December 2008 in sports
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Deaths[edit]
Current sporting seasons[edit]
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December 31, 2008 (Wednesday)
[edit]- NCAA Bowl Games:
- Armed Forces Bowl: Houston 34, Air Force 28
- Sun Bowl: Oregon State 3, (20) Pittsburgh 0
- Music City Bowl: Vanderbilt 16, (24) Boston College 14
- Vandy wins in front of their hometown fans 53 years to the day after the Commodores' last bowl win.
- Insight Bowl: Kansas 42, Minnesota 21
- Chick-fil-A Bowl: LSU 38, (14) Georgia Tech 3
- NFL News:
- New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo is named 2008 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
- Sri Lanka in Bangladesh:
- 1st Test in Dhaka, day 5:
Sri Lanka 293 and 405/6d; 
Bangladesh 178 and 413 (Mohammad Ashraful 101, Shakib Al Hasan 96). Sri Lanka win by 107 runs and lead 2-match series 1–0.
- 1st Test in Dhaka, day 5:
- West Indies in New Zealand:
- 1st ODI in Queenstown:
West Indies 129/5 (Ramnaresh Sarwan 38, Tim Southee 2/33). No result as rain stopped play. Five-match series tied at 0–0.
- 1st ODI in Queenstown:
- World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
(teams in bold advance to the semifinals, teams in italics advance to the quarterfinals)- Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
- Czech Republic
10–2 
Kazakhstan - Canada
7–4 
United States - Idle:
Germany
- Czech Republic
- Group B (at the Ottawa Civic Centre):
- Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
- Tour de Ski, stage 4 in Nové Město, Czech Republic:
- 15 km classic men: (1) Axel Teichmann 39 min 03.7 sec (2) Martin Johnsrud Sundby
39:08.7 (3) Nikolay Chebotko 39:14.2 - Overall standings (after four of seven stages): (1) Dario Cologna
1 hr 24:36.9 (2) Vasily Rochev 
1 hr 24:53.2 (3) Teichmann 1 hr 24:53.4
- Overall standings (after four of seven stages): (1) Dario Cologna
- 10 km classic women: (1) Virpi Kuitunen
24 min 45.4 sec (2) Aino-Kaisa Saarinen at 37.6 sec (3) Marit Bjørgen 49.9 - Overall standings (after four of seven stages): (1) Kuitunen 57:49.3 (2) Saarinen at 5.6 sec (3) Bjørgen 23.0
- 15 km classic men: (1) Axel Teichmann
December 30, 2008 (Tuesday)
[edit]- NCAA Bowl Games:
- Humanitarian Bowl: Maryland 42, Nevada 35
- Texas Bowl: Rice 38, Western Michigan 14
- The Owls pick up their first bowl win since 1954, and complete their first 10-win season since 1949.
- Holiday Bowl: (17) Oregon 42, (12) Oklahoma State 31
- NFL News:
- Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is named 2008 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
- The Denver Broncos fire head coach Mike Shanahan.
- South Africa in Australia:
- 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 5:
Australia 394 and 247; 
South Africa 459 and 183/1 (Graeme Smith 75, Nathan Hauritz 1/41). South Africa win by 9 wickets and lead three-match series 2–0 and becomes the first South African team to win a Test series in Australia.
- 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 5:
- Sri Lanka in Bangladesh:
- 1st Test in Dhaka, day 4:
- Sri Lanka 293 and 405/6d (Mahela Jayawardene 166); Bangladesh 178 and 254/5 (Mohammad Ashraful 70*). Bangladesh require another 267 runs with 5 wickets remaining.
- 1st Test in Dhaka, day 4:
- World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
- Czech Republic 6–0 Germany
- United States 12–0 Kazakhstan
- Czech Republic
- Group B (at the Ottawa Civic Centre):
- Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
December 29, 2008 (Monday)
[edit]- NCAA Bowl Games:
- PapaJohns.com Bowl: Rutgers 29, North Carolina State 23
- Alamo Bowl: (20) Missouri 30, (23) Northwestern 23 (OT)
- NFL News:
- Detroit Lions head coach Rod Marinelli is fired following the team's 0–16 season.
- Eric Mangini is fired as New York Jets' head coach after his team missed the playoffs.
- Romeo Crennel is fired as Cleveland Browns head coach.
- South Africa in Australia:
- 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 4:
- Australia 394 and 247 (Ricky Ponting 99, Dale Steyn 5/67); South Africa 459 and 30/0. South Africa require another 153 runs with 10 wickets remaining.
- 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 4:
- World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
- Group B (at the Ottawa Civic Centre):
- News:
- Liverpool midfielder and team captain Steven Gerrard is arrested on charges of assault after being involved in a fight at a pub following a match against Newcastle United.
- Women's World Cup in Semmering, Austria:
- Slalom: (1) Maria Riesch 1 minute 55.97 seconds (2) Tanja Poutiainen 1:56.18 (3) Lindsey Vonn 1:56.69
- Overall World Cup standings (after 12 races): (1) Vonn 530 pts (2) Riesch 507 (3) Poutiainen 498
- Slalom: (1) Maria Riesch
- Tour de Ski, stage 3 in Prague, Czech Republic:
- 1 km sprint freestyle men: (1) Tor Arne Hetland (2) Vasily Rochev (3) Jean-Marc Gaillard
- Overall standings: (1) Dario Cologna 45:01.4 (2) Rochev +15.4 (3) Gaillard +18.1
- Overall standings: (1) Dario Cologna
- 1 km sprint freestyle women: (1) Arianna Follis
(2) Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (3) Petra Majdič 
- Overall standings: (1) Follis 32:23.9 (2) Saarinen +8.0 (3) Marit Bjørgen +13.1
- Overall standings: (1) Follis 32:23.9 (2) Saarinen +8.0 (3) Marit Bjørgen
- 1 km sprint freestyle men: (1) Tor Arne Hetland
- Four Hills Tournament:
- World Cup in Oberstdorf, Germany:
- Individual 137 m hill: (1) Simon Ammann 286.4 pts (136.5/134.0 metres) (2) Wolfgang Loitzl
285.2 (135.0/134.0) (3) Dimitry Vassiliev 284.4 (134.5/136.0) - Overall World Cup standings (after 8 of 28 events): (1) Ammann 685 points (2) Gregor Schlierenzauer 560 (3) Loitzl 439
- Overall World Cup standings (after 8 of 28 events): (1) Ammann 685 points (2) Gregor Schlierenzauer
December 28, 2008 (Sunday)
[edit]- National Football League Week 17:
(Teams that have made playoffs are in boldface)- Carolina Panthers 33, New Orleans Saints 31
- The Panthers win the NFC South title and earn a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs.
- Houston Texans 31, Chicago Bears 24
- The Bears loss knocks them out of the playoffs.
- Pittsburgh Steelers 31, Cleveland Browns 0
- A pyrrhic victory for the Steelers as Ben Roethlisberger is knocked out of the game with a concussion.
- Green Bay Packers 31, Detroit Lions 21
- The Lions earn the first 0–16 season in NFL history.
- Cincinnati Bengals 16, Kansas City Chiefs 6
- New England Patriots 13, Buffalo Bills 0
- The Pats win, but are eliminated from the playoffs when the Dolphins and Ravens both win.
- Minnesota Vikings 20, New York Giants 19
- The Vikings win the NFC North on a Ryan Longwell walk-off 50-yard field goal, and will host Philadelphia next Sunday.
- Oakland Raiders 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24
- The Bucs are eliminated.
- Atlanta Falcons 31, St. Louis Rams 27
- The Falcons will play in Glendale next Saturday against the Cardinals.
