2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, Causes
The primary impetus for the strike came from AMLU's distaste for its umpires' salaries. Though salaries had always been rather low in accordance with PBUC's idea that umpiring was not a proper career, AMLU insisted that they had become too low. Umpires in Minor League Baseball made $15,000 in Triple-A, $12,000 in Double-A, $10,000 in full-season Class A, and $5,500 in rookie leagues. This was just a fraction of the salary of umpires in Major League Baseball, who were making from $84,000 to $300,000 annually.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, Causes
Many minor league umpires required an extra job or two during the off-season to make ends meet. However, the difficulty of the in-season schedule prevented the umpires from maintaining a second job during the baseball season. This led to a challenge in finding a steady job with an opportunity for advancement.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, Causes
The strike began when irked umpires filed a lawsuit with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Florida against PBUC in mid-March on the grounds that PBUC threatened to fire those umpires who decided to strike. There was some speculation that the AMLU union umpires intended to strike in early 2006, just after their contracts expired in late 2005. When it was time to renew the expired contract, the AMLU umpires demanded salary increases, which the PBUC was unwilling to pay. It was decided then that the umpires would go on strike. The umpires refused to report for spring training, marking the beginning of their official strike of 2006. The first game of Minor League Baseball on April 4, 2006, began with a replacement umpire.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, Causes
The umpires demanded a $100 per day salary increase and a $10 per diem increase. In the 2000 contract that AMLU initially signed with PBUC, rookie umpires were getting paid $1800 per month and senior umpires were getting paid up to $3400 per month. This salary was not enough, considering that their schedule only lasts for five to six months, leaving their annual salary at a meager $15,000 to $20,000. Per diem rates ranged from about $20 for rookie umpires to $25 for senior umpires.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, Causes
According to AMLU, the per diem rate in the 2000 contract was completely inadequate to meet the needs of umpires. Because the umpires spent the five-month season on the road, living in hotels and eating in restaurants, their daily food and gas expenses could not be met with the 2006 per diem rate first proposed by PBUC.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, During the strike
The dispute began in February 2006. As PBUC's contract with AMLU had expired in 2005, both groups were engaged in negotiating the terms of the next five-year contract for the umpires. Contention emerged over a salary hike proposed by PBUC, the first in almost a decade. PBUC offered a $100-per-month raise as well as an across-the-board increase of $1 per day to the per diem payments. The deal also included a proposal to raise the deductible for the umpires' health insurance from $100 to $500, reducing the effective amount of the salary hike. AMLU rejected the deal outright, claiming that it was insufficient to meet their needs. AMLU made an announcement on March 24, 2006, that they had filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB against PBUC. The umpires began to strike shortly thereafter.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, During the strike
The first minor leagues to announce that their umpires had failed to report on April 4 for opening day were the International League and Texas League. Umpires for the Southern League failed to report on April 5. April 6 was the national opening day for Minor League Baseball. A total of 220 umpires represented by the AMLU went on strike, refusing to report across 16 different leagues. Management (PBUC) issued a statement that they had made their best and final offer, and then announced that they would continue the season, implying that they would use replacement umpires in the place of the professional AMLU workers.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, During the strike
On May 11, some major league umpires joined with the AMLU umpires in a show of solidarity. Tim Timmons, Randy Marsh, Ángel Hernández, Hunter Wendelstedt and Sam Holbrook arrived in the picket line outside of Cooper Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, to strike alongside AMLU umpires.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, Replacements
For the duration of the strike, PBUC management called in replacement umpires for the 220 AMLU umpires on strike. These replacements consisted largely of umpires from college baseball and high school baseball. For fear of reprisals, PBUC refused to release the names of the replacements. A number of incidents involving the replacement umpires followed. Some players, coaches, managers and AMLU representatives placed the blame on the replacements.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, Replacements
One of the most publicized mishaps involving the replacements occurred on April 26 during a game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. After striking out at the plate, a frustrated Delmon Young of the Durham Bulls threw his bat at an umpire in response to what he thought was a bad call. The bat hit the umpire, bringing criticism from Minor League Baseball and earning Young a 50-game suspension.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, Replacements
In another incident, Birmingham Barons manager Chris Cron walked out in anger with his team in the eighth inning of a game against the Jacksonville Suns after the benches were vacated three separate times. After being ejected from a game on May 1, Ottawa Lynx manager Dave Trembley declared the replacement umpire’s performance as “the worst officiating [he had] ever seen in 20 years of professional baseball. [ It was] an embarrassment to the International League and an embarrassment to [me]." One International League player remarked, "It's definitely not professional baseball the way they're calling balls and strikes.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, Replacements
I've been called out twice on balls that bounced in the dirt. Definitely hitters are taking a beating and so are the pitchers. I know guys on our team are throwing pitches sometimes down the middle and (they're) getting called balls. And sometimes they're 10 inches outside and they're called strikes.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, Replacements
Both AMLU lawyer Robert Weaver and a National League scout criticized the skills of the replacements. Weaver said of the replacement umpires' performances, “It's definitely inconsistent and it's affecting careers. Players' numbers are down. I think the league ERA is an earned run lower than it was last year." Management within PBUC as well as Minor League Baseball remained supportive of the replacement umpires. Both PBUC and Minor League Baseball denied the charges made by players, managers, AMLU and coaches that the replacement umpires were unprofessional, lacking the experience and skills to manage the players and make the proper calls. Pat O'Conner later praised the replacement umpires for their efforts, noting that they had done quite well during the strike and would be used again should an AMLU umpire became injured or sick.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, Agreement
After a few grueling weeks of the strike, negotiations were finally settled between AMLU and PBUC on May 30. The umpires who had been on strike agreed to resume work by June 12. An earlier contract proposal had been rejected by AMLU by a two-to-one margin. Days later, along with the help of a federal mediator, the two sides were able to devise a new contract. Through the use of collective bargaining and their labor strike, umpires were able to negotiate an increase to their per diem payments by $3, up to a maximum of $40 depending on the league.


2006 Minor League Baseball umpire strike, Agreement
As for monthly salaries, there was an increase of $100, also a part of the six-year agreement. Minor League Baseball and PBUC were in agreement with the arrangement. Pat O'Conner stated that he was "happy to have reached a deal that will assure labor peace with [the] umpires through the 2011 season."


2006 Minsk Summit
The 2006 Minsk Summit was a Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Minsk, Belarus on November 28, 2006. Officially, the theme of the summit was focused on "questions of the effectiveness and improvement of the commonwealth", thereby addressing complaints by some member states that the CIS had become little more than a forum. The summit coincided with NATO's 2006 Riga Summit in Latvia.


2006 Misano Superbike World Championship round
The 2006 Misano Superbike World Championship round was the sixth round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship season. It took place on the weekend of June 23–25, 2006 at the Misano Adriatico circuit.


2006 Mississauga municipal election
The 2006 Mississauga municipal elections took place on November 13, 2006, to elect a mayor and 11 city councillors in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The 2006 election was noteworthy for its record number of candidates, in part due to two new wards being added to Council. Details about the candidates in the 2006 election and past elections in Mississauga are listed as an external link below. In addition, school trustees were elected to the Peel District School Board, Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest and Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud. These elections were held in conjunction with those held in all other municipalities across the province of Ontario (see 2006 Ontario municipal elections).


2006 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team
The 2006 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Sylvester Croom. The Bulldogs played their home games in 2006 at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi


2006 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football team
The 2006 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils football team represented Mississippi Valley State University during the 2006 NCAA Division I FCS football season.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2
Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (The Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative) was a state constitutional amendment initiative that concerned stem cell research and human cloning. It allows any stem cell research and therapy in the U.S. state of Missouri that is legal under federal law, including somatic cell nuclear transfer to produce human embryos for stem cell production.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2
It prohibits cloning or attempting to clone a human being, which is defined to mean "to implant in a uterus or attempt to implant in a uterus anything other than the product of fertilisation of an egg of a human female by a sperm of a human male for the purpose of initiating a pregnancy that could result in the creation of a human fetus, or the birth of a human being". Commercials supporting and opposing the amendment aired during the 2006 World Series, in which the St. Louis Cardinals participated. The issue became especially intertwined with the 2006 U.S. Senate election in Missouri, with the Republican and Democratic candidates on opposite sides of the issue.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2
Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 appeared on the ballot for the November 2006 general election and passed with 51% of the vote.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2, Support
The organization that led the movement to get the initiative on the ballot and later supported its adoption was called the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures. The measure was proposed to stop repeated attempts by the Missouri Legislature to ban certain types of stem cell research, namely SCNT. Claire McCaskill, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, supported the measure.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2, Support
During the 2006 World Series, which was partially held in St. Louis, a television ad featuring actor Michael J. Fox aired. The ad was paid for by McCaskill's campaign, and the primary reason Fox gave for his support for McCaskill was her stance in favor of  stem cell research. The advertisement was controversial because Fox was visibly suffering tremors, which were side effects of the medications used to treat Parkinson's Syndrome. Rush Limbaugh, a conservative radio host, criticized Fox for allowing himself to have been used by special interests supporting the measure. Limbaugh criticized the uncontrollable movements that Fox made in the commercial, and claimed that it was Fox had either deliberately stopped taking his medication or was feigning his tremors.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2, Opposition
The coalition that initially led the opposition to the amendment was called Missourians Against Human Cloning. Later in the effort, when the coalition was unable to raise the money for the "Vote No" ads, Life Communications Fund took the lead in doing so. They created a series of "Vote No" ads for television, radio and print.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2, Opposition
Earlier in the campaign, the Vitae Foundation ran a series of educational ads, a "prophetic voice campaign," on the differences between adult and embryonic stem cell research, which was a major gain for those opposed to the Amendment, because, according to them, the "cures" were only occurring as a result of adult stem cell treatments, not via embryonic stem cells. Drawing awareness to the differences between adult and embryonic stem cell research was critical to their strategy. That was the goal of the first ad created in the series.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2, Opposition
Each ad then slowly moved the target audience (Catholics, Protestants and Evangelicals) to oppose the amendment. The final ad attempted to link embryonic stem cell research to human cloning. A majority of Missourians were opposed to human cloning, especially their target audience. The prophetic voice campaign ran for about 6 months. The "Vote No" ads ran for roughly 3 months. Jim Talent, the incumbent Republican U.S. Senator facing re-election, was one of several candidates opposed to the amendment.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2, Opposition
In rebuttal to the Michael J. Fox advertisement (which never directly mentioned Amendment 2), a Life Communications television ad with several celebrities appeared in opposition to the measure. At least three of the celebrities opposed the measure for religious reasons: Kurt Warner, former St. Louis Rams quarterback; Kansas City Royals baseball player Mike Sweeney, and James Caviezel, who played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ. Patricia Heaton, from Everybody Loves Raymond, opposed the amendment on the grounds that low-income women would be exploited for their eggs. Jeff Suppan, a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, also appeared in opposition to the amendment.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2, Polling
As election day drew near, public support seemed to be shifting away from Amendment 2. Polls had shown support as high as 68% in favor of the Amendment in December 2005. By October 29, 2006, support had fallen to 51%, with 35% opposed.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2, Results and aftermath
On November 7, 2006, Amendment 2 passed by a margin of 2.4% (or 50,800 votes). The final tally of votes ended in 51.2% for yes and 48.8% for no. The measure failed in 97 of the 114 counties in the state, but picked up enough votes in St. Louis, Kansas City, and Columbia (and their surrounding counties) to pass statewide.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2, Results and aftermath
Democrat Claire McCaskill (an amendment supporter) unseated Republican incumbent U.S. Senator Jim Talent (an amendment opponent) the same night that the amendment passed.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2, Results and aftermath
The very expensive campaigns for and against the amendment broke every record on political spending on statewide races in Missouri.


2006 Missouri Amendment 2, Results and aftermath
Following the passage of the amendment, Stowers Institute for Medical Research canceled plans for a major expansion in Kansas City. Because of the very close vote, the Institute asserted that the political climate in Missouri was too hostile for investment in stem cell research.


2006 Missouri Tigers football team
The 2006 Missouri Tigers football team represented the University of Missouri during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers went 8-5, including a 4-4 record in Big 12 North play. The season ended with a 39-38 loss in the Sun Bowl to Oregon State at El Paso. They played their home games at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri, and was coached by head coach Gary Pinkel.


2006 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2006 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was played from March 2-5, 2006 at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Missouri at the conclusion of the 2005–06 NCAA Division I men's basketball regular season. The Southern Illinois Salukis won their 5th MVC Tournament title to earn an automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Tournament.


2006 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer season
The 2006 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer season was the 16th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference.


2006 Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer season
The 2006 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Tournament was hosted by Bradley and won by Creighton.


2006 Mnet Km Music Festival
The 2006 Mnet Km Music Festival (MFMK) was the eighth of the annual music awards in Seoul, South Korea that took place on November 25, 2006 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena.


2006 Mnet Km Music Festival
Leading the nominees were Wax boy bands TVXQ and SG Wannabe, and solo artist Rain with five nominations each. The boy bands secured two wins each by the end of the ceremony, while the latter received only one award out of 5 nominations.


2006 Mnet Km Music Festival, Background
The award-giving body continued to use the name "M.net Korean Music Festival" (MKMF) for the eighth consecutive time. Starting this year, however, three grand prizes (or daesang) were introduced including Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year awards. The event took place at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena once again with Shin Dong-yup as a returning host and Kim Ok-bin as his co-host.


2006 Mnet Km Music Festival, Multiple awards, Artist(s) with multiple wins
The following artist(s) received two or more wins (excluding the special awards):


2006 Mnet Km Music Festival, Presenters and performers
The following individuals and groups, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.


2006 Molde FK season
The 2006 season was Molde's 31st season in the top flight of Norwegian football. In Tippeligaen they finished 14th and were relegated to the 2007 Norwegian First Division. Molde also competed in the Norwegian Cup where they were knocked out in the third round by Follo.


2006 Molde FK season
As winners of the 2005 Norwegian Football Cup, Molde qualified for the 2006–07 UEFA Cup second qualifying round. Molde managed to qualify for the first round where they were defeated 2–0 on aggregate by Scottish club Rangers.


2006 Molde FK season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2006 Molde FK season, Squad statistics, Appearances and goals
Note: The Norwegian Cup second-round game vs KIL/Hemne lacks information. 2-4 players miss one game because of this. The players mentioned in the match summary in Romsdals Budstikke after the game are included in the statistics.


2006 Mole Valley District Council election
Elections to Mole Valley Council were held on 4 May 2006. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from no overall control. Overall turnout was 49.0%.


2006 Molise regional election
The Molise regional election of 2006 took place on 5–6 November 2006.


2006 Molise regional election
Incumbent Michele Iorio (Forza Italia) defeated Roberto Ruta (The Daisy).


2006 Molson Grand Prix of Toronto
The 2006 Molson Grand Prix of Toronto was the seventh round of the 2006 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season, held on July 9, 2006 on the streets of Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Justin Wilson took the pole but A. J. Allmendinger took the win, his third consecutive race victory.


2006 Monaco GP2 Series round
The 2006 Monaco GP2 round was a GP2 Series motor race held on 21 May 2006 at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was the third race of the 2006 GP2 Series. The race was used to support the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix.


2006 Monaco GP2 Series round, Report
Indeed, Hamilton was the man to beat in qualifying as he set a new GP2 lap record in the Principality, claiming pole with a 1:20.430. Franck Perera was his closest challenger in second, a quarter of a second behind, while Gianmaria Bruni and Alexandre Prémat shared the second row.


2006 Monaco GP2 Series round, Report
There would be no heading Hamilton at the start of the race either, with the #2 ART Grand Prix car shooting into the lead as the lights went out. Perera was hence left to hold second in the Brit's wake into Sainte Devote, while poor starts for Bruni and Prémat let Olivier Pla leap into third.


2006 Monaco GP2 Series round, Report
Behind, however, the start would be more confused, with Tristan Gommendy striking José María López, which sent the Frenchman literally flying into Nicolas Lapierre. Javier Villa was also removed by the out of control trio, while Bruni, Alexandre Negrão and Championship leader Nelson Piquet Jr. were all delayed.


2006 Monaco GP2 Series round, Report
Remarkably, despite four cars being abandoned on track, and a further retirement for Adam Carroll later around the opening tour, there would be no Safety Car, with stunningly quick work from the marshals clearing the circuit under yellow flags. That meant that Hamilton could make his escape during the early laps, although Perera would exchange a barrage of fastest laps with the Brit as the race settled down.


2006 Monaco GP2 Series round, Report
That fight was effectively over by lap thirteen when Perera stopped, with Hamilton making his stop three laps later and resuming with the race lead. Perera was split from the Brit's tail by a yet to stop Andreas Zuber, although Hamilton's lead over the Frenchman had been cut to three seconds from ten before the stops.


2006 Monaco GP2 Series round, Report
Once Zuber pitted Perera was clear to attack Hamilton, although he never closed to within three seconds despite the fact that the lead duo had begun to catch the tail of the field. Indeed, Hamilton and Perera would go on to lap everyone up and including sixth on track, although Hamilton would be denied the fastest lap point as a result.


2006 Monaco GP2 Series round, Report
That point would go to Lucas di Grassi, with the Brazilian setting the best lap of the race moments before he punted Jason Tahincioğlu out of the way, the Turkish racer having formed a rolling roadblock for most of the race. Elsewhere, Ernesto Viso battled from the back into the points, only to be taken out by Ferdinando Monfardini after the Italian racer made a very late lunge to try and pass Michael Ammermüller into the Nouvelle Chicane.


2006 Monaco GP2 Series round, Report
With that the race was run, with Hamilton claiming victory by eight seconds from Perera, while Prémat was a distant third. Home racer Clivio Piccione secured fourth ahead of late-stopper Zuber, while Félix Porteiro was a lap down in sixth. Ammermüller was next up ahead of Sergio Hernández, the last scorer, while di Grassi denied Hamilton a Grand Slam by finishing with fastest lap down in eleventh.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix
The 2006 Monaco Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2006) was a Formula One motor race held on 28 May 2006 at the Circuit de Monaco. The 78-lap race was the seventh round of the 2006 Formula One season. Prior to the race, Renault's Fernando Alonso had finished on the podium in all of the previous six Grands Prix, winning three of those races. His main championship rival, Michael Schumacher was looking to win the race as it would equal Ayrton Senna's record at Monaco for most wins (six).


