2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, Reactions
On 13 November 2006, the European Union foreign ministers said that the vote did not contribute to conflict resolution. The OSCE and the Council of Europe reiterated that they would not recognize the referendum and condemned it as unproductive. An EU statement was later joined by Ukraine.


2006 South Ossetian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in South Ossetia on November 12, 2006, coinciding with the South Ossetian independence referendum. Incumbent Eduard Kokoity was seeking a second full five-year term. He was re-elected with more than 98.1%. According to the de facto authorities, the election was monitored by a team of 34 international observers from Germany, Austria, Poland,  Sweden and other countries at 78 polling stations. The Ukrainian delegation was led by Nataliya Vitrenko of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine. The election process was criticised by local civic society and the results were likely to be inflated.


2006 South Ossetian presidential election, Alternative elections and referendum
South Ossetian opposition politicians, some of whom had left Tskhinvali due to a conflict with the de facto president Eduard Kokoity, set up an alternative Central Election Commission and nominated their candidates for presidency: Gogi Chigoyev, Teimuraz Djeragoyev, Tamar Charayeva, and Dmitry Sanakoyev, who served as defense minister and then as prime minister for several months in 2001 under Kokoity's predecessor, Ludwig Chibirov. Voters were also to answer a question: "do you agree with the renewal of talks with Georgia on a federal union."


2006 South Ossetian presidential election, Alternative elections and referendum
The alternative elections and referendum were held in the villages with mixed Georgian-Ossetian population not controlled by the secessionist government. The Salvation Union of South Ossetia which organised the election turned down a request from a Georgian NGO, “Multinational Georgia”, to monitor it and the released results were also very likely to be inflated.


2006 South Ossetian presidential election, Alternative elections and referendum
Although Georgian government has officially declared both elections illegal, Kokoity accused Tbilisi of staging the alternative elections in order to create a "puppet government" in South Ossetia.


2006 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
The 2005 South Sydney Rabbitohs season was the 97th in the club's history. Coached by Shaun McRae and captained by Peter Cusack, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2006 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season in last place, and collecting their 8th wooden spoon.


2006 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
Souths acquired many sound players for 2006 including Joe Galuvao, Stuart Webb, Jaiman Lowe and Ben Rogers. They also re-signed key five-eighth/lock John Sutton for several years.


2006 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
Despite coming close, Souths were yet to score a win after round ten but had shown significant progress. One area of weakness nominated by fans included the half back position. An injury to regular half-back Ben Walker took a heavy toll on the team's performance. Players who have made a big impact in a losing side included David Fa'alogo (a New Zealand International) and Nathan Merritt. Merritt finished the season as the NRL's leading try scorer with 22 tries.


2006 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
David Peachey came to the club after being sacked by his English club Widnes. On 11 June 2006, in his second match for the Rabbitohs, Peachey steered the bottom of the table Souths to their first win of the 2006 season with a commanding 34-14 win over the second placed Brisbane Broncos. This was Souths first win over the Broncos since 1989.


2006 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
On 25 June Souths suffered their worst defeat ever, going down 66-0 to the New Zealand Warriors at Telstra Stadium. In a rare move, this catastrophic result moved the club to make a full and unreserved apology to their fans through the nation's press, in direct letters to members and through the electronic media. Souths finished the season in last place.


2006 South Sydney Rabbitohs season
On 30 August 2006 Jason Taylor was appointed head coach in place of Shaun McRae for seasons 2007 and 2008.


2006 South Sydney Rabbitohs season, Ladder
1 The Melbourne Storm were later stripped of this minor premiership due to gross salary cap breaches. 2 The New Zealand Warriors were deducted 4 competition points due to gross salary cap breaches.


2006 South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2006 South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council in Tyne and Wear, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.


2006 South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council election, Campaign
Before the election Labour controlled the council with 36 seats, with 6 Progressives, 5 independents, 4 Liberal Democrats and 3 Conservatives taking the remaining seats. 18 seats were contested in the election with Labour having a full 18 candidates, independents 19, Conservatives 17, Liberal Democrats 12, Progressives 3, Greens and British National Party 2 each and 1 from the United Kingdom Independence Party. The big majority for Labour meant that there was little chance of them losing control of the council in the election.


2006 South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council election, Campaign
The election saw early voting stations set up so that for the first time voters were able to vote in the normal way for up to 2 weeks before election day. However turnout on election day was significantly down at 35.9%, compared to 41.41% at the last election in 2004.


2006 South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council election, Election result
The results saw Labour hold on to control of the council with a slightly smaller majority after holding all but 2 of the seats they were defending. The 2 defeats for Labour came in Fellgate and Hedworth and Westoe wards where 2 independent candidates were successful.


2006 Southampton City Council election
The 2006 Southampton Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Southampton Unitary Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.


2006 Southampton City Council election, Campaign
Before the election the Liberal Democrats formed the administration of the council with 17 seats, compared to 16 for the Conservatives and 15 for Labour.


2006 Southampton City Council election, Campaign
Issues in the election included refuse collection, the condition of the pavements and anti-social behaviour. The Labour and Liberal Democrat parties clashed over anti-social behaviour, with the parties disagreeing over whether the Liberal Democrat led council was doing enough to tackle such behaviour. The campaign saw national politicians joining in, such as Labour's Hazel Blears and Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes.


2006 Southampton City Council election, Campaign
The election also had two independents standing on a platform calling for the chairman of Southampton F.C. Rupert Lowe to resign.


2006 Southampton City Council election, Election result
The results saw all 3 main parties end the election with 16 seats, after Labour gained 1 seat from the Liberal Democrats. Meanwhile, the independents calling for Rupert Lowe to resign as chairman of Southampton F.C. received 200 and 63 votes each. Overall turnout in the election was 31.3%.


2006 Southampton City Council election, Election result
Following the election the 3 parties were unable to reach agreement on who should become leader of the council, with a five-hour council meeting on 18 May failing to reach a conclusion. Finally Liberal Democrat Adrian Vinson continued as council leader for another year.


2006 Southeast Asian haze
The 2006 Southeast Asian haze event was caused by continued uncontrolled burning from "slash and burn" cultivation in Indonesia, and affected several countries in the Southeast Asian region and beyond, such as Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, and as far as Saipan; the effects of the haze may have spread to South Korea. Local sources of pollution partly contributed to the increased toxicity, particularly in high-pollution areas such as ports, oil refineries, and dense urban areas. In the highly urbanised and industrialised Klang Valley of Malaysia in particular, the surrounding terrain acted as a natural retainer of polluted air, aggravating the situation when the haze set in.


2006 Southeast Asian haze
There is also a link to El Niño. The haze was made worse than during previous occurrences by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation which delayed the year's monsoon season. Fires in Kalimantan produce great amounts of smoke, burn a long time and are difficult to extinguish because they are on peatland, and once lit the fires can burn for months and release gases that produce sulphuric acid.


2006 Southeast Asian haze
Air quality across the region appeared to improve in late October as heavy rainfall doused fires in Indonesia.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Brunei
Brunei, an independent sultanate that is surrounded by East Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo, had been affected by the haze from Kalimantan. Rains brought some relief, and on 8 October, the Pollutant Standards Index had dropped to 46, which is within the "good" range. There was a brief spell of clear skies during the first week of Hari Raya, following a spell of rainy weather. But the haze returned on 31 October, with the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation recording a PSI of 49.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Indonesia
The fires originated mostly in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, and on Sumatra, where they are set by swidden agriculturists employed by agroforestry concerns to clear land to grow pulp woods or market crops ahead of the growing season. Satellite images taken over Borneo on 4 October showing 561 "hot spots" areas where fires had been set.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Indonesia
Officials in neighbouring countries accused Indonesian officials of doing nothing to stop the fires, though forestry ministry officials said they had firefighters working to douse the blazes on state-controlled land. However, they conceded, most of the fires were on private land. Indonesia planned to deploy its military to aid fire fighting effort. To recruit more people to man the fire line, the government offered two days off for civil servants who volunteered for fire duty. But the country lacked equipment for fighting forest fires, having aeroplanes that were too small to carry enough water to douse the fires.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Indonesia
In a bid to obtain bigger aircraft, the government leased two Beriev Be-200 aircraft from Russia, which are capable of skimming over water and taking on loads for sustained firefighting efforts. The planes, which will be flown by Russians and maintained by Russian technicians, were due to begin operations on 1 November.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Indonesia
The fires forced schools to close, delayed and cancelled airline flights, disrupted shipping and forced Indonesians to don face masks. Cities affected include Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan and Pekanbaru, Riau. The haze was blamed for a Mandala Airlines flight from Balikpapan, the provincial capital of East Kalimantan, skidding off the runway upon landing at Tarakan on 3 October, when visibility was reported at around 400 metres. It has caused breathing problems for people in Riau and in Jambi Province. On 21 October 12 airlines cancelled domestic flights from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport due to smog at many destinations, including Jambi, Banjarmasin, Jayapura, Semarang, Surabaya, Bengkulu, Denpasar, Makassar, Pekanbaru and Padang.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Indonesia
A 20 October report by Malaysian government news agency BERNAMA offered a first-hand account of the scene in Kalimantan: "The suffocating smell of smoke, sore throat and eyes got worse when this reporter and a photographer stepped foot in central Kalimantan, forcing them to put on face masks. Throughout the 200-kilometre journey from Banjarmasin to Palangkaraya, what could be seen of the forests on both sides of the road was a landscape of blackish soil with smoke still billowing from the ground in some areas and of withering trees and plants. The area was foggy and dusty as the air was filled with flying ashes and other particles."