- Indianapolis Colts 23, Tennessee Titans 0
- Philadelphia Eagles 44, Dallas Cowboys 6
- The Eagles earn the last NFC wild card berth thanks to sloppy play by Dallas, with five turnovers leading to 24 Eagles points.
- Baltimore Ravens 27, Jacksonville Jaguars 7
- The Ravens clinch the last AFC wild card spot.
- Miami Dolphins 24, New York Jets 17
- Arizona Cardinals 34, Seattle Seahawks 21
- San Francisco 49ers 27, Washington Redskins 24
- San Diego Chargers 52, Denver Broncos 21
- Carolina Panthers 33, New Orleans Saints 31
- NCAA Bowl Games:
- South Africa in Australia:
- 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 3:
- Australia 394 and 4/0; South Africa 459 (Jean-Paul Duminy 166, Dale Steyn 76, Peter Siddle 4/81). Australia trail by 61 runs with 10 second innings wickets remaining.
- 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 3:
- Sri Lanka in Bangladesh:
- 1st Test in Dhaka, day 3:
- Sri Lanka 293 (Thilan Samaraweera 90) and 291/4 (Mahela Jayawardene 129*); Bangladesh 178. Sri Lanka lead by 406 runs with 6 wickets remaining.
- 1st Test in Dhaka, day 3:
- West Indies in New Zealand:
- 2nd T20I in Hamilton:
New Zealand 191/9 (Jesse Ryder 62, Brendon McCullum 59, Chris Gayle 2/27); West Indies 155/7 (Ramnaresh Sarwan 53, Jeetan Patel 2/12). New Zealand win by 36 runs; two-match series tied 1–1.
- 2nd T20I in Hamilton:
- World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
- Kazakhstan 0–15 Canada
- United States 4–3 Czech Republic
- Kazakhstan
- Group B (at the Ottawa Civic Centre):
- Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
- Men's World Cup in Bormio, Italy:
- Downhill: (1) Christof Innerhofer 2:03.55 (2) Klaus Kroll 2:03.87 (3) Michael Walchhofer 2:04.50
- Overall World Cup standings (after 14 races): (1) Aksel Lund Svindal 444 pts (2) Benjamin Raich 393 (3) Didier Cuche 379
- Overall World Cup standings (after 14 races): (1) Aksel Lund Svindal
- Downhill: (1) Christof Innerhofer
- Women's World Cup in Semmering, Austria:
- Giant slalom: (1) Kathrin Zettel 2:10.90 (1:06.30+1:04.60) (2) Manuela Mölgg 2:11.27 (1:06.09+1:05.18) (3) Lara Gut 2:11.45 (1:07.36+1:04.09)
- Overall World Cup standings (after 11 races): (1) Lindsey Vonn 470 pts (2) Tanja Poutiainen 418 (3) Maria Riesch 407
- Overall World Cup standings (after 11 races): (1) Lindsey Vonn
- Giant slalom: (1) Kathrin Zettel
- Tour de Ski, stage 2 in Oberhof, Germany:
- 10 km pursuit classic women: (1) Virpi Kuitunen 23 min 56.7 sec, (2) Marit Bjørgen at 3.9 sec, (3) Aino-Kaisa Saarinen 6.2
- Overall standings: (1) Kuitunen 30:23.2, (2) Bjørgen at 2.2 sec, (3) Justyna Kowalczyk
6.2
- Overall standings: (1) Kuitunen 30:23.2, (2) Bjørgen at 2.2 sec, (3) Justyna Kowalczyk
- 15 km pursuit classic men: (1) Dario Cologna 43:05.1 (2) Axel Teichmann at 5.6 (3) Sami Jauhojärvi 26.6
- Overall standings: (1) Cologna 43:05.1, (2) Teichmann +4.8 (3) Devon Kershaw +26.4
- Overall standings: (1) Cologna 43:05.1, (2) Teichmann +4.8 (3) Devon Kershaw
- 10 km pursuit classic women: (1) Virpi Kuitunen
- World Cup in Oberhof, Germany:
- 10 km Gundersen: (1) Anssi Koivuranta 27:22.2 (2nd in ski jump) (2) Todd Lodwick at 6.9 (3rd) (3) Jason Lamy-Chappuis 14.8 (7th)
- Overall standings (after eight of 24 rounds): (1) Koivuranta 543 points (2) Magnus Moan 396 (3) Bill Demong 367
- Overall standings (after eight of 24 rounds): (1) Koivuranta 543 points (2) Magnus Moan
- 10 km Gundersen: (1) Anssi Koivuranta
December 27, 2008 (Saturday)
[edit]- NCAA Bowl Games
- Meineke Car Care Bowl: West Virginia 31, North Carolina 30
- Mountaineers quarterback Pat White wins his fourth straight bowl game for WVU.
- Champs Sports Bowl: Florida State 42, Wisconsin 14
- Emerald Bowl: California 24, Miami (FL) 17
- Meineke Car Care Bowl: West Virginia 31, North Carolina 30
- South Africa in Australia:
- 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 2:
- Australia 394 (Ricky Ponting 101, Michael Clarke 88*, Dale Steyn 5/87); South Africa 198/7 (Graeme Smith 62, Peter Siddle 3/24). South Africa trail by 196 runs with three first innings wickets remaining.
- 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 2:
- Sri Lanka in Bangladesh:
- 1st Test in Dhaka, day 2:
- Sri Lanka 293 (Thilan Samaraweera 90, Shakib Al Hasan 5/70); Bangladesh 177/9 (Imrul Kayes 33, Muttiah Muralitharan 5/48). Bangladesh trail by 116 runs with one first innings wicket remaining.
- 1st Test in Dhaka, day 2:
- World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
- Kazakhstan 0–9 Germany
- Kazakhstan
- Group B (at the Ottawa Civic Centre):
- Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
- Tour de Ski, stage 1 in Oberhof, Germany:
- 2.8 km freestyle women: (1) Claudia Nystad 6 minutes 17.2 seconds, (2) Arianna Follis at 1.1 seconds, (3) Justyna Kowalczyk 2.3, Petra Majdič same time
- 3.7 km freestyle men: (1) Axel Teichmann 7:11.8, (2) Dario Cologna at 8.2 sec, (3) Petter Northug 13.0
- 2.8 km freestyle women: (1) Claudia Nystad
- World Cup in Oberhof, Germany:
- 10 km Gundersen: (1) Magnus Moan 25:22.8 (7th in ski jump) (2) Todd Lowick at 0.3 (4) (3) Anssi Koivuranta 0.4 (1)
- Overall World Cup standings (after 7 out of 24 races): (1) Koivuranta 443 points (2) Moan 351 (3) Björn Kircheisen 339
- Overall World Cup standings (after 7 out of 24 races): (1) Koivuranta 443 points (2) Moan 351 (3) Björn Kircheisen
- 10 km Gundersen: (1) Magnus Moan
December 26, 2008 (Friday)
[edit]- South Africa in Australia:
- 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 1:
- Australia 206/6 (Ricky Ponting 101, Dale Steyn 2/61).
- 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 1:
- Sri Lanka in Bangladesh:
- 1st Test in Dhaka, day 1:
- Sri Lanka 172/6 (Michael Vandort 44, Shakib Al Hasan 3/43).
- 1st Test in Dhaka, day 1:
- West Indies in New Zealand:
- 1st T20I in Auckland:
- New Zealand 155/7 (Ross Taylor 63, Chris Gayle 2/16); West Indies 155/8 (Chris Gayle 67, Daniel Vettori 3/16). West Indies win in a 'Super Over' playoff and lead the two-match series 1–0.
