2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: at Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh's first inter-conference opponent of the season was the Philadelphia Eagles. The Steelers scored on their first drive, with a Jeff Reed field goal. The Eagles offense drove 85 yards to take the lead on a touchdown pass from Donovan McNabb to Correll Buckhalter. The Eagles defense sacked Ben Roethlisberger eight times throughout the game, two of which resulted in fumbles. Bryant McFadden intercepted his second pass of the season which allowed Reed to add his second field goal of the day—this one from 53-yards. The field goal brought the half time score to 10–6.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: at Philadelphia Eagles
A third quarter diving Troy Polamalu interception, on Kevin Kolb's first NFL pass, was named a "Can't Miss Play" by NFL Network. The Steelers did not capitalize, punting two more times in the third quarter. The Eagles entered the final quarter leading 10–6, and added two more points when Roethlisberger was called for Intentional grounding while in the end zone. Roethlisberger was forced to leave the game after his hand was stepped on in the final quarter. Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians took responsibility for the offense's performance. "Anybody who wants anybody to blame for Philadelphia, you just blame me," Arians stated, "and then we can get ready for Baltimore."


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Baltimore Ravens
Donning their throwback uniforms, the Steelers played the Baltimore Ravens in their first Monday Night game of the season. Multiple Steelers starters did not play in the game, due to various injuries. After a 3–3 first quarter, Baltimore took a ten-point lead into half time with a field goal and touchdown pass in the second quarter. Rashard Mendenhall—in his first NFL start—left the game in the third quarter with a season-ending shoulder injury. On Pittsburgh's third drive of the half, Roethlisberger connected with Santonio Holmes for a 38-yard touchdown pass.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Baltimore Ravens
On the first play of Baltimore's ensuing drive, James Harrison's forced fumble was picked up by LaMarr Woodley and returned 7 yards for a touchdown. The two touchdowns within 15 seconds took the Steelers from ten points behind to four points ahead. In the final quarter, the Steelers' offense was stopped on the one yard line and Reed kicked his second field goal of the night. Baltimore drove 76 yards and tied the game with a touchdown. Neither team was able to score on their final drive as the regulation clock expired.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore won the overtime coin toss and elected to receive. The Ravens started the drive at their own 15 yard line. The Steelers held them for no gain on the first two plays and Lawrence Timmons sacked Flacco on third down. The Steelers took over after a punt and Mewelde Moore caught a 24-yard reception to bring the Steelers to Baltimore's 31-yard line. Jeff Reed converted a 46-yard field goal to win the game for the Steelers. Reed was named the NFL's special teams player of the week. With the win the Steelers passed the Ravens for first place in the AFC North at 3–1, as well as extending their all-time record of 14 consecutive home wins on Monday Night Football.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Jacksonville Jaguars
The Steelers' matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars—their first since the Jaguars knocked the Steelers out of the 2007 playoffs—was featured as the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Throwback Game of the Week. On the Steelers opening drive, Roethlisberger—who missed practice time during the week due to injections for his shoulder—was intercepted by Rashean Mathis who returned the ball 72 yards for a touchdown. Pittsburgh responded by driving 71 yards, with Heath Miller receiving a 1-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. Jacksonville re-gained the lead on the next drive when Maurice Jones-Drew ran for a touchdown. Pittsburgh took the lead in the second quarter with two field goals and a 48-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Nate Washington.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville scored first in the final quarter with a touchdown pass from David Garrard to Marcedes Lewis. The Steelers drove from their 20-yard line in the fourth quarter, Ward received an 8-yard touchdown pass to put the Steelers up by 5 points with 1:53 remaining in regulation, however, the 2-pt conversion failed. Roethlisberger received the AFC offensive player of the week award for his 309-yard, 3 touchdown pass performance, despite having an injured throwing shoulder. The NFL selected the game as the league's Week Five Game of the Week.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: Bye Week
The Steelers used their bye week to rest injured players including Brett Keisel, Willie Parker, Jeff Reed, and Ben Roethlisberger. The team hosted an event to honor wounded veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom at Heinz Field. Players signed autographs and held on-field drills with the veterans, while soldiers and Marines spoke of their experiences. Chris Hoke, who attended the event said, "These are the people who fight for us to have our freedom and be who we are as Americans. To come out here and spend a couple hours with them and hear their stories is unbelievable. There's nothing better than this."


