2008 U-League
2008 U-League was the first season for university football teams in South Korea. The competition included ten university football teams in Seoul National Capital Area. The season began on 1 May, and ended on 3 November 2008.


2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
The 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships took place between January 20 and 27th at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Skaters competed in four disciplines – men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing – across three levels of competition – senior, junior, and novice. Medals were awarded in four colors: gold (first), silver (second), bronze (third), and pewter (fourth).


2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
The event was used to determine the U.S. teams for the 2008 World Championships, 2008 Four Continents Championships, and 2008 World Junior Championships.


2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Qualifying
Qualification for the U.S. Championships begins at one of nine regional competitions. The regions are New England, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Upper Great Lakes, Eastern Great Lakes, Southwestern, Northwest Pacific, Central Pacific, and Southwest Pacific. The top four finishers in each regional advance to one of three sectional competitions (Eastern, Midwestern, and Pacific Coast). Skaters who place in the top four at sectionals advance to the U.S. Championships.


2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Qualifying
The top five finishers in each discipline from the previous year are given byes to the U.S. Championships, as are any skaters who qualify for the Junior or the Senior Grand Prix Final. Skaters are also given byes through a qualifying competition if they are assigned to an international event during the time that qualifying event is to take place. For example, if a skater is competing at an event at the same time as his or her regional competition, that skater would receive a bye to sectionals. If a skater is competing at an event at the same time as his or her sectional competition, that skater would qualify for the national event without having had to compete at a sectional championship.


2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Senior results, Men
* Weir and Lysacek tied in the overall score. Lysacek won the title on the tiebreaker, which was the free skating placement.


2008 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships
The 2008 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 40th edition of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, and was part of the International Series of the 2008 ATP Tour. It took place at River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas, United States, from April 14 through April 20, 2008. Seventh-seeded Marcel Granollers-Pujol won the singles title.


2008 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships
The singles draw featured ATP No. 8, 2007 Davis Cup champion and Delray Beach finalist James Blake, Indian Wells quarterfinalist Tommy Haas, and Miami Masters runner-up Mardy Fish. Among other top players competing were Las Vegas winner Sam Querrey, Acapulco quarterfinalist Agustín Calleri, Dudi Sela, Marcel Granollers-Pujol and Óscar Hernández.


2008 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Finals, Doubles
Ernests Gulbis /  Rainer Schüttler defeated  Pablo Cuevas /  Marcel Granollers-Pujol, 7–5, 7–6(7–3)


2008 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Doubles
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan were the defending champions, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Doubles
Ernests Gulbis and Rainer Schüttler won in the final 7–5, 7–6(7–3), against Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers-Pujol.


2008 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Singles
Ivo Karlović was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships – Singles
Seventh-seeded Marcel Granollers-Pujol won in the final 6–4, 1–6, 7–5, against James Blake.


2008 U.S. Olympic Trials (gymnastics)
The 2008 U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team Trials, referred to just as the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, was held from June 19–22, 2008, at the Wachovia Center (now known as Wells Fargo Center) in Philadelphia.


2008 U.S. Olympic Trials (gymnastics), Venue
The Wachovia Center, which has a capacity of up to 20,478 spectators, is home to the Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Philadelphia Wings.


2008 U.S. Olympic Trials (gymnastics), Olympic Team selection
At the conclusion of the Olympic Trials only Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin were named to the team to represent the USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The remaining members of the team were to be determined after a selection camp; attendees included: Jana Bieger, Chelsea Davis, Ivana Hong, Mattie Larson, Corrie Lothrop, Chellsie Memmel, Samantha Peszek, Alicia Sacramone, Bridget Sloan, and Shayla Worley. The camp concluded in mid-July with Memmel, Peszek, Sacramone, and Sloan being named to the team while Bieger, Hong, and Lothrop were named as the alternates.