- 1st T20I in Auckland:
- World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
- Germany 2–8 United States
- Canada 8–1 Czech Republic
- Germany
- Group B (at the Ottawa Civic Centre):
- Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
December 25, 2008 (Thursday)
[edit]- NBA Christmas Day Games:
- Orlando Magic 88, New Orleans Hornets 68
- Chris Paul's streak of 108 consecutive games with a steal was broken.
- San Antonio Spurs 91, Phoenix Suns 90
- Roger Mason hits a walk-off three-pointer to win the game for the Spurs.
- Los Angeles Lakers 92, Boston Celtics 83
- The Celtics' 19-game winning streak ends and Lakers coach Phil Jackson becomes the fastest coach to the 1,000-win mark.
- Cleveland Cavaliers 93, Washington Wizards 89
- Dallas Mavericks 102, Portland Trail Blazers 94
- Orlando Magic 88, New Orleans Hornets 68
December 24, 2008 (Wednesday)
[edit]- NCAA Bowl Games:
- 2008 Hawaiʻi Bowl: Notre Dame 49, Hawaiʻi 21
- The Irish break a nine-game bowl losing streak thanks to Jimmy Clausen's 401 yards of passing and five touchdowns.
- 2008 Hawaiʻi Bowl: Notre Dame 49, Hawaiʻi 21
December 23, 2008 (Tuesday)
[edit]- NCAA Bowl Games:
- Poinsettia Bowl: (11) TCU 17, (9) Boise State 16
- The Horned Frogs spoil the Broncos' bid for a perfect season.
- Poinsettia Bowl: (11) TCU 17, (9) Boise State 16
- News: ESPN reports that free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira has signed an eight-year deal with the New York Yankees for US $180 million, subject to passing a physical.
- England in India:
- 2nd Test in Mohali, day 5:
India 453 and 251/7 declared (Gautam Gambhir 97, Monty Panesar 1/44); 
England 302 and 64/1 (Ian Bell 24*, Ishant Sharma 1/7). Match drawn, India win the two match series 1–0.
- 2nd Test in Mohali, day 5:
- West Indies in New Zealand:
- 2nd Test in Napier, day 5:
- West Indies 307 and 375 (Chris Gayle 197, Jeetan Patel 5/110); New Zealand 371 and 220/5 (Jesse Ryder 59*, Jerome Taylor 2/67). Match drawn, two match series drawn 0–0.
- 2nd Test in Napier, day 5:
- Argentine league:
- Apertura play-off:
- Boca Juniors 0–1 Tigre
- Boca wins the championship despite their loss by better goals-difference.
- Boca Juniors 0–1 Tigre
- Apertura play-off:
December 22, 2008 (Monday)
[edit]- National Football League Week 16 Monday Night Football:
- Chicago Bears 20, Green Bay Packers 17 (OT)
- The Bears block a potential game-winning field goal attempt by Mason Crosby with 18 seconds left in regulation, and Robbie Gould's 38-yarder in overtime keeps the Bears alive for a playoff berth.
- Chicago Bears 20, Green Bay Packers 17 (OT)
- England in India:
- 2nd Test in Mohali, day 4:
- India 453 (Gautam Gambhir 179) and 134/4 (Gambhir 44*); England 302 (Kevin Pietersen 144). India lead by 285 runs with 6 wickets remaining.
- 2nd Test in Mohali, day 4:
- West Indies in New Zealand:
- 2nd Test in Napier, day 4:
- West Indies 307 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 126) and 278/7 (Chris Gayle 146*); New Zealand 371 (Tim McIntosh 136). West Indies lead by 214 runs with 3 wickets remaining.
- 2nd Test in Napier, day 4:
- Men's World Cup in Alta Badia, Italy:
- Slalom: (1) Ivica Kostelić
1:39.83 (49.26 + 50.57), (2) Jean-Baptiste Grange 1:40.03 (49.79 + 50.24), (3) Benjamin Raich 1:40.63 (49.83 + 50.80) - World Cup overall standings (after 13 races): (1) Aksel Lund Svindal 430pts, (2) Raich 393, (3) Grange 366
- World Cup overall standings (after 13 races): (1) Aksel Lund Svindal
- Slalom: (1) Ivica Kostelić
December 21, 2008 (Sunday)
[edit]- National Football League Week 16:
(teams in boldface are in the playoffs; teams in italics are eliminated)- New England Patriots 47, Arizona Cardinals 7
- Cincinnati Bengals 14, Cleveland Browns 0
- Miami Dolphins 38, Kansas City Chiefs 31
- The Dolphins keep their playoff hopes alive with a win in Arrowhead Stadium.
- New Orleans Saints 42, Detroit Lions 7
- The Lions' 15th straight loss sets a new record for futility at the start of a season and clinches the first pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
- Tennessee Titans 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 14
- The Titans clinch home field advantage in the AFC playoffs.
- San Diego Chargers 41, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24
- The Chargers stay in contention for the AFC West title.
- San Francisco 49ers 17, St. Louis Rams 16
- Buffalo Bills 30, Denver Broncos 23
- The Broncos' loss and the Chargers win set up a winner-take-all game for the AFC West title next Sunday in San Diego.
- Oakland Raiders 27, Houston Texans 16
- Seattle Seahawks 13, New York Jets 3
- Mike Holmgren wins his last home game as the Seahawks' coach.
- Atlanta Falcons 24, Minnesota Vikings 17
- The win gives the Falcons a playoff spot.
- Washington Redskins 10, Philadelphia Eagles 3
- New York Giants 34, Carolina Panthers 28 (OT)
- The Giants clinch home-field advantage in the playoffs after a Brandon Jacobs touchdown in overtime.
- NCAA Bowl Games:
- New Orleans Bowl: Southern Mississippi 31, Troy 28 (OT)
- Super Series Masters Finals in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia:
- Men's singles: Lee Chong Wei
(1) bt Peter Gade 
(4) 21–8 21–16 - Men's doubles: Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (6) bt Jung Jae-sung/Lee Yong-dae
(3) 21–18 21–14 - Women's singles: Zhou Mi
(1) bt Wang Chen (3) 21–14 21–18 - Women's doubles: Chin Eei Hui/Wong Pei Tty (1) bt Vita Marissa/Liliyana Natsir
(2) 21–15 22–20 - Mixed doubles: Thomas Laybourn/Kamilla Rytter Juhl (2) bt Nova Widianto/Liliyana Natsir (1) 21–19 18–21 22–20
- Men's singles: Lee Chong Wei
- South Africa in Australia:
- 1st Test in Perth, day 5:
- Australia 375 and 319; South Africa 281 and 414/4 (Graeme Smith 108, AB de Villiers 106*, Mitchell Johnson 3/98). South Africa win by six wickets and lead the 3-match series 1–0.
- 1st Test in Perth, day 5:
- England in India:
- West Indies in New Zealand:
- 2nd Test in Napier, day 3:
- West Indies 307 and 62/2 (Chris Gayle 36*); New Zealand 371 (Tim McIntosh 136, Fidel Edwards 7/87). West Indies trail by two runs with eight second innings wickets remaining.
- 2nd Test in Napier, day 3:
- FIFA Club World Cup in Japan:
- Match for third place:
- Pachuca
0–1 
Gamba Osaka
- Pachuca
- Final:
- LDU Quito
0–1 Manchester United - Wayne Rooney scores for United in the 73rd minute.
