2006 Richmond spree murders, Court proceedings
Both Gray and Dandridge were prosecuted in the City of Richmond Circuit Court in Virginia. On February 9, 2006, Gray was charged with five counts of capital murder in the Harvey killings: one charge for killing more than once in a three-year period, one charge for committing more than one killing in a single act, one charge for killing in commission of a robbery, and two charges for killing a child under 14 years of age. On the same day, Dandridge was charged with three counts of capital murder in the Tucker-Baskerville killings; the third count was later amended to include Dandridge's role in the Harvey killings.


2006 Richmond spree murders, Court proceedings
Dandridge initially pleaded not guilty and was tried in September 2006, but prior to closing arguments, he changed his plea to guilty on the three counts of capital murder as part of an agreement to receive a sentence of life in prison without parole. He is currently incarcerated at the Keen Mountain Correctional Center in Oakwood, Virginia, designated inmate number 1159354.


2006 Richmond spree murders, Court proceedings
Gray pleaded not guilty, and his defense team sought leniency by presenting evidence of physical and sexual abuse during childhood as well as PCP use during the commission of the crimes. In August 2006, a jury found Gray guilty on five capital murder charges after four days of trial and 30 minutes of deliberation. The jury recommended that Gray receive the death penalty for the murders of Stella and Ruby Harvey, and life in prison for the three remaining charges. On October 23, 2006, Gray was sentenced to death.


2006 Richmond spree murders, Court proceedings
In December 2006, Culpeper County also indicted Gray for the murder of Sheryl Warner, a 37-year-old legal secretary and mother of three, found shot and hanged by an electrical cord in the basement of her burning house in the town of Reva. Gray pleaded not guilty. On June 4, 2008, the charge was suspended due to contradictory evidence.


2006 Richmond spree murders, Court proceedings
Between May 2011 and November 2015, Gray's execution was set and then stayed pending his various appeals in commonwealth and federal courts. In November 2015, a panel of the Fourth Circuit rejected Gray's appeal to that court. On January 19, 2016, Gray's execution was set for March 16, 2016, but was stayed again to allow Gray to appeal to the US Supreme Court.


2006 Richmond spree murders, Court proceedings
In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Gray's case. In November 2016, Gray was scheduled to be executed on January 18, 2017. His clemency plea was denied by governor Terry McAuliffe, and his lawyers filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court. He was executed on January 18, 2017, at Greensville Correctional Center at 9:42 PM EST. Dandridge is currently incarcerated in the Sussex II State Prison.


2006 Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council election
Elections to the Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council were held on 4 May 2006. The whole council was up for election for the first time since the 2002 election. The Liberal Democrats regained control of the council which had been Conservative run from 2002.


2006 Richmond, California municipal elections
The Richmond, California 2006 city election decided the mayor, four council members, and one measure submitted to the voters of Richmond, California on November 7, 2007. The election also elected the first Green Party mayor of this city, and made Richmond the largest city in the United States to have a Green mayor. Furthermore, it unseated an incumbent mayor from a major political party by one from a minor third party.


2006 Richmond, California municipal elections, Mayoral race
The mayor's race was a three-way contest between incumbent mayor Irma A. Anderson, former council member Gary Bell (both Democrats), and council member Gayle McLaughlin, a Green. In 2004, McLaughlin had become the first member of the Green Party to win a seat on the Richmond city council. This is attributed to her door-to-door campaigning and the fact that ballots for Richmond city offices do not mention political party. McLaughlin won with 37.2 percent of the votes, followed by Anderson with 36.1 and Gary Bell 26.1. becoming the first Green mayor of a major California city (a feat nearly achieved by Matt González in the 2003 San Francisco mayoral election). Those who decided to vote by mail had to pay an additional US$.63 instead of having it mailed for free as is the custom.


2006 Richmond, California municipal elections, Mayoral race, Gayle McLaughlin
McLaughlin was endorsed by councils and local chapters of several labor unions including: the AFSCME, International Union, and SEIU. Organizations such as the Sierra Club, local Green Parties, Richmond Greens, Alameda County Greens, Contra Costa County Greens, and political groups such as the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA), the Richmond Progressive Alliance were among McLaughlin's supporters.


2006 Richmond, California municipal elections, Mayoral race, Irma Anderson
Irma Anderson, the prior mayor of Richmond, was endorsed by Dianne Feinstein, Phil Angelides, Loni Hancock, and John Gioia.


2006 Richmond, California municipal elections, Mayoral race, Gary Bell
Gary Bell, a banker, had been a council member from 2000 to 2005. He said it was important that residents "feel that their opinion or point of view is heard". His campaign slogan was "No more politics".


2006 Richmond, California municipal elections, City council race
2006's election was considered important because it was the last election for a nine-member council. As of the 2007 election, the number of council members decreased to five.


2006 Richmond, California municipal elections, City council race
Jim Rogers  9,295María T. Viramontes  9,033Ludmyrna "Myrna" López 7,864(these three were elected)


2006 Richmond, California municipal elections, City council race, Tony Thurmond
Tony Thurmond was unopposed in running for a short (2-year) term for a vacancy created by a resignation.


2006 Richmond, California municipal elections, Measures
There was only one measure on the ballot that year. In the past several elections, the city's voters had been reluctant to pass any measures at the city level.


2006 Richmond, California municipal elections, Measures, Measure T
Measure T was designed to raise funds for city services in Richmond, California. The measure's purpose was to raise $10 million in additional annual revenue for the purpose of hiring fifty additional police officers, expanding community programs and youth crime prevention, and to serve as a general city tax code overhaul. It proposed adding a 1/8% manufacturing tax on raw materials used in manufacturing. More controversially, the taxation of rental units would change from a flat $247 annual fee to a fee of $35–$90 per residential unit and a 3 cents per square foot tax on non-residential units.


2006 Richmond, California municipal elections, Measures, Measure T
Measure T would have also increased the business tax by 10% and made small adjustments to other business taxes, such as those for arcade games. It was supported by the Richmond Police Department including Chief Rupf and several neighborhood councils. Chevron, which has a large Chevron Richmond Refinery, opposed the measure. Under the Measure T provisions, Chevron would pay eight of the desired ten million dollars. A few local taxpayer organizations also opposed the measure. It was defeated by a ratio of approximately two to one.


2006 Riga summit
The 2006 Riga summit or the 19th NATO Summit was a NATO summit held in the Olympic Sports Centre, Riga, Latvia from 28 to 29 November 2006. The most important topics discussed were the War in Afghanistan and the future role and borders of the alliance. Further, the summit focused on the alliance's continued transformation, taking stock of what has been accomplished since the 2002 Prague Summit. NATO also committed itself to extend further membership invitations in the upcoming 2008 Bucharest Summit. This summit was the first NATO summit held on territory of a former USSR republic.


2006 Riga summit, Security measures
The summit was held in the Olympic Sports Centre, Riga. Roads in the center of Riga were closed down and parking was not allowed at the airport or at several roads, out of fear for car bombs. About 9000 Latvian police officers and soldiers took care of the Summit's security, while more than 450 other airmen from seven European NATO countries were called upon to ensure a no-fly zone above the summit in an operation called Operation Peaceful Summit. This enhanced ongoing Baltic Air Policing activities with additional aircraft, communications and maintenance support.


2006 Riga summit, Summit
All agreements were not actually made in the North Atlantic Council meeting, but in fact it was made in Istanbul Summit, 2003, except for the signing of the missile defense contract which happened on 28 November. The Council meeting was held on 29 November.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics
While the tensions between NATO members from the build-up to the invasion of Iraq had dissipated, the NATO summit, and the months preceding the summit, were marked by divisions between the United States and the United Kingdom on the one side and France, Germany, Italy and Spain on the other. Two rifts existed, one about the military contributions to the war in Afghanistan, and the other concerning whether or not NATO should assume a more global role.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics, War in Afghanistan
Before and during the summit US president George W. Bush, British prime minister Tony Blair, Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende made a plea to European NATO members to make more troops available for deployment in Afghanistan, remove the national caveats (i.e. national restrictions on how, when and where forces can be used) and start sending its troops into the conflict-ridden south of the country. According to Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) General James L. Jones it was not the lack of combat troops and the caveats were the problem, but the lack of adequate helicopters and military intelligence to support airlift and on-the-ground operations.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics, War in Afghanistan
While the NATO countries in question refused to participate in the fighting in the south, they agreed to remove some of these national caveats, and in an emergency situation all national caveats should cease to exist, meaning that every ally should come to the aid of the forces that require assistance. A number of NATO member states also pledged to provide additional assets, including fighters, helicopters, infantry companies as well as training teams that will mentor the Afghan National Army.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics, War in Afghanistan
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that the removal of some of the caveats meant that some 20,000 of the 32,000 NATO troops in ISAF are made "more usable" for combat duties and that 90% of the formal mission requirements were now filled. Military sources however told reporters at the summit that these caveats never existed in emergency situations, adding that it would be a strange alliance where one country's soldiers refused to support their allies in an emergency.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics, War in Afghanistan
NATO leaders also backed a French proposal to set up a "contact group" to coordinate action concerning Afghanistan, but the United States had reservations about France's proposal to include Iran, which has considerable influence over the west of Afghanistan, in the proposed contact group due to the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme. The group was modelled on the one set up for the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics, War in Afghanistan
Political scientist Joseph Nye commented that "while the Riga summit relaxed some of these caveats to allow assistance to allies in dire circumstances, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, and the US are doing most of the fighting in southern Afghanistan, while French, German, and Italian troops are deployed in the quieter north. It is difficult to see how NATO can succeed in stabilizing Afghanistan unless it is willing to commit more troops and give commanders more flexibility." The controversy surrounding the differences in contributions to Afghanistan indeed remained after the summit.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics, War in Afghanistan
For instance, during March 2007 British commanders accused the NATO members that refused to fight in the conflict-ridden south (in non-emergency situations) as causing "huge resentment" and a sense of betrayal, and undermined the credibility of the alliance. They added that despite the earlier pleas for reinforcements or to have "operational caveats" removed, some countries, notably France and Germany, were still not heeding their requests.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics, War in Afghanistan
Besides the above discussion about contributions and caveats, the summit was noticed to paint an optimistic picture of the war in Afghanistan and Afghanistan's future. For instance, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that "real progress" had been made in Afghanistan and that this was the main highlight of the summit. He strongly disagreed with visions of "doom and gloom," and added that five years after the defeat of the Taliban regime, Afghanistan had become a democratic society that is "no longer a threat to the world."