2008 U.S. Open (golf)
The 2008 United States Open Championship was the 108th U.S. Open, played June 12–16 at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California. Tiger Woods won his third U.S. Open and 14th major title, defeating Rocco Mediate on the first hole of sudden-death, following an 18-hole playoff. With this victory, Woods joined Jack Nicklaus as the only two players to win the career grand slam three times. The U.S. Open was held at the Torrey Pines Golf Course for the first time, on its South Course.


2008 U.S. Open (golf)
It was an unlikely victory for Woods, who entered the tournament considerably short of match practice and was plagued throughout the week by an ailing left knee. Two days after the championship, Woods revealed that he would miss the remainder of the 2008 season after undergoing knee surgery; this was his last win in a major championship until the 2019 Masters.


2008 U.S. Open (golf)
This was the final 18-hole playoff at the U.S. Open. A two-hole aggregate playoff was introduced by the United States Golf Association (USGA) in 2018.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Field
About half the field each year consists of players who are fully exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Open. Below is the list of the 72 players that were fully exempt for the 2008 U.S. Open. Each player is classified according to the first category by which he qualified, but other categories are shown in parentheses:


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Field
Ángel Cabrera (8,11,17), Michael Campbell, Jim Furyk (8,9,17), Retief Goosen (11,17), Lee Janzen (8), Geoff Ogilvy (9,12,17), Tiger Woods (3,4,5,8,9,10,12,13,17)


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Field
Stephen Ames (17), Aaron Baddeley (9,17), Paul Casey (11,17), Nick Dougherty (11), Niclas Fasth (11,17), Jerry Kelly, Hunter Mahan (9,17), Justin Rose (9,11,17), Steve Stricker (9,17), David Toms, Scott Verplank (9,17), Bubba Watson


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Field
Robert Allenby (17), Woody Austin (17), Mark Calcavecchia, K. J. Choi (13,17), Stewart Cink (12,17), Tim Clark (17), Luke Donald (17), Ernie Els (11,17), Steve Flesch (13), Charles Howell III, John Rollins, Rory Sabbatini (17), Adam Scott (17), Heath Slocum, Brandt Snedeker (17), Boo Weekley (12,17)


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Field
Søren Hansen (17), Colin Montgomerie, Andrés Romero (17), Henrik Stenson (17), Richard Sterne (17), Lee Westwood (17)


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Field
Stuart Appleby, J. B. Holmes, Robert Karlsson, Martin Kaymer, Justin Leonard, Rod Pampling, Ian Poulter, Mike Weir


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries
The U.S. Open is played over four days with an 18-hole round being played each day, for a total of 72 holes plus practice rounds. Players outside the top 60 and ties and outside ten strokes of the leader will be "cut" after 36 holes.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, First round
The leaders after the first round were two little-known American players, Justin Hicks, a 33-year-old Nationwide Tour player, and Kevin Streelman, a 29-year-old PGA Tour rookie. They both shot 3 under-par 68s to lead four other players at 69 (−2), including the 2006 champion, Geoff Ogilvy. The top three ranked players in the world were paired together for the first two rounds, but none of them broke par for the day: Woods 72 (+1), Phil Mickelson 71 (E), Adam Scott 73 (+2).


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, First round
Woods was playing his first event since the Masters, after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, and Scott was playing with a broken little finger on his right hand. The World Golf Rankings were also used for three other pairings, making four pairings include the top 12 golfers in the world. Defending champion Ángel Cabrera shot 79 (+8). Mark Calcavecchia withdrew after playing nine holes with an injured knee and foot. In all, 11 players shot sub-par rounds and the scoring average was 75.58.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Second round
The first round co-leaders both fell well down the leaderboard: Justin Hicks shot an 80 (+9) to drop to a tie for 49th and Kevin Streelman shot 77 (+6) to drop to tied for 22nd. Stuart Appleby carded a 70 (−1) to take the lead at 139 (−3), one stroke ahead of Robert Karlsson, Mediate, and Woods. Woods shot a 30 on the front nine, one stroke more than the U.S. Open record for nine holes set by Vijay Singh in 2003. Singh made his 14th consecutive cut at the U.S. Open, the longest current streak. Miguel Ángel Jiménez shot the low round of the day −5 (66) and moved into a tie for 5th.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Second round
The cut was at +7 (149), 10 strokes from the leader, and 80 players made the cut. Defending champion Cabrera shot a 76 (+5) for at total of 155 (+13) to miss the cut by six shots. Ian Poulter withdrew with a wrist injury after playing 15 holes. Three amateurs made the cut: Derek Fathauer (+4), Michael Thompson (+5), and Rickie Fowler (+7).


