2004 Austrian presidential election, Campaign
The campaign started in January 2004 with the announcements of Ferrero-Waldner and Fischer that they would run. Several other candidates also announced their intention to run, but they were not supported by a major party, their campaigns went virtually unnoticed by the media, and they failed to get the required 6,000 signatures supporting their candidacy.


2004 Austrian presidential election, Campaign
A notable exception was Franz Fiedler, head of the National Audit Office. In late February he announced that he was considering a candidacy, and that he had the support of important but unnamed politicians. Conventional wisdom held that he had no chance of getting a majority, but that his candidacy would force a run-off between Ferrero-Waldner and Fischer. But since his financial supporters were unwilling to reveal their names, he decided not to run.


2004 Austrian presidential election, Campaign
In advance of the campaign the ÖVP and the SPÖ agreed on a "Fairness Pact," with compliance to be supervised by a panel of three people, headed by Ludwig Adamovich, former head of the Constitutional Court.


2004 Austrian presidential election, Campaign
The first complaint before the panel was brought by the SPÖ, who claimed that the ÖVP had stolen one of their slogans. The panel decided that this was not fair according to community standards, but not specifically forbidden by the Fairness Pact. Both parties hailed this decision as a victory for their own side.


2004 Austrian presidential election, Campaign
Later, both sides complained that the other side had given out presents of tangible value (mainly chocolates) at rallies; the panel refused to consider these claims. Other complaints (commercials during the agreed-upon Easter break, tearing down and defacing posters) were withdrawn.


2004 Austrian presidential election, Platforms
Fischer's campaign praised their candidate's experience as President of the Parliament, his expertise in constitutional law, and his proven ability to  negotiate compromises. Ferrero's campaign suggested that as a dedicated socialist Fischer might not always show the neutrality required from a Federal President.


2004 Austrian presidential election, Platforms
Ferrero's campaign pointed to her international connections, her language abilities (English, French, Italian, Spanish), and her performance as foreign minister during the period of the European Union sanctions against Austria. Fischer's campaign claimed that she had made many mistakes as a foreign minister, and expressed the fear that a conservative president would not be an appropriate counterweight to a conservative government.


2004 Austrian presidential election, Platforms
In the beginning of the campaign, polls suggested a 15% lead for Fischer: during the campaign Ferrero narrowed the margin, but polls never showed a decisive lead for her.


2004 Austrian presidential election, Results
In the 2002 parliamentary elections the conservative parties (the ÖVP and the Freedom Party of Austria, FPÖ) received 52 percent of the votes, compared to 46 percent for the SPÖ and the Greens. In this election, however, many conservative voters stayed at home, and this (together with Fischer's high personal popularity) was the reason for the lower number of votes for Ferrero. The turnout of slightly above 70% of registered voters was considered low by Austrian standards.


2004 Auto Club 500
The 2004 Auto Club 500 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series stock car race held on May 2, 2004 at California Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 250 laps on the 2-mile (3.23 km) asphalt D-shaped oval, it was the tenth race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. Rookie Kasey Kahne of Evernham Motorsports won the pole, and Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the race.


2004 Auto Club 500, Background
The track, California Speedway, is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long. The track's turns are banked from fourteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at eleven degrees. Unlike the front stretch, the backstraightaway is banked at three degrees.


2004 Auvergne regional election
A regional election took place in Auvergne on March 21 and March 28, 2004, along with all other regions. Pierre-Joël Bonté (PS) was elected President, defeating incumbent Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, a former President of France.


2004 Azorean regional election
The Azores Regional Election, 2004 (Portuguese: Eleições Regionais dos Açores, 2004) was an election held on 17 October 2004 for the legislative assembly and government of the Portuguese autonomous region of the Azores, in which the Socialist Party, under the leadership of Carlos César won 57% of the votes, and got an absolute majority, for the 2nd consecutive turn. The Social Democratic Party ran in a coalition with the People's Party, called Azores Coalition, but was massively defeated gathering just 37% of the votes.


2004 Azorean regional election
Voter turnout increased, for the first time since the 1992 election, with 55.2% of the electorate casting their ballot on election day.


2004 Azorean regional election, Background
In the Azores, there were 52 seats in the Regional Parliament in dispute, the same of the previous election, in 2000. The seats were distributed by the 9 islands of the archipelago proportionally to the population of each island; however, each island is entitled to at least two members of parliament.


2004 Azorean regional election, Political parties
A total of 7 parties and/or coalitions ran in these elections. The parties/coalitions listed on the voting ballots were the following:


2004 Azorean regional election, Results
For a third consecutive term, the Socialist Party won the regional election in Azores, increasing its share of the vote from 49% to 57%, and re-electing Carlos César to the presidency of the Regional Government. César and his party obtained an absolute majority with 31 of the assembly's 52 seats.


2004 Azorean regional election, Results
The Social Democrats and the People's Party contested these elections in a joint coalition called "Azores Coalition". The coalition achieved a very disappointing result, polling 20% below the Socialists. The PSD/CDS-PP coalition only won 37% of the votes, but was able to increase the number of parliament members to 21, against the combined total of 20 both parties had since 2000. In fact, the bad result from this PSD/CDS-PP coalition was one of the reasons PSD and CDS didn't contest, in a coalition, the 2005 general elections.


2004 Azorean regional election, Results
Due to the strong bipolarization of the race, both PS and PSD/CDS-PP gathered a total of almost 94% of the votes, and due to the application of the Hondt election model in the nine islands, the smaller parties were severely punished. The Unitarian Democratic Coalition (CDU), led by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), saw their share of vote reduced by almost half and they lost all representation in the regional parliament. The Left Bloc also suffered a setback by polling below 1%.


2004 Azorean regional election, Results
The People's Monarchist Party, the Earth Party and the Democratic Party of the Atlantic also failed to make any inroads.


2004 BA-CA-TennisTrophy
The 2004 BA-CA-TennisTrophy was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 30th edition of the event known that year as the BA-CA-TennisTrophy, and was part of the International Series Gold of the 2004 ATP Tour. It took place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, from 11 October through 17 October 2004.


2004 BA-CA-TennisTrophy, Finals, Singles
Feliciano López defeated  Guillermo Cañas 6–4, 1–6, 7–5, 3–6, 7–5


2004 BA-CA-TennisTrophy, Finals, Doubles
Martin Damm /  Cyril Suk defeated  Gastón Etlis /  Martín Rodríguez 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–4)


2004 BA-CA-TennisTrophy – Doubles
Yves Allegro and Roger Federer were the defending champions, but did not participate this year.


2004 BA-CA-TennisTrophy – Doubles
Martin Damm and Cyril Suk won the title, defeating Gastón Etlis and Martín Rodríguez 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–4) in the final.


2004 BA-CA-TennisTrophy – Singles
Roger Federer was the defending champion, but did not participate this year.


2004 BA-CA-TennisTrophy – Singles
Feliciano López won the title, defeating Guillermo Cañas 6–4, 1–6, 7–5, 3–6, 7–5 in the final.


2004 BC Lions season
The 2004 BC Lions finished in first place in the West Division with a 13–5 record. They won the West Final and appeared in the 92nd Grey Cup.


2004 BC Lions season, Playoffs, Grey Cup
Toronto Argonauts (27) – TDs, Damon Allen (2), Robert Baker; FGs Noel Prefontaine (2); cons., Prefontaine (3).


2004 BC Lions season, Playoffs, Grey Cup
BC Lions (19) – TDs, Jason Clermont, Dave Dickenson; FGs Duncan O'Mahony (2); cons. O'Mahony (1).


2004 BC Lions season, Playoffs, Grey Cup
First Quarter BC—TD Clermont 12-yard pass from Dickenson (O'Mahony convert) 4:07


2004 BC Lions season, Playoffs, Grey Cup
Second Quarter TOR—FG Prefontaine 27-yard field goal 7:40 TOR—TD Allen 1-yard run (Prefontaine convert) 12:22  BC—FG O'Mahony 42-yard field goal 13:13 TOR—TD Baker 23-yard pass from Allen (Prefontaine convert) 14:37


2004 BC Lions season, Playoffs, Grey Cup
Third Quarter TOR—TD Allen 1-yard run (Prefontaine convert) 4:45 BC—FG O'Mahony 36-yard field goal 9:16


2004 BC Lions season, Playoffs, Grey Cup
Fourth Quarter BC—TD Dickenson 7-yard run (convert failed) 6:06 TOR—FG Prefontaine 16-yard field goal 12:19


2004 BCR Open Romania
The 2004 BCR Open Romania was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 12th edition of the event known that year as the BCR Open Romania, and was part of the International Series of the 2004 ATP Tour. It took place at the Arenele BNR in Bucharest, Romania, from September 13 through September 19, 2004.


2004 BCR Open Romania, Finals, Doubles
Lucas Arnold Ker /  Mariano Hood defeated  José Acasuso /  Oscar Hernandez 7–6(7–5), 6–1


2004 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2004 Lakeside World Darts Championship was the first World Darts Championship held after Imperial Tobacco were forced to withdraw their sponsorship. UK government legislation had banned tobacco companies from attaching their brands to sporting events from 2003.


2004 BDO World Darts Championship
The tournament had been previously known as the Embassy World Championship for 26 years since its inception in 1978. Bob Potter, owner of the Lakeside Country Club which hosts the event, stepped in to become the new title sponsor of the event. The prize fund for 2004 matched the previous year, with the exception of the non-qualifiers payments which were removed.


2004 BDO World Darts Championship
The championship was staged between 3–11 January. Andy Fordham became a new name on the trophy after defeating defending champion, Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-final and Mervyn King in the final. Fordham hit the highest 3-dart average in the final (97.18) since the PDC/BDO split in 1993 - although Phil Taylor and Eric Bristow had each surpassed that figure twice in their previous BDO title wins.


2004 BDO World Darts Championship, Prize money
The prize money was £199,000 for the men's event and £10,000 for the women's event.


2004 BDO World Darts Championship, Prize money
There was also a shared 9 Dart Checkout prize of £51,000, along with a High Checkout prize of £2,000 per event.


2004 BFL season
The 2004 season of the Belgian Football League (BFL) is the regular season played in the Belgium. The Antwerp Diamonds won Belgian Bowl XVII against the Leuven Lions by a score of 12-0.