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Indonesia
Local villagers, the report said, appeared to be unconcerned with the smog, saying it was "normal". "If we do not burn the forest, where are we going to get our food from?" a villager said.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Indonesia
On the environmental front, fires destroyed 1 km2 of the Tesso Nilo National Park in Riau Province. At the Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan, the haze adversely affected the orangutans.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Malaysia
The effects of the haze started in early July and affected the northern Malaysian states severely. However, the haze had cleared substantially throughout Peninsular Malaysia from 29 August 2006 due to the arrival of the rainy season. The rain reduced the number of hotspots throughout Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. On 30 August 2006, The Star reported that Kuala Lumpur would be free of haze during the Independence Day. In the late evening just before midnight on 31 August 2006, the visibility in the Klang Valley was recorded to be very good.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Malaysia
Unfortunately, the haze returned again in late September when Muslim Malaysians were experiencing Ramadan. This was partly due to a change of wind direction towards the southwest, partially caused by Typhoon Xangsane. The worst hit place was Kuching. The Sarawak state government had declared that schools would close if the API breaches the 300 mark. The worst affected area in Peninsular Malaysia is Johor Bahru which recorded an API of 150 on 7 and 8 October. For now, many people are wearing masks to prevent themselves from inhaling excessive amounts of haze.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Malaysia
On 7 October, visibility in parts of East Malaysia fell to 300 metres. On or about 9 October, the worst of the haze in Peninsular seemed to be in the state of Negeri Sembilan, where visibility in Sepang fell briefly to 500 metres and the API in Nilai reached 198, before the rain relieved the haze partially. Shortly thereafter changing winds caused conditions to improve rapidly. Sarawak has started cloud seeding attempts to try to encourage rainfall that will help relieve the haze. Each cloud seeding session costs at least RM50,000 (roughly US$14,000).


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Malaysia
On 21 October, the winds has changed direction and started to blow the hazes away from Malaysia, and the following day, heavy rain has cleared the haze. Later on 26 October, the heavy rain returned again, and there were isolated showers in Klang Valley. The Star reported that the hazy days are soon coming to an end as the monsoon season is approaching.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore
While the haze largely spared Singapore with 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index readings within the "Good" range for 15 days in September and the rest in the "Moderate" range and no higher than a reading of 66, its harmful effects became more prevalent in October.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore
On 7 October 2006, the 3-hour PSI reading breached the 100 mark at 8 a.m. and entered unhealthy levels for the first time in the year, as winds from neighbouring Sumatra blew the haze to Singapore. At 10 a.m., it hit 130, the highest in three years, before subsiding to 80 at 4 p.m. and climbing rapidly to 150 at 9 p.m., the worst since 1997, before ending the day at 136, still in the unhealthy range.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore
Although the air quality was set to improve with the arrival of the Northeast monsoon rains in mid-October, southeasterly winds extended the hazy season. A mild El Niño effect delayed the starting of the showers to late October or early November, or even until the end of November. The prolonged haze could be attributed to the extended dry season, which put the rains on hold and affected wind patterns which brought the haze to Singapore. Intermittent showers could occur in the pre-monsoon period, but these would do little in increasing air quality. The unpredictable winds in the pre-monsoon period could bring haze from either Sumatra or Kalimantan.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore
Air quality remained in the moderate range for the next week until 14 October, when the 3-hour PSI readings gradually increased from 53 at 6 a.m. to peak at an unhealthy 116 at 10 p.m. This time, majority of the haze came from Kalimantan.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore
Similarly, on 15 October, the PSI readings increased from 69 at 6 a.m. to 98 at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., 3 points short of reaching the unhealthy range. This eased to 82 by midnight. As winds remained southeasterly, haze from Kalimantan blew across the South China Sea to Singapore.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore
The next day, on 16 October, the PSI stayed in the 80s in the morning, before shooting up once again into the unhealthy range, hitting a high of 130 at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. The 3-hour PSI remained in unhealthy levels for 8 consecutive hours, between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. The haze obscured the sun, and symptoms of exposure to haze resurfaced in the general population. The 24-hour PSI for 16 October reached 98, just 3 points short of unhealthy. Visibility dropped to as low as 1 km in some areas, compared to the usual 20 km.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore
The PSI on 17 October gradually increased from the moderate range in the morning to slip into the unhealthy range at 4 p.m., reaching 106, before declining back to 100 in the moderate range at 10 p.m. The hazy conditions were expected to persist.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore
On 19 October, the PSI crept into the unhealthy range at 106 at 2 p.m., peaking at 113 at 4 p.m. The National Environment Agency reported that the situation would not improve the next day.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore
Throughout the early morning on 20 October, the PSI kept in the 90s, before reaching a high of 103 at 8 a.m. This dropped to 74 by 7 p.m., although the PSI remained in the 90s in the afternoon. Even though rain fell in some areas, this was not enough to "alleviate the haze situation". The NEA forecast thunderstorms over the weekend, but the southeasterly winds would continue to prevail. The 24-hour PSI on 20 October also reached the unhealthy range at 102.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore
Later in October, though, the situation began to improve, with the PSI hitting a low of 11 at 2 p.m. on 26 October.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore
However, in early November, intermonsoonal winds brought slight haze back to Singapore, with the 3-hour PSI in the moderate range most of the time.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore
The highest 3-hour average PSI recorded prior to that point 226 in September 1997.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore, Impact
While some Singaporeans began donning face masks, others frequented shopping malls and public places like VivoCity, with many shopping before Deepavali at Little India, and going to Geylang Serai's annual Hari Raya bazaar. Stallholders said that the haze had not affected their business. However, Singaporeans generally kept indoors, with some staying away from East Coast Park.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore, Impact
The government announced plans for a haze action plan if the situation became "extremely dangerous", which included priority treatment for haze-related illnesses. Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that there was "very little that (could) be done to stop the haze", and advised people to remain indoors, especially those with prior respiratory conditions.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore, Impact
Some minor haze-related illness began to surface, but free clinics across the island did not report any increase in patients with this symptoms. However, attendance figures at polyclinics islandwide increased by 600 cases to about 15,000 cases of haze-related conditions in the first week of October as compared to the same period last month. This is despite the National Healthcare Group reporting that the number of people "complaining of the same ailments" has decreased from the same period last year.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore, Impact
Air purifier sales shot up during the hazy period. Best Denki, an electronic store, sold S$350,000 worth of air purifiers and related items in 4 days, a 300 percent increase. However, experts from the Institute of Environmental Science & Engineering at the Nanyang Technological University said that only some of these products, like High Efficiency Particulate air filters, would effectively remove small particles from air. Other kinds of air purifiers like ionizing purifiers gave off ozone which could cause symptoms similar to those caused by the haze. The experts recommended regularly cleaning the filter media and opening windows to get some fresh air at night.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore, Impact
The western region, which includes Boon Lay, Choa Chu Kang and Jurong, seemed to be the "epicentre" of the haze. Residents there complained of the worse conditions in their area, saying that it felt "hotter than usual", and health problems were more widespread. The air quality levels in the west may have consistently been the worst, but only by several points. Some speculated that the more polluted air was caused by the many construction sites and industrial parks in Jurong, but NEA refuted this, claiming that they did not contribute to the haze. Polyclinics in Jurong and Bukit Batok had an increase of 20 percent admission for patients with respiratory problems and asthma.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore, Impact
Schools islandwide restricted outdoor activities and had to rethink post-examination activities and training or revert to wet-weather programmes. The Singapore Sports School's swim team had to cut back on training when the haze reached unhealthy levels even though they were in the midst of various international competitions. The Ministry of Education recommended that schools suspend all outdoor activities when the PSI reading passes 100, but some schools chose to move indoors regardless of the PSI.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore, Impact
Many Singaporean "fitness buffs" also made the move indoors. Fitness clubs reported increases in turn-outs and check-ins, utilising gym facilities rather than outdoor activities. Rock climbers were also affected, and began to move activities indoors instead.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore, Impact
The haze also caused increased sales and rental of entertainment VCD and DVD titles, but cinema attendance was unchanged.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore, Impact
The National Environment Agency website received about 170,000 hits on 14 October, as compared to the usual 60,000, and caused the server to temporarily go down due to the sheer volume of traffic.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Singapore, Impact
According to economists, Singapore suffered a US$50 million economic loss due to the onset of the haze in 2006.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Thailand
In July, the southern Thai provinces of Pattani and Satun suffered an on-and-off bout of smog, with the levels of pollutants in Satun being high enough to constitute a health hazard. In all, seven provinces were affected by the haze in July and August.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Thailand
Haze was again reported on 6 October, with respiratory illnesses and eye irritation reported in Narathiwat. Visibility and air quality were also affected in Songkhla, Satun and Yala. Health warnings were issued and surgical masks were issued to residents. Three days later, meteorological officials reported that the haze had thinned to almost normal visibility.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Countries affected, Thailand
Strong winds in the region brought haze from Indonesia back into Songkhla, Satun, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces on 17 October. Visibility in Yala and Songkhla was reduced to less than a kilometre, and officials warned fishermen going out to the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand to "stay vigilant". Drivers were also asked to turn on their headlights.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transboundary Haze Pollution
Malaysia and Singapore criticised the way Indonesia handled the issue. Both urged the latter to ratify the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. The Malaysian Environment Minister Azmi Khalid said "Frustration is an understatement", directed toward Indonesia. There was also a protest in front of the Indonesia embassy in Kuala Lumpur, organised by local political parties. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expressed disappointment toward Indonesia soon after Azmi Khalid made his view public. In response to the letter, Indonesian President apologised for the regional haze. Indonesia has earlier stated that it lacked the resources to combat the burning effectively.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transboundary Haze Pollution
Singapore proposed regional talks on the haze, to be held in Singapore. Indonesia, however, requested such talks to be held in Pekan Baru, Kalimantan instead. The request was agreed to and talks were held on 13 October 2006. At the meeting, Malaysia proposed the setting up of a regional fund to help combat the environmental disaster.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transboundary Haze Pollution
With the arrival of the northeastern winter monsoons in December, the haze problem was effectively ended for 2006.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Imagery
Fires on Borneo, especially Kalimantan, and the haze caused. Image captured 5 October 2006 by the Terra MODIS satellite.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Imagery
Fires on Sumatra and the resulting haze. Image captured 4 October 2006 by the Aqua MODIS satellite.