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 7: at Cincinnati Bengals
Willie Parker was expected to return after missing two games, but aggravated his knee injury during a weekday practice and missed the game. Pittsburgh received the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards to open the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Mewelde Moore to put the Steelers up 7–0. The Steelers' defense forced the Bengals offense into five consecutive three-and-outs, before the Bengals scored on their final possession of the opening half. The 5-yard pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Chad Johnson brought the Bengals within three points of the Steelers, who added a field goal from Jeff Reed.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 7: at Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh added their second touchdown of the game on their opening drive of the second half when Moore rushed to the left side for 13 yards. Cincinnati retaliated on their ensuing drive adding a field goal from Dave Rayner. The Steelers scored three consecutive touchdowns in the final quarter, while holding the Bengals scoreless. At 8:26 of the fourth quarter Roethlisberger connected with Nate Washington for a 50-yard touchdown pass. Pittsburgh's Moore scored his third touchdown of the day—his second rushing—and Hines Ward's 16-yard touchdown reception gave the Steelers 31 points to the Bengals' ten. Moore finished the game with 120 yards rushing, while Santonio Holmes lead the Steelers with 89 receiving yards.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: vs. New York Giants
Willie Parker missed his fourth game due to a knee injury. Santonio Holmes also missed the game after a "small quantity of marijuana" was found in his car and the team placed him on the inactive list. Mewelde Moore opened up the game's scoring with a 32-yard touchdown run on the Steelers opening drive. The 5–1 New York Giants responded with a field goal on the ensuing drive. Pittsburgh stopped the Giants on four consecutive plays from inside the Steelers 2-yard line to force a turnover on downs. But were unable to score when two Ben Roethlisberger interceptions and a punt lead to two more field goals in the second quarter for the Giants.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: vs. New York Giants
At 10:10 of the third quarter Roethlisberger completed a 65-yard touchdown pass to Nate Washington to give the Steelers a 14–9 lead. Later in the quarter, a Steelers 53-yard touchdown pass was negated due to a holding penalty and Pittsburgh was forced to punt. In the final quarter Pittsburgh kept New York out of the end zone on three plays inside the 10-yard line, however, the Giants connected on a field goal to bring the Giants to within two points.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: vs. New York Giants
On the next drive, James Harrison—who was called in to replace injured long snapper Greg Warren—snapped the ball out of the end zone to give the Giants a safety and tie the game. The Giants drove after receiving the safety's kickoff to score a touchdown—taking a 21–14 lead with 3:07 remaining. Pittsburgh was unable to convert on their final two drives, as Roethlisberger threw his fourth interception of the day.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 9: at Washington Redskins
The night before the United States presidential election, the Steelers played in the nation's capitol, Washington, D.C.; both major party candidates were interviewed at half-time. The Washington Redskins took a 6–0 lead in the first quarter with two field goals. The Steelers defense shut out the Redskins in the second quarter while the Steelers scored on a field goal to cut the lead in half. A blocked punt with 2:21 remaining in the half led to a Steelers 1-yard touchdown run from Ben Roethlisberger.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 9: at Washington Redskins
Due to an injury to Roethlisberger, Byron Leftwich took over as quarterback in the second half. Leftwich completed a 50-yard pass to Nate Washington on the opening drive of the third quarter; the Steelers capped the drive with a Willie Parker touchdown run. Pittsburgh extended their lead in the final quarter with a touchdown pass from Leftwich to Santonio Holmes. The Redskins gained 124 yards in the final quarter, but were unable to score. The Steelers' 17 point win took their record to 6–2 on the season.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 10: vs. Indianapolis Colts
Both the Steelers and Indianapolis Colts drove more than 60 yards on their opening offensive drives, each scored a touchdown to bring the score to 7–7 after the first quarter. A Steelers 42-yard flea flicker advanced the ball to the 2 yard line. On the following play Mewelde Moore scored his second touchdown of the game. The Steelers extended their lead to ten, but an interception with 1:30 remaining in the half led to a Colts touchdown—bringing the halftime score to 17–14.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 10: vs. Indianapolis Colts
The Colts kicked a 36-yard field goal in the third quarter to tie the game at 17. A Steelers field goal in the final quarter gave them a three-point lead. The Colts scored on Peyton Manning's third touchdown pass of the game to take the lead with 3:10 remaining in regulation. The Steelers drove from their own 27 yard line to the Colts' 27 yard line, but a 4th down Hail Mary attempt from Roethlisberger was intercepted in the end zone as time expired.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs. San Diego Chargers
Pittsburgh entered week eleven with starters having missed 31 games due to injuries. The San Diego Chargers scored first, and led 7–0 after the first quarter of play. On the second play of the second quarter, the Steelers' James Harrison forced a fumble in the endzone, then forced a safety by tackling Marcus McNeill after he had recovered the fumble. Jeff Reed converted on a field goal as time expired on the first half, pulling the Steelers within two points.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs. San Diego Chargers
Reed kicked his second field goal of the game from 41-yards to give the Steelers the lead going into the final quarter. The Chargers drove 74 yards on 17 plays, converting on a field goal to give them the lead again, with 6:45 remaining. On the Steelers' ensuing drive, the offense drove 73 yards and Reed converted on his third field goal of the day, giving the Steelers an 11–10 lead with 15 seconds remaining in regulation. The Chargers attempted to score on their final play, but Troy Polamalu forced and recovered a fumble, returning it for a touchdown.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs. San Diego Chargers
The call was reversed when the officials ruled that San Diego had made an illegal forward pass. After the game, head referee Scott Green admitted that the touchdown should have been counted. With the touchdown not counted the final score kept Pittsburgh under the 5 point spread by which they were favored, and resulted in over $32 million being lost in bets. The game was the first regular season game in NFL history to end with a final score of 11–10.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
The Steelers concluded their primetime schedule with their only Thursday night game of the season. The Cincinnati Bengals took a 7–0 lead in the first quarter after a 62-yard drive. In the second quarter the Steelers tied the game on a touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Heath Miller. Jeff Reed converted a field goal with 1:56 remaining in the first half to give the Steelers a 10–7 halftime lead.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh added another ten points in the third quarter when Gary Russell ran for his first rushing touchdown of the season, after Reed's second field goal. In the final quarter, Roethlisberger rushed for a touchdown to put the Steelers up by a score of 27–10. Roethlisberger passed for 243 yards and one touchdown, while Santonio Holmes led the game with 84 receiving yards. James Farrior led the Steelers with 8 tackles.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 13: at New England Patriots
The Steelers fell behind the New England Patriots less than three minutes into the first quarter, after an interception of Ben Roethlisberger was driven to the endzone. The Steelers came back with 2:55 remaining in the initial quarter to convert on a 20-yard Jeff Reed field goal. The Patriots extended their lead to seven points with a 29-yard field goal in the second quarter. Pittsburgh drove 63 yards on nine plays, capping their drive with a touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes to tie the game at ten points at the halfway point.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 13: at New England Patriots
Pittsburgh took their first lead of the game on their first drive of the second half, after Reed's second field goal put them up by three points. On the ensuing kickoff the Steelers recovered a Patriots' fumble and Roethlisberger connected with Hines Ward for an 11-yard touchdown pass. James Harrison forced his first of two fumbles on the Patriots' next drive and the Steelers recovered as Reed added his third field goal of the game—putting the Steelers up 23–10. Gary Russell scored a touchdown after Lawrence Timmons returned an interception 89 yards to the Patriots' one-yard line.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: vs. Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys and the Steelers held each other scoreless in the first quarter. Troy Polamalu intercepted a pass in his fourth consecutive game, overall he led the league with seven interceptions. The Steelers scored first on a 24-yard field goal from Jeff Reed with 2:44 remaining in the second quarter. The Cowboys converted a 44-yard field goal as time expired on the first half to tie the game at 3–3.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: vs. Dallas Cowboys
A Tony Romo touchdown pass in the third quarter gave the Cowboys their first lead of the game. The lead was extended when Nick Folk converted his second field goal of the day, putting the Cowboys up 13–3 as the game entered the final quarter. Reed converted his second field goal of the game, bringing the Steelers within seven points with 7:20 remaining in regulation. On the Steelers next drive, Ben Roethelisberger threw a touchdown pass to Heath Miller—tying the game with 2:04 remaining. Two plays later Deshea Townsend intercepted Romo's next pass and returned the ball 25 yards, scoring a touchdown to give the Steelers a seven-point lead, which they held to the end of the game.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 15: at Baltimore Ravens
Entering their second game of the season against Baltimore, the Steelers' defense ranked first in the league, while the Ravens' defense ranked second. "We're going to win by any means necessary. If the defense has to score, if the special teams have to kick in a score, or if the offense has to score 50 points – whatever it takes to win," stated James Harrison prior to the game.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 15: at Baltimore Ravens
Both teams were held scoreless before a record crowd at M&T Bank Stadium until a Baltimore field goal gave the Ravens a 3–0 lead at 12:34 of the second quarter. Pittsburgh tied the game on a Jeff Reed field goal; Matt Stover converted a second time to give the Ravens a three-point lead at halftime. Stover kicked his third field goal of the game in the third quarter, extending their lead to six points. In the final quarter, Reed kicked his second field goal of the game to put the Steelers within three points.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 15: at Baltimore Ravens
On the Steelers final drive of the game, the offense drove 92 yards over 2:53, with Ben Roethlisberger completing a touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with 50 seconds remaining. The Ravens embarked on one more drive, but the Steelers second interception of the game prevented them from scoring. With the victory the Steelers won their second consecutive AFC North title and clinched a first round bye and became the first AFC franchise to amass 550 wins.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Tennessee Titans
Pittsburgh entered their final road game of the regular season with a chance to surpass the Tennessee Titans for the top seed in the AFC. The Steelers and the Titans were scoreless after the first quarter, when Tennessee took a 3–0 lead on the second play of the second quarter. Justin Gage's 34-yard reception later in the quarter extended the lead to 10–0. Pittsburgh's Santonio Holmes also received a touchdown pass in the second quarter, bringing the halftime score to 10–7.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Tennessee Titans
In the second half, Ben Roethlisberger threw his second touchdown pass of the game—to Hines Ward—to give the Steelers their only lead of the game. After a 21-yard touchdown run on Tennessee's ensuing drive, the Titans entered the final quarter with a three-point lead. The Titans scored two touchdowns in the final quarter, and the Steelers were unable overcome two Roethlisberger fumbles and two interceptions throughout the game.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. Cleveland Browns
Although guaranteed the second seed in the AFC Tomlin stated, "It is a big week for us." Willie Parker's 34-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the Steelers longest run of the season. With less than two minutes left in the first half, Ben Roethlisberger was hit by D'Qwell Jackson and Willie McGinist and had to be immobilized and carried off the field after suffering from a concussion. Byron Leftwich replaced Roethlisberger and scored the Steelers second touchdown of the game to give the Steelers a 14–0 lead at halftime.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. Cleveland Browns
Pittsburgh scored the only points of the third quarter when Jeff Reed converted his sole field goal attempt of the game. The Steelers added two touchdowns in the final quarter—on a Gary Russell rush and Tyrone Carter's return of his second interception of the game. "We were so upset we had to practice on Christmas, we had to take it out on the Browns," said Larry Foote after the victory.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Postseason
Their 12–4 regular season record gave the Steelers a second-place finish in the AFC. Along with the Tennessee Titans, who finished with the best record in the AFC, the Steelers received a bye during the opening week of the post-season. The 2008 season was the seventh of the past 16 that the Steelers were the first or second seed in the AFC entering the playoffs—never winning the Super Bowl during those seasons. Pittsburgh defeated the San Diego Chargers in the Divisional round, giving up a franchise post-season low of 15 Rushing yards. The victory was head coach Mike Tomlin's first in the post-season. The Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game. The Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII over the NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals on February 1.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Postseason, Game summaries, Wild Card round: Bye week
The team rested on December 29—the day following their final regular-season game. They began preparations for their first post-season game on Tuesday, December 30 through Thursday, January 1, before three days of weekend rest. Roethlisberger did not practice until Monday, January 5—Tomlin stated of the injury, "We will proceed slowly with him because we have that luxury. But we feel comfortable with where he is relative to Sunday and where he’s capable of being next week." Although the January 1 practice was expected to be normal, Tomlin allowed players to leave after team meetings and a walk-through. Multiple Steelers stated that they would watch the games of the Wild Card round. Some including James Farrior and Ryan Clark watched as fans; however, Chris Hoke said, "I will be watching the guys I am going against... That is how I watch it."


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Divisional Round: vs. San Diego Chargers
Pittsburgh hosted the San Diego Chargers at Heinz Field due to the Chargers' overtime victory over the Indianapolis Colts during the Wild Card round. The Chargers scored on the game's first drive with a 41-yard pass from Philip Rivers to Vincent Jackson for a touchdown. After the Steelers defense stopped the Chargers on their next drive, Pittsburgh's Santonio Holmes returned a punt 67 yards to tie the game at seven. With two minutes remaining in the first half Nate Kaeding converted a 42-yard field goal to reclaim the lead for the Chargers. Pittsburgh's offense responded with a 7 play, 66 yard drive in 1:33 to take their first lead of the game after a 3-yard touchdown run from Willie Parker.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Divisional Round: vs. San Diego Chargers
The Steelers opened the second half with a 7:56, 13 play drive which concluded with Ben Roethlisberger's sole touchdown pass to Heath Miller. San Diego had one offensive play in the third quarter, which resulted in an interception. The Steelers entered the final quarter with a 21–10 lead. Gary Russell scored on a 1-yard touchdown rush to extend the Steelers lead. The Chargers scored on their next possession, when Legedu Naanee received Rivers' second touchdown pass of the game to conclude a 73-yard drive. With 4:17 remaining Willie Parker scored his second touchdown of the game—with a 16-yard run. The Chargers' Darren Sproles concluded the game's scoring with a 62-yard touchdown reception, bringing the final score to 35–24.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Championship: vs. Baltimore Ravens
Pittsburgh hosted the Baltimore Ravens—who defeated the Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card and Divisional rounds respectively—for the AFC Championship Game. During the week before the game, Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl temporarily changed his name to Luke Steelerstahl in order to remove the "Raven". Though the change was not official the mayor did comment that "As soon as [he] heard [the idea], [he] thought it was a great idea."


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Championship: vs. Baltimore Ravens
Pittsburgh scored the game's first points, with Jeff Reed converting on field goals from 34 and 42 yards in the first quarter. Santonio Holmes received a pass from Ben Roethlisberger in the second quarter and ran for a 65-yard touchdown to give the Steelers a 13–0 lead. Baltimore's Willis McGahee ran into the endzone for a touchdown with 2:44 remaining in the second quarter—bringing the halftime score to 13–7. Reed converted his third field goal of the game from 46 yards in the third quarter. McGahee scored his second touchdown of the game with 9:32 remaining in the final quarter bringing the Ravens within two points. Troy Polamalu intercepted a pass from Joe Flacco and returned it 40 yards to score the final touchdown of the game, giving Pittsburgh a 23–14 victory.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Postseason, Game summaries, Super Bowl: at Arizona Cardinals
Jeff Reed concluded the first drive of Super Bowl XLIII with a field goal—giving the Steelers a 3–0 lead over the Arizona Cardinals. Gary Russell scored on a 1-yard touchdown rush on the Steelers' second drive and the Cardinals responded by scoring a touchdown on the ensuing drive. On the final play of the first half James Harrison intercepted a pass from Kurt Warner and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown. As he did in the first quarter, Reed scored the sole points of the third quarter giving the Steelers a 20–7 lead entering the final quarter.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Postseason, Game summaries, Super Bowl: at Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals scored three consecutive times in the fourth quarter—with two Larry Fitzgerald touchdown receptions and a Steelers' holding call in the endzone that resulted in a safety—to give them a 23–20 lead with 2:37 remaining in regulation. Pittsburgh drove 78 yards in 2:02 and scored on a touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes. The Steelers four point lead held as time expired and the Pittsburgh Steelers became the first team to win six Super Bowl titles.