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics, War in Afghanistan
He also believed that the defeat of the insurgency was only a matter of time, stating that the war in Afghanistan "is winnable, it is being won, but it is not yet won because, of course, we have many challenges in Afghanistan." In his opinion, these challenges included besides military engagement mainly reconstruction and development work.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics, Role of NATO
The second, more fundamental rift, concerned a discussion about whether NATO should form close relationships with countries far beyond NATO's borders, in particular Australia, Japan and South Korea. The United States and some other NATO members pressed for a closer relationship with these countries. R. Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs explained the US proposal: "We seek a partnership with them so that we can train more intensively (...) and grow closer to them because we are deployed with them. Australia, South Korea and Japan are in Afghanistan. They have all been in Iraq (...) [


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics, Role of NATO
and] in the Balkans." It was however not clear how far this plan would have gone in practice, but the US insisted they were not seeking to turn NATO into a global alliance: membership would not be offered to the prospective new partners. The idea of a "global" NATO however was strongly opposed by France, which considers NATO a regional defence alliance that should not spread its wings too far over the globe.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics, Role of NATO
The French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie summarized the position of France as follows: "The development of a global partnership could... dilute the natural solidarity between Europeans and North Americans in a fuzzy entity [and it would] send a bad political message, that of a campaign launched by the West against those who don't share their ideas. What a pretext we would offer to those who promote the idea of a clash of civilisations."


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Main topics, Role of NATO
The summit did not reach a satisfying consensus on the future role of NATO and it was considered an exercise in "papering over cracks", much more than it was ever a serious effort to decide on the future borders and core purposes. As a consequence the debate continued after the summit.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, Kosovo
At the Riga summit, NATO members confirmed the role of NATO-led KFOR in the ensuring of a stable security environment there. This is perceived to be a reference to the possible United Nations decision in favour of independence. Because Serbia strongly opposes the break-away of Kosovo, the resulting tensions between Serbia and Kosovo could create instability in the region.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, Enhanced cooperation with non-members
Enhanced cooperation with non-member states closer at home was less controversial and two offers were made: an extension of Partnership for Peace membership, and a training initiative.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, Comprehensive Political Guidance
Comprehensive Political Guidance (CPG), a policy document that had been agreed by Defence Ministers in June 2006 and an addition to the 1999 Strategic Concept document, was formally endorsed during the summit. The CPG intends to provide a framework and political direction for NATO's continuing transformation in the coming 10 to 15 years. More specifically, the document expresses the belief that the principal threats to the Alliance in the coming decades are terrorism, proliferation, failing states, regional crises, misuse of new technologies, and disruption of the flow of vital resources.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, Comprehensive Political Guidance
According to this document, the Alliance should adapt to these new threats and sets out the Alliance vis-a-vis capability issues, planning disciplines and intelligence for the next 10 to 15 years, including among others the need for joint expeditionary forces and the capability to deploy and sustain them over long periods of time. The document further underlined that NATO's forces should be able to conduct a variety of missions, from high to low intensity, and emphasized the likelihood that NATO will need to carry out a greater number and range of smaller operations. The CPG also confirmed the principle that 40% of the member states' military forces must be redeployable, and 8% must constantly be on operations abroad. This principle makes it, among other things, possible to effectively compare the contributions made by various states, irrespective of the size of their populations.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, Comprehensive Political Guidance
The CPG policy document is regarded as self-contradictory for at least two reasons. Firstly, it identified the two greatest threats to NATO as terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), whilst simultaneously reaffirming the 1999 Strategic Concept as "remaining valid" despite the fact that it barely mentioned these threats. Secondly, the document states that collective defence remains the core purpose of NATO, but at the same time emphasizes potential NATO contributions to conflict prevention and crisis management, and the potential planning and management of missions like that in Afghanistan.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, Comprehensive Political Guidance
The Riga Declaration even described the capability for such missions as NATO's "top priority". Additionally, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer wanted and expected a new Strategic Concept to be debated and agreed upon by 2008, reinforcing already existing views that the CPG will most likely last much less than the 10 to 15 years as the guiding policy document.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, Energy security
The Riga summit was the first NATO summit which underscored the need for energy security, following the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute. The "Riga Summit Declaration" (par. 45) stated that "Alliance security interests can also be affected by the disruption of the flow of vital resources" and that it supported "a coordinated, international effort to assess risks to energy infrastructures and to promote energy infrastructure security."


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, Energy security
It further states that NATO leaders "direct the Council in Permanent Session to consult on the most immediate risks in the field of energy security, to define those areas where NATO may add value to safeguard the security interests of the Allies and, upon request, assist national and international efforts."


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, Energy security
Radio Free Europe reports that an unnamed diplomatic source told that several NATO leaders, including Latvian president Vaira Vike-Freiberga, had tried to make arrangements for bilateral talks concerning this topic with Russian president Vladimir Putin during the summit, but Putin instead attended the CIS energy summit in Minsk, Belarus on 28 November 2006.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, Energy security
In contrast, The Independent reported that the summit was marred by a diplomat fracas over an invitation to President Vladimir Putin and that he was eventually not invited, and that Putin as a result threatened that he would visit Latvia for the first time since independence during the summit to upstage the summit. It was even proposed that Putin could honour French president Jacques Chirac, who was at the summit and whose 74th birthday coincided with the summit, by visiting Latvia. He later made clear that this would not go ahead.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, 2008 membership invitations
The NATO Heads of State and Government congratulated the efforts of the three Balkan states currently in NATO's Membership Action Plan: Albania, Croatia and Macedonia, and declared that the Alliance intends to extend further invitations to these countries during the 2008 Bucharest Summit, on condition that these countries meet NATO standards.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, 2008 membership invitations
The Alliance also affirmed that NATO remained open to new European members under Article X of the North Atlantic Treaty, but remained largely silent on the prospects of Georgia and Ukraine, two countries that had declared membership as a goal, as the summit limited itself to noting the efforts of both countries to conduct an "intensified dialogue" with NATO. Nevertheless, Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said after the summit that he had discussed Georgia's membership with US president Bush on 28 November.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, 2008 membership invitations
He further added that in his view Georgia had "very good chances" to join NATO if the planned reforms would continue and that a Membership Action Plan, the next necessary step on Georgia's way towards membership, was only "a small step away". Preceding the summit, it was expected that Ukraine was on a fast track to membership: it was believed that Ukraine would have received an invitation to a Membership Action Plan during the summit, followed by an invitation to join in 2008 and membership in 2010.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, 2008 membership invitations
According to political scientist Taras Kuzio the summit showed that Georgia rapidly moved ahead of Ukraine in its drive to join NATO, even though it joined the Intensified Dialogue program a year later than Ukraine, because president of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko failed to support a pro-Western Orange revolution coalition following the Ukraine's parliamentary elections of March 2006. In other words, Ukraine showed more ambivalence in its desire to join NATO, whereas in Georgia the pro-Western Rose Revolution coalition remained united.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, NATO Response Force
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer announced that the NATO Response Force was finally fully operational since all capabilities necessary were in place. The force is believed to be capable of performing missions worldwide across the whole spectrum of operations (such as evacuations, disaster management, counterterrorism, and acting as "an initial entry force") and can number up to 25,000 troops and should be able to start to deploy after five days' notice and sustain itself for operations lasting 30 days or longer if resupplied. The heads of state and government also agreed to share the costs of airlift for the short notice deployments of the Response Force.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, 2010 Theatre Missile Defence
In September 2006, NATO selected an international consortium led by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to build an Integration Test Bed for the Alliance's future Active Layered Theatre Missile Defence (ALTBMD) capability. After two months of negotiations, ALTBMD Programme Manager, General (Ret) Billard, and SAIC contracting Officer, Mr. Robert Larrick, signed the contract on the first day of NATO's Riga Summit. This decision was based on an unpublished report agreed upon earlier by NATO ministers following a study into the feasibility of theatre missile defences.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, 2010 Theatre Missile Defence
This programme is one of three programmes that NATO is pursuing in the area of missile defence. The contract puts the Alliance on track for having, by 2010, a system to protect troops on missions against ballistic missiles. The contract is worth approximately 75 million EUR for work that would be conducted over a period of six years. The theatre missile defence would be a multi-layered system of systems, comprising early warning system sensors, radar and various interceptors.


2006 Riga summit, Summit, Other topics, 2010 Theatre Missile Defence
While NATO member countries would provide the sensors and weapon systems, NATO itself would develop a commonly funded NATO architecture to integrate all of these elements. The development of the ALTBMD system was agreed by NATO members in large part because it is limited. NATO members are deeply divided about the multi-tiered BMD architecture promoted by the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA).


2006 Riga summit, Views on the summit
For the three former USSR republics Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania such a high-level event was held for the first time in the region. As a consequence it held a symbolic meaning. It is perceived to have increased the visibility of these three Baltic states as NATO members.


2006 Rink Hockey European Championship
The 2006 Rink Hockey European Championship was the 47th edition of the Rink Hockey European Championship, the biennial european rink hockey competition. The competition took place in Monza, Italy in the Pallazo dello Sport, also known as Pala Candy, from July 16 to July 22. Spain won the competition for the 13th time, beating Switzerland 2–0 in the final. Portugal took the 3rd place after beating 5-4 the hosts, Italy. This competition was part of the Euro Roller Games 2006, that also featured the European Championships of roller skating and artistic roller skating.