2004 BFL season, Regular season, Regular season standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT = Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against The top four teams of the regular season are seeded into playoffs for the Belgian Bowl.


2004 BMW Open
The 2004 BMW Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in Munich, Germany and was part of the International Series of the 2004 ATP Tour. The tournament ran from 26 April until 2 May 2004. Unseeded Nikolay Davydenko won the singles title.


2004 BMW Open, Finals, Doubles
James Blake /  Mark Merklein defeated  Julian Knowle /  Nenad Zimonjić 6–2, 6–4


2004 BMW Open – Doubles
Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett were the defending champions but did not compete that year.


2004 BMW Open – Doubles
James Blake and Mark Merklein won in the final 6–2, 6–4 against Julian Knowle and Nenad Zimonjić.


2004 BMW Open – Singles
Roger Federer was the defending champion but did not compete that year.


2004 BMW Open – Singles
Nikolay Davydenko won in the final 6–4, 7–5 against Martin Verkerk.


2004 BNP Paribas Masters
The 2004 Paris Masters (also known as the BNP Paribas Masters for sponsorship reasons) was a men's tennis tournament held at the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France and played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 32nd edition of the Paris Masters, and was part of the 2004 ATP Masters Series. The tournament was held from 1 November to 8 November 2004. Russia's Marat Safin defeated Czech Radek Štěpánek in the final to win the singles title.


2004 BNP Paribas Masters, Finals, Doubles
Jonas Björkman /  Todd Woodbridge defeated  Wayne Black /  Kevin Ullyett, 6–3, 6–4


2004 BNP Paribas Masters – Doubles
Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley were the defending champions, but lost in the first round this year.


2004 BNP Paribas Masters – Doubles
Jonas Björkman and Todd Woodbridge won in the final 6–3, 6–4, against Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett.


2004 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles
Marat Safin defeating Radek Štěpánek in the final, 6–3, 7–6(7–5), 6–3, to win the title at the 2004 Paris Masters. It was his then-record third title at the Paris Masters, and he became the first man to win the two final Masters events of the season back-to-back, having won the Madrid Masters the week before.


2004 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles
Tim Henman was the defending champion but he lost in the third round to Mikhail Youzhny.


2004 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. All sixteen seeds received a bye into the second round.


2004 BX159
2004 BX159, is an asteroid from the central region of the asteroid belt, approximately 1.2 kilometers in diameter. It was first observed at Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert of Chile on 20 January 2004. 2004 BX159 missed the virtual impactor date of 29 August 2009. The asteroid was removed from the Sentry Risk Table in April 2014 as a result of precovery images establishing it is a harmless main belt asteroid.


2004 BX159, Description
2004 BX159 orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.2–2.9 AU once every 4.03 years (1,471 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and an inclination of 4° with respect to the ecliptic.


2004 BX159, Description
After discovery, it was thought to be a Mars-crossing asteroid because of its poorly known orbit, and was listed on the Sentry Risk Table as a possible impactor. With an observation arc of 3 days and only 8 observations, perihelion was determined to be 1.5±3 astronomical units (AU).


2004 BX159, Description
Precovery observations in archival data of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea were identified in early 2014, resulting in a dramatic improvement of the orbital accuracy, sufficient to recognize the object as a regular main belt asteroid, not posing any danger to Earth.


2004 BX159, Description
The body was subsequently linked by the Minor Planet Center with additional observations reported since 1997. It has now a well-established orbit, observed over decades, with the lowest possible uncertainty of 0.


2004 BX159, Description
It is even known that 2004 BX159 passed 0.0036 AU (540,000 km; 330,000 mi) from asteroid 3 Juno on 18 September 1961.


2004 BYU Cougars football team
The 2004 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season.


2004 BYU Cougars football team, Schedule
•SportsWest Productions (SWP) games were shown locally on KSL 5.


2004 BYU Cougars football team, BYU Cougars Radio Network
The BYU Cougars radio network carried every game on radio using the broadcast trio of Greg Wrubell (pxp), Marc Lyons (analyst), and Bill Riley or Andy Boyce (sidelines). KSL 1160 AM served as the flagship station for BYU Football.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election
The Ba'kelalan by-election was a by-election for the seat of Ba'kelalan state constituency in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly. The seat fell vacant after the death if its incumbent member, Dr Judson Sakai Tagal in a helicopter crash at Mount Murud. The seat was defended for Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government by Nelson Balang Rining of the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), while an independent politician Baru Bian contested against BN in a straight one-to-one fight.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election
At the time of the election, there were 7,976 voters, a majority of whom were the Lun Bawang and Kelabit people. Since the creation of the constituency in 1995, the incumbent Dr Judson Sakai Tagal won the seat for two consecutive terms uncontested. This is the first time that the Ba'kelalan residents are able to exercise their rights to vote since the creation of the constituency. The seat has been won continuously by BN since the constituency creation.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election
In this by-election, Nelson Balang Rining successfully defended the seat at a 1,452 majority. Baru Bian, who only decided to contest within 24 hours of the nomination day was able to garner 1,391 votes although he was widely believed to have lost deposit (garner less than 1/8 of the total votes cast) before the polling day.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Background and history
The Ba'kelalan state constituency has various ethnic groups which can be grouped under Orang Ulu people ("upriver people"). The Lun Bawang and the Kelabit people forms the majority of the ethnic groups here. The Ba'kelalan state constituency was formally part of the Lawas state constituency. In 1995, Ba'kelalan state constituency was separated from Lawas during a delineation exercise. At the time of the by-election, there were a total of 7,976 eligible voters with 70% of them were Kelabits or Lun Bawang, 1.2% Chinese, 0.8 percent Bidayuh, 0.9% Malay/Melanau, and 0.1% other ethnic groups.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Background and history
Since the creation of the constituency in 1995, the Ba'kelalan residents never voted before because the incumbent Dr Judson Sakai Tagal, won uncontested for two consecutive terms in 1996 and 2001 state elections. Therefore, this by-election was the first time that residents was able to exercise their voting rights since the creation of the constituency.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Background and history
Ba'kelalan is situated deep in the interior of Sarawak bordering Indonesian Kalimantan. Therefore, the only convenient mode of access is by air.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Nomination of candidates
Nomination of candidates have become an issue in this election. Firstly, the Sarawak BN coalition has nominated several names, followed by another few names by the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) leaders, and several names from the grassroots (people of Ba'kelalan). Meanwhile, other Sarawak BN component parties such as Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) and Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) decided to rally behind any BN candidate being nominated. The state BN chairman, Abdul Taib Mahmud, preferred Nelson Balang, Judson Sakai's political secretary and SPDP youth chief, because he is familiar with the area and its people.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Nomination of candidates
On the other hand, SPDP president William Mawam Ikom, has his own list of candidates. The list did not include Nelsong Balang but choose Bob Baru, a Miri based dentist because has high education background and well-liked by the Ba'kelalan community. Besides, SPDP also suggested another candidate, Roland Mattu as a possible candidate. However, BN top leadership did not favour Bob Baru because he has a strong Christian background which could be affecting the state political scene dominated by muslim Melanau. Finally, SPDP succumb to the choice of the top leadership in Sarawak BN.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Nomination of candidates
With rumours spreading that BN would win the by-election on the nomination day, a Lun Bawang lawyer based in Kuching named Baru Bian unexpectedly offered himself as an independent candidate to campaign against BN on the day before the nomination day. Baru was a Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) supreme council member. He resigned from PBDS and made a press statement that he would contest as an independent because PBDS, as a member of the BN coalition, cannot contest against each other.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Nomination of candidates
Unlike BN, Baru Bian relied on his previous record on defending Native Customary Rights (NCR) cases against property developers in court. He is well-known in the Lun Bawang community because of his strong principles and exceptional faith. Baru Bian decided to contest in the last minute because of requests by certain Ba'kelalan residents to represent them. He also noted that a considerable number of the Ba'kelalan residents did not favour Nelson Balang. Baru previously contested against PBB's Awang Tengah Ali Hassan at Lawas constituency under PBDS ticket but lost. Baru Bian is the cousin of Nelson Balang. Baru was also a senior pastor of Borneo Evangelical Mission (BEM) church.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Nomination of candidates
Another independent candidate named Wilson Lio Apoi also expressed interests in contesting in this election. He claimed that he obtained support from Bario and Lawas. However, his nominating paper was rejected by returning officer. Other candidates such as Frank Samuel Agong, and Mohamed Brahim also had their nomination papers rejected due to technical errors. Sarawak National Party (SNAP) was an opposition party. It declined to reveal its own list of possible candidates. The party then decided to withdraw from contesting in this by-election a few days before the nomination day. Meanwhile, Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) refused to involve in this by-election. Sarawak DAP chairman Wong Ho Leng opined that a different kind of voice is needed to break the BN dominance in Sarawak politics.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Election campaign issues, Barisan Nasional
Sarawak BN has always been campaigning on the platform of developing Ba'kelalan and improve the region's socioeconomic status. The BN candidate Nelson Balang stated that he will continue to bring development to Ba'kelalan. These includes better electricity, water supply, and roads to the constituents. Alfred Jabu Numpang, the Sarawak deputy chief minister told the Ba'kelalan voters that only BN can bring to development to them. Meanwhile, a senior minister in the Sarawak cabinet Awang Tengah Ali Hassan stated that an independent candidate will not be able to bring any changes to Ba'kelalan. Under previous state assemblyman Judson Sakai, Ba'kelalan had slightly better road access and electricity supply although the some road sare still inaccesible by small vehicles. BN also hired four-wheel drives to bring voters to polling stations.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Election campaign issues, Barisan Nasional
BN also announced that they Ba'kelalan would be developed as a tourism destination. Meanwhile, Awang Tengah announced that a RM 76 million water supply project would be implemented soon in this region.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Election campaign issues, Baru Bian
On the other hand, Baru Bian viewed development in terms of both mental and spiritual developments. He clarify that he was not totally against BN in this election as he was providing alternative voice for the people. This was because Nelson Belong was not well accepted by the Ba'kelalan constituents. He also stressed that land rights and land acquisitions are both important in the development of Ba'kelalan. As a devout Christian, Baru also had a chance to influence those who are sympathetic to his religious outlook. Baru said that:


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Election campaign issues, Baru Bian
We stand to defend our right to decide who we want, for all the good that God had taught us, for honesty and intergrity. This is more important in our teaching that material wealth and possession. Our faith had taught us man shall not live by bread alone.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Results
There were 56% of the voters participated in this election. As expected, Nelson Balang won the election with a majority of 1,452 votes. In terms of percentage, Nelson obtained 67% of the votes while Baru Bian obtained 36%. Older voters tend to vote for BN for more developments in Ba'kelalan while younger voters opted for Baru Bian because of his academic qualifications and championing of native customary rights. The Kelabit people voted for Nelson Balang while Lun Bawang people voted for Baru Bian.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Results
Areas such as Limbang, Bario, and Medamit are known to vote for Nelson Balang while the people from the interior of Ba'kelalan such as Long Tuma, Long Tuping, and Long Sebangang voted for Baru Bian. Baru Bian won in 32 polling stations in the lowland regions of the constituency while Nelson Balang won in the highland villages of Ba'kelalan and Bario.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Aftermath
After the by-election, Nelson Balang vowed to continue Dr Judson Sakai's legacy in developing Ba'kelalan. Meanwhile, Baru Bian accepted his defeat. He said he will continue to defend native land rights. Baru was also willing to contest the seat again in the coming 2006 state election. Baru also reminded BN on finding the cause on why there is considerable number of voters not supporting BN. He also hoped that BN will help to alleviate the socio-economic and infrastructure problems in Ba'kelalan. Baru also congratulated his cousin after the election.


2004 Ba'kelalan by-election, Aftermath
Prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi thanked the voters and congratulated Sarawak chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud for winning the by-election. Malaysian deputy prime minister Najib Razak said that Barisan win was expected because the people already expressed their wish for more development.


2004 Baghdad refusal of orders
On October 13, 2004, American Army reservists participating in the Iraq War refused an order to drive a convoy of fuel tankers lacking armour plates through Baghdad, leading to claims of "mutiny" amongst the soldiers who claimed to be balking at a "suicide mission" that would have seen them enter hostile territory without a combat escort, in damaged trucks without armor plating.


2004 Baghdad refusal of orders
The 343rd Quartermaster Company, based in Rock Hill, South Carolina had earlier been forced to turn back from an abortive 3.5 day journey to another army base which had refused their load of contaminated fuel.


2004 Baghdad refusal of orders
Returning to Tallil Air Base, the same company was ordered to take their cargo to Taji, north of Baghdad. The journey would be through dangerous terrain known for ambushes by Iraqi insurgents and would be made without the usual infantry and helicopter escort.


2004 Baghdad refusal of orders, Fallout
While 19 soldiers refused the order, only 18 were placed under investigation. In the end, the army decided not to pursue a court-martial against the soldiers, but rather to seek non-judicial punishments against five of them. Five soldiers were reassigned to different units.


2004 Baghdad refusal of orders, Fallout
The Army ordered the 120-troop company put on stand down, and taken off active duty while their vehicles were repaired and upgraded with steel armor plates. They returned to active status on November 11.


2004 Baghdad refusal of orders, Fallout
On October 21, the Army announced that they had replaced the commander of the unit at her own request. The first sergeant was also replaced as a result of the action.


2004 Bahrain Grand Prix
The 2004 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially the 2004 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 4 April 2004 at the Bahrain International Circuit. It was Race 3 of 18 in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship. It was the first Formula One race to be held in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Middle East. The 57-lap race was the third round of the 2004 Formula One season. The race was won by Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher. His teammate Rubens Barrichello completed a 1-2 for the team, whilst Jenson Button completed the podium for the BAR team by finishing in third position.


2004 Bahrain Grand Prix, Friday drivers
The bottom 6 teams in the 2003 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.


2004 Bahrain Superprix
The 2004 Bahrain Super Prix was the inaugural and only Bahrain Super Prix race held at the Bahrain International Circuit on December 10, 2004. It was won by Briton Lewis Hamilton for Manor Motorsport, who finished ahead of Nico Rosberg and Jamie Green.


2004 Bahrain Superprix, Classification, Qualifying
Qualifying is split into two sessions, both of which being 45 minutes, both of which were held on December 9, with the best times of each driver counting towards the grid for the qualifying race.


2004 Bahraini Crown Prince Cup
The 2004 Bahraini Crown Prince Cup was the 4th edition of the cup tournament in men's football (soccer). This edition featured the top four sides from the Bahraini Premier League 2003-04 season.


2004 Bakersfield, California mayoral election
The 2004 Bakersfield, California mayoral election was held on March 2, 2004 to elect the mayor of Bakersfield, California. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Harvey Hall.


2004 Bakersfield, California mayoral election
The election coincided with the California presidential primaries. Since Hall obtained a majority in the initial round of voting, no runoff was necessitated.


2004 Baladeh earthquake
The 2004 Baladeh earthquake occurred on May 28 in northern Iran. This dip-slip earthquake had a moment magnitude of 6.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Total deaths for the event amounted to 35, with 278–400 injured, and $15.4 million in damage.


2004 Ball State Cardinals football team
The 2004 Ball State Cardinals football team represented Ball State University during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cardinals were led by second-year head coach Brady Hoke and played their home games at Ball State Stadium as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). They finished the season 2–9, 2–6 in MAC play to finish in fifth place in the West Division.


2004 Ballon d'Or
The 2004 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was delivered to the Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko on 13 December 2004. On 9 November 2004, was announced the shortlist of 50 male players compiled by a group of experts from France Football.


2004 Ballon d'Or
There were 52 voters, from Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales and Yugoslavia. Each picked a first (5pts), second (4pts), third (3pts), fourth (2pts) and  fifth choice (1pt).


2004 Ballon d'Or
Andriy Shevchenko was the third Ukrainian to win the award after Oleh Blokhin (1975) and Igor Belanov (1986). He finished top goalscorer in the 2003–04 Serie A, scoring 24 goals in 32 matches, as his team won the league title. The best ranked goalkeeper on the list was Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) with a 17th place (jointly with Traianos Dellas, Fernando Morientes, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba). Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal) was the top ranked defender in the list, at ninth, while Deco (Portugal) was the top ranked midfielder at second place.


2004 Ballon d'Or, Rankings, Non-voted players
The following 21 men were originally in contention for the 2004 Ballon d’Or, but did not receive any votes:


2004 Baltimore Orioles season
The 2004 Baltimore Orioles season involved the Orioles finishing 3rd in the American League East with a record of 78 wins and 84 losses. The team led Major League Baseball in at bats (5,736) and hits (1,614).


2004 Baltimore Orioles season, Regular season, Notable transactions
July 6, 2004: Ken Huckaby was selected off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles from the Texas Rangers.


2004 Baltimore Orioles season, Player stats, Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In


2004 Baltimore Ravens season
The 2004 Baltimore Ravens season was the team's ninth season in the NFL. They were unable to improve upon their previous output of 10–6 and a playoff appearance, instead going 9–7 and missing the playoffs.


2004 Baltimore Ravens season
The 2004 season was the subject of the John Feinstein non-fiction book Next Man Up; the result of Feinstein spending the season behind the scenes with the team.


2004 Baltimore Ravens season
It was also the highlight of then 37-year-old Deion Sanders making a comeback after three years out of football. Meanwhile, Jamal Lewis, who was coming off a historic 2003 season, was arrested for drug charges and earned a two-game suspension by the NFL. He would finish the season with just 1,006 yards rushing as the Ravens were one of the worst offenses in the NFL in 2004. Ed Reed, who had 9 interceptions for the season, was named Defensive Player of the Year.


2004 Baltimore Ravens season
For the season, the Ravens introduced black alternate uniforms for the first time in franchise history.


2004 Baltimore Ravens season, Regular season, Week 2: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers starting quarterback Tommy Maddox would suffer an injury during this game, sending 2004 first-round pick Ben Roethlisberger out on the field. After the game, Roethlisberger would lead the Steelers to fourteen straight victories to end the season. Thus, this marked the only loss the Steelers suffered during the regular season.


2004 Bandy World Championship
The 2004 Bandy World Championship was a competition between bandy playing nations. The men's tournament was played in Sweden on 1–8 February 2004 for Group A and Group B was played at the City Park Ice Rink in Hungary on 25–28 February 2004. Finland won the championship for the 1st time. There were 11 bandy playing countries participating in the 2004 championships: Finland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Russia, Sweden (group A) and Belarus, Canada, Estonia, Hungary, Netherlands and United States (group B).


2004 Bandy World Championship, Results
Finland became champion. For the first time ever the championship went to a team other than Soviet Union/Russia or Sweden.


2004 Bangkok International Film Festival
The 2004 Bangkok International Film Festival started on January 22 and ran until February 2. The Golden Kinnaree Awards were announced on January 31.


2004 Bangkok gubernatorial election
Gubernatorial elections were held on August 29, 2004, to determine the governor of Bangkok. The Democrat Party's candidate, Apirak Kosayodhin, won the election with 911,441 votes.


2004 Bank of the West Classic
The 2004 Bank of the West Classic was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts that was part of the Tier II Series of the 2004 WTA Tour. It was the 33rd edition of the tournament and took place at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, California, United States, from July 12 through July 18, 2004. Second-seeded Lindsay Davenport won the singles title, her third at the event after 1998 and 1999, and earned $ 93,000 first-prize money.


2004 Bank of the West Classic, Finals, Doubles
Eleni Daniilidou /  Nicole Pratt defeated  Iveta Benešová /  Claudine Schaul, 6–2, 6–4


2004 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles
Cara Black and Lisa Raymond were the defending champions, but did not compete this year.


2004 Bank of the West Classic – Doubles
Eleni Daniilidou and Nicole Pratt won the title, defeating Iveta Benešová and Claudine Schaul 6–2, 6–4 in the final.


2004 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
Kim Clijsters was the defending champion, but did not compete this year due to a recovery from a surgery.


2004 Bank of the West Classic – Singles
Lindsay Davenport won the title, defeating Venus Williams 7–6(7–4), 5–7, 7–6(7–4) in the final.