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Second round
In all, 19 players shot sub-par second rounds. The scoring average was 74.96 for round two and 75.27 overall.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Second round
Amateurs: Fathauer (+4), Thompson (+5), Fowler (+7), Stanley (+8), Taylor (+10), Tway (+11), Cox (+15), Wilson (+17), Henderson (+21), Wolstenholme (+23), Quagliano (+25).


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Third round
Overnight leader Stuart Appleby shot 79 (+8) to slip back to T-19 at 218 (+5), while playing partner Rocco Mediate shot 72 (+1) to finish two strokes behind at 212 (−1). Many of the leaders struggled on day three. Karlsson and Jiménez dropped back to 215 (+2), Davis Love III to 4 over-par and D. J. Trahan to 1 over-par. Lee Westwood finished at 211 (−2) after a round of 70, the only one to shoot par or better in all three rounds.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Third round
Woods, despite struggling with his knee injury, dazzled on the back nine with some improbable shots, resulting in two eagles and a chip-in birdie from the rough on the 17th to take the 54-hole lead at 210 (−3), a stroke ahead of Westwood. Brandt Snedeker shot the low round of the day at 68 (-3). In total, 11 players shot sub-par rounds and the scoring average for the round was 74.36 and 75.08 overall.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Final round
Woods had previously won each of the thirteen major championships in which he entered the final round with at least a share of the lead, and his fourteenth was no different. He lost his lead on the first hole, double-bogeying the hole for the third time in the tournament, and followed that with a bogey on the second, but regained two of the shots with birdies on 9 and 11. He also bogeyed 13, the same hole on which he had sunk an eagle putt the previous day.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Final round
Mediate had put together a solid round, only scoring one bogey over the final 13 holes. However, he barely missed a birdie putt on 17 and hit a wedge too strong on 18; his pars on the two final holes kept both Woods and his playing partner Westwood in contention. Both came to the par-5 final hole one shot behind Mediate, who was in the clubhouse at 283 (−1).


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Final round
Woods and Westwood both hit their drives into bunkers and had to lay up. Woods' second shot went into the rough; Westwood laid up in the fairway. Both reached the green with their third shots, leaving them with birdie putts to force an 18-hole playoff with Mediate. Westwood's 15-foot (4.6 m) putt, which had a severe break to the right, was not successful. Woods' putt was closer at 12 feet (3.7 m), with a much less severe break; his putt lipped the hole before dropping and putting him in the playoff. Both Woods and Mediate became the first to finish under par at the U.S. Open since 2004.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Final round
Heath Slocum shot the low round of the day (and the tournament) at 65 (−6). In total, 12 players shot sub-par rounds and the scoring average for the round was 72.87 and 74.71 overall.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Playoff
The 18-hole playoff was the first playoff for the U.S. Open since 2001. After trading the lead three times on the front nine, Woods built a three stroke lead through ten holes. Mediate rallied on the back nine with three consecutive birdies which gave him a one stroke lead heading to the 18th hole. Like the day before, Woods birdied to tie Mediate and forced the playoff into sudden-death, the third in U.S. Open history (1990, 1994: previously, extra full rounds were played, last in 1946).


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Playoff
The sudden-death playoff started and ended at the par-4 7th hole; Woods left his birdie putt inches short and tapped in, while Mediate's tee shot found the left fairway bunker and his 18-foot (5.5 m) putt to save par missed right.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Playoff
The playoff started at noon Eastern on ESPN, with NBC taking over at 2 p.m. Eastern and showing the final ten holes; ESPN's two hours earned the highest ever ratings for golf coverage on cable at the time, while NBC had the highest-rated Monday golf broadcast since 1978.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Round summaries, Playoff
With the win, Woods kept his unbeaten streak alive when he has at least a share of the lead heading into the final round of a major championship (14−0). The streak ended at the PGA Championship in 2009.