2006 Rink Hockey European Championship, Format
There are 3 groups of 3 teams in Phase I. Each team plays each other within the group and all teams but the worse 3rd place of all groups will go into the quarter-finals.


2006 Rink Hockey European Championship, Format
Then, the losers and the team who didn't go to the quarter-finals will play a Poule for the 5th to 9th position. If any team played each other before this Poule, they won't be playing again: the results from Phase I will count.


2006 Rink Hockey European Championship, Format
The winners in the quarter-finals keep playing each other in a knockout system until the winner is found. There is also a game for 3rd and 4th place for the losers at the Semi-finals.


2006 Rink Hockey European Championship, Format
Every game lasts for 40 minutes, divided into 2 parts of 20, instead of the usual 50 minutes in some leagues.


2006 Rink Hockey European Championship, 5th to 9th Poule
The games between teams that played against each other in Phase I are not repeated. The result from the Phase I game counted instead. This was the case for two matches, from Group A England vs. France and from Group B Austria vs. Germany:


2006 Rink hockey World Club Championship
The Rink hockey World Club Championship is a worldwide competition with the best rink hockey teams. This competition was held for the first time in 2006, in Luanda, Angola.


2006 Rink hockey World Club Championship
The budget for the competition in 2006 was 1 million US Dollars. The winner earned a 5000 euro prize, the 2nd placed, 2500 euro and the 3rd placed 1250. Every team received a trophy and the 4th to the 12th placed teams equal ones. The Topscorer was Luís Viana, a Portuguese player of Bassano, who scored 13 goals.


2006 Rink hockey World Club Championship, Format
12 teams from 8 different countries participate. The teams are divided into 4 groups of three teams each. The top teams of each group will advance to the final stage into a round-robin group to decide which team is the champion. The teams that didn't advance to the final stage will play knockout rounds to determine the 5th to 12th placed teams.


2006 Rink hockey World Club Championship, Group stage
All times West Africa Time / Western European Time (only during DST)


2006 Rio Grande do Sul gubernatorial election
Most major parties launched gubernatorial candidates for the 2006 elections in Rio Grande do Sul:


2006 Rio Grande do Sul gubernatorial election, Opinion polls
Porto Alegre newspaper Correio do Povo published on 15 July 2006 an opinion poll with the following results:


2006 Rio Grande do Sul gubernatorial election, Opinion polls
A new poll was published by Correio do Povo on 23 September 2006:


2006 Rio Grande do Sul gubernatorial election, Opinion polls
In the end, Mr. Rigotto finished the first round in the third place, opening the way for a run-off between Crusius and Dutra, which the PSDB candidate won.


2006 Road America 500
The 2006 Generac 500 was the seventh race for the 2006 American Le Mans Series season at Road America. It took place on August 20, 2006.


2006 Road America 500, Official results
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).


2006 Robert Morris Colonials football team
The 2006 Robert Morris Colonials football team represented Robert Morris University in the 2006 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Colonials were led by 13th-year head coach Joe Walton and played their home games at Joe Walton Stadium. They were a member of the Northeast Conference.


2006 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council election
Elections to Rochdale Council were held on 4 May 2006. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control. Overall turnout was 32.98%.


2006 Rochester Knighthawks season
The Rochester Knighthawks were a lacrosse team based in Rochester, New York that played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2006 season was the 12th in franchise history.


2006 Rochester Knighthawks season, Regular season, Conference standings
x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games PlayedW: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowedDifferential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game


2006 Rochester Knighthawks season, Player stats, Runners (Top 10)
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; LB = Loose Balls; PIM = Penalty Minutes


2006 Rochester Knighthawks season, Player stats, Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games Played; MIN = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Against; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average


2006 Rochford District Council election
Elections to Rochford Council were held on 4 May 2006. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season
Roger Federer’s 2006 season was dominant, finishing the year with a 92-5 record. The world No.1 maintained his ranking for the full calendar year and reached all four Grand Slam finals in 2006, winning three of them. His only Grand Slam loss came against Rafael Nadal in the French Open final in four sets, 6–1, 1–6, 4–6, 6–7(4–7). This was the first time they had met in a Major final. In the other three Grand Slams of 2006, Federer defeated Nadal in the final of the Wimbledon Championships, 6–0, 7–6(7–5), 6–7(2–7), 6–3. He defeated Marcos Baghdatis, 5–7, 7–5, 6–0, 6–2, at the Australian Open and Andy Roddick, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1, at the US Open.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season
In addition, Federer made it to six ATP Masters Series 1000 finals (out of the seven events he entered), winning four on hard surfaces and losing two on clay to Nadal. Also, Federer won one ATP 500 series event in Tokyo, three ATP 250 series events in Doha, Halle, and Basel, and captured the Year-End Championship for the third time in his career.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season
In December 2011, Stephen Tignor, chief editorial writer for Tennis.com, ranked Federer's 2006 season as the second greatest Open Era season, behind Rod Laver's Calendar Grand Slam year of 1969.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary
Federer won three of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments for the second time and ended the year ranked world No. 1, with his points total being several thousand ahead of world No. 2 Nadal.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Early hard court season
Federer started the year off by winning the Qatar Open in Doha. This was his second consecutive championship in Doha, he defeated Frenchman Gaël Monfils 6–3, 7–6(7–5) in the final.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Early hard court season
After traveling down under, Federer won the year's first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open, by defeating Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in four sets. This was Federer's seventh consecutive victory in a Grand Slam final (2003 Wimbledon – 2006 Australian Open), a record to start a career, and second overall only to Pete Sampras's eight consecutive wins (1995 Wimbledon – 2000 Wimbledon). This was Federer's 7th Grand Slam title, which tied him for sixth place in the open era with John McEnroe and Mats Wilander.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Early hard court season
Moving back to the Middle East, Federer reached the finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships without losing a set before losing to his budding arch-rival Rafael Nadal 6–2, 4–6, 4–6. This ended the 16-match winning streak that he had started the 2006 season on. It was also the first time Federer had lost a match on a hard court in over a year, the last time coming 13 months earlier in the semifinals of the 2005 Australian Open.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Early hard court season
Federer successfully defended his Masters title at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, defeating American James Blake in the final 7–5, 6–3, 6–0. This was his third consecutive title in Indian Wells, which set the tournament record for most consecutive titles. This third championship also tied Michael Chang's record of three titles in Indian Wells.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Early hard court season
Two weeks later he also successfully defended his Masters title at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida, defeating Croatian Ivan Ljubičić in the final 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–4), 7–6(8–6). With his victory in Miami he picked up his second masters title of the year, and became the first player ever to win the grueling Indian Wells-Key Biscayne double in consecutive years.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Clay court season
Federer started the clay-court season by reaching the final of the ATP Masters Series event at Monte Carlo. He opened the tournament with a scare needing three sets to defeat an 18-year-old Novak Djokovic; this was the first match between the two rivals, who have played in 50 matches as of august 2021. After reaching the final he lost in four sets to Nadal 2–6, 7–6(7–2), 3–6, 6–7(5–7).


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Clay court season
In Italy Federer had a difficult road to the finals of Rome defeating Nicolás Almagro 6–3, 6–7(2–7), 7–5 in the quarters and David Nalbandian 6–3, 3–6, 7–6(7–5) in the semifinals. His encounter with Rafael Nadal in the finals saw Federer losing 7–6(7–0), 6–7(5–7), 4–6, 6–2, 6–7(5–7) in a five-set, five-hour and five-minute match that culminated in a decisive 7-5 tiebreak. Federer had held two championship points at 6–5 in the fifth set. Because of the physicality and grueling nature of the match, both players skipped the Hamburg Masters the following week.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Clay court season
Federer only dropped two sets en route to the first French Open final of his career. He met the reigning champion Rafael Nadal in the final. Federer had gone undefeated in 2006 except against Nadal, compiling a 44–3 record heading into the finals. He got off to a fast start winning the first set decisively 6–1. But the relentless nature of Nadal's play, constantly hitting high bouncing shots to Federer's one-handed backhand, proved a devastating formula. Federer eventually lost the match in a fourth-set tiebreaker 6–1, 1–6, 4–6, 6–7(4–7). This ended the many predictions of Federer winning the calendar year Grand Slam in 2006. Although the French Open title eluded him, Federer became one of only two active players who had reached the finals of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments, the other being Andre Agassi.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Grass court season
Federer won his fourth consecutive title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany. Federer had three close third set victories en route to making the final, including a thrilling triple tiebreak match against Olivier Rochus in the quarterfinals 6–7(2–7), 7–6(11–9), 7–6(7–5). In the final he defeated Tomáš Berdych 6–0, 6–7(4–7), 6–2.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Grass court season
Federer entered Wimbledon as the top seed, trying to become the first man since Pete Sampras (1997–2000) to win Wimbledon in four consecutive years. Federer raced through the tournament without dropping a set and met his arch-rival Rafael Nadal in the finals. Federer had not defeated Nadal all season going 0–4 against Nadal but 5–4 overall heading into the final. Federer again thrashed Nadal in the first set, the same way he had in the opening set at Roland Garros, bageling the Spaniard 6–0. The second set was much closer with Federer taking the tiebreaker 7–5.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Grass court season
Federer surrendered his first set of the tournament when he lost the third set in a tiebreaker 2–7. In the fourth set Federer reasserted his superior grass court play and took it by a score of 6–3. Federer won the final 6–0, 7–6(7–5), 6–7(2–7), 6–3. This was his fourth Wimbledon title and his 8th Grand Slam title of his career. With this Major title win he tied Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl for sixth on the all-time Grand Slam list behind Bill Tilden (10), Rod Laver and Björn Borg (11), Roy Emerson (12), and Pete Sampras (14). After Wimbledon, Federer set his sights on winning the US Open.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Summer hard court season
Federer then started his North American tour by winning his second Rogers Cup title in Toronto, defeating Richard Gasquet of France in the final 2–6, 6–3, 6–2.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Summer hard court season
After his victory in Toronto, Federer entered the Cincinnati Masters as the defending champion looking to tie the all-time record he and Nadal set in 2005 of four masters titles in a single season. After reaching the finals of his first eleven tournaments in 2006, Federer was upset by 19-year-old British upstart Andy Murray. Following this loss to Murray, Federer would not lose another match for the remainder of the year. He finished the season with a perfect record of 29–0 (this would continue into 2007 and be part of his career best 41-match winning streak).