2006 Monaco Grand Prix
The race was remembered by many people for Michael Schumacher's actions during the closing stages of the qualifying session for the race, where he stopped his car in the Rascasse corner, thus preventing his rival Fernando Alonso improving his time and most likely taking pole off Schumacher. Schumacher maintained that this was an innocent mistake, but his actions were deemed "deliberate" by the race stewards and he was demoted to the back of the grid as punishment for his actions, promoting Alonso from second to pole position.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix
Fernando Alonso went on to win the race, his first in Monaco. Juan Pablo Montoya came second and David Coulthard took full advantage of Jarno Trulli's late hydraulic failure to finish in third, scoring Red Bull Racing's first ever podium finish and also first ever podium for Ferrari as an engine supplier for a customer team since 2003 United States Grand Prix when Sauber was a Ferrari customer team but badged as Petronas.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Background
During the break between the Spanish Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix, a test session was held at the Circuit Paul Ricard. Fernando Alonso topped the times on the first day of testing, under a tenth of a second faster than the Ferrari of Felipe Massa who was second fastest. Toyota also had a promising day testing their new car, the Toyota TF106B, with Jarno Trulli coming in third place, who was also less than a tenth of a second behind Alonso. Heikki Kovalainen in the second Renault was fourth ahead of both the McLarens of Räikkönen and Montoya.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Background
Alonso was top on day two as well, with Kovalainen second in the other Renault. Jacques Villeneuve was third in his BMW Sauber, a second slower than the Renaults. Klien, Trulli and Massa completed the top six respectively. Villeneuve got the better of the two Renaults on day three, the Canadian was over four tenths faster than his nearest rival, Heikki Kovalainen. Toyota were fastest on day four, Olivier Panis was fastest ahead of Ricardo Zonta and the two McLarens of Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Background
As well as testing in Paul Ricard, some teams, namely Honda and Williams, were testing at an Italian circuit near Vallelunga, which had recently had a new chicane added to it to help simulate Monaco's characteristics. Honda's Anthony Davidson was top of the time sheet on day one, with Alexander Wurz's Williams around 4 tenths behind him. Honda continued to their advantage over Williams on day two of testing, with Jenson Button topping the times; Davidson was second and Mark Webber was third.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Background
Honda were fastest again on day three, this time Rubens Barrichello was fastest with Jenson Button in second and Mark Webber third. Williams were left on their own in Vallelunga on day four, Mark Webber and Narain Karthikeyan driving for Williams. The Australian was fastest with Karthikeyan around 4 tenths slower than him.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Friday drivers
The bottom 6 teams in the 2005 Constructors' Championship and Super Aguri 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.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Practice
Fernando Alonso showed he had intention of winning his first Monaco Grand Prix as he was fastest in the opening practice session, recording a best lap of 1:16.712, a tenth of a second faster than Honda test driver Anthony Davidson, who recorded a personal best of 1:16.872. Underlining Renault's challenge was third-fastest Giancarlo Fisichella, who was right behind Mondini, with a best time of 1:16.88.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Practice
Alexander Wurz was fastest in the second practice session, one tenth faster than Mondini and two tenths faster than third fastest, Juan Pablo Montoya. Wurz was very pleased with his performance in practice, "I went through my tyre choice and I have to say the way the circuit is progressing, it is coming to us just as it did at the Nürburgring, which is good. This makes me quite confident and positive that we will have a good weekend" he said. Anthony Davidson had dislodged a marker stick in the "Swimming Pool" to cause the red flag at the start of the session. After the restart, Davidson got his entry to the "Ste Devote" corner wrong and understeered into the tyre wall, removing the Honda’s front wing and left front wheel.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Practice
Alonso was quickest in the Saturday morning session. Michael Schumacher, who had challenged Alonso all through the session, was second, 2 tenths slower than Alonso. Fisichella was third, Coulthard fourth, Nico Rosberg fifth, and Montoya sixth.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
Conditions were warm and sunny for the qualifying session for the race the following day, perhaps the biggest challenge for the drivers was getting a "clear track", meaning the drivers wanted a qualifying run without any cars in their way as this can seriously compromise a driver's time with the lack of width around the track so there was a possibility of a "big-name" going out before the top ten shootout. Vitantonio Liuzzi was the first driver to set a time in the session.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
By the time everyone, except Michael Schumacher, had set a time, Felipe Massa lost control of his Ferrari at Casino Square; so the Brazilian would start from the back of the grid and the session was red flagged. The session restarted at 1:10pm local time and Schumacher did set a time and was safely through to the second phase. Scott Speed had a good chance of qualifying for the second session, but an error at the chicane meant he was eliminated from qualifying. Rubens Barrichello made a last-ditch effort to get out of the elimination zone and did as he moved up to eighth. At the end of the first session Michael Schumacher was fastest, while Christijan Albers, Tiago Monteiro, Takuma Sato, Franck Montagny,Scott Speed and Felipe Massa were eliminated.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
Nick Heidfeld was the first to set a time in the second session before being beaten by the Renault of Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen who would later battle for the fastest time for the remainder of the session. So the 2005 pole position man, Kimi Räikkönen, was fastest with Fernando Alonso closely behind. David Coulthard was the surprise addition to the final session in his Red Bull. Ralf Schumacher, Christian Klien, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jenson Button, Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld were eliminated.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
The final qualifying session was overshadowed by Michael Schumacher's actions in the dying moments of the session as his rival, Fernando Alonso, was on a flying lap and was, at sector two, over two tenths of a second faster than the German. However, Schumacher stopped his car in the Rascasse corner, which compromised Alonso's lap. When asked about the incident, Schumacher responded by saying that he "locked up the front and went wide." The consensus in the paddock was that it was a deliberate act and the issue was raised with the race stewards.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
The stewards agreed and punished Schumacher by sending him to the back of the grid, alongside his teammate, making this the first time ever in the history of the sport that two Ferrari team cars would start a race on the back row. Ferrari's Managerial Director, Jean Todt, said that he was "disgusted" by the decision. Steward Joaquin Verdegay commented, "He performed some absolutely unnecessary and pathetic counter-steering, and that lasted five metres, until there was no more chances of going through the turn normally. He lost control of the car while travelling at 16 km/h (9.9 mph). That's something completely unjustifiable." Former driver Keke Rosberg said of the incident, "It was the cheapest, dirtiest thing I have ever seen in F1. He should leave F1 and go home."


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
Schumacher was not the only driver to be punished in qualifying; Giancarlo Fisichella was also punished by the stewards for blocking David Coulthard from improving his time and the Italian lost his three fastest lap times and dropped five places on the grid.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
With Schumacher starting from the back of the grid and Mark Webber between him and his closest rival, Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso was in a good position. Like the qualifying session the day before, the sun was out and was most certainly staying out for the entire race. Coming into first corner, Alonso led the Williams of Webber and the two McLarens of Räikkönen and Montoya, nearly all 22 cars escaped the first corner unscathed, only Tiago Monteiro had picked up a problem, losing his front wing after a minor collision with his teammate, Christijan Albers.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
By the end of lap one, Michael Schumacher had already passed Takuma Sato after starting the race from the pit lane and Alonso led the race by 8 tenths of a second from Mark Webber. The Australian ran wide at St Devote and was overtaken by Räikkönen at Casino Square during lap two and was now catching Alonso by setting the fastest lap and by lap four Räikkönen had Alonso in his sight.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
In the mid-field, Schumacher was up in 16th place and was right behind the Honda of Jenson Button, but he would not get past Button until the 21st lap when he overtook the Briton in the Chicane. By lap 14, the leaders had already caught up with the backmarkers of the two Super Aguris and Monteiro's Midland. Albers was given a stop-and-go penalty on lap 18 for causing an avoidable collision with his teammate and took his penalty a lap later.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
By lap 21, the first round of pit stops had begun, Tiago Monteiro, who had already been into the pits, was the first driver to make a scheduled stop. Räikkönen was the first of the top three drivers to pit, which was on lap 22. Alonso pitted from the lead two laps later, leaving Mark Webber in the race lead. After a fast in-lap, Webber pitted from the lead and had the potential to come out ahead of Räikkönen. But he failed to come out in front of the Finnish driver and retained his position. By lap 34, Schumacher was up in 13th position, behind David Coulthard, but two laps later Schumacher came in for his first stop of the race and, with a stop of 9.1 seconds, was fueled until the end of the race.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
By lap 46, Rubens Barrichello, who had been off pace for the entire race, pitted in for his first and only stop of the race. Webber was having a good race for Williams that afternoon, but it was to be cut short due to an exhaust failure; as the Australian completed his 46th lap, smoke started to appear at the back of his car and it blew up in flames at the exit of the pit lane.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
The safety car was deployed so marshals could get Webber's Williams off track so the rest of the field could resume racing without running into the immobile Williams. The entire field took advantage of the safety car period, and pitted a lap later for new tires and fuel.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
After two laps under the safety car, Räikkönen had bad luck as well when a heat shield, which had caught fire before in the first practice session, caught fire again, burning through the car's wiring and, judging by the on-board footage, cutting off the electricity to the engine; Räikkönen parked his McLaren at the exit of the Portier turn. Following this, the Finn opted to return to his private yacht as the race carried on.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
With the safety car coming back into the pits, Alonso restarted in first place with Juan Pablo Montoya right behind him and Rubens Barrichello third; Coulthard and Schumacher were in the points as well. By lap 57, Alonso had a commanding lead of over 15 seconds to Montoya. Christian Klien retired a lap later, promoting his teammate David Coulthard to fifth and Michael Schumacher to sixth. Jacques Villeneuve got a drive-through penalty on lap 59 because he overtook under safety car conditions.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
Schumacher was closing fast on sixth-place Coulthard at about five seconds a lap, lapping in the 1:15's, but the Scot was over 35 seconds ahead of him. Barrichello, who was having a good Grand Prix up to lap 63, when he was given a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane; thus promoting Jarno Trulli up to third place and Coulthard to fourth. Barrichello came back in fifth place.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
With a podium almost certain for Trulli, his Toyota team were pleased with the new car's performance but, on lap 72, the Italian had a hydraulic failure that shut the car down on the way up to the Casino, promoting Coulthard to third, who was now on course to take Red Bull's first podium, and moving Trulli's teammate, Ralf Schumacher, who had had a very quiet Grand Prix, up into the points.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
By lap 75 and with only a few laps to go, Michael Schumacher had closed right up on his old Ferrari teammate, Rubens Barrichello, but despite a number of attempts, Schumacher failed to get past the Honda and finished fifth. Giancarlo Fisichella was sixth in the sister Renault; Nick Heidfeld was seventh, and Ralf Schumacher took the final point up for grabs in eighth.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Race
On the podium, Coulthard wore a Superman cape, given that Red Bull was in that race promoting the superhero's newest film, Superman Returns. No champagne was sprayed due to death of Édouard Michelin on Friday.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Schumacher's actions in the qualifying session would serve as ammunition for Schumacher's critics to go along with his actions in the 1994 Australian Grand Prix and the 1997 European Grand Prix, although to this day Schumacher himself denies allegations that he "parked" his Ferrari on purpose to block Fernando Alonso from taking pole position off him. However, this race is also regarded as one of Schumacher's best performances owing to the immense difficulty to overtake in Monaco, which did not stop him overtaking at least 11 cars on the narrow track.