2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Postseason, Game summaries, Super Bowl: at Arizona Cardinals
Santonio Holmes was voted the game's Most Valuable Player. Mike Tomlin became the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl. Harrison's interception return was the longest play in Super Bowl history. On February 3 a parade was held in Pittsburgh to celebrate the victory, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette an estimated 400,000 people attended. The city's name was ceremonially changed to "the City of Sixburgh" for the duration of 2009.


2008 Players Championship
The 2008 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held May 8–11 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 35th Players Championship  and was won by Sergio García,  in a sudden-death playoff over Paul Goydos.


2008 Players Championship
Defending champion Phil Mickelson finished nine strokes back, in a tie for 21st place.


2008 Players Championship, Venue
This was the 27th Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course and it remained at 7,215 yards (6,597 m).


2008 Players Championship, Field
Michael Allen, Robert Allenby, Stephen Ames, Stuart Appleby, Ryan Armour, Tommy Armour III, Woody Austin, Aaron Baddeley, Briny Baird, Brian Bateman, Cameron Beckman, Rich Beem, Jason Bohn, Bart Bryant, Jonathan Byrd, Ángel Cabrera, Mark Calcavecchia, Chad Campbell, Michael Campbell, Paul Casey, Alex Čejka, K. J. Choi, Daniel Chopra, Stewart Cink, Tim Clark, José Cóceres, Fred Couples, Ben Crane, Ben Curtis, Brian Davis, Chris DiMarco, Luke Donald, Ken Duke, Steve Elkington, Ernie Els, Bob Estes, Niclas Fasth, Steve Flesch, Fred Funk, Jim Furyk, Sergio García, Robert Garrigus, Brian Gay, Lucas Glover, Mathew Goggin, Retief Goosen, Jason Gore, Paul Goydos, Nathan Green, Mathias Grönberg, Bill Haas, Todd Hamilton, Søren Hansen, Pádraig Harrington, Dudley Hart, J. P. Hayes, J. J. Henry, Mark Hensby, Tim Herron, Charley Hoffman, J. B. Holmes, Charles Howell III, Ryuji Imada, Freddie Jacobson, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Dustin Johnson, Richard S. Johnson, Zach Johnson, Matt Jones, Jerry Kelly, Anthony Kim, Greg Kraft, Cliff Kresge, Matt Kuchar, Bernhard Langer, Stephen Leaney, Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard, Peter Lonard, Davis Love III, Steve Lowery, Jeff Maggert, Hunter Mahan, John Mallinger, Steve Marino, Shigeki Maruyama, Troy Matteson, Billy Mayfair, George McNeill, Rocco Mediate, John Merrick, Shaun Micheel, Phil Mickelson, Ryan Moore, Kevin Na, Sean O'Hair, Nick O'Hern, Joe Ogilvie, Geoff Ogilvy, José María Olazábal, Jeff Overton, Rod Pampling, Jesper Parnevik, Pat Perez, Tom Pernice Jr., Kenny Perry, Tim Petrovic, Carl Pettersson, Ian Poulter, Brett Quigley, Jeff Quinney, John Rollins, Andrés Romero, Justin Rose, Rory Sabbatini, Adam Scott, John Senden, Vijay Singh, Heath Slocum, Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Stadler, Henrik Stenson, Richard Sterne, Steve Stricker, Kevin Sutherland, Vaughn Taylor, Nicholas Thompson, David Toms, D. J. Trahan, Bo Van Pelt, Scott Verplank, Camilo Villegas, Johnson Wagner, Charles Warren, Nick Watney, Bubba Watson, Boo Weekley, Mike Weir, Lee Westwood, Brett Wetterich, Charlie Wi, Tim Wilkinson, Dean Wilson, Mark Wilson


2008 Players Championship, Round summaries, Final round
In windy conditions, the final pairing struggled on the final day; overnight leader Paul Goydos managed a 2-over-par 74, whilst Kenny Perry crashed to an 81 (+9). In the groups ahead, the pairing of Jeff Quinney and Sergio García produced some of the best golf of the day, and García became the clubhouse leader at 5-under-par 283. Goydos still led, but missed a 15-foot (4.6 m) par putt to win on the final hole, forcing a sudden-death playoff.


2008 Players Championship, Round summaries, Final round, Playoff
At the first playoff hole, the infamous par-3 17th, Goydos' went first and his tee shot found water. Garcia stayed dry, stopping 4 feet (1.2 m) from the pin and the playoff was essentially over. Goydos finished the hole with a double bogey to give Garcia three putts to win; he two-putted for par and the title. It was the first playoff at the Players Championship since 1987 and the first to start at the 17th hole.


2008 Players' Championship
The 2008 Tylenol Players' Championship is the last Grand Slam event of both the World Curling Tour and Women's Curling Tour for the 2007-08 season. This was the sixteenth time the event has taken place, and the third time since it was switched to joint men's/women's format. The event was held at the Mile One Centre in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador April 15–20. Since the event is a part of the Olympic qualifying process in Canada, only Canadian teams were invited. The total purse for each event is $100,000.


2008 Players' Championship
Both of these teams were awarded 40 CTRS points for their feats at the tournament.


2008 Players' Championship, Men's, Teams
Key: CTRS refers to the CCA rankings and WCT refers to the money list ranking on the World Curling Tour.


2008 Players' Championship, Women's, Teams
Key: CTRS refers to the CCA rankings and WCT refers to the money list ranking on the Women's World Curling Tour.


2008 Plymouth City Council election
The 2008 Plymouth City Council election was held on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Plymouth City Council in England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party remained in control of the council with an increased majority.


2008 Plymouth City Council election, Overall results
Note: All changes in vote share are in comparison to the corresponding 2004 election.


2008 Plymouth City Council election, Ward results, Plympton Erle
Note: This Plympton Erle seat was won by Lock for the Liberal Democrats the previous time it was contested in 2004, but he defected to the Conservatives in 2007.


2008 Pocono 500
The 2008 Pocono 500 was the fourteenth race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule and was run on Sunday, June 8 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The race was the first NASCAR telecast on TNT for the 2008 season starting at 12:30 PM US EDT and on radio via MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio at 1:15 PM US EDT.


2008 Pocono 500, Qualifying
Jimmie Johnson started out on the pole position, but almost an hour later, Kasey Kahne bumped him. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. teammates Mark Martin and Regan Smith made up the second row, while Joe Nemechek and Carl Edwards made up their third row.


2008 Pocono 500, Qualifying
Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:   J.J. Yeley (#96), Kenny Wallace (#87-WD)


2008 Pocono 500, Happy Hour
It was anything but happy for points leader Kyle Busch, attempting to race all three series in three days in three sites. His primary car crashed and will be forced to a back-up car and start from the rear as a result. Also going to the back of the field was Sam Hornish Jr. for the same reason. Carl Edwards ran the fastest lap of the session at 164.769 mph. Eventual race winner Kasey Kahne ran the second lap of the session, which was 0.6 seconds slower than Edwards lap.


2008 Pocono 500, Race, Information
The woes of the #18 team continued into the race, when Kyle Busch crashed into the wall early into the race, and had to replace the nose, finishing dead last in the 43-car field, changing a 142-point lead to a 21-point lead to Jeff Burton. Greg Biffle suffered a pit road speeding penalty late in the race under green, causing him to lose the race.


2008 Pocono 500, Race, Information
Carl Edwards looked to be a favorite to win the race in the closing laps, but a flat tire under a caution with about 20 laps to go destroyed his chances, as there were 33 cars on the lead lap. As the green flag came out, polesitter Kasey Kahne took the lead with 15 laps remaining from Brian Vickers in the Team Red Bull #83 Toyota and won his second points race of the season within the last three weeks.


2008 Pohang Steelers season
The 2008 season is Pohang Steelers' 26th season in the K-League in South Korea. Pohang Steelers competed in K-League, League Cup, Korean FA Cup and AFC Champions League.


2008 Pohang Steelers season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008 Pohang Steelers season, K-League, Regular season
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points


2008 Poinsettia Bowl
The 2008 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl was the fourth edition of the college football bowl game, and was played at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The game started at 5 PM US PST on Tuesday, December 23, 2008. The game, simulcast on ESPN and ESPN Radio with Rece Davis, Mark May, and Lou Holtz announcing, pit the Boise State Broncos against the Texas Christian Horned Frogs. In the game, TCU overcame a 13–0 deficit to pull off an impressive 17–16 win over Boise State.


2008 Poinsettia Bowl
With Boise State ranked 9th and TCU ranked 11th, this bowl pairing featured teams both ranked higher than the teams playing in a BCS game during the same season, the 2009 Orange Bowl, a first in BCS history.


2008 Poinsettia Bowl
TCU and Boise State would face off in a bowl game again the following season when both played in a BCS game, the 2010 Fiesta Bowl.


2008 Poland tornado outbreak
A tornado outbreak struck southern and central Poland between 15 and 16 August 2008. Overall, it killed four people. Tornadoes affected Opole Voivodeship, Silesian Voivodeship and Łódź Voivodeship. The European Storm Forecast Experiment issued a Level 3 which means there could potentially be a major severe thunderstorm outbreak.


2008 Poland tornado outbreak, Tornado outbreak
Multiple supercells formed in southern Poland on the afternoon of August 15, 2008 and produced several significant tornadoes that resulted in many casualties and significant damage. The main tornado-producer was a long-tracked right moving supercell with a BWER and a hook echo visible on radar which formed in southern Poland and moved north-northeastward, spawning several strong tornadoes. The outbreak began when a weak tornado touched down in Knurów causing little damage.