- LDU Quito
- Match for third place:
- ASEAN Championship:
(first leg result in parentheses)- Semifinals, second leg:
- European Tour:
- South African Open Championship in Paarl, South Africa:
- Winner: Richard Sterne 274 (−14)PO
- Winner:
- South African Open Championship in Paarl, South Africa:
- Men's unofficial events:
- UK Championship in Telford, United Kingdom:
- Final: Shaun Murphy def. Marco Fu 10–9
- Final:
- Women's World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland:
- Downhill: cancelled
- Men's World Cup in Alta Badia, Italy:
- Giant slalom: (1) Daniel Albrecht 2:32.71 (1:15.33 + 1:17.38) (2) Ivica Kostelić 2:32.83 (1:16.62 + 1:16.21) (3) Hannes Reichelt 2:33.04 (1:16.79 + 1:16.25)
- Overall standings (after 12 races): (1) Aksel Lund Svindal 430 (2) Didier Cuche 334 (3) Benjamin Raich 333
- Overall standings (after 12 races): (1) Aksel Lund Svindal
- Giant slalom: (1) Daniel Albrecht
- World Cup 3 in Hochfilzen, Austria:
- Men's 4 x 7.5 km relay: (1) Austria 1:21:23.18 0+1 0+4 (2)
Sweden 1:22:34.33 +1:11.2 0+3 1+9 (3) France 1:22:39.44 +1:16.3 0+2 0+3 - Women's 4 x 6 km relay: (1) Russia 1 hr 14 min 00.3 sec, (2) Germany at 1:43.4, (3) France 2:13.8
- Men's 4 x 7.5 km relay: (1)
- World Cup 4 in Cesana Pariol, Italy: cancelled
- World Cup in Düsseldorf, Germany:
- World Cup in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria:
- 10 km Gundersen: (1) Björn Kircheisen 23:43.3 (10th after ski jump leg) (2) Bill Demong at 0.3 (7) (3) Jason Lamy-Chappuis 0.5 (9)
- Overall World Cup standings (after six of 24 events): (1) Anssi Koivuranta 383 points (2) Kircheisen 299 (3) Demong 290
- Overall World Cup standings (after six of 24 events): (1) Anssi Koivuranta
- 10 km Gundersen: (1) Björn Kircheisen
- World Cup 4 in Cesana Pariol, Italy: cancelled
- World Cup in Engelberg, Switzerland:
- Individual 137 m hill: (1) Gregor Schlierenzauer 264.1 pts (133.5 m + 133.5 m) (2) Wolfgang Loitzl 262.4 (132.5+133.0) (3) Simon Amman 260.0 (131.5+136.0)
- Overall World Cup standings (after seven of 28 events): (1) Amman 585 (2) Schlierenzauer 510 (3) Loitzl 359
- Individual 137 m hill: (1) Gregor Schlierenzauer
- World Cup in Arosa, Switzerland:
- Parallel slalom men: (1) Siegfried Grabner (2) Roland Fischnaller (3) Zan Kosir
- Parallel slalom women: (1) Heidi Neururer (2) Michelle Gorgone (3) Isabella Laboeck
- Parallel slalom men: (1) Siegfried Grabner
December 20, 2008 (Saturday)
[edit]- National Football League Week 16 Saturday Night Football:
- Baltimore Ravens 33, Dallas Cowboys 24
- A celebration of the last game played at Texas Stadium is ruined by two late touchdown runs by Willis McGahee (77 yards) and Le'Ron McClain (82 yards) for the Ravens.
- Baltimore Ravens 33, Dallas Cowboys 24
- College football:
- NCAA Bowl Games:
- EagleBank Bowl: Wake Forest 29, Navy 19
- New Mexico Bowl: Colorado State 40, Fresno State 35
- St. Petersburg Bowl: South Florida 41, Memphis 14
- Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona 31, (16) Brigham Young 21
- NCAA Division III Final at Salem, Virginia:
- Mount Union 31, Wisconsin-Whitewater 26
- The Purple Raiders win for the third time in four consecutive D-III finals against the Warhawks, taking a 21–7 lead in the first quarter and never looking back. Mount Union's Nate Kmic becomes the first player in NCAA history to rush for over 8,000 yards in his career.
- Mount Union 31, Wisconsin-Whitewater 26
- NCAA Bowl Games:
- South Africa in Australia:
- 1st Test in Perth, day 4:
- Australia 375 and 319; South Africa 281 and 227/3. South Africa require another 187 runs with 7 wickets remaining.
- 1st Test in Perth, day 4:
- England in India:
- 2nd Test in Mohali, day 2:
- India 453 (Gautam Gambhir 179, Rahul Dravid 136)
- 2nd Test in Mohali, day 2:
- West Indies in New Zealand:
- 2nd Test in Napier, day 2:
- West Indies 307 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 126*, Iain O'Brien 6/75); New Zealand 145/2 (Tim McIntosh 62*, Fidel Edwards 2/26). New Zealand trail by 162 runs with 8 wickets remaining in the first innings.
- Fidel Edwards took his 100th Test wicket when he dismissed Daniel Flynn in New Zealand's first innings.
- 2nd Test in Napier, day 2:
- ASEAN Championship:
(first leg result in parentheses)- Semifinals, second leg:
- Argentine league:
- Apertura play-off:
- Boca Juniors 3–1 San Lorenzo
- A goal by Cristian Manuel Chávez in injury time for Boca means they can lose to Tigre by one goal margin on Tuesday and still win the championship.
- Boca Juniors 3–1 San Lorenzo
- Apertura play-off:
- Penn State wins their second consecutive NCAA women's championship, defeating Stanford 3–0. The Nittany Lions finish the season 38–0, only losing two sets total.