2008 U.S. Open (golf), Woods' injury
Two months earlier on April 15, Woods had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. During his rehab, Woods sustained a double stress fracture of his left tibia. Throughout the tournament it was clear Woods was in pain, and the general feeling was that he was just returning from the initial surgery too soon. He did not reveal the news about the fracture until Wednesday, two days after the Monday playoff. He had surgery to repair his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and needed time to rehab that and the stress fracture, and announced on his website that he would miss the remainder of the 2008 season.


2008 U.S. Open Cup
The 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 95th edition of the USSF's annual national soccer championship, running from June through early September.


2008 U.S. Open Cup
D.C. United won the final 2–1 over the Charleston Battery on September 3 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. on a pair of goals from Brazilians Luciano Emilio and Fred. It was United's second Open Cup title.


2008 U.S. Open Cup
The Battery were the first USL club in the final since the Rochester Rhinos won the cup in 1999.


2008 U.S. Open Cup
The Cup schedule was shortened in 2008, ending in September instead of October, so as to avoid interfering with Major League Soccer's end-of-season playoff drive in the fall and the new CONCACAF Champions League.


2008 U.S. Open Cup
The 13 US-based MLS clubs participated, although only 8 competed in the main tournament (Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, D.C. United, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Kansas City Wizards, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls). Qualifying was similar to the 2007 tournament, with the top 3 teams from each conference in 2007 qualifying automatically, and the other 7 playing off during the early part of the 2008 season for the remaining 2 spots.


2008 U.S. Open Cup
United Soccer Leagues had a separate qualifying plan for each tier. The 8 US-based USL-1 teams qualified automatically (Puerto Rico has its own federation, thus the Puerto Rico Islanders are not eligible to participate in the Open Cup). 8 of the 9 US-based USL-2 teams qualified. The defending USL-2 playoff champions, the Harrisburg City Islanders, and the 2007 regular-season champion Richmond Kickers qualified automatically. The remaining 7 teams played off for 6 spots, based on early regular season results. The PDL used selected early regular-season games for qualification. The top two teams in the Eastern and Central conferences, and the top teams in the Mid-South, Southeast, Northwest, and Southwest divisions qualified.


2008 U.S. Open Cup
The tournament was rounded out by 8 amateur USASA clubs (Adria, Arizona Sahuaros, Boston Olympiakos, Clearwater Galactics, Eagles, Hollywood United, New Stars, New York Pancyprian-Freedoms). USASA qualifying began in the fall of 2007. Clubs from the NPSL enter the Cup through USASA qualifying.


2008 U.S. Open Cup, Participating teams
The tournament consists of 40 teams, according to the following distribution:


2008 U.S. Open Cup, Participating teams
*Includes 8 USL Premier Development League teams and 8 USASA regional qualifiers


2008 U.S. Open Cup, Open Cup bracket
Second Round winners advance to play one of 8 MLS clubs in 16-team knockout tournamentHome teams listed on top of bracket


2008 U.S. Open Cup, Schedule
Note: Scorelines use the standard U.S. convention of placing the home team on the right-hand side of box scores.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final
The 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final was played on September 3, 2008, at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. The match determined the winner of the 2008 U.S. Open Cup, a tournament open to amateur and professional soccer teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation. This was the 95th edition of the oldest ongoing competition in United States soccer. The match was won by D.C. United, who defeated Charleston Battery 2–1. Ian Fuller scored Charleston's only goal. Luciano Emilio and Fred scored D.C.'s two goals as the club won their second U.S. Open Cup title.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final
Charleston Battery entered the tournament as only the second club in the second pro era to make the final as a minor league team. D.C. United previously had won the 1996 edition of the tournament and made it to the 1997 finals, where they lost to Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas).