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Summer hard court season
During the US Open, the year's last Grand Slam tournament, he defeated American Andy Roddick in four sets 6–2, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1 for his third consecutive title at Flushing Meadows. During the open era, 2006 is the only year in which the same man (Federer) and woman (Justine Henin) reached the finals of all four Grand Slams. This was Federer's 9th Grand Slam title, which put him in sole possession of 6th place on the all-time Grand Slam list.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Fall indoor season
Tokyo was the last outdoor event that Federer participated in during the 2006 season. He defeated his former nemesis Tim Henman in the finals 6–3, 6–3.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Fall indoor season
With victory in Asia, Federer turned his focus to the indoor circuit of Europe. He entered the Madrid Masters for the first time since 2003. After surviving a close third-round match against Robin Söderling, Federer defeated Fernando González 7–5, 6–1, 6–0 in the finals. This was his fourth masters tournament victory of the year, which tied the all-time record held by himself and Nadal in 2005.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Fall indoor season
Federer entered his hometown tournament, the Swiss Indoors held in Basel, having never won it despite having reached the finals in 2000 and 2001. Federer was forced to win a final-set tiebreaker against Paradorn Srichaphan in the semifinals to advance and ended up defeating Fernando González in the final 6–3, 6–2, 7–6(7–3). This victory was especially touching for Federer who had grown up in Basel and had been a ball boy at the tournament during his youth.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Fall indoor season
At the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, Federer defeated defending champion David Nalbandian in one of his three round-robin matches. He also scored his second victory of the year over rival Rafael Nadal 6–4, 7–5 in a thrilling semifinal matchup of the top 2 players in the world. Federer then defeated American James Blake, 6–0, 6–3, 6–4, in the finals to win his third Masters Cup title.


2006 Roger Federer tennis season, Season accomplishments
Federer won 12 titles in 2006, which included three Grand Slam titles, four ATP Masters titles, and the Tennis Masters Cup. During the year, he lost to only two players, Nadal in the French Open, Rome, Monte Carlo, and Dubai finals; and Andy Murray in the second round of the Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati loss to Murray was Federer's only straight-set loss of the year and the only tournament out of 17 in which he did not reach the final. His win-loss record for the 2006 season was 92–5, falling slightly behind his 2005 season record of 81–4.


2006 Rogers Cup
The 2006 Canadian Open (also known as the 2006 Rogers Masters and 2006 Rogers Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 117th edition of the Canadian Open, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2006 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2006 WTA Tour. The men's event took place at the Rexall Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from August 7 through August 13, 2006, and the women's event at the Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from August 14 through August 20, 2006.


2006 Rogers Cup
The men's field featured World No. 1, Australian Open and Wimbledon winner Roger Federer, French Open champion and 2005 Canada Masters winner Rafael Nadal, and ATP No. 3 David Nalbandian. Others top seeds competing were Miami Masters runner-up Ivan Ljubičić, Indianapolis champion and Indian Wells finalist James Blake, Nikolay Davydenko, Tommy Robredo and Marcos Baghdatis.


2006 Rogers Cup
The women's draw was headlined by WTA No. 1 and Stanford winner Kim Clijsters, Charleston and Berlin champion Nadia Petrova, and Miami winner Svetlana Kuznetsova. Other seeds present were Strasbourg winner Nicole Vaidišová, Stockholm runner-up Anastasia Myskina, Martina Hingis, Francesca Schiavone and Dinara Safina.


2006 Rogers Cup, Finals, Men's Doubles
Bob Bryan /  Mike Bryan defeated  Paul Hanley /  Kevin Ullyett 6–3, 7–5


2006 Rogers Cup, Finals, Women's Doubles
Nadia Petrova /  Martina Navratilova defeated  Cara Black /  Anna-Lena Grönefeld 6–1, 6–2


2006 Rogers Cup – Doubles
Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Martina Navratilova were the defending champions, but they decided not to compete with each other. Grönefeld participated with Cara Black, but the pair were defeated by Navratilova and Nadia Petrova in the final, 6–1, 6–2. This was Navratilova's 177th WTA doubles title, and was her final doubles title before her retirement later in 2006. Navratilova's 177 doubles titles is an Open Era record.


2006 Rogers Cup – Doubles, Seeds
The top four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2006 Rogers Cup – Singles
Ana Ivanovic won the title, defeating Martina Hingis in the final, 6–2, 6–3. At 18 years and 41 weeks of age, Ivanovic became the youngest female player to win the tournament, only to be surpassed by Belinda Bencic who won the title in 2015 aged 18 years and 23 weeks. Kim Clijsters was the defending champion, but retired due to a left wrist sprain in the second round against Stéphanie Dubois.


2006 Rogers Cup – Singles, Finals
The finals match for the Rogers Cup was fought between Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Martina Hingis of Switzerland. The match was originally scheduled on the 20th of August but was moved to the next day due to rainfall. This match was their first career encounter with Ivanovic winning. Ivanovic dominated on her serve and just lost 12 points in her eight service games as she broke Hingis' serve four times to win the match 6–2, 6–3 in just 58 minutes.


2006 Rogers Cup – Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds received a bye into the second round.


2006 Rogers Masters – Doubles
Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett were the defending champions, but Black retired in 2006, and only Ullyett competed that year. Ullyett partnered with Paul Hanley, but Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan defeated them 6–3, 7–5, in the final.


2006 Rogers Masters – Singles
Roger Federer defeated Richard Gasquet in the final, 2–6, 6–3, 6–2, to win the Singles title at the 2006 Canadian Open.


2006 Rogers Masters – Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but lost in the third round to Tomáš Berdych.


2006 Rolex Sports Car Series
The 2006 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the seventh season of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve. The 15-race championship was competed with Daytona Prototype (DP) and Grand Touring (GT) class cars. It began January 28, 2006 and ended September 2, 2006. Infineon Raceway was added, breaking the record for most races. Mont Tremblant was dropped for Miller Motorsports Park, leaving Hermanos Rodríguez as the only race outside the US. Long Beach Street Circuit was added.


2006 Romanian Figure Skating Championships
The 2006 Romanian Figure Skating Championships were the national championships of the 2005–06 figure skating season. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles and ladies' singles. The results were used to choose the Romanian teams to the 2006 World Championships and the 2006 European Championships.


2006 Rome Metro crash
The 2006 Rome Metro crash occurred on 17 October 2006 at 9:37am local time (07:37 UTC), when one train ploughed into another train as it unloaded passengers at the Vittorio Emanuele underground station in the city centre, killing a 30-year-old Italian woman, named Alessandra Lisi, and injuring about 145 others, of which a dozen were reported to be in life-threatening conditions.


2006 Rome Metro crash
The whole Line A was immediately shut down and the area above the station, the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, was cordoned off by police as rescue workers erected a field hospital, where dozens of people were treated. The injured were gradually transported to various Rome hospitals for further treatment, with the Complesso Ospedaliero San Giovanni - Addolorata, being the nearest, receiving most of them.


2006 Rome Metro crash
While no official cause of the accident has been released, officials have excluded terrorism as a cause for the incident. Several passengers have reported that the driver of the moving train failed to stop at a red signal and that the train had been running strangely at previous stations. A senior driver has disclosed that the moving train had previously had braking problems on a test drive.


2006 Rome Metro crash
A possible explanation of the accident may lie in a misunderstanding between the driver and the control centre, which would have authorized the train to proceed to the "next station", meaning a station closed to the public (Manzoni), the last before Vittorio Emanuele station, while the driver would have understood it to mean the next working station, that is, Vittorio Emanuele itself.


2006 Rome municipal election
Municipal elections were held in Rome on 28–29 May 2006 to elect the Mayor of Rome and 60 members of the City Council.


2006 Rome municipal election, Background, Mayoral election
The centre-left coalition was led by the outgoing mayor Walter Veltroni, while the centre-right coalition was led by the incumbent Minister of Agricolture Gianni Alemanno, a member of the National Alliance (AN) party.


2006 Rome municipal election, Voting system
The voting system is used for all mayoral elections in Italy, in the city with a population higher than 15,000 inhabitants. Under this system voters express a direct choice for the mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives 50% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate may be able to claim majority support, although it is not guaranteed.


2006 Rome municipal election, Voting system
The election of the City Council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally.


2006 Rome municipal election, Municipi election
All the presidents of each municipio were elected on the first round. Table below shows the results for each municipio with the percentage for each coalition:


2006 Rose Bowl
The 2006 Rose Bowl Game, played on January 4, 2006 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was an American college football bowl game that served as the BCS National Championship Game for the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. It featured the only two unbeaten teams of the season: the defending Rose Bowl champion and reigning Big 12 Conference champion Texas Longhorns played Pacific-10 Conference titleholders and two-time defending AP national champions, the USC Trojans. Texas would defeat USC 41-38 to capture its fourth football championship in program history.