2006 Monaco Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
The Grand Prix was also the last time that Juan Pablo Montoya stepped onto a Formula One podium as well as Red Bull Racing's first podium finish. This would also be the last Monaco Grand Prix for Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher, until his return in the 2010 Formula One season.


2006 Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts
The 2006 Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 10th edition of the event then known as the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts, and was a Tier III event on the 2006 WTA Tour. It took place in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, from 1 January through 7 January 2006. Unseeded Lucie Šafářová won the singles title and earned $28,000 first-prize money.


2006 Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts, WTA entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2006 Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts, Finals, Doubles
Dinara Safina /  Meghann Shaughnessy defeated  Cara Black /  Rennae Stubbs, 6–2, 6–3


2006 Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts – Doubles
Elena Likhovtseva and Magdalena Maleeva were the defending champions, but none competed this year. Likhovtseva competed in Auckland at the same week, while Maleeva retired from professional tennis in October 2005.


2006 Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts – Doubles
Dinara Safina and Meghann Shaughnessy won the title by defeating Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs 6–2, 6–3 in the final.


2006 Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts – Singles
Patty Schnyder was the defending champion, but lost in quarterfinals to Lucie Šafářová.


2006 Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts – Singles
Lucie Šafářová won the title by defeating Flavia Pennetta 6–3, 6–4 in the final.


2006 Mongolian Premier League
The 2006 Mongolian National Championship was the thirty-ninth recorded edition of top flight football in Mongolia and the eleventh season of the Mongolian Premier League, which took over as the highest level of competition in the country from the previous Mongolian National Championship. Khoromkhon were champions, their second title, Khasiin Khulguud were  runners up, with Khangarid in third place.


2006 Mongolian Premier League, Format
The 2006 season consisted of three distinct stage: the first stage consisted of three groups of four teams, with each group playing a single round robin of matches. From this stage, the top two teams in each group in addition to the two third placed teams with the best records advanced to the next set of matches. The second round consisted of two further groups of four teams, with each group again contesting a single round robin of matches. The winners of each group then progressed directly to a single leg final match, whilst the runners up in each group contested a third place play off match.


2006 Monmouth Hawks football team
The 2006 Monmouth Hawks football team represented Monmouth University in the 2006 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC). The Hawks were led by 14th-year head coach Kevin Callahan and played their home games at Kessler Field. They finished the season 10–2 overall and 6–1 in NEC play to win the conference championship. As the team with the best record in the NEC, they were invited to participate in the Gridiron Classic, which they lost 27–7 to San Diego.


2006 Montana Grizzlies football team
The 2006 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 2006 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Grizzlies were led by fourth-year head coach Bobby Hauck and played their home games on campus at Washington–Grizzly Stadium in Missoula.


2006 Montana House of Representatives election
An election was held on November 7, 2006 to elect all 100 members to Montana's House of Representatives. The election coincided with elections for other offices, including U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives and State Senate. The primary election was held on June 6, 2006.


2006 Montana House of Representatives election
A net loss of one seat by the Democrats resulted in the Democrats winning 49 seats compared to 50 seats for the Republicans. The Republicans regained control of the House due to the Constitution Party member caucusing with the Republicans.


2006 Montana House of Representatives election, Results, Statewide
Statewide results of the 2006 Montana House of Representatives election:


2006 Montana House of Representatives election, Results, District
Results of the 2006 Montana House of Representatives election by district:


2006 Montana State Bobcats football team
The 2006 Montana State Bobcats football team was an American football team that represented Montana State University in the Big Sky Conference (Big Sky) during the 2006 NCAA Division I FCS football season. In their seventh and final season under head coach Mike Kramer, the Bobcats compiled an 8–5 record (6–2 against Big Sky opponents), tied for second place in the Big Sky, and were ranked No. 10 in the NCAA Division FCS rankings.


2006 Montana State Bobcats football team
After opening the season with an upset victory over Colorado of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the Bobcats lost their next three games. They advanced to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Furman in the first round before losing to Appalachian State in the quarterfinals.


2006 Monte Carlo Masters
The 2006 Monte Carlo Masters was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 100th edition of the Monte Carlo Masters and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2006 ATP Tour. It took place at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France from 17 April through 23 April 2006.


2006 Monte Carlo Masters
The men's singles was headlined by world No. 1 Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian. Rafael Nadal won the singles title.


2006 Monte Carlo Masters, Finals, Doubles
Jonas Björkman /  Max Mirnyi defeated  Fabrice Santoro /  Nenad Zimonjić 6–2, 7–6(7–2)


2006 Monte Carlo Masters – Doubles
Leander Paes and Nenad Zimonjić were the defending champions, but they chose not to participate together. Paes partnered up with Martin Damm, but they were eliminated by Mahesh Bhupathi and Radek Štěpánek in the second round. Zimonjić played alongside Fabrice Santoro and reached the final, where they lost to Jonas Björkman and Max Mirnyi.


2006 Monte Carlo Masters – Singles
Defending champion Rafael Nadal successfully defended his title, defeating Roger Federer in the final 6–2, 6–7(2–7), 6–3, 7–6(7–5), to win the Singles title at the 2006 Monte Carlo Masters.


2006 Monte Carlo Rally
The 74ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo (74th Monte-Carlo Rally), the first round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season took place between January 20 and 22, 2006.


2006 Monte Carlo Rally, Pre-event
The first event of the season saw many changes from the previous year. The new season saw just two full manufacturer teams compete (Ford and Subaru). Citroën supported a semi works effort through the Kronos team. Stobart increased their profile by creating a team using old Fords. OMV Peugeot Norway used the Peugeot 307 while Skoda maintained their presence through a team sponsored by Red Bull.


2006 Monte Carlo Rally, Pre-event
On the drivers front, Ford had a new lineup consisting of two time champion Marcus Grönholm and the promising young driver Mikko Hirvonen. Kronos used Citroëns twice world champion Sébastien Loeb alongside Xavier Pons. Subaru retained Petter Solberg with Stéphane Sarrazin and Chris Atkinson  due to share the second seat depending on the surface. Stobart used a mixture of drivers alongsideMatthew Wilson in his first full year. Manfred Stohl and Henning Solberg (Petter's brother) used the previously unloved Peugeot 307s.


