Denver Broncos 23, San Diego Chargers 7: Tatum Bell scored three touchdowns for the Broncos, but could muster only 52 yards, leaving him short of a 1,000 yard season, missing out on joining teammate Mike Anderson.
AutoZoneLiberty Bowl: Tulsa 31, Fresno State 24: Golden Hurricane QB Paul Smith scored the winning touchdown for the C-USA champions over the WAC Bulldogs.
EV1.net Houston Bowl: TCU 27, Iowa State 24: Peter LoCoco's 44-yard field goal was the margin of victory for the MWC Champion Horned Frogs in their win over the Cyclones, who were the Big 12 representatives. On January 3, 2006, three days after their triumph in Houston, TCU's freshman kicker, Kasey Davis, is found shot to death in the parking lot of an apartment complex.
(21) Ohio State 78, LSU 76: In, what is called by same, the best comeback of the year thus far, the Buckeyes keeps their perfect record intact going to 10–0. The disappointing loss for the Tigers sends them to 7–4. The winning shot was taken by Matt Sylvester, who also made the shot in March of last year that ended Illinois' bid for a perfect season. Ohio State trailed by 15 points with just over 5½ minutes left and was down by 10 with 2½ minutes to go, but managed to come back and get the win. They are one of eight undefeated teams left.
Arizona 96, (7) Washington 95 (2 OT): Unranked traditional powerhouse Arizona pulls off a gutsy win in a Pac-10 thriller that lasted 50 minutes, two overtimes. With 5.1 seconds to go Kirk Walters made a free throw to give Arizona the lead. It ended Washington's best start to a season since 1975 and also ended the longest current home-winning streak, at 32 games. The new leader is Gonzaga at 30. Washington is another undefeated team to fall, as they go to 11–1. Arizona improves to 9–3, and 2–0 in the Pac-10.
(14) Oklahoma 68, Alabama 56: The Crimson Tide lose yet another chance to beat a ranked team as they fall to the Sooners and Kevin Bookout's 18 points and 8 rebounds. They were bouncing back from an upset loss to West Virginia the previous week, and now move to 8–2, likely holding on to their top 15 spot, if not moving up. Alabama's season has been disappointing, as they now move to 6–5.
Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl presented by Bridgestone: Virginia 34, Minnesota 31: The ACC Cavaliers, the replacement for the SEC who didn't field enough teams who had six wins, needed a 39-yard field goal by Connor Hughes with 1:08 left to beat the Big Ten's Golden Gophers at The Coliseum in Nashville.
Vitalis Sun Bowl: UCLA 50, Northwestern 38: In the sole Big Ten-Pac 10 matchup this bowl season, the Bruins defeated the Wildcats thanks to two on-side kick returns for touchdowns by Brandon Breazell and three touchdown passes by Drew Olson after he had a bad first quarter, throwing three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns in an anomaly, considering that Olson threw a total of three pickoffs in the regular season.
Chick-fil-APeach Bowl: LSU 40, Miami (FL) 3: The ACC's Hurricanes scored the first three points, but the SEC's Bayou Bengals scored the final forty points thanks to 282 yards rushing in the last game using the "Peach Bowl" name, as beginning next year, the game becomes the "Chick-fil-A Bowl." The post-game was marred by a fight between players from both sides.
Emerald Bowl: Utah 38, Georgia Tech 10: The MWC Utes, who shocked the world last year as an entry into the Bowl Championship Series, defeated an outmanned ACC Yellow Jackets squad thanks to Brett Ratliff's 30-for-41 performance for 381 yards and four touchdowns, all caught by wideout Travis LaTendresse. Quinton Genther added 120 rushing yards.
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl: Oklahoma 17, Oregon 14: The Sooners stunned the sixth-ranked Ducks in a typical Holiday Bowl finish, with Cliff Ingram intercepting Brady Leaf's pass deep in Sooner territory. It's the second straight year a high-ranked Pac-10 team was shocked by a Big 12 school.
Four Hills Tournament: In the first meet of the one-week tournament, defending champion Janne Ahonen wins after jumps of 130.5 and 130 metres, gaining a total of 270.9 points. Norway's Roar Ljøkelsøy finishes second, 2.5 points behind, while World Cup leader Jakub Janda of the Czech Republic is 8.3 points off in third place. TSN.ca
MPC Computers Bowl: Boston College 27, Boise State 21: After nearly blowing a 27–0 lead, the ACC's Eagles intercept a Jared Zabransky pass in the end zone with less than two minutes remaining to secure their sixth straight bowl win on the WAC host's hostile "Smurf Turf".