2006 Rose Bowl
The game was a back-and-forth contest; Texas's victory was not secured until the game's final nineteen seconds. Vince Young, the Texas quarterback, and Michael Huff, a Texas safety, were named the offensive and defensive Rose Bowl Players Of The Game. ESPN named Young's fourth-down, game-winning touchdown run the fifth-highest rated play in college football history. The game is the highest-rated BCS game in TV history with 21.7% of households watching it, and is often considered the greatest college football national championship game of all time, as well as the greatest Division 1-A college football game ever played.


2006 Rose Bowl
Texas's Rose Bowl win was the 800th victory in school history  and the Longhorns ended the season ranked third in Division I history in both wins and winning percentage (.7143). It was only the third time that the two top-ranked teams had faced each other in Rose Bowl history, with the 1963 Rose Bowl and 1969 Rose Bowl games being the others.


2006 Rose Bowl
The 92nd-annual Rose Bowl Game was played, as it is every year, at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, in the United States.


2006 Rose Bowl
This was the final game ever called by longtime broadcaster Keith Jackson (as well as the final Rose Bowl to telecast under ABC Sports branding); the 2007 Rose Bowl would be an ESPN on ABC presentation. It was also the final time until the BCS National Championship Game for the 2009 Season that it was broadcast as an ESPN on ABC presentation. In addition, this was the last National Championship Game in the BCS era to be a nominal BCS bowl game (the National Championship and the 4 four BCS bowls became separate events beginning with the 2006 season).


2006 Rose Bowl
This was the first college football game to feature two Heisman Trophy winners in the same starting lineup. USC's quarterback Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush won the award in 2004 and 2005, respectively, although Bush would later forfeit the award.


2006 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup
USC entered the game on a 34-game winning streak. It was the longest active streak in Division I-A. (Many of those wins have since been vacated following NCAA sanctions surrounding allegedly illegal benefits given to USC's Reggie Bush.) Texas brought the second-longest active streak, having won nineteen straight games and entered as the defending Rose Bowl champion, after defeating Michigan in the 2005 Rose Bowl. The teams' combined 53-game win streak was an NCAA record for teams playing each other. The game was also the first to pit against each other the teams ranked first and second in every iteration of the BCS standings. This was Texas's second trip to the Rose Bowl in two years (and second trip in the history of UT football).


2006 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup
A few weeks before the game, USC's Reggie Bush won the Heisman Trophy (since vacated in 2010) ahead of second-place finisher Vince Young. Bush had the second-highest number of first place votes in Heisman history (behind O. J. Simpson) and the highest percentage of first-place votes, while Young had a record number of second-place votes. Bush's 933-point margin of victory was the 17th highest in Heisman voting history. The other finalist was USC's Matt Leinart, who had won the Heisman trophy in 2004. This meant that the Rose Bowl would mark the first time that two Heisman-trophy winners had ever played in the same backfield.


2006 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup
The 2006 Rose Bowl was, in the eyes of many, the most-anticipated matchup in college football history. Both teams were considered good enough to win the National Championship had they existed in different years instead of having to play each other. USC had been ranked No. 1 since the preseason and Texas had held the No. 2 spot that entire time. Before the game, some commentators postulated that the 2005 USC team was one of the greatest college football teams of all time.


2006 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup
ESPN analysts were virtually unanimous in declaring the 2005 USC Trojans as having the best offense in college football history  (though it did not lead the nation in points scored; Texas did). Mark May and Kirk Herbstreit declared that the 2005 USC Trojans were the second-best college football team of the past 50 years (May placed them behind only the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers; Herbstreit behind only the 2001 Miami Hurricanes). This led Texas fans to mockingly chant "Best...Team...Ever" during the post-game celebration.


2006 Rose Bowl, Pre-game buildup
Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated later observed, "ESPN spent the better part of Christmas season comparing that Trojans squad to some of the most acclaimed teams of all time only to find out that they weren’t even the best team that season." Lee Corso was one of the few ESPN analysts to predict a Texas win.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, First quarter
USC received the opening kickoff and managed just three yards against a Texas defense that was stout early in the game. Aaron Ross fumbled the ball on the ensuing punt return, committing the first of four Texas fumbles on the day (though it would only lose one), and the Trojans recovered.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, First quarter
A 23-yard Leinart pass to senior fullback David Kirtman, who was hit hard by Cedric Griffin and forced to leave the game briefly (Kirtman finished the game with three catches for 61 yards on the day), set up a four-yard touchdown run by running back LenDale White, a bruiser who out-rushed his speedy counterpart, Bush, on the day, gaining 124 yards on 20 carries. Kicker Mario Danelo's extra point gave USC a seven-point lead. The teams twice exchanged possessions to end the first quarter, as each defense held the opposing offense in check.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Second quarter
On the second play of the second quarter, Reggie Bush exploded for 35 yards off a Leinart pass, reaching Texas's 18-yard line before attempting to lateral pass the ball to an uncovered teammate; Texas strong safety Michael Huff recovered the loose ball. The Pac-10 football-officiating coordinator later stated that Bush's pass was incorrectly officiated because it was an illegal forward pass, not a lateral, so the Trojans should have retained possession.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Second quarter
Young drove his team 53 yards on the ensuing possession, twice hitting senior tight end David Thomas, who finished the day as Young's leading receiver, catching ten passes for 88 yards. The Trojans' defense tackled sophomore running back Ramonce Taylor five yards behind the line of scrimmage and forced a fumble that Young recovered for an additional five-yard loss. This forced a Texas field-goal attempt, which David Pino converted from 46 yards to cut Texas's deficit to four.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Second quarter
On USC's next possession, Leinart drove his team into Texas territory, this time to the 25-yard line, before throwing an interception to Texas free safety Michael Griffin, who appeared to be out of the play but ran halfway across the field before making a leaping catch and barely staying in-bounds in the end zone. The turnover ended a second Trojans' drive with USC in scoring position. On the following Texas drive, Young connected with wide receiver Limas Sweed, who caught eight balls for 65 yards on the day, for a key first down.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Second quarter
Young then led his team with his legs, capping the drive by running 10 yards before throwing a lateral pass to open running back Selvin Young, who ran for 12 more for the touchdown. The lateral, made after Young's knee had touched the ground, was not reviewed because of issues with the replay equipment. The game continued with a failed extra-point attempt by Texas, which, not knowing of the equipment issues, appeared to rush the kick to get the play off before the prior play could be reviewed. The NCAA football-officiating coordinator later asserted that Young's knee had been down, and expressed confusion about how the call had been handled.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Second quarter
A defensive stop on USC's next possession and a 15-yard punt return gave Texas the ball near midfield, and the Longhorns capitalized when Young found Thomas for 14 yards on one play, and Taylor running 30 yards for a touchdown on another. Pino's extra point extended the Longhorns' lead to 16–7. On the next drive, Leinart threw a pass intended for Reggie Bush that was grabbed by Texas linebacker/safety Drew Kelson. But Kelson landed on his back after catching the pass and the ball popped out. The pass was ruled incomplete; equipment issues again prevented a review.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Second quarter
USC's drive continued with a Leinart pass to wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett, the top Trojan receiver of the day with ten catches totaling 121 yards, a quarterback keeper of 14 yards, and a Bush 12-yard run took the Trojans to the Texas 13-yard line with 40 seconds to play in the half. But two sacks by defensive tackle Frank Okam pushed USC back 13 yards and forced the Trojans to use two timeouts. Consequently, Danelo's 43-yard field goal allowed USC three points, and the half ended with Texas still ahead, 16–10.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Third quarter
The Trojan defense came back strong from the halftime break and forced a punt on the Longhorns' opening drive of the third quarter. During the following USC drive, Leinart hit Jarrett for three passes totaling 35 yards, and White added the final 17 yards over two carries, capping the seven-play, 62-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run. It was his second of the game, and it put the Trojans ahead, 17–16.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Third quarter
Behind the running of Jamaal Charles, who finished the game with five carries for 34 yards, and Young, who ran 19 times for 200 yards, Texas quickly answered. Young scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns from 14 yards out, and Pino's successful extra-point attempt moved the Longhorns ahead, 23–17.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Third quarter
The lead changed hands once more with 4:07 to play in the third quarter, as Leinart hit tight end Dominique Byrd for two of his four catches and 21 of his 32 yards in the next drive and set up the next score. Although USC had been stopped on a fourth-and-short attempt earlier in the game, it decided to gamble again on fourth-and-one from the 12, and this time White muscled it all the way to the end zone to record his third rushing touchdown of the game and the 57th of his career. The achievement set a USC record.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Third quarter
The Longhorns reached Trojan territory on the ensuing drive, with Young's 45-yard run constituting most of the work, but ultimately the Trojans forced a field-goal attempt from USC's 14-yard line, and, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Pino missed a 31-yard kick that would have put his team ahead by two.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Fourth quarter
Behind Leinart's precise throwing (despite one interception, Leinart finished the day with otherwise stellar numbers, completing 29-of-40 passes for 365 yards and one touchdown), the Trojans drove 80 yards over nine plays in 3:36. Bush scored his only touchdown of the game on a 26-yard run to end the drive. (Bush finished the game with 95 yards on just six catches and gained 82 yards on 13 carries; he also averaged 20.2 yards on five punt returns.)