2008 Poland tornado outbreak, Tornado outbreak
While the first tornado was occurring, the main tornado-producer produced its first tornado, a large and violent multiple-vortex that struck the villages of Dolnica, Kopanina, Zimna Wódka, Kolonia Jaryszów, Balcarzowice, Błotnica Strzelecka and Dąbrówka with a total path of 20 km damaging or destroying hundreds of buildings and wounding 15 people, with a width of 500–1000 m before dissipating in a wooded area. It was given a rating of high-end F3/low-end F4. The supercell produced another multiple-vortex tornado near Piłka and struck the northern side of town, causing little damage.


2008 Poland tornado outbreak, Tornado outbreak
Northeast of Rusinowice the tornado quickly became large and destroyed a large swath of forest, its path still clearly visible on satellite imagery today. The tornado then hit the western suburbs of Kalina where it killed 1 person and caused more tree damage before it probably dissipated east of Herby, where the supercell either quickly recycled and produced a new F3 tornado that struck the city of Blachownia, or the same tornado continued into Blachownia. After the tornado that impacted Blachownia dissipated, the supercell produced an F2 tornado struck the town of Mykanów.


2008 Poland tornado outbreak, Tornado outbreak
This tornado flipped a bus while it was crossing a highway, and a video taken by one of the passengers can be seen on YouTube today. At 16:40 UTC the same supercell produced another multiple-vortex and non-fully condensed  F3 which struck the west part of Radomsko, destroying or damaging about 100 houses on a path of about 4–5 km. Four other tornadoes touched down, including another F3 and an F2 before the main tornado-producing supercell decayed. Another F1 tornado touched down in Radom, likely associated with a different supercell, before activity on the 15th ended. The outbreak continued on 16 August, producing two tornadoes, both were F1, one in Osipy Kolonia and one, the strongest (T3), struck Seroczyn damaging 130 buildings.


2008 Poland tornado outbreak, Notable tornadoes, Jaryszów tornado
The tornado start at 15:00 UTC (17:00 local time) just north-east of Dolnica cutting down trees and power poles. The multiple-vortex tornado continued its path and struck the village of Kopanina with a width of about 600–700 m causing serious damage to homes. The wedge tornado changed direction pointing south side of the city of Zimna Wódka where 15–20 buildings were damaged or destroyed. The tornado changed direction and struck Kolonia Jaryszów.


2008 Poland tornado outbreak, Notable tornadoes, Jaryszów tornado
There the tornado reached a maximum width of 1000 m and many buildings were damaged or destroyed and on the highway A4 some cars and trucks were thrown tens of meters away and the trees were debarked. Crossing the highway the tornado struck Sieroniowice and Balcarzowice where many buildings were almost razed to the ground (F4–T8 damage) and some people were injured.


2008 Poland tornado outbreak, Notable tornadoes, Jaryszów tornado
After Balcarzowice the tornado struck Błotnica Strzelecka with a width of about 400–500 m causing severe damage, classifiable as a strong F2 (T5), and finally the tornado struck the forest between Błotnica and Dąbrówka causing F2 sporadic damage and causing damage classifiable as a low F1 (T2). Throughout the tornado was classified as an F3 T7 and it damaged about 150 buildings and injured 15 people. No one was killed by the storm.


2008 Poland tornado outbreak, Notable tornadoes, Rusinowice-Kalina-Herby tornado
The second tornado from the main tornado-producing supercell formed near Piłka and then struck the North side of Piłka at 15:30 UTC, producing little damage. The tornado continued on to Rusinowice, where it significantly intensified into a strong tornado as it passed through the southern and eastern part of the town, where several buildings were destroyed. The tornado continued to quickly intensify and quickly expanded as it moved northeast of Rusinowice, where it snapped, uprooted, and debarked hundreds of trees in a forest.


2008 Poland tornado outbreak, Notable tornadoes, Rusinowice-Kalina-Herby tornado
The tornado reached its maximum width of at least half a mile north of Ciesnowia, clipping the northern side of town and leveling entire swaths of forest, denuding and debarking hundreds of trees. The tornado then continued moving north-northeast and caused its worst damage in the western suburbs of Kalina, where many homes were leveled. One woman lost her life in this area. The tornado then turned to the northeast, producing more tree damage before it is assumed to have dissipated after passing southeast of Herby, where the supercell quickly produced another F3 tornado that struck Blachownia. The parent supercell brought 4 centimetres (1.6 in) hail to some places while the tornado was in progress.


2008 Poland tornado outbreak, Notable tornadoes, Mykanów tornado
The tornado struck the town of Mykanów at 16:20 UTC hitting the southern and the eastern part of the town causing damage to some houses, some with the roof torn off. The tornado probably touched down near Topolów or Radostków, but this may have been the same tornado that hit Blachownia causing F3 damage along its path. The storm crossed national road 1 where a bus was turned and lifted into the air injuring the 40 people inside, 10 seriously. The tornado struck Grabowa and Bogusławice causing T4 (F2) damage and low F1 damage in Kruszyna before it dissipated.


2008 Poland tornado outbreak, Effects
In total, 4 people were killed and about 770 buildings sustained damage. It was strongest tornado outbreak in Poland in many years. Many downbursts occurred between Slovak Republic and Poland, some with winds up to 140–150 km/h causing severe damage to some towns and 2 deaths in Slovak Republic. Large hail caused injuries and destruction; in Poland the hail reached 8–9 cm but also 10–13 cm in diameter (but this is not confirmed) injuring 10 people and causing severe damage.


2008 Polaris Music Prize
The 2008 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 30, 2008 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto. The prize was won by Caribou for his album Andorra.


2008 Polaris Music Prize
Unlike in prior years, the Polaris Prize committee did not release a compilation album of songs from the nominated albums. Instead, customers who purchased one of the nominated albums in a record store were given a free card entitling them to download one free song from each album at iTunes.


2008 Polaris Music Prize, Jury
The 2008 grand jury consisted of Mike Bell (Calgary Herald), Denise Benson (Eye Weekly), Evelyn Cote (Ici), Lana Gay (CBC Radio 3), Kevin Kelly (Newfoundland Herald), Joshua Ostroff (AOL Canada), James Stewart Reaney (London Free Press), Li Robbins (CBC Radio/The Globe and Mail), Hannah Simone (MuchMusic), Darryl Sterdan (Winnipeg Sun) and Frank Yang (Chromewaves).


2008 Polaris Music Prize, Longlist
On June 12, for the first time in the three-year history of the award, the preliminary 40-album longlist was published.


2008 Polish Air Force C-295 Mirosławiec crash
The Mirosławiec air accident occurred in Poland on 23 January 2008 when an EADS CASA C-295 military transport plane crashed as it approached the Mirosławiec runway, killing all passengers and crew. The Polish Air Force plane had been flying from Warsaw to the 12th Air Base in Mirosławiec, and the 20 victims included high-ranking Polish air force officers.


2008 Polish Air Force C-295 Mirosławiec crash
Although this was the first serious accident of a CASA C-295, after the accident all Polish C-295s were grounded until further notice. In the subsequent investigations the primary cause of the accident was determined to be an inadvertent loss of spatial and situational awareness by the aircraft crew during the landing approach in poor weather conditions, with a low cloud ceiling and little visibility. A number of secondary causes and contributing factors were also found by the investigation after the accident, including deficiencies in the air traffic controllers' skills and methods of directing and controlling the landing. Military experts had qualified it as "the safest plane of the Polish air force".


2008 Polish Air Force C-295 Mirosławiec crash
The Polish defence minister Bogdan Klich dismissed five air force personnel after the accident investigation concluded that multiple failings contributed to the crash.


2008 Polish Figure Skating Championships
The 2008 Polish Figure Skating Championships (Polish: Mistrzostwa Polski w łyżwiarstwie figurowym 2007/2008) were held in two parts:


2008 Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico primaries
The 2008 Popular Democratic Party primaries were the primary elections by which voters of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) chose its nominees for various political offices of Puerto Rico for the 2008 general elections. They were held on March 9, 2008. Incumbent Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá faced no opposition for his candidacy, making him the official candidate for the elections.


2008 Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico primaries, Background
At the time of the primaries, incumbent Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá was allegedly being investigated by federal authorities for allegations of irregularities in his campaign finances. However, despite this, the party supported his candidacy for Governor.


2008 Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico primaries, Background
Also, one of the most contested campaigns was the one for Mayor of Ponce, with incumbent Francisco Zayas Seijo facing the former administrator of the city, Carlos Jirau.


2008 Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico primaries, Candidates, Senate, District
The Popular Democratic Party held primaries on only 4 of the 8 senatorial districts.


2008 Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico primaries, Candidates, House of Representatives, District
The Popular Democratic Party held primaries on 24 of the 40 representative districts.


2008 Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico primaries, Candidates, Mayors
The Popular Democratic Party held primaries on 23 of 78 municipalities.


2008 Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico primaries, Aftermath, Acevedo Vilá's candidacy
Several weeks after the primaries, Incumbent Governor and PPD candidate, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, was officially indicted on 19 counts of campaign finance violations. This put his candidacy in jeopardy, and several candidates where taunted as possible replacements. However, Acevedo Vilá decided to run for reelection, and was openly endorsed by the Party in a massive caucus held at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum on April 2008. Acevedo Vilá would lose the 2008 general elections. However, on March 2009, he was found not guilty of all charges by a jury.


2008 Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico primaries, Aftermath, Split in Ponce
In the primary for the Mayor of Ponce, incumbent Francisco Zayas Seijo narrowly beat his opponent, former Ponce administrator, Carlos Jirau. Zayas beat Jirau by less than 30 votes. After the defeat, Jirau appealed the primary claiming there were irregularities in the process. He also started an independent movement called Movimiento Autónomo Ponceño. At the 2008 general elections, both Zayas and Jirau were defeated by the PNP candidate Mayita Meléndez. This was the first time a PNP candidate had won in Ponce in more than 20 years.


