Columbus Crew Win the MLS Cup 2008

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On Sunday, November 23, 2008 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, the Columbus Crew won the Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup 2008 against the New York Red Bulls with a score of 3-1. The Crew of Columbus, Ohio was coached by Sigi Schmid. This was the Crew's first ever MLS title. Columbus Crew player, Guillermo Barros Schelotto was named the MLS Cup Most Valuable Player for his MLS Cup record three assists. Schelotto became the third player in MLS history to win both league MVP honors and the MLS Cup Final MVP, joining Tony Meola (2000) and Carlos Ruiz (2002).

Scoring Summary:
CLB -- Alejandro Moreno 1 (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 4) 31
NY -- John Wolyniec 2 (Dane Richards 2) 51
CLB -- Chad Marshall 2 (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 5) 53
CLB -- Frankie Hejduk 1 (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 6, Eddie Gaven 1) 82

Peter Eastgate Wins the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event

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On Tuesday, November 11, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Penn and Teller Theater in the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, Peter Eastgate won the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event against Ivan Demidov. Danish poker player, Eastgate became the youngest player to win the WSOP Main Event at the age of 22-years-old. The previous youngest WSOP Main Event champion was Phil Hellmuth at 24-years-old. Eastgate won first place against 6,844 entrants ($10,000 buy-in). The final 9 players of the WSOP Main Event known as “The November Nine” played for a share of over $32 million on November 11, 2008.

List of WSOP Main Event Winners:
1st – Peter Eastgate - $9,152,416
2nd – Ivan Demidov - $5,809,595
3rd – Dennis Phillips - $4,517,773
4th – Yion Schwartz - $3,774,974
5th – Scott Montgomery - $3,096,768
6th – Darus Suharto - $2,418,562
7th – David “Chino” Rheem - $1,772,650
8th – Kelly Kim - $1,288,217
9th – Craig Marquis - $900,670

Philadelphia Phillies Win the 104th World Series in 2008

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On Wednesday, October 29, 2008, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Pillies won the 104th World Series versus the Tampa Bay Rays by winning 4 games versus 1 game in the best-of-seven games series. The 5th game of the World Series took two days to finish. The 5th game was rained-out on Monday, October 27, 2008 so the game had to be continued on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 with the last 3 innings. The Phillies last won the World Series 28 years ago in 1980.

Phillies left-handed pitcher, Cole Hamels received both the World Series MVP honors and the National League Championship Series MVP honors. Winning both MVP honors is also known as the double-double MVP. Hamels was 4-0 in the postseason with a 1.80 ERA. Hamels is the 5th player to win the double-double MVP since 1969.

Game 1 (10/22/2008): Phillies 3 @ Rays 2
Game 2 (10/23/2008): Phillies 2 @ Rays 4
Game 3 (10/25/2008): Rays 4 @ Phillies 5
Game 4 (10/26/2008): Rays 2 @ Phillies 10
Game 5 (10/27/2008): Rays 3 @ Phillies 4

Tampa Bay Rays Win the 2008 American League Championship Series

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On Sunday, October 19, 2008, at St. Petersburg, Florida, the Tampa Bay Rays won the American League Championship Series (ALCS) versus the Boston Red Sox by winning 4 games versus 3 games in the best of 7 series.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher, Matt Garza, received the ALCS MVP honors.

Game 1 (10/10/2008): Red Sox 2 @ Rays 0
Game 2 (10/11/2008): Red Sox 8 @ Rays 9
Game 3 (10/13/2008): Rays 9 @ Red Sox 1
Game 4 (10/14/2008): Rays 13 @ Red Sox 4
Game 5 (10/16/2008): Rays 7 @ Red Sox 8
Game 6 (10/18/2008): Red Sox 4 @ Rays 2
Game 7 (10/19/2008): Red Sox 1 @ Rays 3

Philadelphia Phillies Win the 2008 National League Championship Series

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On Wednesday, October 15, 2008, in Los Angeles, California, the Philadelphia Phillies won the National League Championship Series (NLCS) versus the Los Angeles Dodgers by winning 4 games versus 1 game in the best-of-seven games series.

Game 1 (10/9/2008): Dodgers 2 @ Phillies 3
Game 2 (10/10/2008): Dodgers 5 @ Phillies 8
Game 3 (10/12/2008): Phillies 2 @ Dodgers 7
Game 4 (10/13/2008): Phillies 7 @ Dodgers 5
Game 5 (10/15/2008): Phillies 5 @ Dodgers 1

Detroit Shock Win 2008 WNBA Finals

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On Sunday, October 5, 2008, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, the Detroit Shock won the WNBA 2008 Championship against the San Antonio Silver Stars. The Detroit Shocks swept the San Antonio Silver Stars in 3 straight games to win the 2008 WNBA Finals.

Katie Smith of the Detroit Shock won the MVP honors.