2006 Southeast Asian haze, Imagery
An image captured on 1 October 2006 by the Aqua MODIS satellite that shows the extent of the fires and resulting haze.


2006 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2006 Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, AL from May 24th through May 28th. Ole Miss won the tournament and earned the Southeastern Conference's automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Tournament.


2006 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election
The 2006 Southend-on-Sea Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Southend-on-Sea Unitary Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.


2006 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election, Campaign
The election saw a candidate from a new party, Mums' Army, stand in West Shoebury ward. The party was founded by Take a Break magazine with a platform of addressing anti-social behaviour in the community.


2006 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election, Campaign
Meanwhile, the Labour party was unable to put up candidates in 5 wards after their nomination papers were stolen just before they were to be handed in.


2006 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives stay in control of the council after winning 11 of the 19 seats which were contested. However this was one down on before the election, after the Conservative council leader, Anna Waite, was defeated in Prittlewell by the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats gained 2 seats to overtake Labour as the second largest party on the council with 9 councillors, as against 8 for Labour. Overall turnout in the election was 34%.


2006 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2006 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston, SC from May 23 through May 27. Second seeded College of Charleston won the tournament and earned the Southern Conference's automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. It was the Cougars' first SoCon tournament win.


2006 Southern Conference Baseball Tournament
All ten baseball programs in the conference participated in the tournament, with the seventh through tenth place teams playing a single-elimination opening day prior to an 8-team, double-elimination tournament.


2006 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2006 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place from March 2–5, 2006 at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, South Carolina. The #3 seed Davidson Wildcats defeated the Chattanooga Mocs in the championship game to win their 8th title and receive the automatic berth to the 2006 NCAA Tournament.


2006 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
All eleven teams were eligible for the tournament. The tournament used a preset bracket consisting of four rounds, the first of which featured three games, with the winners moving on to the quarterfinal round. The fourth and fifth seeds also received automatic byes to the quarterfinal round and played each other.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide
On the 17th of February 2006, a massive rock slide-debris avalanche occurred in the Philippine province of Southern Leyte, causing widespread damage and loss of life. The deadly landslide (or debris flow) followed a 10-day period of heavy rain and a minor earthquake (magnitude 2.6 on the Richter scale). The official death toll was 1,126.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Overview
At around 10:30 on February 17, 2006, a cliff face of a ridge straddling the Philippine Fault collapsed in a combination rockslide-debris mass movement event, translocating and subsequently burying Guinsaugon village in the township of Saint Bernard. Up to ten smaller landslides had occurred within the previous week in the vicinity of St. Bernard, but Guinsaugon was the worst-hit community.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Overview
Among the worst of the tragedies was the burial of the local elementary school, located nearest to the mountain ridge, as the landslide occurred when school was in session and full of children. Provincial Governor Rosette Lerias said at the time the school had 246 students and seven teachers; only a child and an adult were rescued immediately after the disaster transpired. About 80 women who participated in the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Guinsaugon Women's Health Association were also lost in the landslide.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Overview
Lerias said that although several residents had left the area the week before due to the fear of landslides, several of them had returned when the rains had eased.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Rescue and relief
Rescue teams including military personnel proceeded to the affected areas. However, relief efforts were hampered by rain, chest-deep mud, roads blocked by boulders, washed-out bridges, and lack of heavy equipment. A minor earthquake in the morning of February 17 also affected the relief operation as the ground remained unstable.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Rescue and relief
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gave an address on television stating that "help is on the way". Navy and coast guard ships were dispatched to the coastal area.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Rescue and relief
On February 17, Philippine National Red Cross chairman Richard J. Gordon who was then in Geneva attending a board meeting of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement appealed for international assistance. He raised US$1.5 million to help the victims of the mudslides. The funds were used to purchase tents, blankets, cooking utensils, mosquito nets, temporary shelter materials, hygiene articles, water purification tablets and medicines. US$152,000 was released to provide initial assistance. A relief plane was flown into the region carrying emergency trauma kits, rubber boots, ropes, clothing, flashlights and medicine. Three Philippines National Red Cross teams with search and rescue dogs were at the site to provide assistance, with others joining soon afterward. The Red Cross said that it feared that the death toll would be high.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Rescue and relief
The United States sent three naval vessels, the USS Curtis Wilbur, USS Essex, and USS Harpers Ferry with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, to the area to provide assistance.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Rescue and relief
About 6,000 U.S. Army and Marine Corps troops were in the Philippines for an annual bilateral exercise. The US government also donated $100,000 worth of disaster equipment to the Philippine National Red Cross. USAID turned over 29 million pesos (about $560,000) worth of food and non-food items.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Rescue and relief
Other countries donated or pledged assistance to the Philippine government. China offered a donation of $1 million in cash and material. Australia also offered A$1 million ($740,000) in immediate relief. Taiwan pledged enough medicine to treat 3,000 individuals for a month and a half along with $100,000. Thailand also pledged $1 million. Malaysia sent a 60-man search-and-rescue and medical assistance team named the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance Team (SMART). Spain, through a non-government organization, the Unidad Canina de Rescate y Salvamento, sent a six-man rescue team equipped with five sniffer dogs to aid in the relief and rescue efforts. South Korea promised $1 million. New Zealand sent $133,000 to be used in future rescue operations. Singapore said, according to a statement from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, that officials would help the Arroyo administration in any way possible. Indonesia and Turkey offered humanitarian contingents as well.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Rescue and relief
The Philippine National Red Cross reported that 53 persons were rescued from the mud on February 17, but the rescue efforts had to be suspended at nightfall for safety reasons.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Possible causes
Philippine congressman Roger Mercado of Southern Leyte claimed in a Reuters interview that logging and mining done in the area three decades ago was the main culprit. Dave Petley, professor at the International Landslide Centre, Durham University, told the BBC that the causes Congressman Mercado mentioned, if proven true, created a "dangerous combination" that produced a "classic landslide scenario".


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Possible causes
However, local government officials and eyewitnesses claimed anecdotally that the area was "well forested" and the governor's office said that deforestation from mining and logging activities were not the causal factor, although no scientific evidence was presented to back the claims. The governors office did not explain why the soil was so unstable at the time of the slide, after millennia of stability.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Possible causes
Experts did agree that torrential rains lasting two weeks before the mudslide were the tipping point that precipitated the disaster. Rainfall amounting to nearly 1,200 millimetres (47 in) over the period of 4–14 February loosened the soil so much that the resulting sludge and rocks thundered down the slopes of nearby Mount Can-abag, virtually disintegrating it. The La Niña weather phenomenon was blamed for the non-stop rains that occurred in the province, as well as in the Caraga region, which is due south of Leyte. San Francisco, Agusan del Sur mayor Carie Ladernora declared the state of calamity on her town by February 12, 2006.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Possible causes
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded a magnitude 2.6 earthquake in Southern Leyte just prior to the landslide although the effects of this are unclear.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Possible causes, 2008 workshop
After two years, the international geoscience community including experts from Japan, Canada, United States, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Hong Kong, UK, Taiwan and the Philippines, came together in Tacloban and St. Bernard to examine known information on the Guinsaugon disaster. In addition, the workshop was tasked with determining the next steps as Leyte and the Philippines move forward from the world's deadliest single-event landslide since 1998. The landslide is classified as a rock slide-debris avalanche using the Varnes (1978) or Cruden and Varnes (1996) classification.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Possible causes, 2008 workshop
Volume estimates in recent publications range between 14 MCM (million cubic metres) and 20 MCM, converging on or about 15 MCM. There is general accord among scientists that high precipitation a week prior to the failure contributed to the conditions at failure, but the 5 day delay between the rain and the landslide, and the fact that Southern Leyte regularly gets high overall levels of precipitation means that the precise nature of that contribution is unknown. Similarly, the role of minor ground shaking that occurred at about the same time is still uncertain.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Possible causes, 2008 workshop
"Was the landslide caused by ground shaking or excessive rain? This is one of the things that is not yet resolved." said Dr. Mark Albert Zarco, a professor at the Department of Engineering Sciences, University of the Philippines Diliman in a news story. Importantly, the geological and geomorphological history of the slope including, for example, the prominent strike-slip movement of about 2.5 cm per year, has ultimately lead to failures all along the scarp, including the one that buried Guinsaugon.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, Possible causes, 2008 workshop
Richard Guthrie, of University of Waterloo, Canada, stated: "We have had very large rains and we have had very large earthquakes in the past; The rocks have been stretched and strained. As time moves on, the rock begins to age and die and finally it collapses. The important thing is that we’re able to know the preconditioning of the slopes." Scientists are currently building a synthesis paper on the landslide and a set of recommendations regarding the next steps for the Philippines in relation to landslide hazards. There was also a minor earthquake in the area measuring 2.6 which would have contributed to the landslide.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, May 2006 mudslide
Due to Typhoon Chanchu (Philippine name: Caloy), flash floods and mudslides isolated at least 11 barangays in Sogod, Southern Leyte. No casualties were reported.