2008 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany
The 2008 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland season was the 23rd German Porsche Carrera Cup season. It began on 13 April at Hockenheim and finished on 26 October at the same circuit, after nine races. It ran as a support championship for the 2008 DTM season. René Rast won the first of his two championships with the MRS-Team.


2008 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, Championship standings, Drivers' championship
† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.


2008 Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain
The 2008 Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain was the sixth season of the one-make championship. It consisted of 20 rounds, beginning on 29 March at Brands Hatch and finishing on 21 September at the same venue. The series supported the British Touring Car Championship throughout the season. Tim Harvey claimed his first title, having finished as runner-up to Richard Westbrook in 2004, Damien Faulkner in 2006 and James Sutton in 2007, Michael Caine finished the season as runner-up. Other front runners throughout the season were Sam Hancock, Tim Bridgman and Phil Quaife. Guest drivers Stefan Hodgetts, son of former British Touring Car champion Chris, and Nick Tandy were also victorious. Former BTCC race winner Paul O'Neill was another notable guest driver.


2008 Porsche Centre Gold Coast 500
The 2008 Porsche Centre Gold Coast 500 was the seventh 500km race held at Queensland Raceway. It was held on 15 November 2008, and only attracted nine entrants.


2008 Porsche Centre Gold Coast 500, Results, Qualifying 1
Qualifying session 1 was held on Saturday, 15 November, at 10:30am.


2008 Porsche Centre Gold Coast 500, Results, Qualifying 2
Qualifying session 2 was held on Saturday, 15 November, at 11:40am.


2008 Porsche Centre Gold Coast 500, Results, Race
The race was held on Saturday, 15 November, at 3:45pm.


2008 Porsche Centre Gold Coast 500, Results, Race
* Cars 11 and 29 finished first and second respectively, however were relegated to positions two and three after the race.


2008 Porsche Supercup
The 2008 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season was the 16th Porsche Supercup season. The races were all supporting races in the 2008 Formula One season. It travelled to ten circuits across Europe and also a double-header in Bahrain.


2008 Porsche Supercup, Championship standings
† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.


2008 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
The 2008 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 31st edition of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and was part of the Tier II Series of the 2008 WTA Tour. It took place at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, from 27 September through 5 October 2008. Second-seeded Jelena Janković won the singles title.


2008 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Finals, Doubles
Anna-Lena Grönefeld /  Patty Schnyder defeated  Květa Peschke /  Rennae Stubbs 6–2, 6–4


2008 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix – Doubles
Květa Peschke and Rennae Stubbs were the defending champions and first seed, but Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Patty Schnyder, who entered the tournament with a wild card, defeated them 6–2, 6–4, in the final.


2008 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix – Singles
Justine Henin was the defending champion, but retired from the sport on May 14, 2008.


2008 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix – Singles
Jelena Janković won in the final 6–4, 6–3, against Nadia Petrova. Janković became the highest ranking singles player by winning the final.


2008 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix – Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2008 Port Macquarie state by-election
A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Port Macquarie on 18 October 2008. This was triggered by the resignation of independent MP Rob Oakeshott who was elected to the federal seat of Lyne at a by-election the previous month.


2008 Port Macquarie state by-election
The writ for the Port Macquarie by-election was issued on 29 August, which was also when the rolls closed. Candidate nominations closed on 18 September. The by-election was contested on the same boundaries drawn for Port Macquarie at the 2007 state election. At that election, the independent MP won the seat over the Nationals by a two-party preferred margin of 78.2% to 21.8%.


2008 Port Macquarie state by-election, Background
Created in a 1988 redistribution, Port Macquarie has always been based on Port Macquarie and Laurieton–Camden Haven. It was a safe National Party seat prior to the election of Oakeshott, who was MP for Port Macquarie since 1996, becoming an independent in 2002.


2008 Port Macquarie state by-election, Campaign
Federal Hume MP Alby Schultz was seen campaigning a few times for Besseling, referring to him as "the pick of the candidates", with similar support from Senator Bill Heffernan, sparking anger and resentment within the coalition.


2008 Port Macquarie state by-election, Results
Despite independent Rob Oakeshott moving into federal politics, another independent, Peter Besseling, retained the seat, winning on the primary and two party vote.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal
The dismissal of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council on 27 February 2008 marked the end of a series of events involving a project which was initiated in 2001 in the New South Wales coastal town of Port Macquarie to build a cultural and entertainment centre, known to locals as the Glasshouse. The project, initially a joint venture with the management of the neighbouring shopping centre, Port Central, was originally expected to cost the Council A$7.3 million. However, by late 2007, despite the centre not yet having opened, the costs had blown out to over A$41.7 million, with interest repayments likely to extend the council's liability to A$66 million.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal
On 27 July 2007, a full public inquiry was announced by the Minister for Local Government, Paul Lynch. The inquiry reported its findings in February 2008. It found that the council had failed to provide appropriate financial and project management and had lost control of the costs, that the project costs had harmed the council's ability to provide services and amenities to the community, and that the council's communications management strategy had resulted in inadequate consultation with the public and inappropriate regard to their concerns.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal
The Minister for Local Government dismissed the council and its mayor, Rob Drew, and appointed an administrator upon receiving the inquiry's report. Drew was critical of the process throughout, maintaining that errors had been made and misinformation had been accepted as fact; however, the New South Wales Urban Task Force, a property development lobby group, believed the sacking served as a warning to other councils to stick to "core responsibilities".


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal
The events continued to impact upon the community and the individuals involved. At a federal by-election for the normally safe National Party seat of Lyne in which Port Macquarie is located, the former mayor, who was the endorsed National candidate, failed to win against Rob Oakeshott, an independent politician, and a former state member of parliament who had been openly critical of the council throughout the drama. During the period under administration, voluntary redundancies were offered to 27 staff in order to improve the council's financial position.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal
In 2012, the community elected a representative council and mayor, replacing the administrator appointed in 2008.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, Background
On 30 March 1999, the Council met to initiate planning for a centre to house the visual and performing arts at the former Civic Centre site in the Port Macquarie central business district. It recommended a project plan be developed by 2001. On 21 August 2000 a Cultural Facilities Taskforce was created. In December 2000, the Council approached the management of the neighbouring shopping centre, Port Central, about a possible joint venture on the site, and the Council endorsed further negotiations on 28 May 2001.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, Background
The joint venture was expected to cost around A$13.5 million, with the Council contributing A$7.3 million. The joint venture collapsed in August 2002 because the council was not prepared to accommodate the needs of their commercial partner to make the project viable, and decided to go it alone. The new centre became an icon building under the direction of the council's General Manager, managed by a Project Control group including the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, Background
The costs blew out considerably by 28 June 2004, when the Council unanimously backed the project, outlays had already reached A$15–A$20 million, and by late 2007 they had reached A$41.7 million. This was due to a range of factors including, that the Council bought and demolished neighbouring shops to make the facility big enough to include meeting rooms and conference facilities, and a drain built by convicts in the 19th century, and still in remarkably good condition, was discovered by archaeologists and needed to be preserved.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, The Payne report
In October 2006, the NSW Department of Local Government announced it would investigate the council's financial management and would try to determine whether it properly considered the impact the added costs could have on its other functions. The investigation, which commenced on 6 November 2006, was conducted under Section 430 of the  (NSW), which allows the Director-General of the Department to investigate any aspect of a Council or of its work or activities.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, The Payne report
The report, delivered in May 2007 to the Minister of Local Government, concluded that the Council did not exercise due diligence and that there had been a failure to scope the project, and recommended to the Minister that a Section 740 public inquiry, which would be independent and have some of the powers and protections of a Royal Commission, be held. A Section 740 inquiry is a necessary step before a Council can be dismissed.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, The Payne report
On 21 May 2007, Councillors Lisa Intemann and Jamie Harrison, who believed the council had exceeded its mandate and failed to consult with the community, led a public rally in Port Macquarie. The Mayor, Rob Drew, believed the centre development should be an exciting time for Port Macquarie and was critical of opposition to the project, characterising it as "slanderous accusations" and "fomenting discontent".


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, The Payne report
He acknowledged the report raised concerns about the processes behind the project, but insisted the project itself was sound, saying in a press release, "I for one make no apologies that this is a multi-purpose facility which will provide for performers, community groups, which will provide for conferences, seminars and meetings, which will provide for activities never seen before in Port Macquarie." Harrison meanwhile told ABC News, "The report has said categorically that [the] Council has lied to the community about the cost of the arts centre at every opportunity it's had and it's put a gloss or a spin on it".


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, The Payne report
By June, the mayor was looking for political support to avert a full public inquiry. The National Party, whose members were dominant on the council, and MLC Melinda Pavey had been particularly critical of the actions of the Department of Local Government in the General Purpose Standing Committee. Local independent MP, Rob Oakeshott said, however, that the council should instead address the findings of the report, and stop arguing about the facts or using emotional arguments in support of it. He also cautioned against getting politicians involved, stressing that this was a formal legal process.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, The Willan inquiry
On 27 July 2007, the Minister for Local Government announced a Section 740 inquiry into Port Macquarie-Hastings Council and the Glasshouse project, with particular regard to aspects of financial and project management, the project's impact on the council to provide services and amenities to the community, and the openness and transparency of decisions made by the council. He appointed Frank Willan, a former administrator of Glen Innes Severn Council in 2004, as Commissioner. The mayor expressed disappointment, asserted the methodology of the earlier Section 430 investigation was faulty, and believed the council's management and decision-making processes would be vindicated.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, The Willan inquiry
After 18 days of public hearings and a total of 765 submissions, Willan released the inquiry report in February 2008. The report contained a number of critical findings. The key finding was that the Council and its Councillors had not been rigorous in seeking accurate information about the project, had been swayed by developers and supporters and had failed to plan and manage the project and had lost control of the "uncontrollably escalating" cost. The result was an adverse impact upon works and services in other areas of the council's operation.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, The Willan inquiry
The Glasshouse, in the commissioner's view, would not have been able to generate the projected income once it opened. It further found that the community had been "consistently misled", that the council had improperly used its support group to campaign against critics and its "communication strategies have driven its processes". The council had therefore failed to meet its charter. Willan recommended to the Minister that all civic offices be declared vacant, an administrator be appointed, and that changes to the way Councils dealt with their own proposals be enacted.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, Sacking and aftermath
Upon the report's release, the Local Government Minister, Paul Lynch, concluded on 27 February 2008 that it gave him no choice but to dismiss the Council and appoint Dick Persson, who had administered Warringah Council in 2003, to serve as administrator. He said of the development, "What seems to have happened is that a reasonable community facility has been treated by the Council as an icon which must be built come hell or high water, regardless of the cost to ratepayers." He emphasised that in his view, incompetence rather than corruption was the reason for the cost blowout, which would reach A$66 million once interest repayments were accounted for. The outgoing Mayor, Rob Drew, criticised the dismissal, calling it "atrocious".