Game 1: DET 77, SAN 69 Box Video
Game 2: DET 69, SAN 61 Box Video
Game 3: DET 76, SAN 60 Box Video

Roger Federer and Serena Williams Win 2008 Tennis US Open

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On Monday, September 8, 2008 at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York, Roger Federer of Switzerland defeated Andy Murray of Britain in straight sets of 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to win the 2008 Men’s Tennis US Open championship. This is 27-year-old Federer’s fifth straight US Open Title and his 13th Grand Slam title, which is 1 title away from tying Pete Sampras' 14 Grand Slam titles. Federer is the second man since Bill Tilden in 1924 to win the US Open title 5 times in a row. Federer won $1.5 million for the 2008 US Open title.

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On Sunday, September 7, 2008 at Arther Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York, Serena Williams of USA defeated Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in straight sets of 6-4, 7-5 to win the 2008 Women’s Tennis US Open championship. This is 26-year-old Serena Williams’ third US Open championship title. Williams won Grand Slam titles at the U.S. Open in 1999 and 2002. Williams won $1.5 million in prize money. Williams got the No. 1 women’s tennis rank with this victory.

The 2008 Tennis US Open took place from August 25 – September 8, 2008. The tournament ended on September 8 instead of September 7 due to a rain delay on the night of Sept. 6.

Giants Beat Redskins in 2008-2009 NFL Season Opener

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On Thursday, September 4, 2008 in Giant Stadium, at East Rutherford, New Jersey, the New York Giants defeated the Washington Redskins 16-7. Eli Manning started the scoring with a 84-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Giants kicker, John Carney, kicked 3 field goals. The Giants scored on their first 4 possessions. The Redskins scored with a Jason Campbell 12-yard touchdown pass to Santana Moss with 13 seconds left in the first half. This was the opening game of the 2008-2009 NFL Season.

29th Olympiad Closes in Beijing China

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On Sunday, August 24, 2008, the 29th Olympiad closed in Beijing China. China was the winner of the 2008 Summer Olympic games with a gold medal count of 51 gold medals. United States came in second with 36 gold medals. Russia was third with 23 gold medals. This is the first time that China has won the gold medal count. The next Summer Olympiad which will be the 31st Olympiad will be held in London, Britain in 2012.
Top 3 medaling countries of the 29th Olympiad:
1. China – 51 gold, 21 silver, 28 bronze = 100 overall medals
2. United States – 36 gold, 38 silver, 36 bronze = 110 overall medals
3. Russia – 23 gold, 21 silver, 28 bronze = 72 overall medals

Usain Bolt Sets Olympic and World Track Records

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On Friday, August 22, 2008 in Beijing, China, 23-year-old Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the gold medals in the track 100 meter, 200 meter, and 4x100meter relay of the 29th Olympiad. Bolt broke the world record for the 100 meter race with a time of 9.69 seconds. Bolt also broke the world record for the 200 meter race with a time of 19.30 seconds. Bolt and his teammates, Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, and Asafa Powell broke the world record for the 4x100meter relay with a time of 37.10 seconds.

Michael Phelps Sets 8 Gold Medal Olympic Record

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On Sunday, August 17, 2008 in the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China. Michael Phelps of USA set the new 8 gold medals in a single Olympiad world record. Phelps beat Spitz’s 7 gold medals record.
Phelps also received the FINA, the sport’s governing body, best swimmer of the meet award. Phelps received gold medals in these swimming events:
1. 400 individual medley
2. 4x100 freestyle relay
3. 200 freestyle
4. 200 butterfly
5. 4x200 freestyle relay
6. 200 individual medley
7. 100 butterfly
8. 4x100 medley relay

Padraig Harrington Wins Golf’s 90th PGA Championship

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On Sunday, August 10, 2008, at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, Padraig Harrington of Ireland won the 90th PGA Championship.
Harrington won $1,350,000 for first place. Sergio Garcia of Spain and Ben Curtis of USA won $660,000 for tying second place.

2008 Summer Olympics Open in Beijing, China

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On Friday, August 8, 2008 in Beijing, China, the 2008 Summer Olympiad opened in the newly built Bird-Nest Stadium. Broadcasters expect a worldwide audience of 4 billion viewers of the 29th Olympic Games. China spent $41 billion (US dollars) in preparation for the hosting of the Olympiad.

Carlos Sastre Wins Cycling’s 95th Tour de France

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On Sunday, July 27, 2008, in Paris, France, Carlos Sastre of Spain won the 95th Tour de France. Tour de France is the most famous cycling tournament in the world where cyclists compete in bicycles on a 3,500 kilometer trip with 21 stages around the country of France with the finishing line in Paris. The 95th Tour de France was held from Saturday, 7-5-2008 to Sunday, 7-27-2008. Sastre is the 7th Spaniard to win the Tour de France. Cadel Evans of Australia takes second place and Bernhard Kohl of Austria takes third place.

Padraig Harrington Repeats Golf’s British Open Championship

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On Sunday, July 20, 2008, at Royal Birkdale, Southport, England, Padraig Harrington of Ireland defended his Golf British Open Title by winning the 137th British Open. Harrington won the Open by 4 strokes ahead of Ian Poulter of England. Harrington received the Claret Jug trophy for a second straight year.
The British Open lasted from July 17-20, 2008. The British Open also known as the Open Championship is the third tournament in a PGA Grand Slam season. Harrington won $1,498,875 for first place, Poulter won $899,325 for second place. Henrik Stenson of Sweden and Greg Norman of Australia tied for third place, both won $509,618.