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final
D.C. United entered the tournament as the competition's defending champions. They had previously won the tournament in 1996 as well. Both Sounders FC and D.C. United had to play through two qualification rounds for MLS teams before entering the official tournament. Prior to the final, there was a public dispute between the owners of the two clubs regarding the selection of D.C. United to host it at their home field, RFK Stadium.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final
D.C. United qualified automatically for the third round proper of the U.S. Open Cup tournament by finishing amongst the top six in the 2009 Major League Soccer season standings. While United entered in the third round, Charleston Battery, as a USL First Division club, had to start their U.S. Open Cup campaign in the first round proper. To reach the final, United had to win three games, while the Battery had to win five games. D.C. United won the bidding process to host the final.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final
As the tournament champions, United earned a berth in the preliminary round of the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League, as well as a $100,000 cash prize. The Battery received $50,000 as the runner-up.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final, Route to the final
The U.S. Open Cup is an annual American soccer competition open to all United States Soccer Federation affiliated teams, from amateur adult club teams to the professional clubs of Major League Soccer (MLS). The 2008 tournament was the 95th edition of the oldest ongoing soccer tournament in the United States.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final, Route to the final
Each year, MLS, which has teams that play in both the United States and Canada, is allowed to enter eight of its U.S.-based teams in the tournament. The top six MLS teams from the previous season's league table qualify automatically for the tournament, while the remaining two spots are determined by preliminary qualification matches. D.C. United, who finished first in the regular season, earned a direct bye into the third round proper.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final, Route to the final
For the then-second tier USL First Division, the league was allowed to enter all of its U.S.-based teams into the tournament. Unlike MLS clubs, who enter in the third round, USL First Division sides entered in the first round of the tournament. As a USL First Division club, Charleston Battery entered in the first round.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final, Route to the final, Charleston Battery
Until Charleston Battery's run to the 2008 final, the closest the Battery ever came to reaching the final was in 1999. There, the Battery reached the Open Cup semifinals. During their 1999 run, their string of victories included a 4–3 extra time victory over D.C. United, in which was cited as one of the largest upsets in American soccer history, and as well as the starting of a rivalry later regarded as the Coffee Pot Cup.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final, Route to the final, Charleston Battery
The Battery entered the competition in the first round proper, playing USASA-side, ASC New Stars of Houston, Texas on June 10. A hat trick from Darren Spicer gave the Battery a 3–0 victory over the New Stars, earning them a berth into the second round of the tournament proper.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final, Route to the final, D.C. United
Before 2008, D.C. United had reached the U.S. Open Cup final on two occasions, in 1996 and again in 1997, winning the cup in the former appearance. On July 1, 2010, United began their cup campaign, by hosting the Rochester Rhinos of the USL First Division at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Maryland in front of a crowd of 2,752. United defender, Marc Burch scored both goals for United, all in  the second half. In the 78th minute, Burch took a low free kick from 30 yards out that opened the score sheet for United. Just moments later, in the 85th minute, Burch tallied his second goal on the night also off of a free kick. The set piece was taken from 20 yards out, which deflected off a wall of Rochester defenders before finding the back of the net.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final, Route to the final, D.C. United
On July 8, United hosted Chicago Fire, again at Maryland SoccerPlex for the quarterfinals. In front of a crowd of 4,118; United pulled off an extra time 2–1 victory over the Fire thanks to a goal in the 99th minute from Bryan Namoff. The Fire scored the opening goal in the 36th minute, thanks to a brace from Chicago's Daniel Woolard. Woolard, received a long pass from teammate Logan Pause and caught United's defense off guard. Woolard then dribbled around United goalkeeper, Zach Wells to give Chicago the 1–0 lead.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final, Route to the final, D.C. United
In the 77th minute, United equalized thanks to United's Francis Doe received a pass from Jaime Moreno and drilled a low shot from 10 yards out. The controversy of the match swirled around a brawl between Chicago's Cuauhtémoc Blanco and D.C.'s Marc Burch. According to reports, Blanco was ejected for punching Burch in the 108th minute, while Burch was subsequently ejected for retaliating against Blanco. Following the match, the United States Soccer Federation banned Blanco from the U.S. Open Cup for two years.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final, Route to the final, D.C. United
For the semifinal match, United took on the defending champions, New England Revolution. The August 12 match was scheduled at United's main stadium, RFK Stadium. An announced crowd of 6,797 were on hand to see United take on the Revolution. For the match, both sides fielded a mix of starters and reserves. In the 4th minute of play, United scored a quick goal off of Luciano Emilio was successfully converted a cross from Namoff. Thirty minutes later, the Revolution were able to pull one back, from a 34th-minute equalizer from Joe Germanese. The scoreline would remain level through halftime.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final, Route to the final, D.C. United
Three minutes into the second half, United regained the lead, when Santino Quaranta bagged a pass from Moreno. The match continued to play in United's advantage when New England's Wells Thompson earned a caution in the 54th minute, when he collided with United goalkeeper, Wells. Thompson was dismissed from the match in the 71st minute through a reckless challenge on Moreno. The foul was deemed by the center official, Jorge Gonzalez, as a yellow card worthy foul. Since the foul resulted in a second yellow card, Thompson received a red card. Ten minutes later, Emilio gave United a 3–1 lead in the 81st minute by heading a cross from Iván Guerrero.