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, Sacking and aftermath
The New South Wales Urban Task Force, a property development lobby group, believed the sacking served as a warning to other Councils to stick to "core responsibilities", and in late March, the administrator adopted stricter financial measures listed in an independent review of the project.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, Sacking and aftermath
In September and October 2008, by-elections in the Port Macquarie area at both federal and state level gave a new forum to some of the players in the controversy. When the member for the federal seat of Lyne, Mark Vaile, retired from politics on 30 July 2008, Oakeshott and Drew, the latter standing as the endorsed National Party candidate, emerged as the major candidates in the resulting by-election on 6 September. With the Glasshouse as a major issue, Oakeshott won 63.80% of the primary vote to Drew's 22.88%, with a further 10.07% coming to Oakeshott via preferences. In Oakeshott's old state seat of Port Macquarie, former Councillors Jamie Harrison and Lisa Intemann ran as independents, between them attracting 15.8% of the vote, whilst former Oakeshott staffer Peter Besseling went on to win the election against the endorsed National candidate.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, Sacking and aftermath
On 17 December 2008, the council announced that some staff would be offered voluntary redundancies as part of a strategy to address the $7.1 million deficit it faced for the 2008–2009 financial year without increasing Council rates. The following day, it set a deadline of 19 January 2009 and clarified that 27 positions were being made redundant, while 29 vacancies would not be filled. The redundancies proceeded as planned, although forced redundancies down the track were not ruled out.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, Sacking and aftermath
On 20 January 2009, administrator Dick Persson announced his decision to step down at the end of the month, largely due to the demands of being away from his Sydney home for several days a week. He described the Glasshouse project as a "wrong decision" by the council, attributing it to "woolly thinking with the best of intentions from people not experienced with planning and delivering major capital works." He was replaced in the role by Garry Payne, head of the Department of Local Government.


2008 Port Macquarie-Hastings Council dismissal, Sacking and aftermath
On 8 September 2012, the community elected a mayor and councillors, to form a new Port Macquarie-Hastings Council. Former State member for Port Macquarie, Peter Besseling, was elected mayor and Lisa Intemann, the only member of the dismissed council to contest the 2012 election, was re-elected as councillor.


2008 Portimão Superbike World Championship round
The 2008 Portimão Superbike World Championship round was the last round of the 2008 Superbike World Championship season. It took place on the weekend of October 31-November 2, 2008, at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.


2008 Portland LumberJax season
The Portland LumberJax are a lacrosse team based in Portland, Oregon playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2008 season was the 3rd in franchise history.


2008 Portland LumberJax season
After a disappointing 1-5 start and a mediocre 6-10 season, the LumberJax caught fire in the playoffs, defeating both San Jose and Calgary in their own buildings to advance to their first ever NLL Championship game in only their third season. The Jax put up a good fight, but the Buffalo Bandits defeated the Jax 14–13 to win the Champion's Cup.


2008 Portland LumberJax season, Regular season, Conference standings
x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games PlayedW: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowedDifferential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game


2008 Portland LumberJax season, Player stats, Runners (Top 10)
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; LB = Loose Balls; PIM = Penalty Minutes


2008 Portland LumberJax season, Player stats, Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games Played; MIN = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Against; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average


2008 Portland Timbers season
The 2008 Portland Timbers season was the 8th season for the Portland Timbers—the third incarnation of a club to bear the Portland Timbers name—of the now-defunct USL First Division, the second-tier league of the United States and Canada at the time.


2008 Portland Timbers season, Competitions, USL First Division, Standings
Commissioner's Cup, bye to semifinal round of playoffs  First round of playoffs


2008 Portland Timbers season, Competitions, USL First Division, Standings
Tie-breaker order: 1. Head-to-head points; 2. Total wins; 3. Goal difference; 4. Goals for; 5. Lottery† Rochester deducted 1 point for use of an ineligible player on August 10, 2008


2008 Portland Timbers season, Competitions, USL First Division, Results summary
Source: Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won;  T = Matches tied;  L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference


2008 Portland Timbers season, Squad, Kits
The Timbers wore a green home kit, bearing white accents on the collar and sleeves, with green shorts and green socks. The away kit was white with white shorts and white socks. The third kit was a deep maroon color, called "Rose City Red", with maroon shorts and maroon socks.


2008 Portland Timbers season, Squad, Final roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008 Portland Timbers season, Squad, Statistics, Appearances and goals
All players contracted or loaned to the club during the season included.


2008 Portland, Oregon mayoral election
The 2008 Portland mayoral election was held on May 20, 2008, to elect the mayor of Portland, Oregon. Sam Adams was elected, defeating challenger Sho Dozono. Incumbent mayor Tom Potter did not seek a second term.


2008 Portland, Oregon mayoral election
Portland uses a nonpartisan system for local elections, in which all voters are eligible to participate. All candidates are listed on the ballot without any political party affiliation.


2008 Portland, Oregon mayoral election
Candidates competed in a blanket primary election on May 20, 2008. Because Sam Adams received an absolute majority of the vote in the primary election, no run-off election was held.


2008 Portsmouth City Council election
The 2008 Portsmouth City Council election took place on Thursday 1 May 2008 to elect members of Portsmouth City Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council (14 seats) was up for election using the first-past-the-post voting system. The Conservatives won a majority of the seats being contested, while the council remained in no overall control.


2008 Portsmouth City Council election, Election result
NB: All comparisons are to the 2004 local elections, at which the same tranche of seats were contested.


2008 Portsmouth City Council election, Ward results
NB: All comparisons are to the 2004 local elections, at which the same tranche of seats were contested.


2008 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament
The 2008 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament was a United States basketball tournament played in Portsmouth, Virginia from April 9 through April 12, 2008.


2008 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, Rosters
* - Asterisk denotes Most Valuable Player** - Double Asterisks denotes All Tournament Team


2008 Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2008 Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix was the third round of the 2008 MotoGP Championship. It took place on the weekend of 11–13 April 2008 at the Autódromo do Estoril located in Estoril, Portugal.


2008 Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix
This race would mark the first start in Grand Prix motorcycle racing for future multiple time MotoGP champion Marc Márquez. Márquez had entered the previous round at Jerez, but withdrew before the race began.


2008 Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round three has concluded.


2008 Potrero de los Funes TC2000 round
The 2008 TC2000 in San Luis was the 13th race of the 2008 TC2000 season. It took place at the Potrero de los Funes Circuit in Argentina on 23 November 2008.


2008 Powys County Council election
The fourth election to the Powys County Council following  local government reorganisation was held in May 2008. It was preceded by the 2004 election and followed by the 2012 election. The election resulted once again in a majority of Independent councillors


2008 Preakness Stakes
The 2008 Preakness Stakes was the 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race. The race time was at 6:15 pm EDT and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. Big Brown, the 1-5 favorite, was the winner by 51⁄4 lengths over Macho Again. Approximate post time was 6:17 p.m. Eastern Time. The race was run over a fast track in a final time of 1:54.80. The Maryland Jockey Club reported total attendance of 121,876, this is recorded as second highest on the list of American thoroughbred racing top attended events for North America in 2008.


2008 Premier Basketball League season
The 2008 Premier Basketball League season was the first in the league's history, and ended with the Rochester Razorsharks winning the inaugural PBL championship. Ten teams played a 20-game regular season schedule, and all ten teams would qualify for the league playoffs.


2008 Premier Hockey League
The 2008 Premier Hockey League Season was the fourth, and most recent season of the Premier Hockey League. It was won by Bangalore Hi-Fliers who took home prize money of Rs. 4 million. Chandigarh Dynamos finished second and Hyderabad Sultans ended up on third place.


2008 Premier Hockey League, Results
Bangalore Hi-fliers won the PHL 2008 against Chandigarh Dynamos, beating them by 2–1 in best of 3 finals.


2008 Premier League Darts
The 2008 Whyte & Mackay Premier League was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The prize money was increased by £75,000 compared to 2007. The overall fund was £340,000 with the eventual winner taking home £100,000.


2008 Premier League Darts
Phil Taylor continued his dominance of this tournament by taking the title for the fourth year in a row despite losing for the first time in 44 matches, losing the opening game 8–6 to newcomer James Wade and going on to lose twice more in his first four matches. Taylor beat Wade 16–8 in the final.


2008 Premier League Darts
Sky Sports secured television coverage of the event until 2010, and Whyte & Mackay sponsored the tournament for the same duration – taking over from Holsten who sponsored the event in 2006 and 2007.


2008 Premier League Darts, Qualifiers
The World Grand Prix in October 2007 was the cut-off point for automatic qualification for the event. The top six players in the World Rankings after the tournament received an automatic place in the Premier League. The qualifiers were thus:


2008 Premier League Darts, Prize money
The prize fund increases for 2008 – with the top prize of £100,000 matching the amount that the 2008 PDC World Champion received. The guaranteed prize for reaching the Premier League is now £20,000.