2006 Monte Carlo Rally, Pre-event
There were no places for Markko Märtin who fired an angry broadside before the Monte Carlo Rally at the direction the sport was taking. Toni Gardemeister lost his place at Ford along with Roman Kresta, both not doing enough to impress Malcolm Wilson during 2005. François Duval  didn't find a seat after his erratic 2005 season, and there was still no place available for Colin McRae despite two promising performances for Skoda in 2005.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum
An independence referendum was held in Montenegro on 21 May 2006. It was approved by 55.5% of voters, narrowly passing the 55% threshold. By 23 May, preliminary referendum results were recognized by all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, suggesting widespread international recognition if Montenegro were to become formally independent. On 31 May, the referendum commission officially confirmed the results of the referendum, verifying that 55.5% of the population of Montenegrin voters had voted in favor of independence. Because voters met the controversial threshold requirement of 55% approval, the referendum was incorporated into a declaration of independence during a special parliamentary session on 31 May. The Assembly of the Republic of Montenegro made a formal Declaration of Independence on Saturday 3 June.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum
In response to the announcement, the government of Serbia declared itself the legal and political successor of Serbia and Montenegro, and that the government and parliament of Serbia itself would soon adopt a new constitution. The United States, China, Russia, and the institutions of the European Union all expressed their intentions to respect the referendum's results.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Constitutional background
The process of secession was regulated by the Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro adopted on 4 February 2003 by both Councils of the Federal Assembly of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in accordance to the 2002 Belgrade Agreement between the governments of the two constitutive republics of the state then known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Montenegro and Serbia. Article 60 of the constitution required that a minimum of three years pass after its ratification before one of the member states could declare independence. The same article specified the referendum as necessary for this move. However, this constitution allowed member states to define their own referendum laws.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Constitutional background
It is also specified that the member state which secedes forfeits any rights to political and legal continuity of the federation. This means that the seceding state (in this case the Republic of Montenegro) had to apply for membership to all major international institutions, such as the United Nations and be recognized by the international community, and that the remaining state (in this case the Republic of Serbia) became the full successor to the state union. No state objected to recognizing a newly formed state prior to the referendum. If Serbia had declared independence instead of Montenegro, Montenegro would have been the legal successor state.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Legal procedure
According to the Montenegrin Constitution, state status could not be changed without a referendum proposed by the President to the Parliament. The Law on the Referendum on State Legal Status was first submitted by President Filip Vujanović, and it was unanimously passed by the Montenegrin Parliament on 2 March 2006. In addition to formulating the official question to be printed on the referendum ballot, the law also included a three-year moratorium on a repeat referendum, such that if the referendum results had rejected independence, another one could have been legally held in 2009.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Legal procedure
The Referendum Bill obliged the Parliament, which introduced the referendum, to respect its outcome. It had to declare the official results within 15 days following the voting day, and act upon them within 60 days. The dissolution of Parliament was required upon the passage of any bill proposing constitutional changes to the status of the state, and a new Parliament was required to convene within ninety days. For such changes to be enacted, the new Parliament was required to support the bill with a two-thirds majority.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Legal procedure
The newly independent country of Serbia, which is the successor state to the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, while favoring a loose federation, stated publicly that it would respect the outcome of the referendum, and not interfere with Montenegrin sovereignty.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Legal procedure, Controversies
There was considerable controversy over suffrage and needed result threshold for independence. The Montenegrin government, which supported the independence, initially advocated a simple majority, but the opposition insisted on a certain threshold below which the referendum, if a "yes" option won, would have been moot.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Legal procedure, Controversies
European Union envoy Miroslav Lajčák proposed independence if a 55% supermajority of votes are cast in favor with a minimum turnout of 50%, a determination that prompted some protests from the pro-independence forces. The Council of the European Union unanimously agreed to Lajčák's proposal, and the Đukanović government ultimately backed down in its opposition. Milo Đukanović, Prime Minister of Montenegro, however, promised that he would declare independence if the votes passed 50%, regardless of whether the census was passed or not.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Legal procedure, Controversies
On the other hand, he also announced that if less than 50% voted for the independence option, he would resign from all political positions. The original pursuit of Milo Đukanović and the DPS-SDP was that 40% voting in favour of statehood be a sufficient percentage to declare independence, but this caused severe international outrage before the Independentists proposed 50%.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Legal procedure, Controversies
Another controversial issue was the referendum law, based on the constitution of Serbia and Montenegro, which stated that Montenegrins living within Serbia registered to vote within Serbia should be prohibited from voting in the referendum because that would give them two votes in the union and make them superior to other citizens. Also, the agreement threshold between the two blocs for 55%, was somewhat criticized as overriding the traditional practice of requiring a two-thirds supermajority, as practiced in all ex Yugoslav countries before (including the previous referendum in Montenegro).


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Blocs, Pro-independence
A controversy emerged in the Independentist Bloc, as non-governmental organizations had officially joined and campaigned as its members, which was illegal, thus breaking the Law:


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Blocs, Pro-independence
The pro-independence camp mainly concentrated on history and national minority rights. Montenegro was recognized an independent country in the 1878 Congress of Berlin. Its independence was extinguished in 1918 when its assembly declared union with Serbia. The minor ethnic groups are promised full rights in an independent Montenegro, with their languages being included into the new Constitution.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Blocs, Pro-independence
The camp's leader was Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Đukanović.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Blocs, Pro-union
The Unionists' campaign slogans were Montenegro is Not for Sale! and For Love - Love Connects, Heart says no!.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Blocs, Pro-union
The Unionist Camp or "Bloc for Love", Together for Change political alliance's campaign relied mostly on the assertion and support of the European Union, and pointing out essential present and historical links with Serbia. They criticized that the ruling coalition was trying to turn Montenegro into a private state and a crime haven. Its campaign concentrated on pointing out "love" for union with Serbia. 73% of Montenegrin citizens had close cousins in Serbia and 78% of Montenegrin citizens had close friends in Serbia.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Blocs, Pro-union
According to TNS Medium GALLUP's research, 56.9% of the Montenegrin population believed if union with Serbia was broken, the health care system would fall apart. 56.8 % believed they would not be able to go to schools in Serbia anymore and 65.3% thought it would not be able to find a job in Serbia as it intends to.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Blocs, Pro-union
They used European Union flags, Slavic tricolors (which were also the official flag of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro) and Serb Orthodox tricolors.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Blocs, Neutral
The Movement for Changes, although de facto supporting independence, decided not to join the pro-independence coalition, on the arguments that they considered the independentists as largely made of 'DPS criminals', and that the bloc is an "Unholy Alliance" gathered around a controversial Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, seen by these party officials as an obstacle to complete democracy in Montenegro.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Blocs, Neutral
A similar stance was taken by the ethnic Albanian Democratic League in Montenegro, which called the Albanians of Montenegro to boycott the referendum. Regardless, most ethnic Albanians voted for independence.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Opinion polling
Polling throughout the campaign was sporadic, with most polls showing pro-independence forces leading but not surpassing the 55% threshold. Only in the later weeks did polls begin to indicate the threshold would be passed, albeit barely.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Results
Two organisations that were conducting a quick count, Montenegrin CDT and Serbian CeSID, had different projections of the referendum results. CeSID's initial projections were giving the "yes" option significant advantage, but as the evening progressed, they changed their projection and lowered the advantage of the "yes" option. This caused serious confusion among general public and sparked journalists to challenge CeSID projections. After CeSID's announcement, thousands of people began to celebrate in the streets of every major city. However, after the CDT announcement, the public began to realize how close the result was.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Results
CDT stated that the results were too close to call. This was later confirmed with the official results, since only about 2,000 votes were over the required threshold (the votes of some 2 or 3 polling stations). They urged the public to remain calm and give time to the referendum commission to finish their job.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Results
Montenegrin prime minister Milo Đukanović first delayed his appearance in public, after learning how close the result was. He finally appeared on Montenegrin television at about 01:40 CEST and said that after 99.85% of the votes had been counted, the percentage of votes for independence was 55.5%, and the remaining votes (6,236) could not change the outcome of the referendum.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Results
On the other side, de facto leader of the unionist bloc Predrag Bulatović said at a press conference around 00:15 CEST that "his sources" informed him that 54% had voted "yes", a figure below the 55% threshold. Predrag Bulatović had announced earlier that he would resign as opposition leader if the referendum was won by those favouring independence.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Results
František Lipka, the referendum commission president or Chairman of the Electoral Commission announced on Monday the 22 May 2006 that the preliminary results were 55.4% in favor of independence. Prime Minister of the Republic of Montenegro Milo Đukanović held a press conference later that day. The press conference took place at 14:30, at the Congress Hall of the Government of the Republic of Montenegro.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Results
Because about 19,000 votes were still disputed, the Electoral Commission delayed the announcement of final results. The opposition demanded a full recount of the votes but this was rejected by the Commission and European observers, who stated that they were satisfied and they were sure that the vote had been free and fair.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Results
The distribution of votes was as follows: majority (around 60%-up to around 70%) were against independence in regions bordering Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The highest No vote was in Serb-majority Plužine municipality with 75.70%. In the authentic Montenegrin regions (former Principality of Montenegro), there was a light majority (around 50-60%) for independence, with the Cetinje municipality, traditional centre of old Montenegro, having a huge percentage in favour of independence (over 86.38%).


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Results
At the coastal regions, Herceg Novi municipality, which has a Serb majority had voted 61.34% against independence, the middle southern region (Tivat, Kotor, Budva and Bar) being in favour of independence, and the south, Ulcinj municipality, an ethnic Albanian centre, voted strongly in favour of independence (88.50%). The regions bordering Albania and Kosovo that have mostly Bosniak, ethnic Muslim and Albanian population, were heavily in favour of independence (78.92% in Plav, 91.33% in Rožaje). Municipalities in Montenegro that voted for the Union were Andrijevica, Berane, Kolašin, Mojkovac, Plužine, Pljevlja, Herceg-Novi, Šavnik, and Žabljak.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Results
The municipalities that voted for independence were Bar, Bijelo Polje, Budva, Cetinje, Danilovgrad, Kotor, Nikšić, Plav, Podgorica, Rožaje, Tivat, and Ulcinj. The Independentist Bloc won thanks to the high votes of Albanians and to an extent Bosniaks. The highest pro-independence percentages were in Albanian-populated Ulcinj, Bosniak-populated Rožaje and Montenegrin Old Royal Capital Cetinje.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, International reactions
On 22 May, Croatian President Stipe Mesić sent a message of congratulations to Montenegro on its vote for independence. Mesić was the first foreign head of state to react officially to the vote.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, International reactions
The EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, congratulated Montenegro on a "successful referendum" and said the turnout of over 86 percent "confirms the legitimacy of the process." The European Union would, he said, "fully respect" the final result. The EU's commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, said the European Union would put forward proposals for fresh talks with both Montenegro and Serbia. "All sides should respect the result and work together in order to build consensus on the basis of the acceptance of European values and standards. I now expect Belgrade and Podgorica to engage in direct talks on the practical implementation of the results".