2004 Bank of the West Classic – Singles, Seeds
The first four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2004 Banquet 400
The 2004 Banquet 400 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race that took place on October 10, 2004, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. The race was won from the pole by Joe Nemechek, his final trip to victory lane in NASCAR. Ricky Rudd finished second and Greg Biffle came in third.


2004 Banquet 400, Race report
Joe Nemechek would defeat Ricky Rudd by just one car length (.081 of a second) in front of 90,000 fans. Nemechek won the pole position for the race at just over 180 miles per hour (290 km/h) during Friday's qualifying session. The race took three hours to complete and nine caution periods slowed the race for 39 laps. The race began at approximately 2:00 PM EDT and concluded at approximately 5:07 PM EDT. At an interview done in 2012, Nemechek praised NASCAR's then-lenient rules on "vehicle innovation" that allowed him to acquire his fourth (and final) NASCAR Cup Series victory.


2004 Banquet 400, Race report
Sterling Marlin had problems in the pits and came out with a terrible 34th-place finish due to a crash. Kirk Shelmerdine received the last-place finish on the third lap of this 267-lap race due to a problem with his clutch. Shane Hmiel would make the best finish in his NASCAR career to date with a respectable 24th-place finish. Veteran driver Larry Gunselman would make his final Nextel Cup Series start. He would attempt the next two Daytona 500 races and make several starts in the Busch and Craftsman Truck Series before becoming the owner of Max Q Motorsports; a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team that is currently inactive.


2004 Banquet 400, Race report
Kyle Busch crashed out for the second time in his fourth career start in 2004. Oddly enough, neither of his first two crashouts directly resulted in cautions coming out for his wrecks. At Las Vegas, he smacked the outside wall twice very early on. The hits weren't hard enough to spray debris but they were sufficient enough to force the crew to park the car after Kyle limped it back to the pits.


2004 Banquet 400, Race report
Here at Kansas, Kyle hit the outside wall in the trioval and knocked a brake rotor out of his car, which was promptly run over by a trailing Mark Martin. Kyle slowed on the track without any visibly significant cosmetic damage while Mark had to pit after one more lap with two flat tires, finally prompting a caution for the debris. Mark was almost instantly bailed out thanks to a caution just after the ensuing restart, earning him the lucky dog, but Kyle had to drive his car straight to the back of the hauler due to the terminal brake system damage.


2004 Banquet 400, Race report
This was the fifth and final NASCAR Cup Series race for owner Dave Watson, the owner of W.W. Motorsports.


2004 Banquet 400, Race report
Purse monies for each driver ranged from $279,725 ($383,266.62 when adjusted for inflation) to $63,212 ($86,610.24 when adjusted for inflation). Kansas Speedway awarded a grand total of $3,553,992 to all the drivers who qualified for this event ($4,869,520.05 when adjusted for inflation).


2004 Baqubah bombing
The 2004 Baqubah bombing occurred next to a local market and a police station on 28 July 2004, in Baquba, Diyala Governor, targeting civilians that were lined up waiting to sign up as police volunteers. According to witnesses, a suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into the queue outside the building and detonated the explosive charges. The force of the blast was huge and destroyed a minivan that was parked nearby, killing all 21 people inside. A total of 68 Iraqis perished in the attack and scores more were wounded.


2004 Baqubah bombing
The city of Baqubah went on to become an important center for the Iraqi insurgency and was declared to be the center of operations for the Al-Qaeda in Iraq in late 2003 - early 2006, then it became a major location for Islamic State of Iraq , before US troops moved in and forced the group to relocate. It was the site of almost daily incidents, including major attacks in 2004–2005, 2008 and 2010.


2004 Barbarians end of season tour
The 2004 Barbarians end of season tour was a series of matches played in May–June 2004 in Scotland, Wales, England and Portugal by Barbarian F.C.


2004 Barbarians end of season tour
For the first time, the "Baa-baas", played against Portugal, the Winner of 2004 Six Nations "B"


2004 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2004 Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council in South Yorkshire, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2003 reducing the number of seats by 3. The Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.


2004 Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council election
Elections to Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council were held on 10 June 2004. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party kept overall control of the council.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2004 proceeded in keeping with rules enacted in 2001. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) held an election to select from recent players; Dennis Eckersley and Paul Molitor gained induction to the Hall.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
The Veterans Committee did not hold an election; the 2001 rules changes provided that elections for players retired over 20 years would be held every other year, with elections of non-players (managers, umpires and executives) held every fourth year. The Committee held elections in 2003 in both categories, including players who were active no later than 1981. The next election for players was in 2005; elections in both categories would again be held in 2007.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting
The induction ceremonies were held on July 25 in Cooperstown, with Commissioner Bud Selig presiding.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, The BBWAA election
The BBWAA was again authorized to elect players active in 1984 or later, but not after 1998; the ballot included candidates from the 2003 ballot who received at least 5% of the vote but were not elected, along with selected players, chosen by a screening committee, whose last appearance was in 1998. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to vote.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, The BBWAA election
Voters were instructed to cast votes for up to 10 candidates; any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall. Results of the 2004 election by the BBWAA were announced on January 6. The ballot consisted of 32 players; 506 ballots were cast, with 380 votes required for election. A total of 3314 individual votes were cast, an average of 6.55 per ballot. Those candidates receiving less than 5% of the vote (25 votes) will not appear on future BBWAA ballots, but may eventually be considered by the Veterans Committee.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, The BBWAA election
Candidates who were eligible for the first time are indicated here with a dagger (†). The two candidates who received at least 75% of the vote and were elected are indicated in bold italics; candidates who have since been selected in subsequent elections are indicated in italics. The candidates who received less than 5% of the vote, thus becoming ineligible for future BBWAA consideration, are indicated with an asterisk (*).


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, The BBWAA election
The newly eligible candidates included 17 All-Stars, five of whom were not on the ballot, who were selected a total of 52 times. While no player was selected more than ten times, Paul Molitor (seven times), Dave Stieb (seven), Dennis Eckersley (six) and Joe Carter (five) were selected five times or more. The field included two Cy Young Award winners (Eckersley and Doug Drabek), three MVPs (Eckersley, Terry Pendleton and Kevin Mitchell) and one Rookie of the Year (Jerome Walton).


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, The BBWAA election
Players eligible for the first time who were not included on the ballot were: Rafael Belliard, Greg Cadaret, Tony Castillo, Dave Clark, Joey Cora, Mike Devereaux, Erik Hanson, Xavier Hernandez, Chris Hoiles, Rex Hudler, Pete Incaviglia, Mark Lemke, Nelson Liriano, John Marzano, Tom Pagnozzi, Donn Pall, Mark Parent, Bob Patterson, Billy Ripken, Luis Rivera, Bip Roberts, Craig Shipley, Pete Smith, Bill Swift, Jerome Walton, David West, and Eddie Williams.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, The BBWAA election
None of the newly-eligible candidates would appear on any future ballots. As expected, Eckersley and Molitor were elected on their first appearance; no other first-timer received the 5% of votes required to remain on the ballot.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
Murray Chass received the J. G. Taylor Spink Award honoring a baseball writer. (The award was voted at the December 2003 meeting of the BBWAA, dated 2003, and conferred in the summer 2004 ceremonies.)


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
The Spink Award has been presented by the BBWAA at the annual summer induction ceremonies since 1962. It recognizes a sportswriter "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing". The recipients are not members of the Hall of the Fame, merely featured in a permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Museum, but writers and broadcasters commonly call them "Hall of Fame writers" or words to that effect. Living recipients were members of the Veterans Committee for elections in odd years 2003 to 2007.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
Three final candidates, selected by a BBWAA committee, were named on July 15, 2003 in Chicago in conjunction with All-Star Game activities; the finalists were: Murray Chass, who covered the New York Yankees for The New York Times; Joe Goddard, who has long covered the Chicago Cubs and White Sox for the Chicago Sun-Times; and Bob Burnes, who covered the St. Louis Browns for the St. Louis Globe Democrat. All 10-year members of the BBWAA were eligible to cast ballots in voting conducted by mail in November.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, J. G. Taylor Spink Award
On December 17, Murray Chass was announced as the recipient, having received 280 votes out of the 438 ballots cast, with Goddard receiving 98 votes and Burnes receiving 60 .


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
Lon Simmons received the Ford C. Frick Award honoring a baseball broadcaster.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
The Frick Award has been presented at the annual summer induction ceremonies since 1978. It recognizes a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball". The recipients are not members of the Hall of the Fame, merely featured in a permanent exhibit at the National Baseball Museum, but writers and broadcasters commonly call them "Hall of Fame broadcaster" or words to that effect. Living honorees were members of the Veterans Committee for elections in odd years 2003 to 2007.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
To be eligible, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, a network, or a combination of the two; more than 160 candidates were eligible.


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
On December 11, 2003, 10 finalists were announced. In accordance with guidelines established in 2003, seven were chosen by a research committee at the museum: Ken Coleman, Jack Graney, Graham McNamee, Hal Totten, Gene Elston, France Laux and Ty Tyson. Three additional candidates – Joe Nuxhall, Dave Niehaus and Lon Simmons – were selected in voting by over 105,000 fans prior to November 2003 at the Hall's official website .


2004 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, Ford C. Frick Award
On February 26, Lon Simmons was announced as the 2004 recipient ; an original voice of the San Francisco Giants, as well as an announcer for the Oakland Athletics. He called games for 41 years before retiring following the 2002 season. He was selected in a January vote by a 20-member committee composed of the 14 living recipients, along with six additional broadcasting historians or columnists: Bob Costas (NBC), Barry Horn (The Dallas Morning News), Stan Isaacs (formerly of New York Newsday), Ted Patterson (historian), Curt Smith (historian) and Larry Stewart (Los Angeles Times). Committee members are asked to base the selection on the following criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans.


2004 Basildon District Council election
The 2004 Basildon District Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Basildon District Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.


2004 Basildon District Council election, Election result
All comparisons in vote share are to the corresponding 2000 election.


2004 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election
The 2004 Basingstoke and Deane Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.