2008 U.S. Open Cup Final, Route to the final, D.C. United
The 3–1 victory against New England sealed United a spot in their first Open Cup final since 1997.


2008 U.S. Open Cup qualification
This page describes the qualification procedure for the 2008 U.S. Open Cup. This will be the first season where 8 teams from each level of the American Soccer Pyramid will compete in the tournament proper. As a result, each level will trim its ranks to its 8 team delegation before entering the full tournament.


2008 U.S. Open Cup qualification, United Soccer Leagues (USL), USL 2nd Division (USL-2)
Harrisburg City Islanders (2007 USL-2 champions) and Richmond Kickers (2007 USL-2 Regular Season Champions) have qualified based on their end of season performance in 2007.


2008 U.S. Open Cup qualification, United Soccer Leagues (USL), USL 2nd Division (USL-2)
Early season USL-2 games doubled as Open Cup qualification. Because teams played an uneven number of games the percentage of "Points per Points Possible" was used to rank the teams. All but the bottom-ranked team qualified for the tournament proper.


2008 U.S. Open Cup qualification, United Soccer Leagues (USL), USL Premier Development League (PDL)
All teams play 4 designated regular season games that double as Open Cup qualificationGreen indicates Open Cup berth clinched


2008 U.S. Open Cup qualification, United Soccer Leagues (USL), USL Premier Development League (PDL), Central Conference
*maximum goal differential of +/- 3 per gameStandings as of .


2008 U.S. Open Cup qualification, United Soccer Leagues (USL), USL Premier Development League (PDL), Eastern Conference
*maximum goal differential of +/- 3 per gameStandings as of .


2008 U.S. Open Cup qualification, United Soccer Leagues (USL), USL Premier Development League (PDL), Southern Conference
*maximum goal differential of +/- 3 per gameStandings as of .


2008 U.S. Open Cup qualification, United Soccer Leagues (USL), USL Premier Development League (PDL), Western Conference
*maximum goal differential of +/- 3 per gameStandings as of .


2008 U.S. Virgin Islands Democratic presidential convention
The 2008 U.S. Virgin Islands Democratic presidential convention took place on February 9, 2008. The convention chose 6 delegates, all pledged to Senator Barack Obama. Each delegate, however, only counted for half a vote at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The Virgin Islands' delegation also included 6 unpledged "superdelegates" not bound by the results of the convention.