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Fourth quarter
The Longhorns’ next possession began with an apparent reception and fumble by Jamaal Charles. The error would have given USC the ball on the Texas 40, but replay officials ruled the catch incomplete. Two Vince Young completions to wide receiver Billy Pittman, who caught four passes for 53 yards on the day, helped the Longhorns drive to USC's 17-yard line on the next possession. When Young fumbled on third down, Texas settled for a 34-yard field goal that brought the Longhorns to within five, 31–26.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Fourth quarter
On the ensuing possession, the Trojans gained 48 yards with a 33-yard Leinart pass to Kirtman and a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty. This set up a 22-yard toss from Leinart to Jarrett – a play that saw Texas cornerback Tarrel Brown get injured while trying to tackle Jarrett at the goal line. Brown and a teammate collided as Jarrett stretched the ball over the goal line, and the successful extra-point attempt gave USC its biggest lead of the game, 38–26.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Fourth quarter
As Texas took the ball trailing by two scores with just 6:42 to play, Young accounted for all 69 yards of a Longhorns' scoring drive that took just 2:39 to complete, rushing for 25 (including a 17-yard touchdown run) and completing five passes for the rest of the necessary yardage. (For the game, Young completed 75 percent of his passes – 30-of-40 – for 267 yards, with no passing touchdowns and no interceptions.) Pino's extra point again brought Texas to within five with 3:58 to play.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Fourth quarter
Though the Longhorns' defense yielded one first down on the subsequent USC drive, it held the Trojans, who turned to LenDale White on a third down at midfield only to see him lose the ball and have it recovered by wide receiver Steve Smith just two yards short of a first down. A Texas timeout stopped the clock with 2:13 to play.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Fourth quarter
Then, in what proved the most pivotal coaching decision of the game, Trojans coach Pete Carroll elected to give his #2-ranked offense (behind only Texas), which had averaged 582.2 yards and 50.0 points per game on the year, an opportunity to convert fourth down and two at the Texas 45-yard line. But the Texas defense, which had failed to stop this same play three times, held White to a one-yard gain. The result was a turnover on downs at the Longhorns' 44-yard line with 2:09 to play.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Fourth quarter
During its final drive, Texas faced third-and-12. Texas converted for a first down at USC's 46-yard line after a completed pass for seven yards and a Trojans face-mask penalty. From there, Young rushed once for seven yards between two passes for 26 yards to little-used wide receiver Brian Carter, moving the ball to the USC 14-yard line. Facing fourth-and-five from the nine-yard line, Young received the shotgun snap and found his receivers covered. Young bolted towards the right sideline and received a critical block from Justin Blalock and won a footrace to the end zone.


2006 Rose Bowl, Game summary, Fourth quarter
That score, Young's third rushing touchdown of the game, gave the Longhorns a one-point lead with 19 seconds left to play. When Texas lined up for a two-point conversion, USC used its last time out. Young successfully reached the end zone on the ensuing play, giving his team a 41–38 lead. Leinart took the ball with only 16 seconds left and no timeouts. He drove the Trojans to the Texas 43-yard line when time expired. The loss was only the second of Leinart's college career, and the first Rose Bowl loss for USC since the 1989 game.


2006 Rose Bowl, Analysis and aftermath
Vince Young was named the Rose Bowl's MVP for the second time in as many years (the first time being the 2005 Rose Bowl). He is only the fourth player in Rose Bowl history (and the only player from the Big 12 Conference) to accomplish this feat.


2006 Rose Bowl, Analysis and aftermath
Though USC converted on 57 percent of third downs (to only 27 percent for the Longhorns), it was unable to gain two yards on a 4th down try late in the 4th quarter when doing so might have ensured a Trojan victory. Curiously, the Trojans did not have Heisman winner Bush on the field for the 4th down play; LenDale White received the handoff and was stuffed by the Longhorn defense. The Trojans also hurt themselves with two turnovers in Texas territory early in the game.


2006 Rose Bowl, Analysis and aftermath
Mack Brown, previously maligned for his inability to win big games, thus ended the fourth-longest winning streak in Division I-A history – and the longest since a 35-game streak by Toledo ended in 1971 – and, behind Young, who accounted for 839 yards of total offense in his two Rose Bowl appearances, won the first national title for Texas since 1970. Young accounted for 467 yards in the championship game, which stands as the best performance ever in a BCS Championship game.


2006 Rose Bowl, Analysis and aftermath
By winning, Texas assured itself a first-place ranking in the USA Today coaches' poll, and its achievement was confirmed when AP polling sportswriters unanimously voted Texas number one on January 5, 2006; USC finished a unanimous second in each poll. On January 11, 2006, Young was awarded the Manning Award, given annually to the nation's top quarterback. Unlike any other major college football award, the Manning is based partly on bowl results.


2006 Rose Bowl, Analysis and aftermath
Four players from the game went on to become top-ten picks in the 2006 NFL Draft: Reggie Bush (2nd overall, New Orleans), Vince Young (3rd overall, Tennessee), Michael Huff (7th overall, Oakland), and Matt Leinart (10th overall, Arizona). Taitusi Lutui, Fred Matua, LenDale White, David Kirtman, Winston Justice, Cedric Griffin, David Thomas, Frostee Rucker, Dominique Byrd, Darnell Bing, Jonathan Scott, LaJuan Ramsey, and Rodrique Wright were drafted in the next six rounds. This was longtime ABC Sports announcer Keith Jackson's last game, and was also the last college football game aired on ABC under the ABC Sports name, as ABC's sports division began going by the name of corporate sibling ESPN on ABC in September 2006.


2006 Rose Bowl, Analysis and aftermath
The victory, Texas' 800th of all time, gave UT its fourth national championship in football. Since the game, the media, coaches, and other commentators have heaped praise upon the Texas team, Vince Young, and the Rose Bowl performance. For instance, Sports Illustrated called the game "perhaps the most stunning bowl performance ever". Both the Rose Bowl win as well as the Longhorns' overall season have both been cited as standing among the greatest performances in college football history by publications such as College Football News, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Scout.com, and Sports Illustrated.


2006 Rose Bowl, Analysis and aftermath
The Longhorns and the Trojans were together awarded the 2006 ESPY Award by ESPN for the "Best Game" in any sport. In December 2006, both Sports Illustrated and Time Magazine picked the game as the Best Sports Moment in 2006. Voters on Yahoo Sports also voted it as the Sports Story of the Year for both college football and overall, edging out 12 other stories in the overall voting and receiving 13,931 votes out of 65,641.


2006 Rose Bowl, Analysis and aftermath
In the days that followed the Longhorns' victory, the Trinity River in Dallas mysteriously turned a "burnt orange" color. Authorities said that it may have been caused by someone dumping dye into the river.


2006 Rose Bowl, Analysis and aftermath
The game received the highest Nielsen ratings for the Rose Bowl since the 1986 Rose Bowl between UCLA and Iowa. In 2007, ESPN compiled a list of the top 100 plays in college football history; Vince Young's game-winning touchdown in the 2006 Rose Bowl ranked number 5.


2006 Rose Bowl, Analysis and aftermath
The 2006 Rose Bowl Game and its unreviewed, controversial officiants' rulings have been cited as a key reason the NCAA Football Rules Committee added a coach's challenge the following season. Ironically, USC opted to go without instant replay for its game against Notre Dame that season, and won on the final play when Reggie Bush illegally shoved Matt Leinart over the goal line.


2006 Rose Bowl, Analysis and aftermath
This would be the last time USC and Texas met in a football game until 2017, which USC won in overtime 27–24. The two teams met again in 2018 in Texas as the second game of a home-and-home series between the two schools. Texas won 37–14 with USC failing to score any points after the first quarter.


2006 Rossendale Borough Council election
Elections to Rossendale Borough Council were held on 4 May 2006. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.


2006 Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council election
Elections to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council were held on 4 May 2006. The Labour party kept overall control of the council. One third of the council was up for election and no boundary changes were made.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash
On 2 September 2006, a Royal Air Force Hawker Siddeley Nimrod suffered an in-flight fire and subsequently crashed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing all fourteen crew members on board. The crash, which occurred during a reconnaissance flight, was the biggest single loss of life suffered by the British military since the Falklands War.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Aircraft
The aircraft involved in the accident was XV230, the first of 38 Nimrod maritime reconnaissance/strike aircraft to enter operational service with the Royal Air Force on 2 October 1969. At a ceremony held at Woodford airfield in Cheshire, the aircraft was handed over by the deputy managing director of Hawker Siddeley Aviation, Sir Harry Broadhurst. Receiving XV230 were the AOC-in Chief of Coastal Command, Air Marshal Sir John Lapsley. At Broadhurst's invitation, Lady Lapsley performed the naming ceremony. Later in the day an RAF crew flew XV230 to its base at RAF St Mawgan, Cornwall, where the Nimrod maritime operational training unit (MOTU) was to be formed.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Aircraft
According to Jane's Information Group, XV230 was one of six Nimrods equipped with an L-3 Wescam MX-15 electro-optical turret in 2003. In June/July 2006 XV230 was given the capability to transmit real-time video imagery from the MX-15 to ground stations and commanders. This was implemented under Project Broadsword.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Crash details
The aircraft is believed to have suffered a fuel leak or overflow during mid-air refuelling while it was monitoring a NATO offensive against Taliban insurgents west of Kandahar. The investigation found that fuel most probably travelled from a fuel tank blow-off valve on the starboard side of the lower-forward fuselage into an aft bay near the root of the starboard wing which contained hot air ducting pipes, where it saturated compressed insulation contained within a shrouding, holding the fuel against a hot air pipe until it reached auto-ignition temperature and caught fire.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Crash details
The fire was first noted when smoke accumulated in the bomb-bay, leading the pilot to report a fire in his bomb-bay. He tried to reach Kandahar air base, taking the aircraft down from 23,000 to 3,000 feet (7,010 to 910 metres) in 90 seconds. An RAF Harrier aircraft followed the Nimrod down and the pilot saw a wing explode, followed a few seconds later by the rest of the aircraft.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Crash details
The crash site was about 25 miles (40 kilometres) west-north-west of Kandahar Airfield (which is located 10 miles (16 kilometres) south-east of the city of Kandahar) between two villages called Chil Khor and Fatehullah Qala in the Panjwaye District.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Crash details
The twelve RAF personnel, a Royal Marine and a British Army soldier aboard Nimrod MR2 XV230 were killed. A board of inquiry report was released in December 2007.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Crash details
On 23 May 2008 the assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire, Andrew Walker, handed down a narrative ruling that it had "never been airworthy from the first time it was released to the service nearly 40 years ago".