- Men's World Cup in Val Gardena, Italy:
- Downhill: (1) Michael Walchhofer 1:50.57 (2) Bode Miller 1:50.95 (3) Manuel Osborne-Paradis 1:51.11
- Overall World Cup standings (after 11 races): (1) Aksel Lund Svindal 398 pts (2) Carlo Janka 315 (3) Benjamin Raich 297
- Overall World Cup standings (after 11 races): (1) Aksel Lund Svindal
- Downhill: (1) Michael Walchhofer
- Women's World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland:
- Super giant slalom: (1) Lara Gut 57.38 (2) Fabienne Suter 58.01 (3) Nadia Fanchini 58.25
- Overall World Cup standings (after 10 races): (1) Lindsey Vonn 438 pts (2) Tanja Poutiainen 400 (3) Maria Riesch 378
- Overall World Cup standings (after 10 races): (1) Lindsey Vonn
- Super giant slalom: (1) Lara Gut
- World Cup 3 in Hochfilzen, Austria:
- Men's 10 km sprint: (1) Lars Berger 25:23.1 0 penalty (2) Alexander Os at 37.9 1 (3) Dmitri Yaroshenko 39.8 0
- Overall World Cup standings (after seven races): (1) Emil Hegle Svendsen 299 points (2) Tomasz Sikora 289 (3) Michael Greis 281
- Overall World Cup standings (after seven races): (1) Emil Hegle Svendsen
- Women's 7.5 km sprint: (1) Svetlana Sleptsova 23 min 21.8 sec 1 penalty (2) Ekaterina Iourieva at 2.7 s 0 (3) Vita Semerenko
16.6 0 - Overall World Cup standings (after seven events): (1) Sleptsova 327 points (2) Martina Beck 278 (3) Iourieva 277
- Overall World Cup standings (after seven events): (1) Sleptsova 327 points (2) Martina Beck
- Men's 10 km sprint: (1) Lars Berger
- World Cup 4 in Cesana Pariol, Italy: cancelled
- World Cup in Düsseldorf, Germany:
- 1.6 km sprint freestyle men: (1) Ola Vigen Hattestad (2) Tor Arne Hetland (3) Fabio Pasini
- Overall standings (after seven out of 33 races): (1) Hattestad 300 points (2) Dario Cologna 208 (3) Hetland 191
- Overall standings (after seven out of 33 races): (1) Hattestad 300 points (2) Dario Cologna
- 0.8 km sprint freestyle women: (1) Petra Majdič (2) Natalia Matveeva (3) Maiken Caspersen Falla
- Overall standings (after seven out of 33 races): (1) Aino-Kaisa Saarinen 397 points (2) Majdic 389 (3) Marit Bjørgen 280
- Overall standings (after seven out of 33 races): (1) Aino-Kaisa Saarinen
- 1.6 km sprint freestyle men: (1) Ola Vigen Hattestad
- World Cup in Adventure Mountain, China:
- Aerials men: (1) Alexei Grishin
249.25 (2) Li Ke 
244.52 (3) Warren Shouldice 238.90 - Aerials women: (1) Zhao Shanshan 201.63 (2) Li Nina 192.81 (3) Lydia Lassila 179.06
- Aerials men: (1) Alexei Grishin
- World Cup in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria:
- 10 km Gundersen: (1) Bill Demong 25:59.4 (2nd after ski-jump leg) (2) Björn Kircheisen at 28.3 (6) (3) Jan Schmid 37.3 (8)
- Overall World Cup standings (after five out of 24 races): (1) Anssi Koivuranta 333 points (2) Magnus Moan 211 (3) Demong 210
- Overall World Cup standings (after five out of 24 races): (1) Anssi Koivuranta
- 10 km Gundersen: (1) Bill Demong
- World Cup in Engelberg, Switzerland:
- Individual 137 m hill: (1) Simon Ammann 275.4 points (138.5 m/137.0 m) (2) Wolfgang Loitzl 273.2 (134.0/137.5) (3) Gregor Schlierenzauer 265.7 (135.0/134.0)
- World Cup overall standings (after six of 28 events): (1) Ammann 525 points (2) Schlierenzauer 410 (3) Loitzl 279
- Individual 137 m hill: (1) Simon Ammann
- World Cup in Arosa, Switzerland:
- Snowboardcross men: (1) Seth Wescott (2) Markus Schairer (3) David Speiser
- Snowboardcross women: (1) Sandra Frei (2) Helene Olafsen (3) Nelly Moenne Loccoz
- Snowboardcross men: (1) Seth Wescott
December 19, 2008 (Friday)
[edit]- NCAA Division I FCS Final in Chattanooga, Tennessee:
- South Africa in Australia:
- 1st Test in Perth, day 3:
- Australia 375 and 228/7 (Brad Haddin 39*, Jacques Kallis 2/19); South Africa 281 (Jacques Kallis 63, Mitchell Johnson 8/61). Australia lead by 322 runs with 3 second innings wickets remaining.
- 1st Test in Perth, day 3:
- England in India:
- 2nd Test in Mohali, day 1:
- India 179/1 (Gautam Gambhir 106*, Stuart Broad 1/45).
- 2nd Test in Mohali, day 1:
- West Indies in New Zealand:
- 2nd Test in Napier, day 1:
- West Indies 258/6 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 100*, Daniel Vettori 2/58).
- 2nd Test in Napier, day 1:
- Men's World Cup in Val Gardena, Italy:
- Super giant slalom: (1) Werner Heel 1:35.04 (2) Didier Défago 1:35.47 (3) Patrik Järbyn 1:35.49
- Overall World Cup standings (10 events): (1) Aksel Lund Svindal 398 pts (2) Carlo Janka 315 (3) Benjamin Raich 297
- Overall World Cup standings (10 events): (1) Aksel Lund Svindal
- Super giant slalom: (1) Werner Heel
- Women's World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland:
- Combined: (1) Anja Pärson 1:41.87 (57.84 + 44.03) (2) Nicole Hosp 1:42.99 (59.07 + 43.92) (3) Fabienne Suter 1:43.47 (58.35 + 45.12)
- Overall World Cup standings (9 events): (1) Lindsey Vonn 438 (2) Tanja Poutiainen 400 (3) Maria Riesch 378
- Overall World Cup standings (9 events): (1) Lindsey Vonn
- Combined: (1) Anja Pärson
- World Cup in Adventure Mountain, China:
- Aerials women: (1) Lydia Lassila 92.88 (2) Jacqui Cooper 89.14 (3) Veronika Bauer 88.83
- Aerials men: cancelled
- Aerials women: (1) Lydia Lassila
- World Cup 4 in Cesana Pariol, Italy: cancelled
December 18, 2008 (Thursday)
[edit]- National Football League Week 16 Thursday Night Football:
- Indianapolis Colts 31, Jacksonville Jaguars 24.
- The Colts will be the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs with this win.
- Indianapolis Colts 31, Jacksonville Jaguars 24.
- Euroleague, week 8:
(teams in bold advance to the Top 16; teams withstrikeare eliminated)- Group A:
Le Mans 73–87 
Maccabi Tel Aviv - Maccabi punch their ticket to the Top 16.
- Unicaja Málaga
72–68 Air Avellino- Málaga's win secures them, as well as Cibona, a Top 16 berth and eliminates Avellino.
- Málaga's win secures them, as well as
- Group B:
- Žalgiris Kaunas
79–68 Asseco Prokom Sopot - Žalgiris stay alive in the Top 16 race, taking the tiebreaker from Prokom.
- Žalgiris Kaunas
- Group C:
- ALBA Berlin 68–73 TAU Cerámica
- TAU also punch their Top 16 ticket.
- Lottomatica Roma 74–69
Union Olimpija Ljubljana(OT)- Roma advance to the Top 16, while Ljubljana are eliminated.
- ALBA Berlin
- Group D:
- Panionios
64–78 
Efes Pilsen
- Panionios
- Group A:
- South Africa in Australia:
- 1st Test in Perth, day 2:
- Australia 375 (Simon Katich 83, Makhaya Ntini 4/72); South Africa 243/8 (Jacques Kallis 63, AB de Villiers 63, Mitchell Johnson 7/42). South Africa trail by 132 runs with 2 wickets remaining in the first innings.