2008 U.S. Virgin Islands Republican presidential caucuses
The 2008 U.S. Virgin Islands Republican territorial meeting, also known as the Republican caucuses, took place on the U.S. Virgin Islands of St. Croix and St. Thomas on April 5, 2008. Virgin Islands Republicans could select six pledged delegates for the 2008 Republican National Convention; three party leaders also attended the convention as unpledged delegates. However, the delegates chosen in the meeting did not support any presidential candidate, so all nine Virgin Islands delegates attended the convention as unpledged delegates.


2008 U.S. Virgin Islands Republican presidential caucuses
The turnout, around 150 people, did not match the comparatively staggering number of voters in the Democratic Territorial Meeting, but it was still a record turnout for the Virgin Islands Republican Party. Caucus-goers voted for delegates rather than candidates. Of 25 people who sought delegate spots, the majority, 16, were not committed to any presidential candidate.


2008 U.S. Women's Open
The 2008 U.S. Women's Open was the 63rd U.S. Women's Open, held June 26–29 at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb southwest of Minneapolis. It was the first U.S. Women's Open played at the course, which hosted the Solheim Cup in 2002. The winner was 19-year-old Inbee Park, four strokes ahead of runner-up Helen Alfredsson. The tournament was televised by ESPN and NBC Sports.


2008 U.S. Women's Open
The course hosted the U.S. Open in 1930, part of the grand slam of Bobby Jones.


2008 U.S. Women's Open, Field, Exempt players
1. Last 10 U.S. Women's Open ChampionsJuli Inkster, Birdie Kim, Cristie Kerr, Hilary Lunke, Meg Mallon, Se Ri Pak, Annika Sörenstam, Karrie Webb


2008 U.S. Women's Open, Field, Exempt players
2. Top two finishers in the 2007 U.S. Women's Amateur and winner of the 2006 U.S. Women's AmateurAmanda Blumenherst (a), Kimberly Kim (a), Mariajo Uribe (a)


2008 U.S. Women's Open, Field, Exempt players
4. Last five Women's British Open ChampionsJeong Jang, Lorena Ochoa, Sherri Steinhauer, Karen Stupples


2008 U.S. Women's Open, Field, Exempt players
6. From the 2007 U.S. Women's Open, the 20 lowest scorers and ties. Kyeong Bae, Paula Creamer, Julieta Granada, Amy Hung, Jimin Kang, Christina Kim, Mi Hyun Kim, Jee Young Lee, Brittany Lincicome, Catriona Matthew, Ai Miyazato, Angela Park, Inbee Park, Jiyai Shin, Angela Stanford


2008 U.S. Women's Open, Field, Exempt players
7. From the 2007 LPGA Tour money list, the top 40 money leadersShi Hyun Ahn, Nicole Castrale, Laura Davies, Laura Diaz, Meaghan Francella, Natalie Gulbis, Sophie Gustafson, Rachel Hetherington, Maria Hjorth, Pat Hurst, I.K. Kim, Young Kim, Brittany Lang, Sarah Lee, Seon Hwa Lee, Na On Min, Stacy Prammanasudh, Reilley Rankin, Lindsey Wright


2008 U.S. Women's Open, Field, Exempt players
8. From the 2008 LPGA Tour money, the top 35 money leaders through June 1Minea Blomqvist, Na Yeon Choi, Allison Fouch, Hee-Won Han, Song-Hee Kim, Candie Kung, Leta Lindley, Teresa Lu, Jane Park, Momoko Ueda, Sun Young Yoo


2008 U.S. Women's Open, Field, Exempt players
9. Winner of tournaments from the conclusion of last year's U.S. Women's Open until nowLouise Friberg


2008 U.S. Women's Open, Field, Exempt players
10. Top 3 players from the Japan LPGA Tour, LPGA of Korea Tour, and Ladies European TourSun-Ju Ahn, Bettina Hauert, Mi-Jeong Jeon, Eun-Hee Ji, Gwladys Nocera, Sakura Yokomine


2008 U.S. Women's Open, Round summaries, First round
The Open kicked off on Thursday with the field playing in threesomes starting from either the first tee or the tenth tee. Featured threesomes included Annika Sörenstam, Suzann Pettersen, and Paula Creamer, ranked 2, 3, and 4 respectively in the world rankings. Sorenstam and Petterssen opened their U.S. Opens with scores of 75 (+2) and 77 (+4) respectively. Creamer shot a 70 to move three shots off the pace. The other featured threesome included number one ranked player Lorena Ochoa, defending U.S. Open champion Cristie Kerr, and 2007 U.S. Women's Amateur champion Maria José Uribe.