MasterCardAlamo Bowl: Nebraska 32, Michigan 28: The Husker Nation from the Big 12 was delighted to see their team back in post-season play after a one-year absence defeating the Big Ten's Wolverines after a wild play in the final seconds with an attempt to recreate the famed Band Play from the 1982 Cal-Stanford game, but both teams had players on the field other than the eleven legal players on each team winding up with offsetting penalties.
Champs Sports Bowl: Clemson 19, Colorado 10: James Davis rushes for 148 yards and a touchdown as the ACC Tigers survived a game Big 12 Buffaloes comeback.
Insight Bowl: Arizona State 45, Rutgers 40: In the long-awaited rematch of the inaugural Garden State Bowl, the de facto host Sun Devils from the Pac-10 — behind Rudy Carpenter's four touchdown passes — rallied to defeat the Scarlet Knights from the Big East in what could very well be the last football game played at Chase Field. Next year's game will move to Sun Devil Stadium on the ASU campus. The teams combined for 1,211 yards total offense, a record for any bowl game.
(4) Memphis 83, (8) Gonzaga 72: The Tigers win at home to go to 10–1, their best start since 1985–86. The nation's leading scorer, Gonzaga's Adam Morrison, scores 34 points, but goes cold at the wrong time, failing to score in the final 9:31 of the game.
New England Patriots 31, New York Jets 21: In the final ABC broadcast of the series after thirty-six seasons and 555 games, the Pats prevailed thanks to two Mike Vrabel touchdown catches. In a major twist of fate, the Jets lost to Cleveland by the exact same score in the first Monday Night Football game played back in 1970. Next September, the MNF package will be moving to Disney-owned sibling ESPN.
Baltimore Ravens 30, Minnesota Vikings 23: The Vikings went from contenders at 4:59 p.m. US EST to elimination at 11:39 p.m. US EST with the Bears beating the Packers and their loss to the Ravens. Kyle Boller threw for 289 yards in the victory.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27, Atlanta Falcons 24 (OT): Matt Bryant's 41-yard field goal with 14 seconds left in overtime eliminates the Falcons from post-season contention.
Buffalo Bills 37, Cincinnati Bengals 27: Terrence McGee has two touchdowns — a 99-yard kickoff return and a late 46-yard interception of Carson Palmer — to ruin the Bengals' hopes of a first-round bye. McGee becomes the first player in NFL history to return a kickoff and interception for TDs in the same game.
Jacksonville Jaguars 38, Houston Texans 20: The Jags trailed in the fourth quarter but come back to clinch a wild-card spot with the victory over the game Texans.
Seattle Seahawks 28, Indianapolis Colts 13: The Seahawks clinched the top seed in the NFC playoffs with the win. Shaun Alexander scored his 27th touchdown of the season, tying the NFL record with a game left in the 2005 season.
Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl: Nevada 49, Central Florida 48 (OT): Matt Prater missed an extra point in the overtime to give the WAC Wolf Pack the victory over the Golden Knights from C-USA.
Wales and Ospreys centre Gavin Henson is handed a 10-week and 2 day ban by the International Rugby Board after a disciplinary panel finds him guilty of elbowing Leicester prop Alex Moreno in the face; the assault left Moreno with a broken nose. The ban means that Henson, who was such a vital player in Wales' 2005 Grand Slam success, will be suspended for the first three rounds of the 2006 Six Nations Championship. BBC
Pioneer Pure Vision Las Vegas Bowl: California 35, BYU 28: Marshawn Lynch had 194 yards rushing and three touchdowns as the Bears of the Pac-10 edged the Cougars from the MWC.
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl: Navy 51, Colorado State 30: Reggie Campbell tied an NCAA bowl record with five touchdowns — three rushing, two receiving — as the independent Midshipmen sailed to victory in the inaugural game over the MWC's Rams.
(3) Villanova 98, La Salle 57: In the first matchup of undefeated teams in the Big 5 of Philadelphia since Temple and Villanova were both 6–0 in 1981, and the only Big 5 matchup that pitted two 7–0 (or better) undefeated teams against each other, Villanova's Allan Ray and Randy Foye combine for 41 points to crush La Salle. The Wildcats, not surprisingly, have gone to 8–0, while the surprisingly successful Explorers fall to 7–1.
West Virginia 92, (7) Oklahoma 68: In a game that was close until fairly deep into the 2nd half, the Mountaineers scored 19 of the game's final 22 points, to, in his words, "embarrass" coach Kelvin Sampson. The Sooners, ranked in the top 10 in the country, fall to 6–2, while currently unranked West Virginia improves to 7–3 behind Kevin Pittsnogle's 25 points.
GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama: Toledo 45, UTEP 13: Bruce Gradowski throws five touchdown passes and Trinity Dawson rushes for 132 yards to lead the MAC's Rockets in a rout of the C-USA Miners.
Men's College Basketball: (1) Duke 70, St. John's (NY) 57: In the now annual game between the two schools, the Blue Devils win fairly easily to claim their 4th 11–0 start in the last 5 years. The Red Storm, however, are on the slide, losing their last three in a row (making them 5–4). JJ Redick led Duke with 18 points.
20 December 2005 (Tuesday)
NBA: Kobe Bryant scored a career-high 62 points in only three quarters — including a club-record 30 in the third quarter alone — in the Los Angeles Lakers' 112–90 rout of the Dallas Mavericks. When he left after the third quarter, he outscored the entire Mavericks team, 62–61 and the entire third quarter, 30–17.
MLB: Johnny Damon, the long-haired and bearded center fielder for the Boston Red Sox, agreed to a four-year deal with the BoSox's hated rival, the New York Yankees, which means he will cut his hair and shave the beard as per George Steinbrenner's dictation.
Baltimore Ravens 48, Green Bay Packers 3: The Ravens set a team record for scoring in this demolition of the Pack, the latter team's worst loss in a quarter century.
Snooker: 18-year-old rising Chinese star Ding Junhui becomes the first person from outside the UK or Ireland to win the UK Championship, when he defeats the 48-year-old six-time former world champion Steve Davis by 10 frames to 6.
Boxing: In Berlin, Germany, Russian Nicolay Valuev became the tallest (7 feet; 2.1 meters tall) and largest (330 pounds; 150 kg) to win a heavyweight championship in a controversial majority decision over John Ruiz to win the WBA version of the title.
NHL: Phoenix Coyotes coach and part owner Wayne Gretzky takes an indefinite leave of absence from his duties as coach of the team due to his mother suffering from lung cancer. Assistant coach Rick Tocchet will serve as interim coach.
New York Giants 27, Kansas City Chiefs 17: Tiki Barber rushes for a team-record 220 yards and two touchdowns, including a 20-yard score with 3:43 left. He outdoes Larry Johnson, who had 167 yards and two touchdowns for the Chiefs.
Denver Broncos 27 Buffalo Bills 17: Rod Smith catches 11 passes — nine in the first half — for 137 yards and a touchdown, and Denver clinches the AFC West.
Tennessee 95, (6) Texas 78: After an embarrassing defeat at the hands of #1 Duke the previous week while #2 in the country, Texas is crushed by unranked, but unbeaten, Tennessee in Austin. It is assumed Texas will drop more ranks, possibly out of the Top 10, when the next poll is taken on Monday. Chris Lofton led Tennessee with 21 points, while P. J. Tucker had 20 for Texas.
(23) Kentucky 73, (4) Louisville 61: After a bad previous weekend (losing to Indiana 79–53), Tubby Smith and the Wildcats stifle Louisville's offense to go on to the 12-point win, behind Rajon Rondo's 21-point game. Kentucky improves to 7–3, while Louisville is no longer undefeated at 6–1. Louisville's six wins had all been against mid-major squads.
(14) UCLA 68, Michigan 61: The Wolverines became yet another team to suffer their first loss of the season. It comes at home to the hands of ranked rival UCLA. The Bruins improve to 8–1 with their only loss coming to 5th ranked Memphis (88–80). Michigan is now 7–1.
Group F: Marseille 2–1 Dinamo București: In a controversial finish, a late Dinamo goal in added time was disallowed by the referee because time had expired. Had it been allowed, Dinamo would have been in the final 32.
New England Patriots 35, Buffalo Bills 7: Lake-effect snow off Lake Erie couldn't stop the Patriots' defense, as they held the Bills to a total of fourteen rushing yards.
New York Giants 26 Philadelphia Eagles 23 (OT): Struggling Giants kicker Jay Feely kicks four field goals, including the 36-yard game-winner in overtime. With the loss, the Eagles are eliminated from playoff contention, marking the fourth straight year that the NFC Champion from the previous season failed to make the playoffs.
Miami Dolphins 23, San Diego Chargers 21: Chris Chambers has another big day for Miami, catching eight passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. The Chargers are still tied with the Chiefs.