2004 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives gain 2 seats to hold 28 seats, level with the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties combined and leaving 4 Independents holding the balance on the council. The Conservatives increased their share of the vote and picked up Burghclere from a former Conservative turned independent, and Winklebury from Labour. Labour lost votes with the Labour leader of the council Rob Donnelly losing his seat in Popley East and the Liberal Democrats taking a seat from Labour in Brighton Hill South. Overall turnout in the election was 38.24%, in increase from the 31.33% in 2003, and put down to the European elections being held at the same time as the council election.


2004 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council election, Election result
Following the election the Liberal Democrat and Labour alliance continued to run the council, after winning a 1-vote majority over the Conservatives at the annual council meeting. Independent Martin Biermann became chairman of the environment committee and a further 2 Independents became vice-chairmen of committees, leading to accusations by the Conservatives that a deal had been done with the Independents, but this was denied.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500
The 2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series stock car race held on October 31, 2004 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Contested over 325 laps, the race was the 33rd of the 36-race 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. Ryan Newman of Penske-Jasper Racing won the pole, while Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports won the race. Roush Racing teammates Mark Martin and Carl Edwards finished second and third, respectively.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Background
Atlanta Motor Speedway was formerly a 1.522 miles (2.449 km) oval until 1997, when two doglegs were added and the track became 1.54 miles long and a quad-oval. As of the 2014 season, the track is considered one of 16 intermediate tracks on the Cup schedule.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Background
One week after the plane crash prior to the Subway 500 that killed ten people, six of whom affiliated with Hendrick Motorsports, the four teams replaced their standard hood designs with a decal of the ten people killed.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Qualifying
59 cars were initially entered for the race, the most since the 1999 Daytona 500. After the preliminary list was released, J. J. Yeley, Greg Sacks, Larry Hollenback, and Andy Belmont entered the race, while Carl Long and Derrike Cope withdrew. Afterwards, Randy LaJoie replaced Larry Gunselman, and two days later, Cope replaced Stanton Barrett, and Mike Wallace replaced Jimmy Spencer. Brendan Gaughan went out for qualifying first, and Larry Foyt was the last driver to qualify.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Qualifying
Ryan Newman won the pole with a lap time of 28.939 seconds and speed of 191.575 miles per hour (308.310 km/h), his 26th career pole and second straight. Joe Nemechek started second, followed by Elliott Sadler, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, and Jeff Gordon. Scott Riggs, Scott Wimmer, Kerry Earnhardt, Johnny Sauter, Hermie Sadler, Wallace, Cope, LaJoie, Sacks, Foyt, Kirk Shelmerdine, Morgan Shepherd, Belmont, Hollenback, and Kenny Wallace failed to qualify; Wallace never made an attempt due to a battery failure. Due in most part of Riggs and Wimmer—who made every race to that point—failing to qualify, it led to the creation of the "Top 35 Rule" in 2005 to ensure NASCAR's top-tier teams make the field.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Race
Prior to the race, a moment of silence was held for the ten killed in the Hendrick plane crash. Rock band Third Day performed the national anthem.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Race
Joe Nemechek took the lead on lap one, though Ryan Newman led for the next 48 laps. Carl Edwards led for four laps before losing the lead to Newman during a caution period for oil on the track; Bobby Labonte was the beneficiary, allowing him to gain back a lap. From laps 54 to 74, Newman and Edwards led 10 and 11 laps, respectively, before Mark Martin led for 41 laps.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Race
Jimmie Johnson led briefly for four laps from 116 to 119, before Martin reclaimed the lead on lap 120; 18 laps later, Bobby Labonte spun in turn 2, bringing out the second caution, and allowing Casey Mears to regain a lap. Martin would lead until lap 178, when another oil caution was called, Greg Biffle the beneficiary, with Michael Waltrip leading lap 179, before Martin reclaimed the lead.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Race
Johnson and Nemechek led laps 237 and 238-239, respectively, until Martin led for another 70 laps; during Martin's lead, another oil caution was waved on lap 287 with Jeff Burton getting a lap back, and on lap 301, Kevin Harvick stalled on pit road; Biffle was once again the beneficiary. Johnson led for two laps until lap 312, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed on the backstretch after Edwards made contact with him, allowing Kasey Kahne to lead for four laps. Brian Vickers was the beneficiary of the caution.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Race
On the final restart, Johnson took the lead, and led for the remainder of the race, beating Martin by 0.293 seconds. The win was Johnson's 13th career Cup win, seventh of 2004, first at Atlanta, and third consecutive, making him the first driver to win three straight races since Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon in 1998–1999, and the first to do so in a season since Gordon during the 1998 season. Martin finished second, and the top five consisted of Edwards, Nemechek, and Kahne; Burton, Vickers, Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart, and Biffle rounded out the top ten.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Post-race
"The No. 6 car was coming, but I had 10 angels riding along."


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Post-race
Over the radio, Johnson stated, "in loving memory, all the way," and celebrated his win by driving to the flagstand to receive the checkered flag, then performing a Polish victory lap; Johnson later stated he had felt guilty for destroying one of Hendrick Director of Engine Operations Randy Dorton's (who was among those killed on the flight) engines while celebrating his first career win.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Post-race
In victory lane, Hendrick competition director Ken Howes gave Johnson a cell phone with Rick Hendrick on the line. The three other Hendrick drivers (Gordon, Labonte, Vickers) joined Johnson in victory lane, and the team wore their caps backwards in honor of Hendrick's son Ricky Hendrick.


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Post-race
After the race, Martin, who led a race-high 227 laps, defended crew chief Pat Tryson for their late pit stop strategy, stating, "We were a sitting duck. If we pitted, they stay out and win. If we stay out, they pit. So it was nobody's fault but those caution flags."


2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Post-race
Seven of the Chase for the Nextel Cup drivers suffered problems during the race: points leader Kurt Busch suffered an engine failure on lap 52, and finished 42nd; defending Cup champion Matt Kenseth also blew an engine, finishing 41st; Elliott Sadler crashed in pit road, damaging his steering, and finished 36th; Gordon finished 34th after being forced to go into the garage for a poor-handling car; Jeremy Mayfield's tire was cut, forcing him into the wall, and finished 26th; Ryan Newman suffered from pit stop errors, and finished 17th and two laps down; finally, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crash on the backstretch relegated him to 33rd.


2004 Bassetlaw District Council election
The 2004 Bassetlaw District Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Bassetlaw District Council in Nottinghamshire, England as part of the 2004 United Kingdom local elections. One third of the council was up for election.


2004 Baton Rouge mayoral election
The 2004 Baton Rouge mayoral election was held on September 18 and November 2, 2004 to elect the mayor-president of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It saw Democrat Kip Holden unseat incumbent Republican Bobby Ray Simpson.


2004 Bausch & Lomb Championships
The 2004 Bausch & Lomb Championships was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Racquet Park at the Amelia Island Plantation in Amelia Island, Florida, United States. It was classified as a Tier II event on the 2004 WTA Tour. It was the 25th edition of the event and took place from April 5 to 11, 2004. Lindsay Davenport won the singles title.


2004 Bausch & Lomb Championships, Finals, Doubles
Nadia Petrova /  Meghann Shaughnessy defeated  Myriam Casanova /  Alicia Molik, 3–6, 6–2, 7–5


2004 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Doubles
Lindsay Davenport and Lisa Raymond were the defending champions, but Raymond did not compete this year. Davenport teamed up with Corina Morariu and were eliminated in first round.


2004 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Doubles
Nadia Petrova and Meghann Shaughnessy won the title by defeating Myriam Casanova and Alicia Molik 3–6, 6–2, 7–5 in the final. It was the 6th title for both players in their respective doubles careers. It was also the 2nd title for the pair during the season, after their win in Miami.


2004 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Singles
Elena Dementieva was the defending champion, but lost in second round to Jelena Kostanić.


2004 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Singles
Lindsay Davenport won the title by defeating Amélie Mauresmo 6–4, 6–4 in the final. It was the 2nd title in the year for Davenport and the 40th title of her career.


2004 Bausch & Lomb Championships – Singles, Seeds
The first eight seeds received a bye into the second round.


2004 Bavarian Cup
The 2004 Bavarian Cup was the seventh edition of this competition which was started in 1998. It ended with the Jahn Regensburg II winning the competition. Together with the finalist, TSV Aindling, both clubs were qualified for the DFB Cup 2004-05.


2004 Bavarian Cup
The competition is open to all senior men's football teams playing within the Bavarian football league system and the Bavarian clubs in the Regionalliga Süd (III).


2004 Bavarian Cup, Rules & History
The seven Bezirke in Bavaria each play their own cup competition which in turn used to function as a qualifying to the German Cup (DFB-Pokal). Since 1998 these seven cup-winners plus the losing finalist of the region that won the previous event advance to the newly introduced Bavarian Cup, the Toto-Pokal. The two finalists of this competition advance to the German Cup. Bavarian clubs which play in the first or second Bundesliga are not permitted to take part in the event, their reserve teams however can. The seven regional cup winners plus the finalist from last season's winners region are qualified for the first round.


2004 Bavarian Cup, Participating clubs
The following eight clubs qualified for the 2004 Bavarian Cup:


2004 Bavarian Cup, DFB Cup 2004-05
The two clubs, TSV Aindling and Jahn Regensburg II, who qualified through the Bavarian Cup for the DFB Cup 2004-05 both were knocked out in the first round of the national cup competition:


2004 Bayern–Rundfahrt
The 2004 Bayern–Rundfahrt was the 25th edition of the Bayern–Rundfahrt cycle race and was held on 19 May to 23 May 2004. The race started in Selb and finished in Burghausen. The race was won by Jens Voigt.


2004 Baylor Bears football team
The 2004 Baylor Bears football team (variously "Baylor", "BU", or the "Bears") represented Baylor University in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. They were represented in the Big 12 Conference in the South Division. They played their home games at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas. They were coached by head coach Guy Morriss.


2004 Beach Handball World Championships
The 2004 Beach Handball World Championships are a nine-team tournament in both men's and women's beach handball, held at El Gouna in Egypt in 2004. This were the first ever beach handball world championships held in history of the sport. Matches are played in sets, the team that wins two sets is the winner of a match. When teams are equal in points the head-to-head result is decisive.