2006 Southern Leyte mudslide, In popular culture
Footage taken during helicopter rescues after the mudslide was featured in an episode of the American reality television series, World's Most Amazing Videos.


2006 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team
The 2006 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team represented the University of Southern Mississippi in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Eagles were led by head coach Jeff Bower and played their home games at M. M. Roberts Stadium. They are a member of the East Division of Conference USA.


2006 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2006 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament was held from May 24 through May 27, 2006 to determine the champion of the Southland Conference in the sport of college baseball for the 2006 season. The event pitted the top six finishers from the conference's regular season in a double-elimination tournament held at Vincent–Beck Stadium, home field of Lamar in Beaumont, Texas. Fifth-seeded Texas–Arlington won their second overall championship and claimed the automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


2006 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament, Seeding and format
The top six finishers from the regular season were seeded one through six. They played a double-elimination tournament.


2006 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament, All-Tournament Team, Most Valuable Player
Ryan Riddle was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. Riddle was a pitcher for Texas–Arlington.


2006 Southwark London Borough Council election
Elections to Southwark Council were held on 4 May 2006. The whole council was up for election for the first time since the 2002 election.


2006 Southwark London Borough Council election
Southwark local elections are held every four years, with the next due in 2010. The council remained in no overall control.


2006 Southwark London Borough Council election, Ward results, College
Andrew Simmons was a sitting councillor for The Lane ward


2006 Southwark London Borough Council election, Ward results, Peckham Rye
Aubyn Graham was a sitting councillor for The Lane ward


2006 Southwark London Borough Council election, By-Elections 2006-10
The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Paul D. L. Baichoo.


2006 Southwark London Borough Council election, By-Elections 2006-10
The by-election was called following the death of Cllr. Anne Yates.


2006 Soviet war documents declassification
In 2006 the Russian Ministry of Defence declassified about a hundred pages of archived documents concerning Soviet preparedness for the German invasion on 22 June 1941 at the Eastern Front of World War II. On 22 June 2017 the Ministry published them online on a subdomain of its official website, stating that they had never been published before. The documents from the early 1950s were authored by Soviet military commanders of various ranks at the request of a fact-finding panel. The online publication was made on the 76th anniversary of Operation Barbarossa.


2006 Soviet war documents declassification, Background
The documents coming from the Central Archive of the Russian Ministry of Defence were written mostly by seven Soviet military commanders (Pyotr Sobennikov, Pavel Abramidze, Mikhail Zashibalov, Nikolai Ivanov, Ivan Bagramian, Boris Fomin and Kuzma Derevyanko) at the request of the fact-finding panel of the Military History Department of the General Staff of the Soviet Army. Headed by Colonel General Alexander Pokrovsky, the panel was formed in 1952 and put five questions about the preparedness of the Baltic, Kiev and Belorussian military districts.


2006 Soviet war documents declassification, Background
The questions concerned the receipt of the border defence plan by the Soviet troops, the deployment of covering forces on the state border, the receipt of the order on combat readiness, the reason why the majority of Soviet artillery units were in training camps and the preparedness of the unit staffs for troops management. The questions were addressed to persons who on the eve of Operation Barbarossa held high-ranking military positions, down to division and corps commanders. At that time, Sobennikov was the commander of the 8th Army of the Baltic Military District staff.


2006 Soviet war documents declassification, Background
Abramidze was the commander of the 72nd Rifle Division of the 26th Army. Zashibalov was the commander of the 86th Rifle Division of the 10th Army. Ivanov was the chief of staff of the Kiev Military District's 6th Army. Bagramian was the chief of operations staff of the Kiev Military District. Fomin was the chief of operations staff of the 12th Army. Derevyanko was deputy chief of the intelligence department of the Baltic Military District staff. The documents were mostly published as scans of the typewritten originals.


2006 Soviet war documents declassification, Contents
The documents generally indicate that the Soviet high command underestimated the German threat and ignored the information about the impending invasion. Derevyanko, in particular, wrote that two or three months before the invasion the command and staff of the Baltic Military District had reliable information about Germany's strengthening and preparation for the war. Noting that he repeatedly notified the command of the German buildup in the border regions, Derevyanko wrote that his impression was "that the military district command underestimated the impending threat and distrusted a lot of intelligence data". According to Derevyanko, in early June 1941 the district's staff started to receive information about the timing of German invasion. Three to four days before the invasion the informations contained not only the precise date, but also the estimated time of the invasion.


2006 Soviet war documents declassification, Contents
Ivanov wrote that Germans exploited the Soviet "carelessness, complacency and hope that Germans will do nothing serious, confining themselves to provocations". He notes that "despite the obvious signs of a large concentration of German troops, the commander of the Kiev Military District forbade the deployment of covering forces, as well as bringing troops into combat readiness, especially  strengthening them even after the shelling of the state border and air raids" began.


2006 Soviet war documents declassification, Contents
Bagramian wrote that the General Staff forbade the early deployment of covering forces in order "not to provoke the war". This was also confirmed by Abramidze who noted that covering forces were deployed only after the German invasion.


2006 Soviet war documents declassification, Contents
Sobennikov noted that he refused to execute an order he had received on the night of 22 June to withdraw the troops from the state border and his men stayed on positions. He also stated that almost all aircraft of the Baltic Military District were burned down by Germans on airfields.


2006 Soviet war documents declassification, Contents
At the same time, most commanders wrote that they had been strengthening the border up until the German invasion. The official position taken by the Russian Ministry of Defense is that "by not issuing an order on full combat readiness the country's leadership did not want to provoke Hitler and incite a war in extremely unfavorable conditions for us, hoping to delay the war".


2006 Spa 24 Hours
The 2006 Proximus Spa 24 Hours was the fourth race for the 2006 FIA GT Championship season. It took place on July 29 and 30 2006. It set a record for the farthest distance run since the event changed to the shorter 7 km track in 1979.


2006 Spa 24 Hours
This race saw Porsche debut their new 997-generation GT3-RSR in the hands of Manthey Racing.


2006 Spa 24 Hours, Half-point Leaders
In the FIA GT Championship (using the GT1 and GT2 classes), the top 8 teams are awarded half-points for their position both at the six-hour mark and at the midway point of the race.


2006 Spa 24 Hours, Official results
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).


2006 Spanish Formula Three Championship
The 2006 Spanish Formula Three Championship was the sixth Spanish Formula Three season. It began on 8 April at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia and ended on 12 November at Circuito del Jarama in Montmeló after sixteen races. Ricardo Risatti was crowned series champion.


2006 Spanish Grand Prix
The 2006 Spanish Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Gran Premio Telefónica de España 2006) was a Formula One motor race held on 14 May 2006 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. It was the sixth round of the 2006 Formula One season and the forty-eighth Spanish Grand Prix. The 66-lap race was won by Fernando Alonso for the Renault team, from a pole position start. Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari with Alonso's teammate Giancarlo Fisichella third.


2006 Spanish Grand Prix
As a consequence of the race, Alonso stretched his lead to fifteen points in the Drivers' Championship over Schumacher. Alonso's team, Renault, also increased their lead, but did so in the Constructors' Championship standings. This put them nineteen points ahead of Ferrari.


2006 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Background
The Grand Prix was contested by eleven teams with two drivers each. The teams (also known as Constructors) were Renault, McLaren, Ferrari, Toyota, Williams, Honda, Red Bull, BMW, MF1, Toro Rosso and Super Aguri.


2006 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Background
Before the race, Renault driver Fernando Alonso led the Drivers' Championship with 44 points; Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher was second on 31 points. Behind Alonso and Schumacher in the Drivers' Championship, Kimi Räikkönen was third on 23 points in a McLaren, with Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa on 18 and 15 points respectively. In the Constructors' Championship, Renault were leading on 62 points and Ferrari were second on 46 points, with McLaren third on 42 points.


2006 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Friday drivers
The bottom 6 teams in the 2005 Constructors' Championship and Super Aguri were entitled to run a third car in free practice on Friday. These drivers drove on Friday but did not compete in qualifying or the race.


2006 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race – two on Friday, and one on Saturday. The Friday morning and afternoon sessions each lasted 90 minutes; the third session, on Saturday morning, lasted for an hour.


2006 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three parts. The first part ran for 15 minutes, and cars that finished the session 17th position or lower were eliminated from qualifying. The second part of the qualifying session lasted 15 minutes and eliminated cars that finished in positions 11 to 16. The final part of the qualifying session ran for 20 minutes which determined the positions from first to tenth, and decided pole position. Cars which failed to make the final session could refuel before the race, so ran lighter in those sessions.


2006 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Alonso clinched his second pole position of the season with a time of 1:14.648, and was joined on the front row by teammate Fisichella. Michael Schumacher took third place on the grid, with a qualifying time more than one-tenth slower than Alonso's.


2006 Spanish International Badminton Tournament
The 2006 Spanish International Badminton Tournament was held in Madrid, from May 18 to May 21, 2006.


2006 Spanish International Badminton Tournament, Participating nations
A total of 28 nations entered players at the 2006 Spanish International Badminton Tournament. The number of competitors is indicated in parentheses.


