the Holland Series title after winning the fifth and final match of the series 13–5. Kinheim were trailing opponents Konica Minolta Pioniers 1–0 and 2–1 in the best-of-five series, but managed to come back twice and clinch the victory at home.
Carolina Panthers 21, New Orleans Saints 18: The Saints, emotionally drained from last Monday night's return to New Orleans, lose their first game of the season despite 349 yards passing from Drew Brees.
Cleveland Browns 24, Oakland Raiders 21: The previously winless Browns come back from 21–3 down thanks to three touchdown passes from Charlie Frye. The Raiders remain winless at 0–3, their worst start since 1961.