2004 Beach Soccer World Championships
The 2004 Beach Soccer World Championships was the tenth and final edition of the Beach Soccer World Championships, the most prestigious competition in international beach soccer contested by men's national teams; the following year, the competition was replaced by the second iteration of a world cup in beach soccer, the better known FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. It was organized by Brazilian sports agency Koch Tavares in cooperation with and under the supervision of Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW), the sports governing body.


2004 Beach Soccer World Championships
The tournament took place at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, specifically at the purpose built Copacabana Arena which had a capacity of 10,000. The main sponsor was McDonald's.


2004 Beach Soccer World Championships
Brazil successfully defended their title by again beating Spain, in consecutive finals.


2004 Beach Soccer World Championships, Organisation
The format was changed back to how the tournament was played between 1999 and 2001. This meant increasing the number of participants back up to twelve teams and splitting them up into four groups of three nations contested in a round robin format. The top two teams from each group progressed into the quarter finals from which point on the championship proceeded as a knock-out tournament until the winner was crowned, with an additional third place deciding match.


2004 Beach Soccer World Championships, Teams, Qualification
European teams gained qualification by finishing in the top four spots of the 2003 Euro Beach Soccer League. South American teams were hand-picked based on recent performances. The other entries received wild-card invites.


2004 Beach Soccer World Championships, Draw
The teams were split into three pots in reflection of their similar circumstances. The draw to assign one nation from each pot into the four groups took place on January 29 in Sao Paulo and was conducted by BSWW.


2004 Beach Soccer World Championships, Group stage
Matches are listed as local time in Rio de Janeiro, (UTC-3)


2004 Beijing Guoan F.C. season
The  2004 Beijing Guoan F.C. season  was their 1st season in the Chinese Super League and 14th consecutive season in the top flight of Chinese football. They competed in the Chinese Super League, FA Cup and Super League Cup.


2004 Beijing Guoan F.C. season, First team
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2004 Belarusian First League
2004 Belarusian First League was the fourteenth season of 2nd level football championship in Belarus. It started in April and ended in November 2004.


2004 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2003 season
Two top teams of last season (Lokomotiv Vitebsk and MTZ-RIPO Minsk) were promoted to Belarusian Premier League. They were replaced by two teams that finished at the bottom of 2003 Belarusian Premier League table (Lokomotiv Minsk and Molodechno-2000).


2004 Belarusian First League, Team changes from 2003 season
Two teams that finished at the bottom of 2003 season table (Neman Mosty and Pinsk-900) relegated to the Second League. They were replaced by two best teams of 2003 Second League (Baranovichi and Veras Nesvizh).


2004 Belarusian Premier League
The 2004 Belarusian Premier League was the 14th season of top-tier football in Belarus. It started on April 15 and ended on November 11, 2004. Gomel were the defending champions.


2004 Belarusian Premier League, Team changes from 2003 season
Two lowest placed teams in 2003 (Lokomotiv Minsk and Molodechno-2000) relegated and were replaced by two best teams from 2003 First League: newcomers MTZ-RIPO Minsk and Lokomotiv Vitebsk, who previously competed in Premiere League as KIM, Dvina and Lokomotiv-96 and is a different team from Lokomotiv Vitebsk, who relegated to First League in 1995 and after a few seasons in First and Second Leagues was disbanded in late 2000.


2004 Belarusian Premier League, Overview
Dinamo Minsk won their 7th champions title and qualified for the next season's Champions League. The championship runners-up BATE Borisov and 2004–05 Cup winners MTZ-RIPO Minsk qualified for UEFA Cup. 2001 champions Belshina Bobruisk finished on last place and directly relegated to the First League. Lokomotiv Vitebsk and MTZ-RIPO Minsk shared 14th and 15th places with equal number of points and had to play one-legged play-off on a neutral ground to determine who will relegate and who will stay. Lokomotiv Vitebsk lost the game and relegated to the First League. Torpedo-SKA Minsk, who finished 6th, lost financial support from their sponsor in early 2005 and, after losing almost all their main squad and not having funds to pay entrance fee for next season's Premiere League, had to relegate to Second League.


2004 Belarusian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Belarus on 17 October 2004, with a second round of voting in two constituencies on 27 October, and a third round in one on 20 March 2005. The vast majority of successful candidates, 97 of 109, were independents. Voter turnout was reported to be 91.04% in the first round.


2004 Belarusian parliamentary election
A total of 359 candidates contested the election, with oppositing parties claiming that around 40% of their candidates were not registered. The OCSE delegation noted that although all candidates were given a set amount of free television and radio airtime and a free statement in the national press, over 80% of television news time was dedicated to President Alexander Lukashenko in the five weeks before the election. They also noted concerns about the independence of the Electoral Commission and a lack of transparency during the voting and counting process. The government also closed down nine independent newspapers in the lead-up to the elections.


2004 Belarusian referendum
A referendum on allowing President Lukashenko to stand in further elections was held in Belarus on 17 October 2004, alongside parliamentary elections. Lukashenko was nearing the end of his constitutionally-limited two terms, and the change would allow him to run for a third term. The result was 88.9% in favour, with a turnout of 90.3%.


2004 Belarusian referendum, Results
Do you permit the first  President  of the Republic of Belarus Lukashenko A.G. to participate as a candidate for Presidency of the Republic of Belarus during the President elections and do you adopt the Part I of Article 81 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus in the following wording:


2004 Belarusian referendum, Controversy
Paragraph 112 of Belarusian Electoral Code lists "questions connected with election and dismissal of the President of the Republic of Belarus" among questions prohibited from being brought out to the Republican referendum. There were several arrests of protesters against the result and reports of oppositional leaders being beaten by police.


2004 Belgian Cup Final
The 2004 Belgian Cup Final, took place on 17 May 2004 between Beveren and Club Brugge. It was the 49th Belgian Cup final and was won by Club Brugge.


2004 Belgian Figure Skating Championships
The 2004 Belgian Figure Skating Championships (Dutch: Belgisch Kampioenschap 2004; French: Championnat de Belgique 2004) took place between 28 and 29 November 2003 in Deurne. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's and ladies' singles.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix
The 2004 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix 2004) was a Formula One motor race held on 29 August 2004, at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, near the town of Spa, Belgium. It was Race 14 of 18 in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race was contested over 44 laps and was won by Kimi Räikkönen, taking his and McLaren's only race win of the season from tenth place on the grid. Second place for Michael Schumacher won his seventh world championship, after beating third-placed Rubens Barrichello.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix
Jarno Trulli started from pole position alongside Schumacher. The race saw many changes of the lead, but following several fortuitous safety cars, Räikkönen was leading the race for the final few laps. Mark Webber triggered a pile-up at the start, eliminating four cars and damaging several others, although he did admit to his mistake later. The race saw Christian Klien score his first championship points, and Olivier Panis and the Jaguar team their last.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Ferrari had sealed the Constructors' Championship at the previous race, but the battle for second in the Championship, between Renault and BAR, was still fierce.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
Heading into the 14th race of the season, Michael Schumacher, driving for the Ferrari team, was leading the Drivers' Championship by 38 points from teammate Rubens Barrichello. Jenson Button, driving for BAR, was in third place, but only Schumacher and Barrichello could mathematically win the championship.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
However, the biggest story was the controversy surrounding Button's drive for 2005. Ten days before the Hungarian Grand Prix, Button chose to leave BAR and signed a two-year contract to return to Williams. This was surprising, as Button was enjoying his best season to date, while Williams had been struggling. BAR, however, insisted they had the right to exercise their option to keep Button. Button's management argued that the BAR option was not valid because it contained a clause allowing him to leave if BAR risked losing their Honda engines. They felt the new contract signed in the summer for Honda to supply engines to BAR was not definitive, and thus Button was free to move.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Background
With regard to the Spa circuit itself, the race did not take place in 2003 so that modifications to the Bus Stop chicane could be completed. Pundits were very critical of the changes to the chicane: namely, a sweeping right-hand bend has been introduced just before it. This left a huge piece of green-coloured tarmac, causing Martin Brundle to be very scathing of it during qualifying, stating "you could hold an entire kart meeting in there, including transporters and trucks!"