2006 Spanish International Badminton Tournament, Participating nations
Germany (20)  Belgium  Belarus  Croatia  Denmark (23) Scotland  Spain (43) Estonia  Finland  France  Wales  England  Ireland  Norway  Netherlands  Poland  Portugal  Czech Republic  Russia  Sweden   Switzerland


2006 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2006 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix was the first race of the 2006 Motorcycle Grand Prix season. It took place on the weekend of  24–26 March 2006 at the Jerez circuit.


2006 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (motoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round one has concluded.


2006 Sparkassen Giro
The women's race of the 2006 Sparkassen Giro Bochum took place on 13 August 2006. It was the 6th women's edition of the Sparkassen Giro Bochum. The race started and ended in Bochum, Germany with 137 participants and spanned 73 km (45.4 mi). The race is a UCI 1.1 category race.


2006 Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic election
Election of the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic was held in June, July and August 2006. Chamber of Deputies was unable to elect new Speaker for 2 months. Miloslav Vlček was eventually elected the new Speaker. Vlček was considered a provisory Speaker but remained in the position whole term.


2006 Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic election, Voting, First attempt
First election was held on 29 June 2006. Civic Democratic Party nominated Miroslava Němcová for the position. She was the only candidate. She received 98 votes in the first round while 27 MPs voted against. Němcová needed 100 votes to be elected. Second round was held but Němcová was once again unable to secure enough votes. She received 98 votes while 26 MPs voted against. It was speculated that at least one MP of her party voted against her. Czech Social Democratic Party assured its support for the incumbent Speaker Lubomír Zaorálek.


2006 Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic election, Voting, Second election
Second election was held on 7 July 2006. Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-ČSL) nominated Jan Kasal. Kasal had support of the governing coalition of ODS, KDU-ČSL and Greens. Kasal received 99 votes in the first round while 27 MPs voted against. Second round was held and Kasal received 99 votes and wasn't elected.


2006 Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic election, Voting, Third election
Third election was scheduled for 12 July 2006. No candidate was nominated and the election wasn't held.


2006 Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic election, Voting, Fourth election
Fourth election was scheduled for 21 July 2006. Opposition Czech Social Democratic Party nominated Lubomír Zaorálek for the position. Zaorálek's candidacy was withdrawn prior voting and election didn't take place. Social Democrats and coalition government decided to negotiate about possible conjoint candidate.


2006 Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic election, Voting, Fifth election
Fifth election took place on 28 July 2006. Jan Kasal became the only candidate when Social Democrats withdrew their candidate Lubomír Zaorálek. Kasal received 100 votes while 100 MPs didn't vote. The result was repeated in the second round.


2006 Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic election, Voting, Sixth election
Another election was scheduled for 4 August 2006. No candidate was nominated.


2006 Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic election, Voting, Seventh election
Coalition parties agreed to support Social Democrat Miloslav Vlček for the position. Seventh election was held on 14 August 2006. Vlček received 174 votes of 197. Vlček agreed to remain in the position only temporarily.


2006 Special Honours (New Zealand)
The 2006 Special Honours in New Zealand was a Special Honours List, published in New Zealand on 3 August 2006 and effective from the previous day. Appointments were made to the Queen's Service Order to recognise the outgoing governor-general, Dame Silvia Cartwright, and vice-regal consort, Peter Cartwright.


2006 Speed World Challenge
The 2006 Speed World Challenge season was the seventeenth season of the SCCA Pro Racing Speed World Challenge. It began on March 15 at Sebring International Raceway and ended on October 21 at Road Atlanta after ten rounds.


2006 Speedway Conference League
The 2006 Speedway Conference League was the third tier/division of British speedway.


2006 Speedway Conference League, Summary
The title was won by Scunthorpe Scorpions who won the play offs.


2006 Speedway Conference League, Conference League Knockout Cup
The 2006 Conference League Knockout Cup was the ninth edition of the Knockout Cup for tier three teams. Scunthorpe Scorpions were the winners.


2006 Speedway Grand Prix
The 2006 Speedway Grand Prix was the 61st edition of the official World Championship and the 12th season in the Speedway Grand Prix era used to determine the Speedway World Champion.


2006 Speedway Grand Prix, Event format
The format remained the same as 2005 with 16 riders taking part in each Grand Prix and over the course of 20 heats each rider will race against every other rider once. The top 8 scorers advance to a semi-final and from each semi-final the 1st and 2nd placed riders will advance to the GP final. All riders apart from the qualifiers for the final carry forward the points earned in the first 20 heats over the course of the season. The riders placing in the final receive points as follows:


2006 Speedway Grand Prix, Qualification for Grand Prix
For the 2006 season, there were 15 permanent riders, to be joined at each Grand Prix by one wild card. The top 8 riders from the 2005 championship qualified as of right. They were, in 2005 championship order:


2006 Speedway Grand Prix, Qualification for Grand Prix
They were joined by 7 riders named by the organisers of the series, who are: (in alphabetical order)


2006 Speedway Grand Prix, Calendar
results: •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •


2006 Speedway World Cup
The 2006 Speedway World Cup (SWC) was the 6th FIM Speedway World Cup season. The Final took place on 22 July 2006 in the Smallmead Stadium in Reading, Berkshire, Great Britain. The tournament was won by Denmark (45 pts) and they beat Sweden (37 pts), host team Great Britain (36 pts) and Australia (35 pts) in the Final. The defending champion Poland did not qualified to the Final.


2006 Speedway World Cup Event 1
The 2006 Speedway World Cup Event 1 was the first race of the 2006 Speedway World Cup season. It took place on 16 July 2006 in the Rybnik Municipal Stadium in Rybnik, Poland.


2006 Speedway World Cup Event 1, Heat details
M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2006 Speedway World Cup Event 2
The 2006 Speedway World Cup Event 2 was the second race of the 2006 Speedway World Cup season. It took place on July 18, 2006 in the G&B Stadium in Målilla, Sweden.


2006 Speedway World Cup Event 2, Heat details
M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2006 Speedway World Cup Final
The 2006 Speedway World Cup Final was the fourth and last race of the 2006 Speedway World Cup season. It took place on 22 July 2006 in the Smallmead Stadium in Reading, Great Britain.


2006 Speedway World Cup Final, Heat details
M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2006 Speedway World Cup Qualification
The 2006 Speedway World Cup Qualification (SWC) were two motorcycle speedway events used to determine the two national teams who qualify for the 2006 Speedway World Cup. According to the FIM rules the top six nations (Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain, Australia and Czech Republic) from the 2005 Speedway World Cup were automatically qualified.


2006 Speedway World Cup Qualification, Heat details, Daugavpils (1)
M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2006 Speedway World Cup Qualification, Heat details, Miskolc (2)
M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2006 Speedway World Cup Race-off
The 2006 Speedway World Cup Race-off was the third race of the 2006 Speedway World Cup season. It took place on 20 July 2006 in the Smallmead Stadium in Reading, Great Britain.


2006 Speedway World Cup Race-off, Heat details
M - exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • T - exclusion for touching the tapes • X - other exclusion • E - retired or mechanical failure • F - fell


2006 Spengler Cup
The 2006 Spengler Cup was held in Davos, Switzerland between December 26, 2006 and December 31, 2006. All matches were played at HC Davos' home arena, Eisstadion Davos. Brent Payne, a member of Modo played for Team Canada and scored a total of 7 points, including 4 goals and 3 assists.


2006 Spengler Cup, Gallery
Eisstadion Davos (later renamed Vaillant Arena) during the 2006 Spengler Cup.


2006 Sport Club Internacional season
The Sport Club Internacional won two important titles in the year 2006: Copa Libertadores and Fifa Club World Cup.


2006 Sport Club Internacional season, Season 2006, Campeonato Gaúcho, I Fase
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost;


2006 Sport Club Internacional season, Season 2006, Campeonato Gaúcho, II Fase
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost;


2006 Sport Club Internacional season, Season 2006, Campeonato Brasileiro, Results summary
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost;


2006 Sports Network Cup
The 2006 Sports Network Cup was a college football postseason NCAA Division I FCS Mid-Major Championship Series. The San Diego Toreros finished ahead of Monmouth Hawks 20–0 in first places votes to be named the NCAA Division I FCS Mid-Major Football National Champions.


2006 Sports Network Cup
Note: Voting was conducted by a panel of 112 FCS media members and media relations professionals. A first-place vote is worth five points, a second- place vote is worth four points, a third-place vote is worth three points, a fourth-place vote is worth two points, and a fifth-place vote is worth one point. Votes were due by Wednesday, November 22, 2006, following the final week of the regular season. Postseason play has no effect on the outcome of the awards.


2006 Srinagar bombings
11 July 2006 Srinagar bombings consisted of five grenade attacks by militants, killing 8 people and injuring 43 in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.


2006 Srinagar bombings, Attacks
The attack took place within an hour of the departure of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's conclusion of a two-day round table conference. The first attack occurred at 11:40 am when a grenade was thrown into a minibus carrying tourists from Bengal. Five people, died and another 10 were injured. The dead included a mother, her son and her daughter-in-law. At 12:40 pm, another grenade was lobbed at a car with a Haryana registration number. Three bystanders were injured. At 1:10 pm, another grenade was thrown at a van carrying tourists in Lal Chowk. One person died and several were injured. A small boy named Hardik lost his leg in the explosion. The last grenade was thrown at a taxi stand at 3:00 pm .


2006 Srinagar bombings, Aftermath
Mohammad Afzal of the Baramulla district, who allegedly threw the grenade, was caught by onlookers and handed over to the police. He confessed to be a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba These bombings happened on the same day as 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings and were overshadowed by them.