- 1st Test in Perth, day 2:
- FIFA Club World Cup in Japan:
- Semifinal 2:
- Match for fifth place:
- UEFA Cup group stage, matchday 5:
(teams in bold advance to the last-32 round; teams withstrikeare eliminated)- Group A:
- Paris Saint-Germain 4–0
Twente Racing Santander 3–1 Manchester City- Idle:
Schalke 04- Final standings: Man City 7 points, Twente 6, PSG 5, Racing 5, Schalke 4
- Paris Saint-Germain
- Group B:
- Olympiacos 4–0
Hertha BSC Benfica
0–1 Metalist Kharkiv- Idle: Galatasaray
- Final standings: Metalist 10 points, Galatasaray 9, Olympiacos 6, Hertha 2, Benfica 1
- Olympiacos
- Group C:
- Sampdoria 1–0
Sevilla - Stuttgart 3–0
Standard Liège - Idle:
Partizan Belgrade- Final standings: Standard 9 points, Stuttgart 7, Sampdoria 7, Sevilla 6, Partizan 0
- Sampdoria
- Group D:
- NEC 2–0 Udinese
- Tottenham Hotspur 2–2
Spartak Moscow - Idle:
Dinamo Zagreb- Final standings: Udinese 9 points, Spurs 7, NEC 6, Spartak 4, Dinamo 3
- NEC
- Group A:
- World Cup 3 in Hochfilzen, Austria:
- Men's 20 km individual: (1) Maxim Tchoudov 56 mins 00.3 secs (1 penalty) (2) Ivan Tcherezov at 47.6 (2) (3) Björn Ferry 48.5 (1)
- Overall World Cup standings (after six races): (1) Emil Hegle Svendsen 299 points (2) Tomasz Sikora 255 (3) Michael Greis 243
- Overall World Cup standings (after six races): (1) Emil Hegle Svendsen
- Women's 15 km individual: (1) Albina Akhatova 50 mins 03.0 secs (0 penalties) (2) Éva Tófalvi
at 17.5 (0) (3) Svetlana Sleptsova 49.9 (2) - Overall World Cup standings (after six races): (1) Sleptsova 267 points (2) Martina Beck 251 (3) Ekaterina Iourieva 223
- Overall World Cup standings (after six races): (1) Sleptsova 267 points (2) Martina Beck
- Men's 20 km individual: (1) Maxim Tchoudov
- World Cup in Meribel, France:
- Moguls men: (1) Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau (2) Alexandre Bilodeau (3) Anthony Benna
- Moguls women: (1) Hannah Kearney (2) Jennifer Heil (3) Nikola Sudova
- Moguls men: (1) Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau
December 17, 2008 (Wednesday)
[edit]- Euroleague, week 8:
(teams in bold advance to the Top 16; teams withstrikeare eliminated)- Group A:
- Olympiacos 93–64 Cibona Zagreb
- Olympiacos
- Group B:
- Regal FC Barcelona 87–61 Montepaschi Siena
- Barcelona improve to a league-best 7–1 record.
- Panathinaikos Athens 83–69 SLUC Nancy
- Panathinaikos secure their place in the Top 16.
- Regal FC Barcelona
- Group C:
- Fenerbahçe Ülker 89–63 DKV Joventut
- Fenerbahçe Ülker
- Group D:
- CSKA Moscow 78–82 Real Madrid
- AJ Milano 73–59
Partizan Belgrade
- CSKA Moscow
- Group A:
- South Africa in Australia:
- 1st Test in Perth, day 1:
- Australia 341/9 (Simon Katich 83)
- 1st Test in Perth, day 1:
- FIFA Club World Cup in Japan:
- UEFA Cup group stage, matchday 5:
(teams in bold advance to the last-32 round; teams withstrikeare eliminated)- Group E:
Portsmouth 3–0 Heerenveen- Milan 2–2 Wolfsburg
- Idle: Braga
- Final standings: Wolfsburg 10 pts, Milan 8, Braga 6, Portsmouth 4, Heerenveen 0.
- Group F:
- Hamburg 3–1 Aston Villa
- Ajax 2–2
Slavia Prague - Idle:
Žilina- Final standings: Hamburg 9 pts, Ajax 7, Aston Villa 6, Žilina 4, Slavia Prague 2.
- Hamburg
- Group G:
Club Brugge 0–1 Copenhagen- Saint-Étienne 2–2 Valencia
- Idle:
Rosenborg- Final standings: St. Étienne 8 pts, Valencia 6, Copenhagen 5, Brugge 3, Rosenborg 2.
- Group H:
- Deportivo 1–0
Nancy Feyenoord 0–1 Lech Poznań- Idle: CSKA Moscow
- Final standings: CSKA 12 pts, Deportivo 7, Poznań 5, Nancy 4, Feyenoord 0.
- Deportivo
- Group E:
- ASEAN Championship:
- Semifinals, first leg:
- Argentine league:
- Apertura play off:
- San Lorenzo 2–1 Tigre
- Apertura play off:
December 16, 2008 (Tuesday)
[edit]- ASEAN Championship:
- Semifinals, first leg:
December 15, 2008 (Monday)
[edit]- National Football League Week 15 Monday Night Football:
- The Arena Football League votes to suspend operations, cancelling its 2009 season.
- NBA:
- With their 100–91 win over the Utah Jazz, the Boston Celtics become the third team in NBA history to win 23 of its first 25 games.
- The Sacramento Kings fire Reggie Theus, making him the sixth head coach to be fired this season. Assistant Kenny Natt is named his interim replacement.
- England in India:
- West Indies in New Zealand:
- 1st Test in Dunedin, day 5:
- Play abandoned due to rain. New Zealand 365 and 44/2; West Indies 340. Match drawn.
- Play abandoned due to rain.
- 1st Test in Dunedin, day 5:
December 14, 2008 (Sunday)
[edit]- National Football League Week 15:
(teams in bold clinched a playoff berth; teams in italics are eliminated)- New York Jets 31, Buffalo Bills 27
- The Bills are eliminated from playoff contention.
- Indianapolis Colts 31, Detroit Lions 21
- The Lions drop to 0–14, the third team ever to lose the first 14 games of a season (1976 Buccaneers, 1980 Saints).
- Jacksonville Jaguars 20, Green Bay Packers 16
- The Packers are eliminated with the loss.
- San Diego Chargers 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
- Miami Dolphins 14, San Francisco 49ers 9
- Seattle Seahawks 23, St. Louis Rams 20
- Atlanta Falcons 13, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 (OT)
- Atlanta's win eliminated the New Orleans Saints from playoff contention.
- Houston Texans 13, Tennessee Titans 12
- The Texans' win prevents Tennessee from getting home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs for this week.
- Cincinnati Bengals 20, Washington Redskins 13
- Minnesota Vikings 35, Arizona Cardinals 14
- Carolina Panthers 30, Denver Broncos 10
- New England Patriots 49, Oakland Raiders 26
- Pittsburgh Steelers 13, Baltimore Ravens 9
- The win gives the Steelers the AFC North title and a first-round playoff bye, and sets up a showdown with the Titans for AFC playoff home field advantage next Sunday.
- Dallas Cowboys 20, New York Giants 8
- The Giants loss now sets up a showdown with Carolina for home field advantage in the NFC playoffs next week.
- New York Jets 31, Buffalo Bills 27
- England in India:
- 1st Test in Chennai, day 4:
- England 316 and 311/9 dec (Andrew Strauss 108, Paul Collingwood 108, Zaheer Khan 3/40); India 241 and 131/1 (Virender Sehwag 83). India need 256 runs to win with nine wickets in hand.
- 1st Test in Chennai, day 4:
- West Indies in New Zealand:
- 1st Test in Dunedin, day 4:
- New Zealand 365 and 44/2 (Tim McIntosh 24*, Daren Powell 2/17); West Indies 340 (Jerome Taylor 106, Daniel Vettori 6/56). New Zealand lead by 69 runs with 8 second innings wickets remaining.
- 1st Test in Dunedin, day 4:
- FIFA Club World Cup in Japan:
- Quarterfinal 2:
- Adelaide United 0–1 Gamba Osaka
- Gamba Osaka will play Manchester United in the semifinals.
- Gamba Osaka will play Manchester United
- Adelaide United
- Quarterfinal 2:
- Caribbean Championship in Jamaica:
- Third Place Playoff:
- Cuba
0–0 
Guadeloupe - Guadeloupe wins 5–4 in penalty shootout.
- Cuba
- Final:
- Grenada
0–2 
Jamaica - Luton Shelton scores twice from the penalty spot for The Reggae Boyz.
- Grenada
- Third Place Playoff:
- Argentine league:
- The Apertura ends with 3-way tie between San Lorenzo, Tigre and Boca Juniors, that requires a triangular play-off series, beginning on Wednesday.