2008 World Series of Poker Main Event Delayed Until November 9, 2008

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On Tuesday, July 15, 2008, at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, the final 9 of 6,844 players in the $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Texas Hold’em, 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event were left. Due to a change in the WSOP Main Event tournament to allow broadcasting on ESPN, the Final table will be delayed until November 9, 2008. The final 9 players will also be known as the “November Nine”. The November Nine will play at the Rio’s 1,500-seat Penn & Teller Theater. Each of the 9 players have secured at least $900,000 in winnings. The first place prize will be $9.1 million. 666 players cashed in the event out of a prize pool of $64,333,600.
The official chip count and seating assignments for the 2008 November Nine:
1· DENNIS PHILLIPS, 53, St. Louis, Missouri, 26,295,000

2· IVAN DEMIDOV, 27, Moscow, Russia, 24,400,000

3· SCOTT MONTGOMERY, 26, Perth, Ontario, Canada, 19,690,000

4· PETER EASTGATE, 22, Odense, Denmark, 18,375,000

5· YLON SCHWARTZ, 38, Brooklyn, New York, 12,525,000

6· DARUS SUHARTO, 39, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 12,520,000

7· DAVID RHEEM, 28, Los Angeles, California, 10,230,000

8· CRAIG MARQUIS, 23, Arlington, Texas, 10,210,000

9· KELLY KIM, 31, Whittier, California, 2,620,000
The final nine will play for a total of $32,633,446, with the following pay schedule:
1st Place: $9,119,517
2nd Place: $5,790,024
3rd Place: $4,503,352
4th Place: $3,763,515
5th Place: $3,088,012
6th Place: $2,412,510
7th Place: $1,769,174
8th Place: $1,286,672
9th Place: $900,670

American League Wins MLB 2008 All-Star Game 4-3

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On Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York, the American League (AL) won the MLB 2008 All-Star game 4-3 versus the National League (NL). Minnesota Twins Justin Morneau scored the game winning run from third base on a sacrifice fly. The 79th MLB All-Star game was the longest All-Star game in MLB history. It lasted 15 innings. At 4 hours and 50 minutes, it was the longer than the previous longest All-Star game in 1967 by an hour and equaled the previous high of 15 innings. The 2 teams combined for 27 hits (14 by the AL, 13 by the NL) and left an All-Star record 28 runners on base.
The American League extends its unbeaten All-Star streak to a record 12 games. This victory secures the American League’s home-field advantage in the World Series, the sixth consecutive year since MLB began using the All-Star game to decide the World Series’ home-field advantage.
Boston Red Sox right fielder, J.D. Drew was named the All-Star Game MVP. Drew homered, reached base 4 times and made a catch at the wall to win the MVP award.
This was the fourth and final time that the All-Star game was hosted by Yankee Stadium: 1939, 1960, 1977, 2008. The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 55,632 baseball fans.

Justin Morneau Wins 2008 Homerun Derby

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On Monday, July 14, 2008, at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York, Justin Morneau won the 2008 Homerun Derby. Morneau overcame Josh Hamilton’s first-round record 28 homeruns to win the Homerun Derby in the final round by 5-3.

The Last All-Star Game At Yankee Stadium

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Major League Baseball’s 2008 All-Star game will be hosted on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 by Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York at 7pm est. The 2008 Homerun Derby will start on Monday, July 14, 2008 at 8pm est.

The historic Yankee Stadium built on April 18, 1923 and renovated in the 1970’s will be torn down after the 2008 baseball season. 85-year-old Yankee Stadium currently seats 56,936 fans. The 26 World Series Titles, New York Yankees, will move to a new stadium in 2009.

Rafael Nadal and Venus Williams Win Tennis's 2008 Wimbledon Open

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On Sunday, July 6, 2008, in Wimbledon, England, No. 2 ranked 22-year-old Rafael Nadal of Spain won the 2008 Men’s Wimbledon Open Title against No. 1 ranked 26-year-old Roger Federer of Switzerland in 5 sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7. The match lasted 4 hours 48 minutes which made it the longerst Wimbledon Men’s Final. Nadal won both the French Open and Wimbledon titles in the same year, this was last done by Bjorn Borg in 1980.

On Saturday, July 5, 2008, in Wimbledon, England, No. 7 ranked 28-year-old Venus Williams of USA won the 2008 Women’s Wimbledon Open Title against her No. 6 ranked 26-year-old sister Serena Williams of USA in straight sets 7-5, 6-4. This was Venus Williams’ fifth Wimbledon singles title. This was the seventh contest of the sisters in a Grand Slam final. Venus Williams won $1.47 million for the 2008 Women’s Wimbledon Title, the same as the Men’s tournament.

On Saturday, July 5, 2008, later in the day after their Women’s Finals match, the Williams sisters also won the 2008 Women’s Wimbledon Doubles Title against Lisa Raymond of USA and Samantha Stosur of Australia, 6-2, 6-2. The Williams sisters won $448,000 for the double's title.