NCAA Men's College Basketball: (1) Duke 97, (2) Texas 66: The showdown at The Meadowlands was more of a lopsided affair as JJ Redick led the Blue Devils with 41 points, including nine three-point baskets, outshooting the whole Longhorn team (who could only get three trifectas) by himself. LaMarcus Aldridge led Texas with 23 points.
College Football: Reggie Bush wins the 2005 Heisman Trophy as the best player in college football. The Heisman is probably the most-venerated individual honor in American sports.
Football: The draw for the groups of the 2006 World Cup takes place in Leipzig, Germany. Group E (Italy, Ghana, USA, Czech Republic) and Group C (Argentina, Côte d'Ivoire, Serbia & Montenegro, Netherlands) are widely regarded as the competition's Groups of Death. Hosts Germany will open play against Costa Rica in Group A while Brazil, the defending World Champions, head up Group F. (FIFAworldcup.com)
8 December 2005 (Thursday)
Baseball: The final remnants of Busch Stadium II, home of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1966 to 2005, were demolished in the early morning hours, as a special fireworks display that followed signaled the end of one era, and the beginning of another era, as Busch Stadium III is scheduled to officially open on April 10, 2006, as the Cardinals host the Milwaukee Brewers.
Biathlon: World Cup meet 2/10 in Hochfilzen, Austria: The 15 km individual race is won by a clear margin by Anna Carin Olofsson; her first appearance at the top of the podium, and the first Swedish WC win since 2001. Russian teammates Olga Zaitseva and Natalia Guseva finishes second and third, 40 seconds and 1 min 45 sec behind, respectively. Olofsson and Guseva had two shooting errors, while Zaitseva, advancing to the lead in the WC total score, made only one error. (Biathlonworld)[permanent dead link]
Seattle Seahawks 42, Philadelphia Eagles 0: The Eagles retired Reggie White's number 92 at halftime, the home team was pretty much retired before that. The Seahawks used three turnover returns for touchdowns — two of them by Andre Dyson — and two Shaun Alexander touchdowns to thrash the "Beagles".
Women's soccer: In the final of the 2005 College Cup, the Portland Pilots, behind two goals by Canada internationalChristine Sinclair, shut out UCLA by a 4–0 score, made even more incredible by the fact that the Bruins had shut out all their previous five NCAA tournament opponents before this game. The Pilots finish the season unbeaten (24 wins, 2 draws).
New York Giants 17, Dallas Cowboys 10: The Giants defense forces four turnovers, including a fumble returned for a touchdown, and sacks Drew Bledsoe four times to take first place in the NFC East.
Kansas City Chiefs 31, Denver Broncos 27: Thanks to an overturn on replay on a fourth and one that the Broncos had thought was a first down, the Chiefs won their seventeenth straight game at home in Arrowhead Stadium during the month of December.
(4) Villanova 85, (5) Oklahoma 74: In an early matchup of Top 5 teams, Villanova's outstanding guard play is enough to outscore Oklahoma's stars. Villanova star Randy Foye accounted for 32 of Nova's points on the night, while often injured big man Jason Fraser added 10 of his own. It was the 4th game for Nova who go to 4–0 and was the fifth for Oklahoma who fall to 4–1. Both teams are thought of as perennial contenders for the final four.
North Carolina 83, (10) Kentucky 79: Defending champion North Carolina, who is unranked coming into the game, defeats Top 10 team Kentucky behind 25 points from Reyshawn Terry and 6 from freshman star Tyler Hansbrough, who also had 9 rebounds. UNC improved to 4–1, while Kentucky fell to 5–2.
Boxing: Jermain Taylor defeats Bernard Hopkins by a razor-thin unanimous decision, scoring 115–113 on all three ringside judges' scorecards and retains the undisputed middleweight championship in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Army–Navy Gamein Philadelphia: Despite a 257-yard, three touchdown performance from Army QB Zac Dahman, Navy wins their fourth straight game, 42–23 behind 490 yards rushing, 129 of them by Adam Ballard. The Poinsettia Bowl-bound Midshipmen take home the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy, by virtue of beating both Army and Air Force for the third straight year. and now lead the series 50–49 with seven ties
Louisiana Tech 40, (23) Fresno State 28: The Fresno State loss — their third straight — gives Nevada and Boise State shares of the WAC title. However, La Tech will not go to a bowl game as the WAC had only three slots available.
Akron 31, Northern Illinois 30: After missing the 2004–05 bowl season with a 7–4 record, Akron wins its first MAC championship on a 36-yard touchdown pass to Domenik Hixon with 10 seconds left. The Zips advance to the Motor City Bowl, their first bowl game ever as a Division I-A member.