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Crash details
"It seems to me that this is a case where I would be failing in my duty if I didn't report action to the relevant authority that would prevent future fatalities,"


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Crash details
"I have given the matter considerable thought and I see no alternative but to report to the secretary of state that the Nimrod fleet should not fly until the ALARP [as low as reasonably practicable] standards are met."


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Controversy
There had been concerns in the British media about serviceability of the Nimrod fleet and bereaved families having to wait for years for the Oxfordshire coroner's office to hold inquests into military deaths. Conservative MP Ian Liddell-Grainger called for the MR2's replacement – the BAE MRA4 – to be introduced sooner. That aircraft suffered significant problems during development and construction which resulted in lengthy programme delays and the in-service date slipping nine years from 2003 to 2012. The MR4 replacement aircraft was cancelled entirely following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Controversy
Concerns were again raised when on 5 November 2007, Nimrod XV235 was reported to have suffered a similar fuel leak. The aircraft landed safely. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) then suspended all in-flight refuelling of the Nimrod fleet.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Controversy
The Scottish National Party's Westminster leader, Angus Robertson, criticised delays in inquiries. He said the wait for the MoD inquiry and a coroner's inquest was a "disgrace" that dates have still to be set for the publication of the board of inquiry's findings and a coroner's inquest into the deaths. He was also quoted as saying "Everybody's thoughts are with the families and friends of those who lost their lives. They are having to wait far too long to receive answers to many questions. A 12-month wait is a disgrace – Publication dates have been put back and put back and the Ministry of Defence should get on with it."


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Controversy
In March 2009, following continued questions about the safety of the Nimrod fleet and despite constantly stating that the aircraft were airworthy, the MoD grounded the Nimrod fleet for "vital safety modification[s]". Engine bay hot air ducts and fuel seals were to be replaced.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Controversy
There are those who opine that the loss was a foreseeable consequence of design and production failures.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Controversy
Concerns about the safety of the Nimrod fleet continued to surface after the loss of XV230. In April 2009 it was reported that the Defence Minister had "glossed over Nimrod safety fears". The Independent newspaper claimed that a report into the safety of Britain's ageing fleet of Nimrods, which a defence minister claimed did not reveal "any significant airworthiness issues", exposed almost 1,500 faults – 26 of which threatened the aircraft's safety.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Board of Inquiry findings
On 4 December 2007 the report of the findings of the official Board of Inquiry into the loss of XV230 was published. The Board believed that the No 7 tank dry bay was the most likely location for the seat of the fire, with the most probable cause being escaped fuel having come into contact with a Supplementary Conditioning Pack (SCP) airpipe at 400 degrees Celsius "...after entering a gap between two types of insulation". Four separate factors were listed as contributing to the accident: Age of the aircraft; Maintenance policy; Failure of hazard analysis and lack of a fire detection and suppression system; Not identifying the full implications of successive changes to the fuel system and associated procedures.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Board of Inquiry findings
Links into the full report on the XV230 accident can be found here.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Board of Inquiry findings
On 23 May 2008, the coroner who led the inquest into these deaths stated that the entire Nimrod fleet had "never been airworthy from the first time it was released to service" and urged that it should be grounded. Assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire Andrew Walker added: "This cavalier approach to safety must come to an end. There were failures... [in monitoring the aircraft's safety]...that should, if the information had been correctly recorded and acted upon, have led to the discovery of this design flaw within the Nimrod fleet."


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Nimrod Review
The Terms of Reference for the Nimrod Review were set out by the Secretary of State for Defence, Des Browne, on 13 December 2007.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Nimrod Review
It emerged in May 2009 that an RAF commander destroyed a number of official documents after the loss of Nimrod XV230. The Times newspaper, 31 May 2009, reported that all documents relating to the aircraft were immediately impounded but Sqn Ldr Guy Bazalgette, commander of the Nimrod detachment in the Gulf, managed to retrieve one file. Bazalgette subsequently destroyed the document but later told the coroners inquest that none of the shredded documents were relevant to the loss of XV230. However, Bazalgette admitted: "They should not have been shredded and it was my fault that they were."


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Nimrod Review
Also in May 2009, Charles Haddon-Cave, QC, leading the Nimrod Review issued a number of Salmon letters to organisations and senior RAF officers warning them they were likely to be criticised in its formal report. The so-called Salmon letters give those who are likely to be criticised by the inquiry the opportunity to respond to the criticism before the report's publication. The MoD and the Nimrod inquiry team declined to say which senior RAF officers received letters.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Nimrod Review
On 28 October, Haddon-Cave presented his report, summarised by the statement:


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Nimrod Review
Its [the Nimrod safety case produced by BAE Systems] production is a story of incompetence, complacency and cynicism. The best opportunity to prevent the accident to XV230 was tragically lost


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Nimrod Review
Haddon-Cave condemned the change of organisational culture within the MoD between 1998 and 2006, when financial targets came to distract from safety, quoting a former senior RAF officer who told the inquiry:


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Nimrod Review
There was no doubt that the culture of the time had switched. In the days of the RAF chief engineer in the 1990s, you had to be on top of airworthiness. By 2004 you had to be on top of your budget if you wanted to get ahead.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Nimrod Review
Haddon-Cave directly criticised 10 individuals in the report – five at the MoD, three at BAE Systems and two at QinetiQ – while throughout the review BAE Systems had been a company "in denial." Haddon-Cave's report directly criticised two RAF officers:


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Nimrod Review
Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said the "rigorous" report would make distressing reading for the relatives of those who died.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Nimrod Review
On behalf of the MoD and the Royal Air Force, I would like again to say sorry to all the families who lost loved ones. I am sorry for the mistakes that have been made and the lives that have been lost as a result of our failure. Nothing I can say or do will bring these men back.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Legal proceedings
In December 2008 the Defence Secretary John Hutton was served with a writ by relatives of two of 14 men who died.


2006 Royal Air Force Nimrod crash, Legal proceedings
In March 2009 in response to the writ, the Ministry of Defence admitted responsibility for the deaths of the 14 servicemen aboard Nimrod aircraft XV230, after two families brought a landmark legal action using human rights law. High Court papers submitted by the MoD in response to the claim accept for the first time that the Nimrod was "not airworthy". The papers added: "The defendant owed to the deceased a duty of care and the accident was caused by this breach of that duty of care."


2006 Royal Bank Cup
The 2006 Royal Bank Cup was the 36th Junior "A" 2006 ice hockey National Championship for the Canadian Junior A Hockey League.


2006 Royal Bank Cup
The Royal Bank Cup was competed for by the winners of the Doyle Cup, Anavet Cup, Dudley Hewitt Cup, the Fred Page Cup and the host city, the Streetsville Derbys of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League, with teams from the Alberta Junior Hockey League, British Columbia Hockey League, Central Junior A Hockey League, Manitoba Junior Hockey League, Maritime Junior A Hockey League, Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League, OPJHL, Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, and Superior International Junior Hockey League.


2006 Royal Bank Cup
The tournament was hosted by the Streetsville Derbys and ran from May 6 until May 14, 2006 with games played at the Powerade Centre in Brampton, Ontario.


2006 Royal Bank Cup, Details
The Burnaby Express won the tournament on May 14 against the Yorkton Terriers, 8-2, in the Royal Bank Cup final. Burnaby almost did not make it to the final as they were down 2-0 to the Fort William North Stars in the first of two tournament semi-finals. With just 1:53 to go in the game, Mark Santorelli of the Express broke the shutout bid by the North Stars' goalie Carter Hutton.


2006 Royal Bank Cup, Details
The Express put on extreme pressure in the 3rd period, and with a their final chance, with 11 seconds to go, Express 16-year-old stand-out Kyle Turris scored to tie the game. Turris' goal was on the team's 24th shot of the third period. The comeback rally was too much for the North Stars as the Express' Mark Soares scored the game clincher 6:19 into Overtime. By far the best player of the game was Fort William's goaltender Carter Hutton who held the eventual champions scoreless for over 58 minutes and stopped 44 of 47 shots.


2006 Royal Bank Cup, Details
In the Championship game, the Express came out with 3 quick goals in the first period and at one point were up 6-0 over Yorkton in the middle of the second period. Kyle Turris stole the show for Burnaby with a hat-trick and often skated circles around Yorkton's defense. The Express were clearly dominant throughout the Final, but the Terriers did make it interesting when they scored 2 quick goals near the end of the second period. The Express iced it halfway through the third with another 2 quick goals, and held the Terriers down until time expired.


2006 Royal Bank Cup, Details
Turris was the tournament's leading scorer (combined totals) with 7 goals and 6 assists in 6 games and scored the tourney's only hat-trick. Dennis Morrison of Fort William was the Round Robin scoring leader with 3 goals, 5 assists in 4 games. Burnaby held Morrison to a single assist in the semi-final game, possibly the reason for the demise of an impressive Fort William squad.


2006 Royal Bank Cup, The Playoffs, Round Robin
Note: x- denotes teams who have advanced to the semi-final.


2006 Royal League Final
The final in Royal League 2005-06 season was between F.C. Copenhagen and Lillestrøm S.K..


2006 Royal League Final
The match was played on April 6, 2006 at Parken Stadium, Copenhagen.


2006 Royal League Final, Match facts
Team:01 Christiansen (GK)03 Rooba16 Thomassen05 Hangeland02 Jacobsen28 Bergvold sub 9006 Linderoth13 Hutchinson08 Silberbauer sub 8907 Santos09 Ijeh sub 69


2006 Royal League Final, Match facts
Substitutes:31 Gall (GK, not used)20 Pimpong in 69  91' 22 Bertolt in 9023 Kvist in 8924 Brandrup (not used)27 Bernburg (not used)


2006 Royal League Final, Match facts
Match rules:90 minutes. Penalty shootout if scores level. Seven named substitutesMaximum of 3 substitutions.