2006 Srinagar bombings, Reaction
UN secretary general Kofi Annan condemned both the attacks saying "Such Acts Cannot Possibly Be Excused by any Grievance"


2006 St Albans City and District Council election
The 2006 St Albans City and District Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of St Albans District Council in Hertfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats gained overall control of the council from no overall control.


2006 St Albans City and District Council election, Campaign
Before the election the council was composed of 29 Liberal Democrats, 17 Conservative, 11 Labour and 1 Independent councillors. The Liberal Democrats hoped to win a majority at the election and complained about decisions being delayed by the opposition parties. However the Conservatives were also confident of making gains and said that a hung council with the best councillors from each party making up the cabinet was right for St Albans. Labour meanwhile were hopeful of holding onto their seats, expecting that they would perform better than in recent elections. As well as the 3 main parties on the council, the Green Party also stood candidates in every ward, while targeting Clarence ward as their best chance.


2006 St Albans City and District Council election, Election result
The Liberal Democrats regained overall control of the council that they had lost at the 1999 election after making a net gain of 2 seats. They gained 3 seats from Labour and 2 from the Conservatives, but also lost 3 seats in Marshalswick South, Redbourn and Verulam to the Conservatives. The 3 defeats for Labour included one in Sopwell ward, which they lost for what was described as "the first time in living memory". The results meant that the Liberal Democrats had a majority over the other parties of 4 seats after previously only having half of the councillors before the election, however the Conservatives did win more votes at the election than the Liberal Democrats. Overall turnout at the election was 45.1%.


2006 St Albans City and District Council election, Election result
In Wheathampstead ward the election ended in a tie after 3 recounts. The winner in the ward was decided by getting the 2 candidates to pick the longer pencil resulting in the Liberal Democrat Judith Shardlow defeating the Conservative former mayor Keith Stammers. Meanwhile, the Conservative group on the council was reduced, when councillor John Newman, left the party to sit as an independent councillor after having recently being replaced as Conservative group leader on the council by Teresa Heritage.


2006 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2006 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council in Merseyside, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.


2006 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election, Background
Before the election the Labour Party needed to gain 1 seat to regain a majority on the council that they had lost at the last election in 2004. Labour had 24 seats before the election, while the Liberal Democrats had 18 and the Conservatives had 6. Labour was able to run the council however as the Conservative mayor had agreed not to use her casting vote.


2006 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election, Background
Among the councillors who were defending seats at the election was the Labour group leader Marie Rimmer in West Park ward, while the seat in Blackbrook was vacant after the death of Labour councillor Albert Smith earlier in 2006. 16 seats were up for election and as well as candidates from the three political parties who held seats on the council, there were also four candidates from the Community Action Party and one each from the British National Party and the Socialist Labour Party.


2006 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election, Election result
Labour remained the largest party on the council but lost one seat to the Liberal Democrats to leave the party with 23 councillors. The Liberal Democrat gain from Labour came in Town Centre ward and moved them to 19 seats on the council, however the Labour council leader Marie Rimmer held her seat in West Park with a 457-vote majority. Meanwhile, the Conservatives remained on 6 seats after holding the 2 seats they had been defending.


2006 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election, Election result
Following the election Liberal Democrat Brian Spencer became the new leader of the council after an agreement between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, with the Liberal Democrats taking 5 of the seats on the cabinet and the Conservative group leader Wally Ashcroft taking the other seat. This came after Labour rejected proposals for all three parties to share power on the council and meant Labour lost power on the council after 70 years.


2006 St Kilda Football Club season
The St Kilda Football Club's 2006 season was its 110th season in the Australian Football League (AFL).


2006 St. Catharines municipal election
The 2006 St. Catharines municipal election took place on 13 November 2006 to determine a mayor, regional and city councillors and school trustees in the city of St. Catharines, Ontario. The incumbent mayor, Tim Rigby, vacated the mayoral position and ran for election to Niagara Regional Council.


2006 St. Catharines municipal election, Niagara Regional Council
Electors could vote for six candidates. Percentages are determined in relation to the total number of votes.


2006 St. George Illawarra Dragons season
The 2006 St. George Illawarra Dragons season was the eighth in the joint venture club's history. The Dragons competed in the NRL's 2006 premiership season. The team finished sixth in the regular season, making finals but getting knocked out in the preliminary finals against the Melbourne Storm, losing 24–10.