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Friday drivers
The bottom 6 teams in the 2003 Constructors' Championship were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Four practice sessions were held before qualifying – two 60-minute sessions on Friday, 27 August, and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday, 28 August. All teams, with the exception of Ferrari, Williams, McLaren, and Renault, were permitted to run three drivers on Friday. Anthony Davidson, the third driver for BAR, set the quickest time in the first practice session, 1:45.104. Räikkönen set the fastest time in practice two.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Saturday practice one was cancelled due to fog, and Barrichello set the quickest time in Saturday practice two, shortened from 45 to 30 minutes as a result of the fog that had cancelled practice one. Saturday's second practice session saw two major excursions from Antônio Pizzonia and Gianmaria Bruni, the latter causing the session to be red-flagged.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Qualifying was split into two sections. In the first season, dubbed "pre-qualifying", each driver took turns to record one lap at a time. The order the cars ran in was the reverse order to the classified results at the 2004 Hungarian Grand Prix. For example, Michael Schumacher won the race, so would be the last car to run in pre-qualifying.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
The second qualifying session (dubbed "qualifying") repeated this process (with the drivers running in reverse order to the pre-qualifying results), but with the caveat that the drivers would not be allowed to alter their fuel loads between then and the race. The fastest time in the second session would take pole. As in 2003, setups and fuel loads could not be altered between the end of the second qualifying session and the race. In pre-qualifying, Ricardo Zonta, driving for Toyota, spun off at Pouhon corner, leading him to collide with the tyre wall.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
The second part of qualifying started as being very wet but quickly dried out, enabling Jarno Trulli to switch to intermediate tyres, enabling him to set the fastest lap time. Schumacher qualified second. The conditions did not suit Jenson Button, who had run on wet tyres when the track was ready for intermediates, and Juan Pablo Montoya, who did his qualifying lap on intermediates as it began to rain.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Trulli's Renault had a good start from pole position, but second-placed Schumacher's Ferrari did not, and he lost positions to Fernando Alonso's Renault and David Coulthard's McLaren. At La Source, Mark Webber's Jaguar collided with Barrichello's Ferrari, causing Webber to lose his front wing and Barrichello to suffer rear wing damage. In a separate incident, Räikkönen's McLaren made contact with Felipe Massa's Sauber, which caused Massa to lose his front wing. In a third incident, Nick Heidfeld's Jordan and Olivier Panis's Toyota made contact.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Going into Eau Rouge, Webber was side-by-side with Takuma Sato's BAR, and they collided in the middle of the corner whilst they were overtaken by Montoya's Williams. The contact broke Sato's left rear suspension and Webber's front right suspension. Sato consequently spun in the middle of the track. The rest of the field attempted to avoid the spinning BAR, but in doing so, Zsolt Baumgartner and Gianmaria Bruni, both driving for Minardi, made contact, putting Bruni out of the race and getting him hit by Giorgio Pantano's Jordan. Sato, Webber, Bruni, and Pantano were out of the race. A small fire on Bruni's car, caused by the contact with Pantano, forced the safety car to come out. During this time, Button, Massa, Barrichello, Heidfeld, Baumgartner, and Olivier Panis stopped for repairs caused by debris. Massa and Barrichello stopped twice.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
The safety car came in at the end of lap four and Trulli led Alonso and Coulthard. Räikkönen overtook Schumacher for fifth position and Button overtook Ricardo Zonta's Toyota. Schumacher continued to be slow, losing 1.1 seconds to Räikkönen in the middle sector on lap five, enabling Montoya to overtake him around the outside of the Bus Stop chicane on lap five. On lap six, Räikkönen overtook his teammate, Coulthard, for third, going up the inside at the Les Combes chicane. On lap eight, Barrichello overtook Baumgartner and Heidfeld, putting him into 14th place.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Christian Klien, in the sole remaining Jaguar, was the first driver to make a scheduled pit stop, on lap nine, and race leader Trulli made a pit stop on lap 10, rejoining in ninth place. Alonso now led the race, but on lap 12 he had an oil leak and spun twice at Les Combes, losing the lead to Räikkönen. He managed to rejoin, but he then had a further spin at Rivage for the same reason and could not rejoin. On the same lap Coulthard had a rear tyre de-lamination, but he made it back to pit lane.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Räikkönen stopped at the end of lap 13. Montoya now led the race from Schumacher, until Montoya pitted on lap 15. Montoya left the pit lane behind Massa, losing time while overtaking him. Schumacher pitted one lap later and leapfrogged Montoya. New leader Pizzonia came into the pits on lap 17. Räikkönen now led from Button in second, Trulli in third, and Schumacher in fourth, but Schumacher was able to overcome Trulli on lap 19.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Giancarlo Fisichella's Sauber ran wide on lap 20 and lost parts of his front wing. On the same lap, Montoya attempted to repeat his earlier overtake on Trulli, but the pair collided, putting Trulli into a spin. Trulli lost several places, and Montoya lost fourth place to his teammate, Pizzonia. Button pitted on lap 21, rejoining in seventh, behind the battling Fischella and Barrichello. Barrichello then took fifth place on lap 22, as Trulli made a second pit stop, having been passed by Panis. Button was also able to pass Fisichella for sixth position on lap 23, as Barrichello pitted.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Räikkönen pitted on lap 29, rejoining in second position, while Schumacher still had to stop. Montoya pitted on the same lap as Räikkönen. On lap 31, Button suffered a right rear tyre de-lamination similar to Coulthard's, at approximately 205 mph (330 km/h), pitching him into a spin. As a result, he crashed into the Minardi of Baumgartner, who was being lapped, putting both drivers out of the race and bringing out a safety car. Schumacher, Pizzonia, and Heidfeld took the opportunity to pit behind the safety car.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Still behind the safety car, on lap 32, Pizzonia retired due to a gearbox problem. Räikkönen led the race from Schumacher, Montoya, Barrichello, and Zonta, who started last. At the restart on lap 34, Klien overtook Panis for eighth place and one point, as Coulthard overtook Trulli for tenth place. One lap later, Coulthard overtook Panis for ninth. On lap 36, Montoya's rear right tyre de-laminated, forcing him to retire.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
On lap 38, Coulthard attempted to overtake Klien for seventh place, but contact between the two drivers meant Coulthard needed a new front wing after it broke loose and became stuck over his own rear wing. The resulting debris caused the safety car to come out again. The safety car came in at the end of lap 41, but just four corners later, fourth-placed Zonta's engine blew up spectacularly, putting him out of the race. On the penultimate lap, Coulthard overtook Panis for seventh.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Race
Räikkönen won the race, his first and only victory of 2004. Schumacher finished second, with teammate Barrichello third. The result gave Schumacher his seventh World Drivers' Championship.


2004 Belgian Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
At the 2005 British Grand Prix, Daily Express editor Bob McKenzie honoured a pledge that he would run naked around Silverstone if McLaren won a race in 2004.


2004 Belgian Super Cup
The 2004 Belgian Supercup was a football match between the winners of the previous season's Belgian First Division and Belgian Cup competitions. The match was contested by Cup winners Club Brugge, and 2004–05 Belgian First Division champions, Anderlecht on 22 December 2004 at the ground of the league champions as usual, in this case the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium.


2004 Belgian Super Cup
Club Brugge won its twelfth supercup in total, as it beat Anderlecht 2-0 through goals by Sebastian Hermans and Rune Lange.


2004 Belgian Super Cup
Following 2004 no cup winner has won the supercup and as such Club Brugge is the last team to have accomplished this.


2004 Belgian regional elections
On 13 June 2004, regional elections were held in Belgium, to choose representatives in the regional councils of the Flemish Parliament, the Walloon Parliament, the Brussels Parliament and the German-speaking Community of Belgium. The elections were held on the same day as the European elections.


2004 Belgian regional elections, Flemish Parliament
In the Flemish Parliament election, the liberal-socialist government was put to the test. The far right Vlaams Blok became the second largest party in Flanders just after the alliance of conservatives Christian Democratic and Flemish-New Flemish Alliance (CD&V - N-VA). The green party Groen! managed to be elected and keeps half of their seats in the parliament. In contrast with the previous election, the People's Union (VU-ID) has split and the new parties, N-VA and Spirit, allied with CD&V and Different Socialist Party (SP.A) respectively.


2004 Belgian regional elections, Flemish Parliament
Because of the cordon sanitaire of all the other parties against Vlaams Blok, a coalition of at least three parties needed to be formed in order to have a majority in the Flemish Parliament. Groen! confirmed that it did not want to take part in the new coalition, so the only coalition left was a conservative-socialist-liberal tripartite.


2004 Belgian regional elections, Flemish Parliament
In the aftermath of the elections, Yves Leterme (CD&V) was selected to form a Flemish regional government.


2004 Belgian regional elections, Walloon Regional Parliament
In the aftermath of the elections, Elio Di Rupo (PS) was selected to form a Walloon regional government.


2004 Belgian regional elections, Brussels Regional Parliament
In the aftermath of the elections, Charles Picqué (PS) was selected to form a Brussels regional government.


2004 BellSouth Open
The 2004 BellSouth Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in Viña del Mar, Chile and was part of the International Series of the 2004 ATP Tour. It was the eleventh edition of the tournament and ran from February 9 through February 15, 2004. Fifth-seeded Fernando González won the singles title.


2004 BellSouth Open, Finals, Doubles
Juan Ignacio Chela /  Gastón Gaudio defeated  Nicolás Lapentti /  Martín Rodríguez 7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–3)


2004 BellSouth Open – Doubles
Agustín Calleri and Mariano Hood were the defending champions but only Hood competed that year with Lucas Arnold.


2004 BellSouth Open – Doubles
Arnold and Hood lost in the quarterfinals to Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.


2004 BellSouth Open – Doubles
Juan Ignacio Chela and Gastón Gaudio won in the final 7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–3) against Nicolás Lapentti and Martín Rodríguez.


2004 BellSouth Open – Singles
David Sánchez was the defending champion but lost in the semifinals to Gustavo Kuerten.


2004 BellSouth Open – Singles
Fernando González won in the final 7–5, 6–4 against Kuerten.


2004 Belmont Stakes
The 2004 Belmont Stakes was the 136th running of the Belmont Stakes. The 1+1⁄2-mile (2,400 m) race, known as the "test of the champion" and sometimes called the "final jewel" in thoroughbred horse racing's Triple Crown series, was held on June 5, 2004, three weeks after the Preakness Stakes and five weeks after the Kentucky Derby.


2004 Belmont Stakes
For the third year in a row, a horse won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, only to lose the Belmont Stakes, lengthening the Triple Crown drought to 26 years. In 2004 before a record crowd, Smarty Jones was thought to have an excellent chance of completing the series as he was unbeaten and dominant in his earlier races. However, he failed to relax during the early part of the race when pressured by horses who eventually finished well back. Smarty Jones hit the lead with over half a mile to go but did not have enough energy left to withstand a late charge by Birdstone, who won at odds of 36-1.


2004 Belmont Stakes, Pre-race
Undefeated in the lead-up to the Triple Crown series, Smarty Jones won the Kentucky Derby by 2+3⁄4 lengths, and then won the Preakness Stakes by 11+1⁄2 lengths. As a result, he became the heaviest favorite for the Belmont Stakes since Spectacular Bid and Secretariat in the 1970s. When he returned to his home base at Philadelphia Park after winning the Preakness, some 10,000 fans turned out just to see him gallop in the morning.


2004 Belmont Stakes, Pre-race
When he traveled to Belmont Park a week before the race, he was accompanied through Pennsylvania by two motorcycle police officers, while other police cars blocked key intersections and three helicopters circled overhead. The cavalcade drove past a billboard on the Pennsylvania turnpike that read, "Look out New York, Smarty's Coming!" His owners received thousands of letters of encouragement and Smarty Jones merchandise was in high demand. "Smarty Fever" led to the largest attendance at Belmont Park in its history: 120,139.


2004 Belmont Stakes, Pre-race
There were concerns though. Smarty Jones was sired by a sprinter and his broodmare sire was also a sprinter, making his stamina a question mark. He had faced a grueling prep season without any time off since his first race in November 2003. His dominant performance in the Preakness may have taken too much out of him. His trainer, John Servis, tried to keep the horse fresh by giving the colt only one slow workout in the 5 weeks between the Derby and Belmont, while trying to keep the edge off by giving him just enough slower exercise.