2006 Royal League Final, Match facts
Team:01 Müller (GK)03 Stefanutto23 Andresen sub 302 Rambekk   27'05 Andersson25 Mouelhi  59'10 Koren07 Søgård12 Riise  64' sub 6830 Occean11 Myklebust sub 61


2006 Royal League Final, Match facts
Substitutes:26 Frederikson (GK, not used)09 Winsnes in 6813 Kippe in 315 Mifsud (not used)19 Haddad in 6121 Kali (not used)40 Olsen (not used)


2006 Royal Trophy
The 2006 Royal Trophy was the first edition of the Royal Trophy, a team golf event contested between teams representing Asia and Europe. It was held from 7–8 January at the Amata Spring Country Club in Thailand. Europe won the inaugural trophy with a 9–7 victory over Asia.


2006 Rugby League National Leagues
The 2006 National Leagues (known as the LHF Healthplan National Leagues) are the second, third and fourth divisions of rugby league in the UK.


2006 Rugby League National Leagues
The League One and League Three Grand Finals, and the League Two Play-off final were played at Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium on 8 October 2006.


2006 Rugby League National Leagues, National League One
National League One was won by Hull Kingston Rovers, who as a result entered Super League for the first time. They had led the league for the majority of the season and defeated Widnes Vikings in the final. York City Knights and Oldham R.L.F.C. were relegated to National Two.


2006 Rugby League National Leagues, National League One, Results, Round 14
Oldham are relegated to National League 2 following their 14th defeat of the season. York look certain to join them.


2006 Rugby League National Leagues, National League One, Results, Round 15
Hull KR are very close to taking the league leadership into the play-offs. Widnes are now in second place and York cling to National One by their fingertips.


2006 Rugby League National Leagues, National League One, Results, Round 17
Hull KR are confirmed as Minor Premiers and will have home advantage in the semi-final of the play-offs.


2006 Rugby League National Leagues, National League Two
National League Two was won by Dewsbury Rams, who only sealed the title on the last day of the season. Runners-up Sheffield Eagles won the play-off final against Swinton, who won through the play-offs by beating Barrow Raiders, Featherstone Rovers and Celtic Crusaders, who they beat in rugby league's first ever golden point extra time.


2006 Rugby League National Leagues, National League Two, Results, Round 20
Dewsbury close in on automatic promotion but Sheffield keep chasing.


2006 Rugby League National Leagues, National League Two, Results, Round 22
Dewsbury sealed automatic promotion to National League One with a comeback victory over Workington. The Sheffield Eagles finish second after their eleventh straight win.


2006 Rugby League National Leagues, National League Two, Play-offs
This game was the first rugby league match in the UK to be settled in golden point extra time. After 80 minutes the score was 26–26. After two periods of extra time (10 minutes each) there was no further score. Two minutes into the additional overtime Swinton's Chris Hough dropped a goal to seal it for Swinton.


2006 Rugby League National Leagues, National League Three
National League Three was won by Bramley Buffaloes, last year's losing finalists. The playoffs were initionally ment to involve the top 6 teams but Bradford Dudley Hill pulled out at the end of the regular season.


2006 Rugby League National Leagues, National League Three, Play-offs
Elimination match, 17 September. Bradford Dudley Hill withdrew from the play-offs.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations
The 2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations (also known as the Gillette Rugby League Tri-Nations due to sponsorship by Gillette) was the second Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The tournament followed the same format as in 2004 and 2005, with each team meeting the other two teams twice, and the top two teams at the end of the group stages proceeding to the final. Australia was to run out winners in a tight final, winning in golden point extra time with Kangaroos captain Darren Lockyer scoring a try in the 87th minute.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Venues
The games were played at the following venues in Australia and New Zealand. The tournament final was played in Sydney.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Tournament matches
During the first minutes of the match Australian forward Willie Mason punched Stuart Fielden, breaking his nose and sparking a brawl, and later took Sean Long out after kicking, leading with an elbow which left Long's head bloodied and bandaged for the rest of the match. He was later charged for his punch on Fielden and had to face a Rugby League International Federation disciplinary committee the following Monday, where he was fined AUD$5000 and suspended for one game.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Tournament matches
After almost thirty minutes the Australians opened the scoring when, defending within their own ten-metre line, their scrum-half back Ben Hornby intercepted a pass and ran twenty metres before giving the ball on to winger Greg Inglis to run the remaining seventy to the line and score under the posts. Lockyer converted the try so it was 6 - 0 in favour of the Kangaroos. A few minutes later Irish winger Brian Carney left the field with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Lee Gilmour. Then Great Britain struck back with scrum-half-back Sean Long dummying his way through the defence thirty-five metres from the line then passing back inside to fullback Paul Wellens to score. Long then converted the try, so the scores were level at 6 all at the break.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Tournament matches
On the other side of half-time, the Lions scored after about two minutes from close range when forward Jamie Peacock barged his way through the defence and over the line. The video referee gave the try 'benefit of the doubt' and Sean Long's kick didn't miss, so the score was 12 - 6 in favour of Great Britain.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Tournament matches
The Australians hit back with another long range try, the ball being moved out to Inglis on the left wing to make a break down the sideline before passing back inside to five-eighth Darren Lockyer to finish the run to the line and touch down behind the uprights. Lockyer then converted, levelling the score at 12 - 12. About ten minutes later the British struck back when Lee Gilmour hit a gap twenty metres out and ran through to dive over beneath the sticks. Sean Long converted so the Lions regained the lead at 18 - 12.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Tournament matches
With just over ten minutes remaining Great Britain got an opportunity to put themselves in front by more than a converted try when they were awarded a penalty, but Long's kick missed. Shortly after he got a chance to make amends with a drop goal but missed. However, with less than five minutes remaining he helped seal the match when he kicked a loose pass fifteen metres from his own goal-line downfield and chased after it, regathering and running just over the half-way line before passing it James Roby in support who couldn't outrun Nathan Hindmarsh.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Tournament matches
From the play-the-ball twenty metres away from Australia's goal-line, the British moved the ball through the hands out to the other side of the field to winger Gareth Raynor who dived over in the corner. Long's conversion attempt struck the post and missed, but he later kicked a field goal in the final minutes to make it a 23 - 12 victory, Great Britain's first in Australia since their 1992 tour.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Tournament matches
This was the last match to be played against Australia by Great Britain before their permanent split into England, Wales and Scotland.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Final
Early penalties for infringements in the ruck by the Kiwis, gave Australia an early two points from a Johnathan Thurston kick. The Kangaroos then mirrored this, conceding consecutive penalties that allowed Stacey Jones' goal a few minutes later to even the scores at 2 all. In the tenth minute Australia had the ball in the centre of the field and passed it out to Mark Gasnier who made a break down the right then passed to his winger Brent Tate to finish.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Final
Thurston's conversion was successful, so the home side led 8 - 2. Another penalty in the ruck in the twenty-first minute led to a minor scuffle and a goal from Thurston, extending the Kangaroos' lead to 10 - 2. Five minutes later New Zealand were ten metres into the Australians' half when Stacy Jones put a little chip kick over the heads of the Kangaroos for Brent Webb to run through and catch before drawing the defence and passing it on to Frank Pritchard who diver over untouched in the left corner. Jones missed the difficult conversion attempt, leaving the score 10 - 6 in favour of Australia. In the remaining ten minutes of play before half-time no more points were scored.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Final
After five minutes the Kiwis had made their way down to Australia's ten-metre line when they moved the ball through the hands out to the right where Nigel Vagana threw a short ball back inside for Iosia Soliola charging through to score. The scores were level at 10 - 10 and Stacy Jones' kick missed. A few minutes later Australia were given a penalty and Thurston kicked for goal, regaining his side's lead 12 - 10.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Final
In the sixty-ninth minute the Kiwis picked up a penalty in front of the posts and Jones kicked it this time, levelling the scores at 12 - 12. The Kangaroos then survived several raids on their try-line and two field goal attempts before a Cameron Smith 40-20 kick brought them up to New Zealand's end with two minutes remaining where Thurston missed a drop goal attempt as well. Jones had another shot in the final minute, and Australia nearly scored a miraculous fifty-metre try, but the match was destined for golden point extra time.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Final
The first five-minute period of extra time featured a missed field goal attempt each from Lockyer, then Jones. The teams then changed ends and started again. After eighty-seven minutes of test football, Australia gained possession of the ball. Thurston then received it thirty-five metres from his own in-goal and dummied his way through the defensive line. After running fifty metres he passed back inside to Darren Lockyer in support who was ankle-tapped on his way to the try-line and stumbled over under the posts, giving Australia a 16-12 golden-point victory.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Final
Kangaroos' ball twenty metres out from their own line, tackle number two. We play until we get points. There is no stoppage from here on in. We're into the 87th minute of play. Smith with the ball, now for Thurston, dummy, Thurston's through. There's support left and right, Lockyer's on the inside, Lockyer...scores the try. The Golden Boot winner, the Brisbane captain, the Queensland captain, the Australian captain has scored the try to win the Tri-Nations final. What a sensational finish sixteen points to twelve.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Final
Australia's victory regained them the Tri-nations trophy which they had lost to New Zealand in the final of the 2005 series in England. Lockyer, who in 2006 captained Queensland to victory in the State of Origin, winning the Wally Lewis Medal for player of the series, captained the Brisbane Broncos to victory in the 2006 NRL Grand Final, then won his second Golden Boot Award for international player of the year, collected the trophy.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Final
The New Zealand loss brought down the curtain on the test careers of captain Ruben Wiki, who retired as New Zealand's most capped international, as well as Stacey Jones and Nigel Vagana.


2006 Rugby League Tri-Nations, Non-series matches
During the series, Great Britain and New Zealand played additional matches to maintain their level of fitness.