- European Tour:
- Alfred Dunhill Championship in Mpumalanga, South Africa
- Winner: Richard Sterne 271 (−17)
- Winner: Richard Sterne
- Alfred Dunhill Championship in Mpumalanga, South Africa
- Men's unofficial events:
- Merrill Lynch Shootout in Naples, Florida:
- Winners: Kenny Perry & Scott Hoch
- Winners: Kenny Perry
- Merrill Lynch Shootout in Naples, Florida:
- Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Final in Madrid, Spain:
- Men:
- Vault: (1) Thomas Bouhail 16.225 (2) Jeffrey Wammes 16.150 (3) Anton Golotsutskov 16.075 (3) Isaak Botella Perez 16.075
- Parallel bars: (1) Yann Cucherat 15.775 (1) Feng Zhe 15.775 (3) Valeriy Goncharov 15.675
- Horizontal bars: (1) Epke Zonderland 16.175 (2) Philippe Rizzo 15.825 (3) Hiroyuki Tomita 15.325
- Vault: (1) Thomas Bouhail
- Women:
- Beam: (1) Lauren Mitchell 15.250 (2) Yulia Lozhechko 15.200 (3) Li Shanshan 15.150
- Floor: (1) Cheng Fei 15.375 (2) Jiang Yuyan 15.225 (3) Sandra Izbaşa 15.000
- Beam: (1) Lauren Mitchell
- Men:
- Heineken Cup Pool stage, week 4:
- Pool 2:
- London Wasps 19–11
Edinburgh Rugby
- London Wasps
- Pool 3:
- Perpignan 26–20 Leicester Tigers
- Dan Carter, on his half-season "sabbatical" from the All Blacks, makes a successful Northern Hemisphere club debut, scoring 16 points to lead Perpignan to the win.
- Perpignan
- Pool 5:
- Glasgow Warriors 19–25 Bath
- Glasgow Warriors
- Pool 2:
- European Short Course Championships in Rijeka, Croatia:
- Women:
- 400 m individual medley: (1) Mireia Belmonte García 4:25.06 (WR) (2) Alessia Filippi 4:26.06 (3) Francesca Segat 4:27.12
- 200 m freestyle: (1) Federica Pellegrini 1:51.85 (WR) (2) Femke Heemskerk 1:53.79 (3) Daria Belyakina 1:53.85
- 100 m breaststroke: (1) Valentina Artemyeva 1:05.02 (2) Sophie de Ronchi 1:05.43 (3) Mirna Jukić 1:05.64
- 100 m butterfly: (1) Jeanette Ottesen 56.70 CR (2) Diane Bui Duyet 56.83 (3) Eszter Dara
56.88 - 200 m backstroke: (1) Alexandra Putra 2:02.48 (2) Alexianne Castel 2:03.10 (3) Elizabeth Simmonds
2:03.12 - 50 m freestyle: (1) Marleen Veldhuis 23.55 CR (2) Hinkelien Schreuder 23.72 (3) Jeanette Ottesen 24.05
- 400 m individual medley: (1) Mireia Belmonte García
- Men:
- 200 m breaststroke: (1) Hugues Duboscq 2:04.59 (European Record) (2) Edoardo Giorgetti 2:04.98 (3) Igor Borysik 2:05.47
- 100 m individual medley: (1) Peter Mankoč 51.97 (European Record) (2) Christian Galenda 52.29 (3) James Goddard 52.36
- 200 m freestyle: (1) Danila Izotov 1:43.09 (2) Dominik Meichtry 1:43.11 (3) Massimiliano Rosolino 1:43.52
- 100 m backstroke: (1) Stanislav Donets 49.32 (WR) (2) Aschwin Wildeboer 49.61 (3) Helge Meeuw 50.89
- 50 m butterfly: (1) Amaury Leveaux 22.23 (2) Milorad Čavić 22.36 (3) Rafael Muñoz 22.46
- 4 × 50 m freestyle: (1) France (Alain Bernard, Fabien Gilot, Amaury Leveaux, Frédérick Bousquet) 1:20.77 (WR) (2) Italy (Alessandro Calvi, Marco Orsi, Mattia Nalesso, Filippo Magnini) 1:23.37 (3) Croatia (Duje Draganja, Alexei Puninski, Bruno Barbic, Mario Todorović) 1:23.68
- 200 m breaststroke: (1) Hugues Duboscq
- Women:
- Men's World Cup in Val-d'Isère, France:
- Slalom: cancelled
- Women's World Cup in La Molina, Spain:
- Slalom: (1) Maria Riesch 1:52.98 (2) Lindsey Vonn 1:54.46 (3) Kathrin Zettel 1:55.34
- Overall World Cup standings: (1) Vonn 438 (2) Tanja Poutiainen 400 (3) Riesch 328
- Overall World Cup standings: (1) Vonn 438 (2) Tanja Poutiainen
- Slalom: (1) Maria Riesch
- World Cup 2 in Hochfilzen, Austria:
(shooting penalties in brackets)- Men's 4 x 7.5 km relay: (1) Russia (Nikolay Kruglov, Ivan Tcherezov, Maxim Maksimov, Maxim Tchoudov) 1 hr 24 min 22.9 sec (1), (2) Austria at 1 min 48.1 sec (2), (3) Ukraine 2:38.6 (3)
- Women's 4 x 6 km relay: (1) Russia (Svetlana Sleptsova, Olga Medvedtseva, Ekaterina Iourieva, Albina Akhatova) 1:10:49.58 (6) (2) Norway 1:12:44.35 +1:54.8 (9) (3) France 1:12:46.41 +1:56.9 (9)
- Men's 4 x 7.5 km relay: (1)
- World Cup 3 in Igls, Austria:
- Four-man: (1) Russia (Alexandr Zubkov, Roman Oreshnikov, Dmitry Trunenkov, Dmitriy Stepushkin) 1:42.34 (2) United States (Steven Holcomb, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler, Curtis Tomasevicz) 1:42.48 (3) Russia (Dmitry Abramovitch, Philippe Egorov, Andrey Jurkov, Petr Moiseev) 1:42.54
- World Cup standings: (1) Zubkov 645 (2) André Lange 603 (3) Holcomb 578
- World Cup standings: (1) Zubkov 645 (2) André Lange
- Four-man: (1)
- World Cup in Davos, Switzerland:
- Sprint freestyle women: (1) Petra Majdič (2) Celine Brun-Lie (3) Marit Bjørgen
- Overall World Cup standings: (1) Aino-Kaisa Saarinen 397 (2) Majdic 289 (3) Bjoergen 280
- Overall World Cup standings: (1) Aino-Kaisa Saarinen
- Sprint freestyle men: (1) Ola Vigen Hattestad (2) Johan Kjoelstad (3) Renato Pasini
- Overall World Cup standings: (1) Dario Alonzo Cologna 208 (2) Hattestad 200 (3) Johan Olsson 186
- Overall World Cup standings: (1) Dario Alonzo Cologna
- Sprint freestyle women: (1) Petra Majdič
- World Cup 3 in Winterberg, Germany:
- Women: (1) Natalie Geisenberger (2) Tatjana Hüfner (3) Anke Wischnewski
- World Cup standings: (1) Hüfner 285 (2) Geisenberger 245 (3) Wischnewski 210
- Women: (1) Natalie Geisenberger
- World Cup in Pragelato, Italy:
- Individual 140 m hill: (1) Fumihisa Yumoto 114.8 pts (126.0 m) (2) Simon Ammann 113.6 (124.5) (3) Johan Remen Evensen 110.3 (123.5)
- World Cup standings (after five events): (1) Ammann 425 (2) Gregor Schlierenzauer 350 (3) Ville Larinto 205
- World Cup standings (after five events): (1) Ammann 425 (2) Gregor Schlierenzauer
- Individual 140 m hill: (1) Fumihisa Yumoto
- World Cup in Limone Piemonte, Italy:
- Men's parallel GS: (1) Matthew Morison (2) Sylvain Dufour (3) Jasey Jay Anderson
- Women's parallel GS: (1) Doris Guenther (2) Kimiko Zakreski (3) Anke Karstens
- Men's parallel GS: (1) Matthew Morison
- World Cup 5 in Nagano, Japan:
- 500 m women:
- 500 m men:
- 1000 m women:
- 1000 m men:
- 100 m women:
- 100 m men:
December 13, 2008 (Saturday)
[edit]- 2008 Heisman Trophy:
- With three underclassman quarterbacks as the finalists, Oklahoma's Sam Bradford becomes the second sophomore to win the prestigious award. Last year's winner, Tim Tebow of Florida, had the most first place votes, but lost four of the six regions to Bradford and finished third in total votes behind runnerup Colt McCoy of Texas.