2006 St. George Illawarra Dragons season, Ladder
1The Melbourne Storm were later stripped of this minor premiership due to gross salary cap breaches. 2The New Zealand Warriors were deducted 4 competition points due to gross salary cap breaches.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals 2006 season was the team's 125th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 115th season in the National League. The season started out with a bang, as the team raced out to a 31-16 record by late May. Momentum would be slowed by injuries, as starting pitcher Mark Mulder was lost for the year, while center fielder Jim Edmonds and shortstop David Eckstein missed large amounts of playing time in the second half.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season
Poor performance from several key players also hampered the team: starting pitcher Jason Marquis compiled a 6.02 ERA, starting pitcher Sidney Ponson was cut due to ineffectiveness, closer Jason Isringhausen blew ten saves before undergoing season-ending hip surgery in September, and catcher Yadier Molina had a poor offensive year, batting .216.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season
All this led to a difficult season, despite that quick start, one that included two eight-game losing streaks (the longest such streaks for the franchise since 1988) and a seven-game losing streak, losing months in June, August and September, and an 83-78 record, the worst for the Cardinals since the 1999 team finished 75-86. However, that record was still good enough to finish first in a weak National League Central. On the season's final day, the Cardinals made the playoffs for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, edging the second-place Houston Astros by a game and a half.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season
Once the playoffs began, the lightly regarded Cardinals surprised baseball fans everywhere by beating the San Diego Padres in the four-game Division Series, beating the New York Mets in the seven-game NLCS, and beating the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 World Series four games to one, winning the tenth, and probably most unlikely, World Series championship in franchise history. Their .516 winning percentage is the lowest ever for a World Series champion. This season ironically contrasted with 2004 as that team was considered the overwhelming favorites but were swept in the World Series, resulting in a bittersweet three-year period for the Cardinals.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season
Following the season, the Cardinals ended a 19-year association with KPLR and returned to KSDK for the first time since 1987.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Last season before the new Busch Stadium
The new season brought a Cardinals team that was much changed from the one that went 100-62 in 2005 but fell to the Houston Astros in the NLCS. Starting pitcher Matt Morris, second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, left fielder Reggie Sanders, and relief pitcher Julián Tavárez left the team via free agency. Relief pitcher Ray King was traded to Colorado. Right fielder Larry Walker retired.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Last season before the new Busch Stadium
Brought in to replace the departed Cardinals were right fielder Juan Encarnación, starting pitcher Sidney Ponson, relief pitchers Braden Looper and Ricardo Rincón, all via free agency, and second baseman Aaron Miles, acquired in the Ray King trade. Left field was left unsettled in the offseason and would remain so all year, with no player getting more than one-third of the playing time at that position.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Last season before the new Busch Stadium
The Cardinals opened the 2006 season on April 3, on the road against the Philadelphia Phillies. St. Louis won 13-5. Albert Pujols homered twice, newly acquired second baseman Aaron Miles had two doubles and a triple, and Scott Rolen, who missed most of the 2005 season with a shoulder injury, had a grand slam.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Last season before the new Busch Stadium
The Cardinals' home opener was Monday, April 10th. The Cardinals came back from an early deficit to beat Milwaukee 6-4. Pujols had a home run (his fourth in eight games) and Mark Mulder won his first game of the year.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Last season before the new Busch Stadium
On April 16 against the Cincinnati Reds, Pujols continued his hot start, hitting three home runs, including a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Cardinals an 8-7 victory. The three-dinger day was the second of his career and gave him eight home runs in the Cardinals' first twelve games. St. Louis would continue playing well through April and finished the month with a record of 17-8.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Last season before the new Busch Stadium
The Cardinals continued to play well in the month of May, but injuries began to accumulate. Relief pitcher Ricardo Rincón, on the disabled list since April 28, had season-ending shoulder surgery on May 12. Ponson went on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his right arm, and ace Chris Carpenter went on the DL with bursitis at the end of the month. Rookie Anthony Reyes got two callups to make emergency starts for Carpenter and Ponson, earning one victory and one no-decision.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Last season before the new Busch Stadium
Jim Edmonds missed time with an abdominal infection and many of the players fell victim to a flu bug in the clubhouse. But Albert Pujols continued his great year, hitting 11 home runs in May after 14 in April, Jason Isringhausen was 10-10 in save opportunities, and the team went 17-11 for the month and finish May with a record of 34-19, fifteen games over .500. On May 28, Mulder, who had been very effective for most of the first two months of the season, was tagged for eight runs in 4.1 innings as the Cardinals lost to San Diego 10-8. It would be a sign of things to come for St. Louis' #2 starter.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Summer slump
In June the Cardinals began to struggle. On June 4, Albert Pujols went on the disabled list for the first time in his career with a strained right oblique muscle. Two days later, Isringhausen gave up a three-run homer in the ninth inning and the Cardinals lost to Cincinnati 8-7. (Isringhausen blew four saves in June.) Two more losses to the Reds dropped the Cardinals into a brief tie with Cincinnati for first place, but they won seven of their next nine to maintain possession of first place and improve their record to 42-26. The Cardinals were sixteen games over .500, the high-water mark for 2006.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Summer slump
St. Louis then traveled to Chicago for a series against the defending world champion Chicago White Sox. They lost the opener 20-6. Mark Mulder's ERA rose to 6.09, and two days later he went on the disabled list. They lost the second game 13-5, with starting pitcher Jason Marquis giving up all thirteen runs.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Summer slump
The next night, rookie Anthony Reyes, called back up to the big leagues with Mulder injured and Ponson banished to the bullpen, threw a one-hitter—but that one hit was a home run by Jim Thome, and the Cardinals lost 1-0. Reyes' gem was also the first game back for Albert Pujols after eighteen days on the disabled list. After the sweep by the White Sox the Cardinals were swept by the Detroit Tigers. Two more losses to the Cleveland Indians extended the streak to eight losses in a row, the longest such streak for a Cardinal team in 18 years. They finally snapped the streak with a 5-4 victory over Cleveland on June 29. For the month, St. Louis went 9-16 and fell to eight games over .500 at 43-35.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Summer slump
July would see much turnover in the roster as the Cardinals struggled to regain their equilibrium. On July 5 Jeff Weaver was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a trade, and two days later, Sidney Ponson, previously plagued with injuries and ineffectiveness and demoted to the bullpen, was released. At the end of the month, St. Louis traded Héctor Luna to Cleveland for Ronnie Belliard, who took the second base job that Luna and Miles had shared, and acquired relief pitcher Jorge Sosa from Atlanta for a minor leaguer.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Summer slump
Chris Duncan started getting more and more playing time in the outfield and responded with a .324 average for the month. In other developments, Jason Marquis, who gave up thirteen runs in a start against the White Sox in June, gave up twelve runs in a 14-5 disaster against the Atlanta Braves on July 18. Marquis became the first big-league pitcher since Chubby Dean of the 1940 Philadelphia Athletics to cough up twelve runs in a game twice in the same season. On July 19, a storm carrying winds of 80 mph struck the new Busch, knocking over concession stands, ripping the tarp, and injuring thirty people.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Summer slump
The yo-yo season continued. The Cardinals won seven in a row and 13 out of 16 in the middle of July (a surge largely fueled by a sweep of all seven games with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006) and by July 26, they had regained their previous high of 16 games over .500, at 58-42. However, the end of the month saw a four-game sweep by the Cubs at Wrigley Field and a losing streak that would extend into August. St. Louis went 15-11 in July and finished the month at 58-46. The Cincinnati Reds continued to dog the Cardinals' footsteps, sitting 3.5 games out of first place at the end of July.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Summer slump
Pitching continued to be problematic for the Cardinals in August. Mark Mulder, attempting to come back from his shoulder injury, made two starts towards the end of the month, got hit very hard both times, and return to the disabled list, where he would stay for the rest of the season. He ended the worst year of his career with a 7.14 ERA. Jason Marquis' miserable year got even worse, with a 6.75 ERA for August. New acquisition Jeff Weaver followed up his 6.46 July with a 5.67 August. Closer Jason Isringhausen also struggled, blowing two saves, taking three losses and posting a 5.06 ERA for the month.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Summer slump
Injuries took their toll on position players as well. Jim Edmonds missed half the month with post-concussion syndrome and David Eckstein went on the disabled list with a strained oblique muscle. The Cardinals signed Preston Wilson, who had been released by Houston, to fill the hole caused by Edmonds' injury.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Summer slump
St. Louis ended July by dropping four in a row and lost four more in a row to start August. After going 18 years without an eight-game losing streak the Redbirds now had their second of the 2006 season. They finally snapped that streak and played somewhat better for the rest of August, as Pujols and Rolen both continued to hit well and Chris Duncan, now playing almost every day, led the team with nine home runs for the month.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, Summer slump
Backup catcher Gary Bennett had a spectacular weekend at the end of August, homering and hitting a walk-off single to beat the Cubs on the 26th and hitting a walk-off grand slam to beat the Cubs again on the 27th. The Cardinals went 13-15 for the month and ended August with a record of 71-61, still enjoying an NL Central lead of five games over Cincinnati and six games over Houston.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: photo finish
The Cardinals' strange, up/down season would get even stranger in the final month, as the team staggered to the finish while trying to avoid a shocking collapse. As August passed into September, Eckstein was still on the DL and Edmonds was still absent from the lineup with post-concussion syndrome. On September 3, Pujols had his second three-homer game of the season and third of his career, as the Cardinals beat Pittsburgh 6-3. However, two days later the Cardinals were nearly no-hit; Ramón Ortiz of the Washington Nationals took a no-hitter into the ninth before Aaron Miles' single spoiled it. Ortiz settled for a 4-1 victory. Just four days after that on September 9, the Cardinals again almost got no-hit, getting only one Scott Rolen double in a 3-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: photo finish
As the season wound down, St. Louis seemed to run out of gas. Edmonds and Eckstein missed almost the whole month with their injuries. Duncan, who'd made major contributions to a slumping offense in July and August, slumped to a .212 September. Even worse, Scott Rolen, the second-best hitter on the team for five months, went into a terrible slump and hit .227 for the final month. Encarnacion hit .238, Belliard .219, and Molina .224. The only players contributing offense in the final month were Pujols and Scott Spiezio, whose power surge allowed him to post a 1.042 OPS for the last month of the season.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: photo finish
On the pitching mound, Marquis ended his awful year with a dismal 7.25 ERA in September. His 6.02 ERA in 2006 was the worst amongst National League pitchers who qualified for the ERA title. Jason Isringhausen, who had been struggling all summer with a deteriorating hip, was finally lost for the season after blowing his tenth save of the year on September 6 against Washington. Rookie Adam Wainwright assumed the closer's role for the last few weeks of the season.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: photo finish
Despite all these difficulties the Cardinals succeeded in treading water for the first three weeks of the month, and, after a 12-2 victory against Milwaukee on September 19, stood at 80-69 for the season, seven games ahead of Cincinnati and 8+1⁄2 games ahead of Houston with twelve more games to play. However, the Cardinals proceeded to reel off a seven-game losing streak, their third of the season of seven games or longer. Included in the slide was a four-game sweep by the Astros, who won nine in a row from September 20 through September 28.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: photo finish
On September 27, St. Louis' seven-game lead had been sliced to 1+1⁄2 games over the hard-charging Astros. Houston won again that day, their eighth in a row. Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th inning to the San Diego Padres with two on and two out, Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer, his 47th of the year. New closer Wainwright made it stand up, and the losing streak was over. It was Pujols' 25th game-winning hit of the season.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: photo finish
However, the next night Jason Marquis had one last terrible start, the Cards lost to Milwaukee 9-4, and the lead over the Astros shrank to 1/2 game. The sports world was rife with memories of the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies, who led by 6+1⁄2 games with 12 to go and lost ten in a row to lose the pennant to, ironically, the Cardinals.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September: photo finish
On September 29, St. Louis beat Milwaukee 10-5 and the Astros lost to Atlanta, snapping their nine-game win streak and widening the lead to 1+1⁄2 games. On the 30th, Scott Spiezio hit a bases-loaded triple in the bottom of the 8th inning and the Cardinals beat Milwaukee 3-2. Needing only a win in Game 161 against Milwaukee on October 1, St. Louis lost 5-3, but the Astros had already lost 3-1 at Atlanta. The Cardinals had narrowly avoided collapse and won the NL Central with an 83-78 record. Had the Astros won their last game, the Cardinals would have had to play a rained-out make-up game against the San Francisco Giants to determine the tie breaker between the Astros and the Cardinals.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, Division Series
The Cardinals entered the postseason with the third-worst record in history for any MLB playoff team, beating only the 2005 Padres (82-80) and the 1973 New York Mets (82-79), and they had just endured a September 12–17. Experts gave them little hope of advancing in October. Yet the Cardinals proceeded to beat the NL West champion San Diego Padres in four games in the best-of-five Division Series. Carpenter won two games in the series including the clinching Game 4, Albert Pujols hit .333 with a home run and a double, and Yadier Molina hit .308 (4-13). St. Louis would advance to the NLCS to face the best team in the National League in 2006, the New York Mets.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, League Championship Series
The Cardinals began the NLCS as huge underdogs to the New York Mets. The Mets won fourteen games more than the Cardinals did in 2006. Their offense scored 53 runs more than the Cardinals' did. Their pitchers allowed 31 fewer. In head-to-head contests during the season, the Mets won four of six from St. Louis. Also, by virtue of the better record, the Mets would have home field advantage.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, League Championship Series
However, the series would be hard-fought by both sides. New York won Game 1 2-0 behind the pitching of ace Tom Glavine and a two-run homer by Carlos Beltrán. The Cardinals won Game 2 9-6 by scoring three runs off Met closer Billy Wagner in the top of the ninth inning, the rally started by a home run from light-hitting (16 career HR in 960 at-bats) So Taguchi. St. Louis won Games 3 and 5 and New York won Games 4 and 6, setting up a winner-take-all Game 7 in New York.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, League Championship Series
Light drizzle fell all game, increasing to a light rain in the later innings. The Mets scored in the bottom of the first on a double by Beltran and a single by Wright, but would not get another hit until the ninth. The Cardinals evened it up at 1-1 in the second on singles by Molina (who followed up his Division Series success by hitting .348 in this series) and Edmonds and a sacrifice bunt by Belliard. There the score would stay for seven innings, thanks in part to Met left fielder Endy Chávez, who made a leaping catch of Scott Rolen's almost-home run in the sixth and doubled Jim Edmonds off of first.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, League Championship Series
The game was still tied with one out in the top of the ninth when Rolen singled. Molina, batting next, (and like Taguchi not a home run hitter, with 16 in 937 big-league at-bats), hit a two-run homer over the left field wall to give the Cardinals a 3-1 lead. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Mets loaded the bases with two out on singles by José Valentín and Chavez and a walk to catcher Paul Lo Duca.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, League Championship Series
That brought to the plate Cardinal-killer Carlos Beltrán (18 for 51 with seven home runs against St. Louis in the 2004 and 2006 NLCS), who in the regular season hit 41 home runs and drove in 116 runs. St. Louis' rookie relief pitcher, Adam Wainwright, installed as closer only one month before, struck out Beltran on three pitches (the last a curveball looking), and the Cardinals won the series and the 17th National League pennant in franchise history. Starting pitcher Jeff Suppan was named NLCS MVP.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, World Series
St. Louis had been an underdog against the Padres, and won. They had been a prohibitive underdog against the Mets, and won. That did not prevent them from being an underdog for the third time against the American League champion Detroit Tigers, who had won 95 games in the regular season, knocked off the New York Yankees in the Division Series and swept the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS. Bob Nightengale of USAToday expressed majority opinion when he said "Tigers in three".