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, International reactions
In a statement of 23 May, the United States affirmed the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)/ODIHR assessment of the referendum, which stated that "the referendum was conducted in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and other international standards for democratic electoral processes." The United States said "We urge Montenegro and Serbia to work together to resolve the practical issues necessary to implement the will of the people of Montenegro as expressed in the referendum."


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, International reactions
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 23 May stating "It is of fundamental importance for Montenegro and Serbia to enter into constructive, friendly and comprehensive dialogue with the aim of producing mutually acceptable political solutions regarding their future relations," the Foreign Ministry said.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, International reactions
The UK's Europe Minister Geoff Hoon said he was pleased that the referendum had complied with international standards, pointing out that "the people of Montenegro have expressed a clear desire for an independent state."


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, International reactions
A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry indicated that "China respects the choice of people of Montenegro and the final result of the referendum" in a regularly scheduled news conference on 23 May.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, International reactions
The unanimous recognition of the referendum result by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council indicated that widespread international recognition of Montenegro would likely be swift once independence was formally declared.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, International reactions, Serbian reactions
Serbian president Boris Tadić accepted the results of the referendum in favor of independence, while Serbian prime minister Vojislav Koštunica, a firm opponent of Montenegrin independence, resolved to wait until the end of the week, so that the pro-union Montenegrin opposition would have time to challenge the final verdict.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, International reactions, Serbian reactions
The prime minister of Kosovo, Agim Çeku, announced that Kosovo would follow Montenegro in the quest for independence, saying "This is the last act of the historic liquidation of Yugoslavia /.../ this year Kosovo will follow in Montenegro's footsteps." Kosovo declared its state's own independence on 17 February 2008, but is still seen in Serbian nationalism as the historical and spiritual heart of Serbia.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, International reactions, Serbian reactions
Ethnic Serb groups in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina planned to demand a referendum on the independence of the Republika Srpska, according to the Croatian daily Večernji list, citing Branislav Dukić, leader of Spona, a regional Serb organisation. Since such a move could start another war in Bosnia, it provoked widespread condemnation from the United States, European Union, and other nations. Milorad Dodik, the prime minister of Republika Srpska, subsequently withdrew his calls for a referendum, citing international opposition and the fact that such a referendum would violate the Dayton peace agreement.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Conduct and international influence, Irregularities
On 24 March 2006, a nine-minute video clip was aired that shows two local Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro activists from Zeta region, Ranko Vučinić and Ivan Ivanović, along with a former member of secret police, Vasilije Mijović, attempting to bribe a citizen, Mašan Bušković, into casting a pro-independence vote at the upcoming referendum. In the video clip they are seen and heard persuading Bušković to vote for the independence, promising to pay off his electric bill of €1,580 in return.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Conduct and international influence, Irregularities
When the video was publicized, two DPS activists claimed they were victims of manipulation and that Vasilije Mijović talked them into doing so. Mijović denied those claims saying the video had been authentic. DPS spokesperson Predrag Sekulić claimed the video was "a montage" and "a cheap political setup." Mašan Bušković, the target of the alleged attempted bribe, on the other hand said the video is authentic and that it portrays events exactly as they occurred.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Conduct and international influence, Irregularities
Public workers, such as teachers and police officers, were subject to pressure from their employers to vote for independence. The DPS chief whip, Miodrag Vuković, alluded to this in May 2006 when he said one "cannot work for the state and vote against it".


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Conduct and international influence, Irregularities
In 2007, Jovan Markuš with the help of unionist parties published a 1,290-page document called Bijela Knjiga ("White Book"), recording irregularities from the referendum.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Conduct and international influence, International lobby
According to an investigation supported by the Puffin Foundation Investigative Fund in 2008, The Nation reported that Milan Roćen authorized a contract with Davis Manafort Inc, a consulting firm founded by Rick Davis, and that the firm was paid several million dollars to help organize the independence campaign. Election finance documents did not record any exchanges with Davis Manafort, although the claims of the payments were backed by multiple American diplomats and Montenegrin government officials on the condition of anonymity.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Conduct and international influence, International lobby
In early May 2006, Davis invited Nathaniel Rothschild to participate in the campaign after the unionist bloc suggested Montenegrin students studying in Serbia would lose scholarship benefits if Montenegro were to secede.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Conduct and international influence, International lobby
Rothschild promised to commit $1 million to Montenegrin students studying in Serbia if they were to lose their scholarship benefits in the event of Montenegrin secession.


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Conduct and international influence, International lobby
Almost a decade later, Paul Manafort revealed during his trials that he had been hired by Oleg Deripaska to support the referendum in Montenegro. In a discussion with Radio Free Europe in 2017, Branko Lukovac, a former campaign chief for the independence bloc, claimed that he was not aware of a contract with Manafort, but acknowledged the following:


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Conduct and international influence, International lobby
"We in America had especially strong support and a group of friends on top with former presidential candidate Bob Dole, who contributed in Congress, Senate, State Department, and further circles, we even had access to Colin Powell...to support our movement to independence."


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Conduct and international influence, International lobby
Dole had been paid a sum of $1.38 million by the Montenegrin government for lobbying between 2001 and 2008. Lukovac denied any contract with either Manafort or Deripaska, claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin told his campaign that "he'd prefer to for us to stay in the state union Serbia and Montenegro rather than separate, but if that is what is democratically defined by the majority of Montenegrin citizens, that they [Russia] would support that."


2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, Conduct and international influence, International lobby
In June 2019, an audio recording from the mid-2005 surfaced, that shows then ambassador of the Serbia and Montenegro to the Russian Federation Milan Roćen, expresses concern over the EU pressure on the authorities of the Republic of Montenegro, asking Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, on behalf of then-Prime Minister of Montenegro Đukanović, to lobby for the 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, through his connections with Canadian billionaire Peter Munk in the United States.


2006 Montenegrin parliamentary election
Constitutional Assembly elections were held in the newly-independent Republic of Montenegro on 10 September 2006. Prime Minister Milo Đukanović's Coalition for a European Montenegro (based around the Democratic Party of Socialists) won a majority in Parliament, winning 41 of the 81 seats. The opposition blocs together won 34 seats; 12 for the Serb List (SL) and 11 each for the Socialist People's Party (SNP)-led list and the Movement for Changes (PzP). Other seats were won by parties representing national minorities. As the opposition conceded defeat, DPS leader Đukanović stated "These elections showed that Montenegro is stable and firm on its European path."


2006 Montenegrin parliamentary election, Electoral system
Of the 81 seats in Parliament, 76 were elected by proportional representation in a nationwide constituency and five were elected in a special constituency for the Albanian minority. The electoral threshold was set at 3% and seats allocated using the d'Hondt method. Closed lists were used with a single list for both constituencies, although parties only had to award half their seats according to the order of the list, with the remaining half free for them to allocate.


2006 Montenegrin parliamentary election, Campaign
The main campaign issues were the economy, unemployment, the environment and European integration. The government campaigned on the recent successful independence referendum and international recognition of the country. Opposition parties criticised the performance of state institutions, as well as criticising their politicisation, but suffered from internal  divisions and the formation of new parties. Although the Đukanović government made a decision not to pay for parties' election campaigns using state funds, it eventually relented and funding was distributed equally between all parties.


2006 Montenegrin parliamentary election, Opinion polls
One opinion poll leading up to the elections suggested Đukanović's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) could win as much as 30%-45% of the vote, but that would still leave him needing a coalition partner. According to the same poll, the three pro-Serb opposition alliances could each win between 10% and 20% of the vote - potentially enough to unseat the Prime Minister if they succeed in uniting against him. All three claimed their main priority was to replace Đukanović. However, the Prime Minister himself did not rule out joining forces with the main opposition bloc, led by the Socialist People's Party.


2006 Monterey Sports Car Championships
The 2006 Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was the tenth and final race for the 2006 American Le Mans Series season. It took place on October 21, 2006.


2006 Monterey Sports Car Championships, Official results
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).


2006 Montreal Alouettes season
The 2006 Montreal Alouettes finished in first place in the East Division with a 10–8 record. They won their first seven games, only to lose the next six in a row. After ending the losing streak against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, head coach Don Matthews resigned, expressing undisclosed health issues that were "affecting his ability to perform". General Manager Jim Popp took over on an interim basis finishing the season 2–2. The Alouettes finished first in the East division and defeated the Toronto Argonauts in the East Final before losing the 94th Grey Cup to the BC Lions.


2006 Montserratian general election
General elections were held in Montserrat on 31 May 2006. Although the Movement for Change and Prosperity (MCAP) won the most seats (four of the nine) in the Legislative Council, the government was formed by a coalition of the Montserrat Democratic Party (MDP), the New People's Liberation Movement (NPLM) and an independent council member, who together held five seats. MDP leader Lowell Lewis became Chief Minister.


2006 Montserratian general election, Campaign
A total of 29 candidates contested the elections; the MCAP ran a full slate of nine candidates and the MDP and NPLM both nominated eight. The remaining four candidates were independents.


2006 Monza Superbike World Championship round
The 2006 Monza Superbike World Championship round was the fourth round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship season. It took place on the weekend of May 5–7, 2006 at Monza.


2006 Moorilla Hobart International
The 2003 Moorilla Hobart International was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 10th edition of the event and part of the WTA International tournaments of the 2003 WTA Tour. It took place at the Hobart International Tennis Centre in Hobart, Australia from 6 through 12 January 2003. Unseeded Michaëlla Krajicek won the singles title and earned $22,900 first-prize money.


2006 Moorilla Hobart International, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2006 Moorilla Hobart International, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pair received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2006 Moorilla Hobart International – Doubles
Yan Zi and Zheng Jie were the defending champions, but did not participate.