2008 Premier League Darts, Results, League Stage, 27 March – Week 9
† = Terry Jenkins replaced Adrian Lewis on 27 March show against Phil Taylor because Lewis was too ill to play. The next week, Lewis played his match against Taylor and James Wade, giving Jenkins the night off.


2008 Premier League Darts, Table and Streaks, Table
NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. Players separated by +/- leg difference if tied.


2008 Premier League Darts, Table and Streaks, Streaks
NB: W = WonD = DrawnL = LostN/A = Did Not Play


2008 Premier League Darts, Player statistics
The following statistics are for the league stage only. Playoffs are not included.


2008 Premier League Snooker
The 2008 PartyPoker.com Premier League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that was played from 11 September to 7 December 2008.


2008 Premier League Snooker
Ronnie O'Sullivan won in the final 7–2 against Mark Selby.


2008 Premier League Snooker, League phase
Top four qualified for the play–offs. If points were level then most frames won determined their positions. If two players had an identical record then the result in their match determined their positions. If that ended 3–3 then the player who got to four first was higher. (Breaks above 50 shown between (parentheses); century breaks are indicated with bold.)


2008 Premier League Snooker, Play-offs
* 83–34, (110)–4, (128) 133–0, (115)–4, (77)–0 ** 55–68, (85) 93–0, 20–93 (79), (72) 76–8, 24–93, (95)–0, 6–69 (52), (100)–4, 4–(104)*** 11–121 (93), 8–82 (62), 18–74, 14–(84), 48–83 (62), 61–58, 13–(105), (84)–0, 20–(74)


2008 Premier League Snooker, Qualifiers
The qualification for this tournament, the Championship League was played in eight groups from 25 February to 15 May 2008.


2008 Premier League speedway season
The 2008 Premier League speedway season was the second division of motorcycle speedway racing in the United Kingdom and the 14th season since its creation in 1995. The league was governed by the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB), in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA).


2008 Premier League speedway season, Summary
The League consisted of 16 teams for the 2008 season with the addition of the 2007 Conference League champions the Scunthorpe Scorpions. New rules introduced for 2008 include three points for an away win compared to two points in 2007, and the removal of bonus points, in which a team was awarded an additional point for an aggregate win over a home and away match against another team. The team finishing at the top of the league table at the end of the season after accumulating the most points were declared the Premier League champions. The four highest placed teams were entered into promotion play-offs, whereby the Premier League play-off winner faced the Elite League relegation play-off final losers over two legs. Teams finishing in fifth to twelfth at the time of the fixture cut-off date compete in the Young Shield.


2008 Premier League speedway season, Summary
The Edinburgh Monarchs were crowned the Premier League champions after ending the season as the highest placed team. The Somerset Rebels finished second, King's Lynn Stars third and the Rye House Rockets fourth. All four teams took part in the promotion play-off with Edinburgh and King's Lynn reaching the final. Edinburgh won 93–90 on aggregate and faced Elite League team Wolverhampton Wolves, but lost the two-legged promotion/relegation final 106–76.


2008 Premier League speedway season, Premier League Knockout Cup
The 2008 Premier League Knockout Cup was the 41st edition of the Knockout Cup for tier two teams. Somerset Rebels were the winners of the competition.


2008 Premier League speedway season, Premier League Knockout Cup, Final
Somerset were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 98–84.


2008 Premios Juventud
The 5th Annual Premios Juventud (Youth Awards) were broadcast by Univision on July 17, 2008.


2008 Premios Juventud, Audience
The broadcast attracted an average audience of 5.2 million viewers and was the top-rated program of the evening among adults 18-34, attracting more viewers than all of its English-language competitors, including Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, So You Think You Can Dance, Greatest American Dog, CSI, Swingtown, Last Comic Standing, Fear Itself, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, and Hopkins.


2008 Premios Juventud, Performers
The following is a list of musical artists in order of performance:


2008 Premios Juventud, Winners and nominees
The following is a list of the nominees and winners (in bold) in the fourteen music-related categories. The reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel won four awards.


2008 Premios Juventud, Winners and nominees, Mi Ringtone
Four fashion and image awards were presented (winners in bold).


2008 Premios Juventud, Winners and nominees, Película Más Padre
Three other pop culture awards were presented (winners in bold).


2008 Presbyterian Blue Hose football team
The 2008 Presbyterian Blue Hose football team represented Presbyterian College in the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Bobby Bentley and played their home games at Bailey Memorial Stadium. They were a member of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 4–8, 1–4 in Big South play to finish in last place.


2008 President of the Senate of the Czech Republic election
Election of the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic was held on 26 November 2008. Přemysl Sobotka wa reelected for his third term.


2008 President of the Senate of the Czech Republic election, Background and voting
The Civic Democratic Party has suffered heavy losses during 2008 Senate election losing its Senate majority despite remaining the largest senate faction. The Czech Social Democratic Party has won the election and had major gains. Social Democrats then suggested they would nominate Petr Pithart or Jiří Dienstbier for the position of Senate President. Civic Democrats decided to support the incumbent President Přemysl Sobotka. Sobotka stated he would run even if Social Democrats would nominate him a rival. Social Democratic leader Jiří Paroubek supported Pithart's nomination.


2008 President of the Senate of the Czech Republic election, Background and voting
Přemysl Sobotka announced his candidacy on 26 October 2008. Social Democrats announced on 29 October 2018 they wouldn't nominate their own candidate. Social Democratic Senator Milan Štěch stated that Sobotka should remain the leader.


2008 President of the Senate of the Czech Republic election, Background and voting
Election was held on 29 November 2008. Sobotka was the only candidate he received 78 votes on 80 and was elected for his third term.


2008 President's Cup (Maldives)
The 2008 President's Cup is the 58th season of the President's Cup, a knock-out competition for Maldives' top 4 football clubs. New Radiant are the defending champions, having defeated Victory Sports Club in last season's final.


2008 President's Cup (Maldives), Broadcasting rights
The broadcasting rights for all the matches of 2008 Maldives President's Cup were given to the Television Maldives.


2008 President's Cup (Maldives), Qualifier
Top 4 teams at the end of 2008 Dhivehi League will be qualified for the President's Cup.


2008 Preston City Council election
Elections to Preston City Council took place on 1 May 2008.


2008 Preston City Council election
Preston council is elected "in thirds" which means one councillor from each three-member ward, and councillors from selected two-member wards, are elected each year, with one year free from all elections to ensure all councillors serve a full term.


2008 Preston City Council election
Due to the "in thirds" system, these election results are compared to the 2004 Preston Council election.


2008 Preston City Council election, Summary
In this summary, "seats" represent the number of wards each party are defending. In two cases this year, the winning candidate in 2004 has since defected to another party, but for comparison the defending party is that from 2004.


2008 Preston City Council election, Summary
In this summary box, The Left List are a party split from RESPECT - The Unity Coalition.


2008 Preston City Council election, Ashton
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Conservative Party, majority 51


2008 Preston City Council election, Brookfield
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Labour Party, majority 265


2008 Preston City Council election, Cadley
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Liberal Democrats, majority 329


2008 Preston City Council election, Fishwick
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Conservative Party, majority 41. The winning candidate subsequently defected to the Liberal Democrats (and switched back to the Conservatives after losing the 2008 election). The result in 2008 will be based on the Conservative "defence", as is normal practice when comparing election results.


2008 Preston City Council election, Garrison
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Conservative Party, majority 650


2008 Preston City Council election, Greyfrairs
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Conservative Party, majority 1,142


2008 Preston City Council election, Ingol
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Liberal Democrats, majority 380. The winning candidate subsequently defected to the Conservative Party. The result in 2008 will be based on the Liberal Democrat "defence", as is normal practice when comparing election results.


2008 Preston City Council election, Larches
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Liberal Democrats, majority 137


2008 Preston City Council election, Lea
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Liberal Democrats, majority 409


2008 Preston City Council election, Rural East
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Conservative Party, majority 828


2008 Preston City Council election, Rural North
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Conservative Party, majority 1,711


2008 Preston City Council election, Ribbleton
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Labour Party, majority 631


2008 Preston City Council election, Riversway
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Labour Party, majority 185


2008 Preston City Council election, Sharoe Green
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Conservative Party, majority 639


2008 Preston City Council election, St George's
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Labour Party, majority 185


2008 Preston City Council election, St Matthew's
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Labour Party, majority 199


2008 Preston City Council election, Town Centre
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Labour Party, majority 142


2008 Preston City Council election, Tulketh
Won in corresponding 2004 elections by Labour Party, majority 49


2008 Preston City Council election, Tulketh
Held by Labour in 2008 by-election, majority over Liberal Democrats of 23.


2008 Price LeBlanc Lexus Pro Tennis Classic
The 2008 Price LeBlanc Lexus Pro Tennis Classic was a 2008 ATP Challenger Series event. It took place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from April 21 to April 27.


2008 Price LeBlanc Lexus Pro Tennis Classic, Champions, Doubles
Phillip Simmonds /  Tim Smyczek def. Ryan Harrison /  Michael Venus 2-6, 6-1, [10-4]


2008 Price LeBlanc Lexus Pro Tennis Classic – Doubles
Brian Battistone and Dann Battistone were the defending champions (while the tournament was part of the ITF Men's Circuit), but lost in quarterfinals to Martin Fischer and Philipp Oswald.


2008 Price LeBlanc Lexus Pro Tennis Classic – Doubles
Phillip Simmonds and Tim Smyczek won the title by defeating Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus 2–6, 6–1, [10–4] in the final.


2008 Price LeBlanc Lexus Pro Tennis Classic – Singles
Izak van der Merwe was the defending champion (while the tournament was part of the ITF Men's Circuit), but lost in first round to Martin Fischer.


2008 Price LeBlanc Lexus Pro Tennis Classic – Singles
Bobby Reynolds won the title by defeating Igor Kunitsyn 6–3, 6–7(3–7), 7–5 in the final.