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, World Series
Rookie Anthony Reyes, whose up-and-down season had ended with a 5.06 ERA, retired 17 Detroit hitters in a row in his Game 1 victory, Chris Carpenter threw eight shutout, three-hit innings in Game 3, and Cardinal pitchers overall had a 2.05 ERA for the Series. Scott Rolen hit .421 for the Series, Yadier Molina finished off his superb October by hitting .412, and David Eckstein hit .364 and won the MVP. Detroit, on the other hand, hit .199 and played poorly in the field, with eight errors in five games.


2006 St. Louis Cardinals season, Postseason, World Series
St. Louis came back from a 3-0 deficit to win Game 4 5-4 and get within one win of a title. In the deciding Game 5, St. Louis carried a 4-2 lead into the ninth inning. As 46,638 fans looked on, closer Wainwright got Magglio Ordóñez to ground out, gave up a double to Sean Casey, then got Iván Rodríguez to ground out to bring the Cardinals one out away from victory. Plácido Polanco, a former Cardinal, drew a walk, putting the tying run on base. Brandon Inge struck out on three pitches, and the St. Louis Cardinals won their tenth World Series championship in franchise history. David Eckstein won Series MVP and a Chevrolet Corvette Z06.


2006 St. Louis Rams season
The 2006 season was the St. Louis Rams' 69th in the National Football League and their 12th in St. Louis. The season began with the Rams trying to improve on their 6–10 record from 2005 under new head coach Scott Linehan. This was the Rams last non-losing season in St. Louis as the franchise would go on a ten-season losing record streak until 2017 in Los Angeles.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason
Scott Linehan was named head coach of the St. Louis Rams on January 19, 2006. He previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins. On January 24, Jim Haslett, the former head coach of the New Orleans Saints, signed a three-year deal to become the Rams new defensive coordinator. On March 17, 2006, the Rams signed former Miami Dolphins QB Gus Frerotte to a three-year deal.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason
During the free agency period, the Rams signed DT La'Roi Glover, LB Will Witherspoon and S Corey Chavous.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason
In the 2006 NFL Draft, the Rams used their first pick on Clemson CB Tye Hill. They used the next pick on Colorado TE Joe Klopfenstein. The remaining picks were LSU DT Claude Wroten, USC TE Dominique Byrd, Stanford LB Jon Alston, Indiana DE Victor Adeyanju, Virginia WR Marques Hagans, Northwestern LB Tim McGarigle, Minnesota Guard Mark Setterstrom, and Missouri Guard Tony Palmer.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason
On Friday, September 1, 2006, the Rams signed former Carolina Panthers RB Stephen Davis a one-year contract.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason
The Rams also signed defensive tackle Jason Fisk to pair with La'Roi Glover.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Schedule
In the 2006 regular season, the Rams’ non-divisional, conference opponents were primarily from the NFC North, although they also played the Washington Redskins from the NFC East, and the Carolina Panthers from the NFC South. Their non-conference opponents were from the AFC West.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 1: vs. Denver Broncos
The Rams opened the regular season at home against the Denver Broncos on September 10 with a Rams' 18–10 win. Jeff Wilkins scored all of the Rams' points by kicking six field goals, a franchise record for a single game (from 51, 48, 26, 38, 29 and 24 yards), and became the first Ram player to score 1000 points in a career. Wilkins also tied a franchise record of seven field goal attempts in one game which was first accomplished by Bob Waterfield on December 9, 1951. The Rams were unable to score a touchdown all game and went 0 for 5 in the red zone.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 1: vs. Denver Broncos
The defense allowed just one touchdown and forced five turnovers. Three of these turnovers were interceptions, from a team that only allowed seven interceptions all of last season. First round draft pick Tye Hill intercepted a pass by Jake Plummer with 12:02 in the second quarter. It was his first in his NFL career. The defense also sacked Jake Plummer four times in the game, with Leonard Little accounting for two of them.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 1: vs. Denver Broncos
Isaac Bruce passed Henry Ellard and Shannon Sharpe for 11th most receptions in an NFL career with his five receptions for 64 yards.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 1: vs. Denver Broncos
Center Andy McCollum injured his left knee with 7:39 left in the second quarter and was out for the rest of the game. On September 11, 2006 it was announced that McCollum will miss the entire season and will undergo knee surgery. With the win, the Rams began their season 1–0.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 2: at San Francisco 49ers
The Rams visited division rival San Francisco 49ers on September 17 for their home opener. The 49ers increased their winning streak against the Rams to three, beating the Rams 20–13.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 2: at San Francisco 49ers
With 11:10 left in the first quarter, Alex Smith completed a 56-yard pass to Arnaz Battle, setting up a 32-yard field goal by Joe Nedney. At the beginning of the second quarter, Corey Chavous recovered a Frank Gore fumble at the Rams 3-yard line. The Rams moved the ball sixty yards down the field setting up a 49-yard Jeff Wilkins field goal. The Rams scored their first touchdown of the season with a 3-yard pass from Marc Bulger to Torry Holt with 2:21 left in the half, giving the Rams a 10–3 lead going into the half.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 2: at San Francisco 49ers
With 14:12 left in the third quarter, the 49ers tied the game at ten with a Gore 32-yard touchdown run. The 49ers took the lead at 10:54 in the third quarter with a 72-yard pass from Smith to Antonio Bryant. Each team had a field goal in the fourth quarter. Wilkins hit a 40-yard field goal with 11:06 in the fourth, and Nedney had a 20-yard field goal with 5:23 in the fourth.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 2: at San Francisco 49ers
Bulger was sacked six times in the game and completed 19 of 34 attempts for 147 yards. Steven Jackson had 103 yards on the ground on 22 carries, along with 2 receptions for 21 yards. Will Witherspoon also had a good game making 13 tackles and forcing one fumble. The Rams had 118 total yards during the second half.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 2: at San Francisco 49ers
Left tackle Orlando Pace left the game at the half with a concussion. He was taken to a hospital in the bay area where a CAT scan turned up negative. Linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa dislocated his elbow in the third quarter, and missed the rest of the game. With the loss, the Rams fell to 1–1.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 3: at Arizona Cardinals
The Rams traveled to Glendale, Arizona for their first game in the new Cardinals Stadium.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 3: at Arizona Cardinals
With 11:28 left in the first quarter of play, Matt Turk kicked a 31-yard punt giving the Cardinals the ball on the Saint Louis 45. Nine plays later, Kurt Warner threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald. This gave the Cardinals a 7–0 lead with 7:04 left in the quarter.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 3: at Arizona Cardinals
With 11:28 left in the second quarter, Jeff Wilkins hit a 26-yard field goal to put the Rams on the board 7–3. On the Cardinals next drive, Warner was intercepted by O.J. Atogwe giving the Rams the ball on their own 6-yard line. Marc Bulger hit Torry Holt for gains of 42, 26 and 9 yards during the drive, with the final catch ending in a touchdown. It was the second touchdown for Holt and the Rams for the 2006 season. The very first play of the next Cardinals drive, Warner was intercepted again by Fakhir Brown. The Rams drove the ball down the field for 16 yards setting up a Wilkins 47-yard field goal to end the half, giving the Rams a 13–7 lead. Wilkins kicked another field goal with 8:08 left in the third quarter increasing the Rams lead 16–7.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 3: at Arizona Cardinals
With 4:13 left in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals ended a 16-play, 87-yard drive with a 9-yard Edgerrin James run for a touchdown cutting the Rams lead 16–14. With 1:58 left to play, Bulger fumbled the ball at the Saint Louis 30. It was recovered by Arizona's Antonio Smith. Yet, on the third play of the drive, Warner fumbled the snap and the Rams' Will Witherspoon recovered the ball. The Rams ran the clock out and won the game 16–14.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 3: at Arizona Cardinals
Rookie Victor Adeyanju got his first start in the game, replacing Anthony Hargrove who did not show up for meetings and practices. With the win, the Rams improved to 2–1.


2006 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Week 4: vs. Detroit Lions
Hoping to build on their road win over the Cardinals, the Rams returned home for a match-up with the Detroit Lions and their offensive coordinator, former Rams head coach Mike Martz. In the first quarter, the Rams kicker Jeff Wilkins kicked a 42-yard and a 19-yard field goal to begin the game. The Lions kicker Jason Hanson kicked a 29-yard field goal. St. Louis distanced themselves, as QB Marc Bulger completed a 16-yard TD pass to rookie TE Joe Klopfenstein.