- NCAA Division I FCS semifinal at Cedar Falls, Iowa:
- Richmond 21, Northern Iowa 20
- Trailing 20–7 in the fourth quarter, the Spiders come back to score the winning touchdown and extra point with 14 seconds remaining.
- Richmond 21, Northern Iowa 20
- NCAA Division II Championship at Florence, Alabama:
- Minnesota-Duluth 21, Northwest Missouri State 14
- The Bulldogs win their first national title in football, while the Bearcats lose in the title game for the fourth straight year, with each loss being by a touchdown or less.
- Minnesota-Duluth 21, Northwest Missouri State 14
- National Basketball Association news: The Philadelphia 76ers become the league's fifth team to fire their head coach this season, axing Maurice Cheeks after a 9–14 start, even though the Sixers had extended his contract twice in the past year. Assistant general manager Tony DiLeo will be Cheeks' interim replacement.
- England in India:
- West Indies in New Zealand:
- 1st Test in Dunedin, day 3:
- New Zealand 365 (Daniel Flynn 95, Chris Gayle 3/42); West Indies 39/0 (Chris Gayle 29*). West Indies trail by 326 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the 1st innings.
- 1st Test in Dunedin, day 3:
- FIFA Club World Cup in Japan:
- Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Final in Madrid, Spain:
- Men:
- Floor: (1) Diego Hypólito
16.125 (2) Kōhei Uchimura 15.900 (3) Alexander Shatilov 15.500 - Pommel horse: (1) Zhang Hongtao 16.375 (2) Krisztián Berki 16.100 (3) Prashanth Sellathurai 16.025
- Rings: (1) Olexander Vorobyov 16.275 (2) Yordan Yovchev
16.150 (3) Yuri van Gelder 16.075
- Floor: (1) Diego Hypólito
- Women:
- Vault: (1) Cheng Fei 15.050 (2) Ariella Kaeslin 14.912 (3) Aagje Vanwalleghem 14.425
- Uneven bars: (1) He Kexin 16.250 (2) Jiang Yuyan 15.700 (3) Koko Tsurumi 15.250
- Vault: (1) Cheng Fei
- Men:
- Heineken Cup Pool stage, week 4:
- Pool 1:
- Munster (Ireland) 23–13 Clermont
- Montauban 16–12 Sale Sharks
- Munster (Ireland) 23–13
- Pool 3:
- Benetton Treviso 16–36
Ospreys
- Benetton Treviso
- Pool 4:
- Harlequins 19–17 Stade Français
- Harlequins
- Pool 5:
- Pool 6:
- Biarritz 6–10 Cardiff Blues 13:35
- Gloucester 48–5 Calvisano
- Biarritz
- Pool 1:
- European Short Course Championships in Rijeka, Croatia:
- Men:
- 1500 m freestyle: (1) Federico Colbertaldo 14:24.21 (2) Vitaly Romanovich 14:29.64 (3) Samuel Pizzetti 14:31.60
- 200 m butterfly: (1) Nikolay Skvortsov 1:50.60 (WR) (2) Dinko Jukić 1:52.31 (3) Maxim Ganikhin 1:52.32
- 100 m freestyle: (1) Amaury Leveaux 44.94 (WR) (2) Fabien Gilot 45.84 (3) Filippo Magnini 46.62
- 50 m breaststroke: (1) Matjaž Markič 26.47 CR (2) Aleksander Hetland 26.64 (3) Emil Tahirovič 26.66
- 1500 m freestyle: (1) Federico Colbertaldo
- Women:
- 400 m freestyle: (1) Coralie Balmy 3:56.39 (2) Camille Muffat 3:57.48 (3) Alessia Filippi 3:59.35
- 100 m individual medley: (1) Hanna-Maria Seppälä 59.24 CR (2) Evelyn Verrasztó 59.49 (3) Francesca Segat 59.61
- 50 m backstroke: (1) Sanja Jovanović 26.23 (WR) (2) Kateryna Zubkova 26.65 (3) Elena Gemo 26.77
- 4 × 50 m medley relay: (1) Netherlands (Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Moniek Nijhuis, Hinkelien Schreuder, Marleen Veldhuis) 1:45.73 (WR) (2) Germany (Daniela Samulski, Janne Schaefer, Lena Kalla, Petra Dallmann) 1:46.84 (3) Italy (Elena Gemo, Roberta Panara, Silvia di Pietro, Federica Pellegrini) 1:47.05
- 400 m freestyle: (1) Coralie Balmy
- Men:
- Men's World Cup in Val-d'Isère, France:
- Giant slalom: (1) Carlo Janka (2) Massimiliano Blardone (3) Gauthier de Tessières
- Overall World Cup standings: (1) Aksel Lund Svindal 395 (2) Benjamin Raich 293 (3) Janka 291
- Overall World Cup standings: (1) Aksel Lund Svindal
- Giant slalom: (1)
- Women's World Cup in La Molina, Spain:
- Giant slalom: (1) Tanja Poutiainen (2) Manuela Mölgg (3) Nicole Hosp
- Giant slalom: (1)
- World Cup 2 in Hochfilzen, Austria:
(shooting penalties in brackets)- Men's 12.5 km pursuit: (1) Emil Hegle Svendsen 35 min 46.3 sec (3), (2) Ole Einar Bjørndalen at 9.4 sec (2), (3) Tomasz Sikora 12 (3)
- Overall World Cup standings (after five events): (1) Svendsen 276 pts, (2) Sikora 234, (3) Michael Greis 200
- Overall World Cup standings (after five events): (1) Svendsen 276 pts, (2) Sikora 234, (3) Michael Greis
- Women's 10 km pursuit: (1) Martina Beck 33 min 41.2 sec (1), (2) Svetlana Sleptsova at 18.3 (4), (3) Simone Hauswald 19.2 (5)
- Overall World Cup standings (after five events): (1) Beck 224 pts, (2) Sleptsova 219, (3) Tora Berger 206
- Overall World Cup standings (after five events): (1) Beck 224 pts, (2) Sleptsova 219, (3) Tora Berger
- Men's 12.5 km pursuit: (1) Emil Hegle Svendsen
- World Cup 3 in Igls, Austria:
- Two-man: (1) Thomas Florschütz / Marc Kühne 1:44.62 (2) Beat Hefti / Thomas Lamparter
- Two-man: (1) Thomas Florschütz / Marc Kühne