2006 Moorilla Hobart International – Doubles
Émilie Loit and Nicole Pratt won the title, defeating Jill Craybas and Jelena Kostanić in the final.


2006 Moorilla Hobart International – Singles
Zheng Jie was the defending champion, but did not compete this year.


2006 Moorilla Hobart International – Singles
Michaëlla Krajicek won the title by defeating Iveta Benešová 6–2, 6–1 in the final.


2006 Moray by-election
A by-election in the Moray constituency of the Scottish Parliament was held on 27 April 2006 following the death of the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Margaret Ewing on 21 March 2006, from breast cancer. The seat was successfully defended by the SNP's Richard Lochhead, increasing the majority over the Scottish Conservative Party by 1073 votes.


2006 Moray by-election
Margaret Ewing had held the Holyrood seat since its creation in 1999, having previously represented the Moray constituency as a Westminster Member of Parliament (MP) since the 1987 United Kingdom general election. She had already announced that she would not be contesting the seat in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.


2006 Moray by-election, Result, Notes on candidates
Richard Lochhead defended the seat for the Scottish National Party. An additional-member MSP for the North East Scotland electoral region since 1999, he had already been selected to contest the seat for the SNP at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, beating the incumbent's sister-in-law, former MP Annabelle Ewing. He resigned his list seat to stand in the by-election.


2006 Moray by-election, Result, Notes on candidates
Mary Scanlon, a Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands region (which includes Moray), resigned from her list seat to fight as the Conservative candidate. Any sitting MSP intending to fight the by-election must first resign their current seat under section 9 of the Scotland Act.


2006 Moray by-election, Result, Notes on candidates
The Labour candidate was Elgin councillor Sandy Keith. He saw his party's vote share fall in the by-election, resulting in increases for all the other parties.


2006 Moray by-election, Result, Notes on candidates
The Liberal Democrat candidate was Linda Gorn, came fourth when she fought the seat in 2003 but improved her performance substantially in the by-election, moving to third place not far behind the Conservative candidate and increasing her share of the vote more than any other candidate.


2006 Moray by-election, Result, Notes on candidates
The Scottish Socialist Party announced that they would not be entering a candidate. They decided that they, in common with the Scottish Green Party, will concentrate on campaigning for regional list votes (Additional member system) at the next 2007 Scottish Parliament election.


2006 Moray by-election, Result, Notes on candidates
Melville Brown, a former Conservative Party candidate for Edinburgh East, stood for the NHS First Party, the first time the party has contested an election. Brown is the party chairman.


2006 Moray by-election, Campaign controversies
The Conservative Party became embroiled in a row with two local independent councillors. Handwritten notes were sent out in their wards allegedly from the councillors, but the councillors subsequently denied having given permission for the letters to be used.


2006 Moray by-election, Campaign controversies
The following week, a local newspaper, the Northern Scot, reported the Liberal Democrats to the Electoral Commission for attributing quotes in leaflets to the newspaper itself rather than to the specific Liberal Democrats whom the paper had been quoting.


2006 Moray by-election, Campaign controversies
Both of the above were given widespread coverage in the Northern Scot newspaper.


2006 Moray by-election, Campaign controversies
In the final week of the by-election, Robbie Rowantree, the Conservative Party candidate for the neighbouring UK Parliament constituency of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey in the 2005 general election, announced he was joining the Liberal Democrats.


2006 Morecambe Bay Eurocopter AS365 crash
The 2006 Morecambe Bay Helicopter Crash was a fatal air incident that occurred on 27 December 2006 at approximately 18:40 GMT, while remote platform (Normally Unmanned Installations) crew were being transported from the Millom West via North Morecambe gas platforms to return them to the AP1, part of the Morecambe Field's Central Complex, situated approximately 24 miles (39 km) from the shoreline of Morecambe Bay, Lancashire, England.


2006 Morecambe Bay Eurocopter AS365 crash
Rescue efforts recovered the bodies of six men, including those of the two pilots. The body of the seventh victim was never recovered.


2006 Morecambe Bay Eurocopter AS365 crash
The helicopter was a Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin, registration G-BLUN, owned by CHC Helicopter. The aircraft was contracted by Centrica, the company that manages the gas platform to which the helicopter was traveling.


2006 Morecambe Bay Eurocopter AS365 crash
Initial rescue was undertaken by an emergency response rescue vessel Highland Sprite (E.R.R.V) and her two onboard fast rescue craft, and later by Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) rescue service operating out of nearby Lytham St Annes, and was coordinated by HM Coastguard.


2006 Morecambe Bay Eurocopter AS365 crash, Investigation
The investigation into the crash started the same night as the accident. The flight data recorders were recovered on 17 January 2007 after severe weather hampered earlier recovery attempts. The storms also hampered efforts to find and recover those lost in the incident. Because offshore helicopter operations are so crucial to the day-to-day running of offshore platforms, the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) felt it necessary to release a preliminary bulletin as soon as possible. Special Bulletin S1/2007 stated: "The conclusion of this preliminary examination is that there are no signs of pre-impact malfunction of any major mechanical components, including the tail rotor and its drive shaft."


2006 Morecambe Bay Eurocopter AS365 crash, Investigation
The formal report into the accident, released in October 2008, stated that "human factors" were the cause of the crash. The co-pilot, who was the handling pilot at the time, became disoriented in the dark night and poor weather conditions, and misjudged the approach path. He asked the commander for assistance, whereupon the commander took control of the helicopter. However, the transfer of control from co-pilot to commander was roughly four seconds after the co-pilot had initially noted that he was having difficulties but did not articulate this correctly. The report found that the transfer of control wasn't smooth enough due to the co-pilot not initially articulating his need clearly and that the commander wasn't "mentally primed to take control of the helicopter." The report concluded that:


2006 Morecambe Bay Eurocopter AS365 crash, Investigation
"During the attempted recovery of the helicopter from its unusual attitude the commander was devoid of any external visual cues and was possibly distracted over concerns for the well-being of his co-pilot. Concerns for his co-pilot and some degree of disorientation possibly distracted the commander from his usual instrument scan to the extent that he did not notice the increasing angle of bank to the right and the helicopter's continuing descent into the sea."


2006 Mosconi Cup
The 2006 Mosconi Cup, the 13th edition of the annual nine-ball pool competition between teams representing Europe and the United States, took place 7–10 December 2006 at the Rotterdam Cruise Terminal in Rotterdam, Netherlands.


2006 Mosconi Cup
The event ended in a 12–12 draw, thus  Team USA retained the Mosconi Cup as the prior year's winner. The possibility of ties was removed for the following year's event.


2006 Moscow market bombing
The 2006 Moscow market bombing occurred on August 21, 2006, when a self-made bomb with power of more than 1kg of TNT exploded at Moscow's Cherkizovsky Market, frequented by foreign merchants. In 2008, eight members of the racialist organization The Saviour (Спас) were sentenced for their roles in the attack.


2006 Moscow market bombing
Many traders at the market are from Asia and the Caucasus. As of October 3, 2006, 13 persons were confirmed dead: six citizens of Tajikistan, three citizens of Uzbekistan, two citizens of Russia, a woman from Belarus, and a man who was a Chinese citizen. Eight people died on the scene, two in the hospital on the same day as the bombing, and three at a later date. The last person to die from the bombing was a man who was a citizen of Tajikistan, who died on September 28, 2006, in a hospital.


2006 Moscow market bombing
Two ethnic Russian suspects were arrested, and the general prosecutor of Moscow Yuri Syomin charged them with a racially motivated murder. The prosecutor's office officially indicted three university students, Oleg Kostyrev, Ilya Tikhomirov (both 20 years old) and Valeri Zhukovtsev (18 years old) on a racially motivated murder charge on August 22. The police investigation was finished on August 7, 2007.


2006 Moscow market bombing
According to the investigation, Kostyrev, Tikhomirov and Zhukovtsev were members of the nationalistic club The Saviour. The leader of the club, Nikolay Korolyov (a former FSB officer), and two more club members, Sergei Klimuk and a police academy student Nikita Senyukov, were co-indicted with Kostyrev, Tikhomirov and Zhukovtsev on the charges of murder, terrorism, organizing a criminal gang and illegal production and storage of explosives. Senyukov was also indicted for murder of an Armenian student on a subway. Allegedly, the conspirators have performed numerous explosions before, without any victims, blowing up Azerbaijani-owned stores, an Armenian refugee hostel and an office of a Georgian-born fortune teller.


2006 Moscow market bombing
On May 15, 2008, after a guilty verdict in the jury trial, Korolyov, Klimuk, Tikhomirov and Kostyrev received a sentence of life imprisonment. Zhukovtsev received 20 years in prison, Senyukov - 13 years and the two students who actually delivered the bomb to the market, Dmitri Fedoseyenkov and Nikolai Kachalov only 2 years (the court decided they were not a part of the "criminal enterprise"). Later the same month, the appeal was filed with the Supreme Court by the convicted. Fedoseyenkov and Kachalov were released from prison on March 20, 2009 after serving their sentence. Other convict's appeals were still underway as of that time.


2006 Moscow market bombing
In August 2010, it was announced that Korolyov and Kostyrev are also suspects in a murder of a Chinese citizen by stabbing in Moscow on May 19, 2006.


2006 Motor City Bowl
The 2006 Motor City Bowl, part of the 2006–07 NCAA football bowl games season, occurred on December 26, 2006 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The Central Michigan Chippewas beat the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 31–14.