2008 Primera A
The Primera A 2008 season (officially "Torneo Primera A 2008") started on February 23, 2008. The Apertura champions was Orión and the Clausura champion was Río Abajo F.C.. On November 15, 2008 a grand final was played and Río Abajo were crowned champions after defeating 2–1 Orión. However Río Abajo lost the promotion play-off against Plaza Amador in a 3–2 aggregate score, thus failing to promote to ANAPROF.


2008 Primera A, Primera A Clausura 2008, Clausura 2008 standings
Green indicates Semifinal Berth (Los equipos en verde señalan los clasificados a semifinales).


2008 Primera B de Chile
The 2008 Primera B de Chile was the 58th completed season of the Primera B de Chile.


2008 Primera B de Chile
Curicó Unido — tournament’s champion — reached its first ever promotion to top-tier in its 35-year existence, whilst the second promoted was Deportes Iquique after beating Coquimbo Unido in the promotion playoffs. Nevertheless Arturo Fernández Vial was relegated to the Tercera División following 26 years at the professionalism.


2008 Primera División of Chile
The 2008 Primera División de Chile is the 77th season of top-flight football in Chile, and the 7th under its current format.


2008 Primera División of Chile, Torneo Apertura
The Torneo Apertura "Copa BancoEstado" opened the 2008 season on January 25. The 20 teams were organized into four groups, but played each other in a single round-robin format. The top-two teams from each group advanced to a single elimination play-off, but the best 3rd-place team had to worst 2nd-place team in an advancement play-off match. The winner of the tournament will be crowned the Apertura champion, and will earn a spot in the 2009 Copa Libertadores Group Stage. The champion and runner-up with earn spots in the 2008 Copa Sudamericana.


2008 Primera División of Chile, Torneo Clausura
The Torneo Clausura "Copa BancoEstado" began on June 21. The format is the same as the Apertura tournament, but the field was reduced from 20 teams to 19 since Deportes Concepción withdrew before the start of the tournament due to financial problems. The best-placed team in the first stage earned a spot in the First Stage of the 2009 Copa Libertadores. The tournament champion will earn a spot in the 2009 Copa Libertadores Group Stage. Relegation will be determined at the end of this tournament.


2008 Primera División of Chile, Relegation
Four teams were relegated this year to reduce the field for next season to 18 teams.


2008 Primera División of Chile, Relegation, Aggregate table
The aggregate table is only a sum of the two first-stages from the Apertura and Clausura tournaments. The bottom-two teams are relegated from the results of this table.


2008 Primera División of Chile, Relegation, Relegation table
The next two teams to be relegated were determined through a special aggregate table for the 2007 & 2008 season. The teams' performances were put under a specific formula (shown below) and then ranked. The two worst teams who have not been relegated by this season's aggregate table were relegated.


2008 Primera División of Chile, Relegation, Relegation table
In the case of Rangers, Provincial Osorno, and Santiago Morning, the following formula was used since they were not in the Primera División in the 2007 season:


2008 Primera División of Chile, Relegation, Relegation table
In both formulas, Pd is the relegation average; P2007 is the total points earned in the 2007 season; PAp-2008 is the points earned in this season's Apertura tournament; PCl-2008 is the points earned in this season's Clausura tournament.


2008 Primera División of Chile, Relegation, Relegation/promotion play-off
The 15th & 16th place team in the aggregate table have to play two promotion/relegation matches the Segunda División runner-up (Puerto Montt) and the winner of the Segunda División Apertura/Clausura play-off (Coquimbo Unido). The winners will play in the Primera División the next season.


2008 Prince Edward Island Scotties Tournament of Hearts
The 2008 Prince Edward Island Scotties Tournament of Hearts was held Jan. 18–22 in at the Charlottetown Curling Club in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The winning team was Team Suzanne Gaudet who represented Prince Edward Island, finished with a 3–8 record at the 2008 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Regina, Saskatchewan.


2008 Princeton Tigers football team
The 2008 Princeton Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Princeton University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season.


2008 Princeton Tigers football team
The Tigers played their home games at Powers Field at Princeton Stadium on the university campus in Princeton, New Jersey.


2008 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The 2008 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe was a horse race held at Longchamp on Sunday 5 October 2008. It was the 87th running of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.


2008 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The winner was Zarkava, a three-year-old filly trained in France by Alain de Royer-Dupré. The winning jockey was Christophe Soumillon.


2008 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
Zarkava had been a doubtful runner because of the soft ground at Longchamp. Her participation was confirmed just before the start.


2008 Pro Bowl
The 2008 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2007 season. It was played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 10, 2008. The game was televised in the United States by Fox and began shortly after 11:40am local time (4:40pm EST) following Pole Qualifying for 2008 Daytona 500. The NFC won, 42–30, despite a 17-point first half AFC lead. NFC running back Adrian Peterson rushed 16 times for 129 yards and was named the game's MVP, winning a Cadillac CTS in recognition of his efforts.


2008 Pro Bowl
The starting rosters for the game were released on December 18, 2007, with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady starting for the AFC and the Green Bay Packers' Brett Favre for the NFC. However, Brett Favre withdrew due to an ankle injury. Notable Pro Bowl selections included the late Sean Taylor. The Dallas Cowboys had a record thirteen players named to the Pro Bowl roster, while five teams, including all four members of the NFC South, had no players initially named (Jeff Garcia of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was later chosen as a replacement quarterback for Brett Favre.)


2008 Pro Bowl
This was the first occasion since their 1–15 1980 season that the New Orleans Saints had no player make the Pro Bowl. The AFC was coached by Norv Turner of the San Diego Chargers staff, while Mike McCarthy and the staff of the Green Bay Packers coached the NFC. Three Washington Redskins players (Chris Cooley, Chris Samuels and Ethan Albright) wore #21 in memory of Taylor, their deceased teammate. The game featured 41 players appearing in their first Pro Bowl (out of 86 total players), the most in eight years. In addition, the NFC played their first defensive play with only ten players on the field, lacking a free safety, in Taylor's honor.


2008 Pro Bowl
On February 4, 2008, Brady, Patriots receiver Randy Moss, Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, and Chargers defensive lineman Jamal Williams decided to pull out of the 2008 Pro Bowl. Brady was replaced by Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson, Moss was replaced by Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chad Johnson, Gates was replaced by Browns tight end Kellen Winslow, and Williams was replaced by Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Casey Hampton.


2008 Pro Bowl
The game was the most watched Pro Bowl since 2000, pulling in a Nielsen rating of 6.3 and a 12 share. It also marked the first ever Pro Bowl to be televised by Fox. The 2008 Pro Bowl also marked the fewest players represented by a Super Bowl winning team, with Osi Umenyiora being the lone representative of the New York Giants, winners of Super Bowl XLII.


2008 Pro Bowl, Halftime
The halftime show featured a performance by the band Lifehouse, who played their songs "Hanging by a Moment" and "First Time".


2008 Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick leadership election
The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick held a leadership election in 2008, following the resignation of Bernard Lord on December 13, 2006. The Conservatives had last had a leadership election in 1997.


2008 Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick leadership election
The leadership convention occurred on Saturday, October 18, 2008. The main convention site was at the Aitken University Centre on the UNB Fredericton campus in Fredericton, NB. The party also operated satellite convention sites around the province. The event also saw a tribute to former Premier Bernard Lord on the evening preceding the election.


2008 Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick leadership election
The PC Party is a fiscally conservative and otherwise moderate political party in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is, with the New Brunswick Liberal Association, one of two parties that contend for power in the province and most recently controlled the government from winning the 1999 election until losing the 2006 election.


2008 Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick leadership election
On January 5, 2007, it was reported that interim leader Jeannot Volpé would not allow the contest to begin until after the first session of the 56th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly closed that June, making it unlikely for the leadership to be  decided before late 2007 or possibly into 2008. In fact, the leadership race did not begin in earnest until the end of the second session when David Alward declared his candidacy on June 19, 2008.


2008 Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick leadership election
At the party's annual general meeting in Fredericton on October 20, 2007 it was announced that the convention would be held in the fall of 2008, on February 11, 2008 it was announced that the vote would take place on October 18, 2008 - exactly 11 years after the previous leadership election for the party. The voting will take place primarily at a convention at the Aitken University Centre in Fredericton, but there will be satellite conventions in Moncton, Saint John, St. Leonard and Bois-Blanc (near Paquetville) as well as polling stations on Grand Manan, Deer Island and Campobello Island.


2008 Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick leadership election, Candidates, Non candidates
The following individuals were subject of media attention as possible leadership candidates but did not run:


2008 Proximus Diamond Games
The 2008 Proximus Diamond Games was the 2008 Tier II tournament in the WTA Tour of the annually-held Proximus Diamond Games tennis tournament. It was played from 11 February through 17 February 2008 at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium. First-seeded Justine Henin won the singles title and earned $95,500 first-prize money.


2008 Proximus Diamond Games, Gambling threat
On February 11, the first day of the event, tournament spokeswoman Katia Stroobants announced that three men had been ejected from the stadium after being caught gambling. The men, two Russians and one German, were logged on to a gambling website and were exploiting the delay between when the point was won, and when it appeared on the official website. Stroobants said that the men were asked to leave or hand over their laptops, and took the decision to leave.


2008 Proximus Diamond Games, Gambling threat
This incident followed a spate of gambling scandals to hit the sport, with several male players admitting that they had been approached to fix matches; irregular betting patterns had also been observed in certain matches, in the months leading up to the event. In January 2007, WTA Tour chief Larry Scott had announced that the organization was anticipating problems and was trying to put in place measures to deal with them.


2008 Proximus Diamond Games, Finals, Doubles
Cara Black /  Liezel Huber defeated  Květa Peschke /  Ai Sugiyama 6–1, 6–3


2008 Proximus Diamond Games – Doubles
Cara Black and Liezel Huber were the defending champions, and successfully defended their title, defeating Květa Peschke and Ai Sugiyama in the final, 6–1, 6–3.


2008 Proximus Diamond Games – Singles
Amélie Mauresmo was the three-time defending champion, but chose not to participate this year.