2004 Belmont Stakes, Pre-race
Another concern was the constant attention from press and other visitors, which disrupted the stable routine. Barclay Tagg, who had been through a similar experience with Funny Cide, later recalled visiting Smarty Jones's barn one night at around midnight. "There were six guards in front of his stall, cutting up and drinking beer, and the light was on in his stall", he said. "It's very hard to keep the commotion down."


2004 Belmont Stakes, Pre-race
Rock Hard Ten was the second favorite for the Belmont after finishing second in both the Derby and Preakness. His owners had been disappointed in his Preakness performance though, feeling the horse would have done better if he had been closer to the pace. His jockey at the time, Hall of Famer Gary Stevens, disagreed and declined to ride the horse in the Belmont. "I wasn't about to... ride him in the Belmont if it meant following orders I couldn't live with", he said. Alex Solis picked up the mount.


2004 Belmont Stakes, Pre-race
Purge was the third choice in the field after winning the Peter Pan Stakes, while Eddington was the next choice after finishing third in the Preakness. The remaining horses were given little chance, including two entries by trainer Nick Zito. In particular, Birdstone was the "most maligned colt on the Derby trail" because of his small size and slight frame – he weighed only about 900 pounds at the time of the Belmont. Despite Birdstone's excellent breeding and respectable eighth-place finish in the Derby, he was a 36-1 long-shot for the Belmont.


2004 Belmont Stakes, Race description
Smarty Jones got a good start and settled into third place behind Purge and Rock Hard Ten while running four-wide. The opening quarter-mile was a reasonable 24.33 seconds and the first half-mile went in 48.65 seconds. The pace then started to pick up significantly. Purge dropped back and Eddington moved forward to challenge for the lead while racing five wide. "I knew there was trouble on the backstretch. [ Smarty Jones] wasn't settled", said Servis. "That was my concern the whole three weeks, trying to take the edge off. I wasn't able to do it. That's horse racing."


2004 Belmont Stakes, Race description
Pressured by Rock Hard Ten to the inside and Eddington to the outside, Smarty Jones ran the third quarter-mile in 23 seconds while the fourth quarter went in :233⁄5. Rounding the final turn, the challengers started to drop back as Smarty Jones completed the first 1+1⁄4 miles in a rapid 2:00.52 – a time fast enough to have won all but four Kentucky Derbies. His lead was opening and the crowd was in a frenzy.


2004 Belmont Stakes, Race description
In the final furlong though, Smarty Jones's stride started to falter. Track announcer Tom Durkin realized the pace might catch up with the horse and warned the crowd:


2004 Belmont Stakes, Race description
“The whip is out on Smarty Jones... It’s been 26 years... Just one furlong away... They’re coming down to the finish... Can Smarty Jones hold on? ... Here comes Birdstone... Birdstone surges past... Birdstone wins the Belmont Stakes... Smarty Jones was valiant, but vanquished." – Tom Durkin


2004 Belmont Stakes, Race description
The crowd was stunned. "We came to see a coronation and instead we got a sporting event. Sometimes that happens", said John Hendrickson, the husband of Birdstone's owner, Marylou Whitney. "I’ve never been in a crowd of 120,000 people where it went from roaring to dead silence." In the winner's circle, Whitney apologized. "I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry that Smarty Jones couldn’t win today," she said. "We would have been happy to run second."


2004 Belmont Stakes, Race description
The result remains controversial due to the tactics used with Rock Hard Ten and Eddington. Many felt that Jerry Bailey in particular on Eddington did not ride to win, as the early move while racing wide sacrificed his horse's chances. "I never saw two riders ride so hard to lose a race in my life", said Roy Chapman, the owner of Smarty Jones, a week after the race. "They just were out for one thing: making sure Smarty didn’t win." Some also criticized Smarty Jones's jockey, Stewart Elliott, for letting the horse move too early. Servis was more philosophical.


2004 Belmont Stakes, Race description
"When he was dragging Stewie out of the saddle on the backside, I had a bad feeling," he said. "You can't do that and win going a mile and a half. That was one of the things that helped us in the Derby and the Preakness; he relaxed so well. He just didn't relax today."


2004 Belmont Stakes, Chart
Source: EquibaseTimes: 1⁄4 — 0:24.33;  1⁄2 — 0:48.65; 3⁄4 — 1:11.76; mile — 1:35.44; 1+1⁄4 — 2:00.52;  final — 2:27.50. Fractional Splits: (:24.33) (:24.32) (:23.11) (:23.68) (:25.08) (:26.98)


2004 Beni attack
The 2004 Beni attack was one of the biggest attacks by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of Communist Party of Nepal, Maoist, during the Nepalese Civil War (1996–2006). Almost the entire Western Division of the PLA, numbering around 3,500, attacked government positions in Beni, the district headquarters of Myagdi district in western Nepal, on 20 March 2004 at around 10 pm. Hundreds of civilians were used for logistics. Around 90 soldiers of the PLA and dozens of police and military personnel as well as civilians died. Multiple government buildings were destroyed and dozens of members of the civil service and government forces were kidnapped by the PLA.


2004 Beni attack, Background
By 2003, the Maoist guerilla fighters were organised into a centralised military force, the People's Liberation Army, with battalion-level formations. It was divided into the Eastern Division and the Western Division, led by Nanda Kishor Pun (Pasang) and Barshaman Pun (Ananta) respectively. The rebels believed that they had reached a "strategic balance" with the state, having defeated Nepal Police and fought with the army in equal terms, and were expecting to progress to the much awaited "strategic offensive" where they would push the army to the defensive.


2004 Beni attack, Background
They believed they had mastered guerilla warfare and mobile warfare, the first two steps, according to Mao, of a protracted people's war, and were seeking to incorporate elements of the final step, the positional warfare, into their battle strategy. After the failure of the 2003 peace talks, the Maoists decided to start carrying out centralised attacks on government positions. Their first such attack, on positions in Dang and Banke, in October 2003, failed.


2004 Beni attack, Background
By early 2004, the leadership started getting worried that the PLA cadre may get demoralised and frustrated, as the Nepalese Army (then Royal Nepalese Army (RNA)) claimed it had destroyed almost all of the PLA, while the PLA had not carried out successful large-scale attacks to disprove RNAs propaganda, in more than a year. The Maoists launched the Special People's Military Campaign in February 2004 to "militarize the entire population and create a mentality of resistance". But the Maoists had never had much success recruiting fighters without resorting to violence, coercion and kidnapping.


2004 Beni attack, Background
From the Maoists' point of view, the "vacillating middle-class" needed to be shown that theirs was going to be the winning side in the conflict, in order to persuade it to finally take a side. The much smaller Eastern Division carried out its attack on Bhojpur on 2 February 2004, resulting in 20 police and 12 military deaths. Around the same time, almost the whole of the Western Division began amassing in the Lukum village of Rukum District in preparation of a much larger attack on Beni, the Myagdi district headquarters.


2004 Beni attack, Preparation and march to Beni
Around 3,500 PLA fighters contributed by the Mangalsen First Brigade (1,200), Satbariya Second Brigade (1,000), Lisne-Gam Third Brigade (1,070) and Basu-Smriti Fourth Brigade (300) marched to Lukum village of Rukum District in early March. The soldiers spent a week in Lukum, preparing for battle. Division commander Pasang used sand models and videos to brief the brigade commanders on the layout of the town, the route and the plan of attack, and the soldiers practised their battle strategy in the playground of a local school. Meanwhile, the non-combatant activists of the entire West-Central Command were deployed for logistics.


2004 Beni attack, Preparation and march to Beni
In the weeks leading up to the attack, people from the surrounding villages of Baglung and Myagdi districts were warned not to venture into Beni, and check-posts were established to monitor and control the movement of people. Around 1,700 people, including villagers abducted or coerced into volunteering, were charged with transporting weapons, medical supplies, food and clothing. Rest stops were set up along the route of the march to Beni. Thousands of cattle had been caravanned from all over western Nepal to feed the troops, while large quantities of medical supplies were smuggled from across the Indian border. The non-combatant volunteers would participate in the attack, carrying arms and medical supplies, providing first-aid and carrying the wounded out of the fighting area.


2004 Beni attack, Preparation and march to Beni
The Maoists left Lukum on 13 March, after a ceremony which included song and dance and speeches from the commanders. A letter from the then supreme commander of PLA and General Secretary of the Maoist Party, Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), was read. The caravan of PLA fighters, Maoist activists and civilian "volunteers" marched through days and nights, across the forests, fields and snowy mountains of Dhawalagiri region, stopping for short times only at the designated rest-stops where local villagers had been "volunteered" to cook for them and provide shelter.


2004 Beni attack, Preparation and march to Beni
They reached the village of Takam in Myagdi District on 17 March. The local villagers agreed to provide whatever help they needed during their stay, but unanimously rejected the demand for "volunteers" to go to Beni, to which the Maoists agreed. On the night of 18 March, the Maoists received reports that their plan to attack Beni on 22 March might have leaked. They immediately advanced the date of attack to 20 March. They left Takam the next day.


2004 Beni attack, Preparation and march to Beni
A battalion each was sent to engage and delay possible reinforcements arriving from Kushma of Parbat and Baglung of Baglung. Another battalion of 300 fighters was sent to stop possible reinforcements from Ghumaunetal camp, a few kilometres north of Beni. A platoon of 60–70 fighters were sent to engage any patrols that may have already left the camp. The fighters from the Fourth Brigade (a battalion of 300 fighters) were sent to Pari Beni, the Beni settlements that were separated from the town by the Kali Gandaki river. They were to attack the district jail.


2004 Beni attack, Preparation and march to Beni
The remaining fighters would constitute the main attack force that would go to Beni via the Darwang-Vaviyachaur-Singa-Arthunge route. As they passed Darwang, they ordered the locals to prepare meals in the early morning of 21 March to feed the fighters returning back from Beni. Some fighters separated from the main attack force in Vaviyachaur to take the main road along the Myagdi River and attack the military barracks from the Mangalghat bazaar side.


2004 Beni attack, Preparation and march to Beni
The witnesses of the march to Beni reported seeing soldiers as numerous as "hairs". They appeared as though they had not taken a bath for a long time; some of them were hunting fleas on their body, some were old and walking with sticks, and around one-fifths were women.