2006 Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2006 Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament took place from May 23–27. All seven of the league's teams met in the double-elimination tournament held at University of Nevada, Las Vegas's Earl Wilson Stadium. In their first year in the league, top seeded TCU won their first Mountain West Conference Baseball Championship with a championship game score of 9–6 and earned the conference's automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


2006 Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament, Seeding
The teams were seeded based on regular season conference winning percentage only. BYU claimed the second seed over San Diego State by winning the season series between the two teams.


2006 Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament, All-Tournament Team, Most Valuable Player
Chad Huffman, a first baseman for the champion TCU Horned Frogs, was named the tournament Most Valuable Player.


2006 Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
2006 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament was played at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado from March 7–10, 2006. Regular season league champion San Diego State held off Wyoming, who were at the time the lowest seed to ever make the championship game (7th), 69–64 in overtime to claim the Mountain West Conference Tournament title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. SDSU became the first school in the league's brief history to win multiple tournament titles (2002 & 2006)


2006 Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
With the expansion and addition of TCU to the Mountain West Conference at the start of the 2005–06 athletic year, the conference tournament format was revised to include a play-in game between the 8th and 9th place teams, with the winner advancing to play the regular season MWC champion in the quarterfinals.


2006 Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
It is, to date, the last MWC Tournament played in Denver. In 2007 the tournament returned to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, where it had previously been from 2000–2003.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season
The 2006 Mountain West Conference football season was the eighth since eight former members of the Western Athletic Conference banded together to form the MW. It began on August 31 and ended on December 23. Brigham Young University won the conference championship, which was the Cougars' third MW title since the conference began in 1999.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
September 3, 2006 • Floyd Casey Stadium • Waco, Texas • FSN • Attendance: 42,733


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
The Bears led the 22nd-ranked Horned Frogs 7-0 at halftime, but TCU took the lead for good with 1:17 left in the third quarter on an 84-yard touchdown pass from back-up quarterback Marcus Jackson to Aaron Brown. Jr walk on Linebacker #45 Christopher Abbott(Arkansas) showed his worth by leading the defense with 11 tackles 2 for loss of yards, one sack and one interception. It was the first meeting of these long-time Southwest Conference rivals, and was the Frogs' third consecutive victory over Big 12 teams.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
September 9, 2006 • Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, Tennessee • ESPN Gameplan • Attendance: 105,466


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
The heavily favored Volunteers led 31-17 with 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter, but Air Force scored a touchdown with 2:41 remaining and then recovered an onside kick. The Falcons' fullback Ryan Williams scored again with 1:35 remaining to bring the Falcons within one. Coach Fisher DeBerry then decided to go for two, but wide receiver Chad Hall was stopped short of the goal line, maintaining Tennessee's lead. The Volunteers recovered the subsequent onside kick attempt and were able to run the clock out.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
September 9, 2006 • Invesco Field at Mile High • Denver, Colorado • Versus • Attendance: 65,701


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
Rams' quarterback Caleb Hanie threw for 233 yards and a touchdown as Colorado State defeated their intrastate rivals, 14-10, in the Rocky Mountain Showdown. It was CSU's first victory over the Buffaloes since 2002.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
September 16, 2006 • Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, Texas • CSTV • Attendance: 45,647


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
After being trounced by their former Southwest Conference rivals, 70-35, in Lubbock two years prior, the Horned Frog defense kept quarterback Graham Harrell and the Red Raider offense out of the endzone for the entire game, JR linebacker walk on Christopher Abbott led the defense with one sack, 8 tackles 3 for a loss of yards and one interception, to earn their fourth consecutive victory over the Big 12. The same night, Ohio State defeated Texas, which meant that TCU's 13-game win streak was the longest active streak in the nation.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
September 16, 2006 • Alumni Stadium • Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts • ESPN2 • Attendance: 40,233


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
In what would be the last game the Cougars lost in 2006, Boston College scored a touchdown on the first play of the second overtime and then waited through an instant replay review to confirm linebacker Brian Francois' game-sealing interception of John Beck's tipped pass.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
September 23, 2006 • University Stadium • Albuquerque, New Mexico • CSTV • Attendance: 34,069


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
Rodney Ferguson ran for 162 yards and the Lobo defense sacked Miner quarterback Jordan Palmer five times as New Mexico beat their longtime rivals for the first time since 2001. The win also snapped a five-game home losing streak for the Lobos.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
September 28, 2006 • Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, Texas • Versus • Attendance: 32,190


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
Just as soon as TCU's gained control of the nation's longest win streak, the Cougars came to Fort Worth on a Thursday night to spoil the Frog's hopes of an undefeated season. BYU quarterback John Beck threw for 321 and three touchdowns to lead the Cougar attack.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
October 5, 2006 • Rice-Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, Utah • Versus • Attendance: 43,790


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
Utah held TCU to just 81 rushing yards, and Utes' quarterback Brett Ratliff threw for 223 yards and connected with wide receiver Brent Casteel for two touchdowns to lead Utah past TCU, 20-7. After a 3-0 start to the season, TCU suffered their second consecutive setback and fell to 3-2 on the year.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
October 21, 2006 • War Memorial Stadium • Laramie, Wyoming • CSTV • Attendance: 23,247


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
These two longtime rivals entered the annual Border War game with the all-time series tied at 19 games apiece. The Cowboys' defense held the Rams to just 42 yards rushing, UW quarterback Karsten Sween threw for two touchdowns and running back Wynel Seldon ran for 112 yards as the Cowboys gained control of the all-time series and took home the Bronze Boot for the first time since 2003.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
November 25, 2006 • Rice-Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, Utah • CSTV • Attendance: 45,330


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
In an unforgettable, back and forth thriller, BYU escaped from Salt Lake City with a last-second win, their first in the Holy War since 2001. The Cougars got off to an early 14-0 lead, but the Utes stormed back and led 24-14 at the end of the third quarter. BYU took the lead back, 27-24, on a touchdown pass from John Beck to Daniel Coats with 3:23 remaining. Utah answered right back with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Brett Ratliff to Brent Casteel with 1:19 remaining to re-capture the lead, 31-27.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Memorable games
The game then came down to a 3rd down and 10 for BYU at the Utah 11 yard-line with 3 seconds remaining. Beck rolled right and then left before he found tight end Jonny Harline for the winning touchdown with no time remaining. The win completed an undefeated 8-0 run through the conference for BYU.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl games, Poinsettia Bowl
December 19, 2006 • Qualcomm Stadium • San Diego, California • ESPN2


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl games, Poinsettia Bowl
The Horned Frogs held the nation's leading rusher, Garrett Wolfe, to just 28 yards on 20 carries in a lopsided 37-7 win. The TCU defense held the Huskies to negative-20 yards rushing as a team, and only 60 yards of total offense with 6 stops for loss by Jr walk on and (solo Tackle leader for the conference) #45Christopher Abbott. TCU quarterback Jeff Ballard was named the game's Offensive MVP after throwing for 258 yards and a touchdown to go along with 3 rushing touchdowns in his final college game. Christopher Abbott also had two sacks to earn Defensive MVP honors.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl games, Las Vegas Bowl
December 21, 2006 • Sam Boyd Stadium • Las Vegas, Nevada • ESPN


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl games, Las Vegas Bowl
The MW champion Cougars, led by game MVP tight end Jonny Harline, handled the Pac-10's University of Oregon Ducks with ease, 38-8. Harline caught 9 passes for 181 yards, quarterback John Beck threw for 375 and 2 touchdowns and running back Curtis Brown had 120 rush yards and two scores.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl games, New Mexico Bowl
December 23, 2006 • University Stadium • Albuquerque, New Mexico • ESPN


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl games, New Mexico Bowl
The Spartans of San José State University, representing the Western Athletic Conference, faced the host school in the first-ever New Mexico Bowl. The Lobos were chosen over Wyoming, despite the Cowboys having beaten them on said field, 14-10, on October 7, and having a better record in the MW (5-3 vs. New Mexico's 4-4). San Jose State quarterback Adam Tafralis threw for 209 yards and 3 touchdowns to pace the Spartans in what was the Lobos' fifth straight defeat in a bowl game.


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl games, Armed Forces Bowl
December 23, 2006 • Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, Texas • ESPN


2006 Mountain West Conference football season, Bowl games, Armed Forces Bowl
Utah quarterback Brett Ratliff threw for 240 yards and a touchdown to lead the Utes to a 25-13 victory over the Golden Hurricane, who were representing Conference USA. MW Defensive Player of the Year Eric Weddle had an interception on the game's last play and also rushed for 55 yards on offense. It was the Utes' sixth consecutive bowl victory.


2006 Movistar Open
The 2006 Movistar Open was an ATP men's tennis tournament held on outdoor clay courts in Viña del Mar, Chile that was part of the International Series of the 2006 ATP Tour. It was the 12th edition of the tournament and was held from 30 January to 6 February 2005. Third-seeded José Acasuso won the singles title.


2006 Movistar Open, Finals, Doubles
José Acasuso /  Sebastián Prieto defeated  František Čermák /  Leoš Friedl 7–6(7–2), 6–4


2006 Movistar Open – Doubles
David Ferrer and Santiago Ventura were the defending champions, but Ferrer did not participate this year. Ventura partnered with Flávio Saretta, losing in the first round.


2006 Movistar Open – Doubles
José Acasuso and Sebastián Prieto won the title, defeating František Čermák and Leoš Friedl 7–6(7–2), 6–4 in the final.