2008 U.S. Women's Open, Round summaries, First round
Uribe led that group with a 69 to lead all amateurs and end the day in a tie for fourth overall; Kerr shot a 1-under 72; Ochoa had an up-and-down round of even-par 73. The rounds of the day belonged to Ji Young Oh, who had eight birdies and two bogeys and to Pat Hurst who had six birdies and an eagle. Oh and Hurst tied after Round 1 at six-under par 67.


2008 U.S. Women's Open, Round summaries, Second round
With Thursday's rounds completed many well-known American players took a step down on the competition while many lesser-known and international players took a step up. A two-hour weather delay required some to finish their rounds on Saturday morning. Angela Park had an even round on Thursday, and a 6-under 67 in the second round. She held a one-stroke lead over three others: Inbee Park of Korea, Helen Alfredsson of Sweden, and the only Finnish player in the tournament, Minea Blomqvist. The two leading Americans were Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr at 4-under 142.


2008 U.S. Women's Open, Round summaries, Second round
Both first-round leaders took a severe fall on Friday, with Ji Young Oh, who had to finish her second round on Saturday due to the weather delay, shooting a 76 and Pat Hurst turning in a 5-over 78. Many top-ranked or well-known players missed the cut, including Laura Davies (70-81), Natalie Gulbis (73-80), 13-year-old Alexis Thompson (75-77), 2003 champion and Minnesotan Hilary Lunke (74-78), Juli Inkster (74-81), and Michelle Wie (81-75).


2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute
The 2007–2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute refers to a series of naval stand-offs between Iranian speedboats and U.S. Navy warships in the Strait of Hormuz in December 2007 and January 2008.


2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute, Incident
On 6 January 2008, five Iranian patrol boats crewed by the Revolutionary Guard approached three United States Navy warships in the Strait of Hormuz: the cruiser USS Port Royal, the destroyer USS Hopper and the frigate USS Ingraham. In a compilation of video and audio released by the Pentagon of the most provocative moments of the encounter, the radio officer of the USS Hopper is seen and heard attempting to make radio contact with the Iranian vessels. A few moments later, another voice radioed the USS Hopper saying, "I am coming at you. You will explode [in or after] [static] minutes."


2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute, Incident
Early United States reports indicated that because the Iranian boats continued to circle the United States warships and had been seen to drop several packages into the water, the United States ships had no choice but to take the threats seriously and maintain a defensive posture. Pentagon officials said the American ships were about to open fire when the Iranian boats withdrew. The commander of the destroyer USS Hopper publicly denied that the American ships were about to open fire.


2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute, Incident
United States officials said the Iranians "harassed and provoked" their naval vessels, coming within 200 yards (180 m) of one warship. Iranian officials responded by calling the incident a routine contact of a sort that happens all the time in the crowded waters of the Persian Gulf. In response, on 8 January 2008 the Department of Defense released an abridged  segment of the audio and video recordings of the incident that included the radio threat.


2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute, Incident
An Iranian Revolutionary Guard source stated, "The footage released by the US Navy are file pictures and the audio has been fabricated" On 10 January 2008, Iran accused the United States of creating a "media fuss". The Iranian Press TV then released its own abridged video of the incident, where no threats can be heard. The United States later released a 36-minute video of the incident.


2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute, Incident
There has been confusion as to the source of the threatening radio transmissions. Persian-speakers and Iranians have told The Washington Post that the accent in the American recording does not sound Iranian. The New York Times pointed out that the United States-released audio includes no ambient noise of the kind that might be expected if the broadcast had come from on one of the speedboats. The Navy Times wrote that the incident could have been caused by a locally famous heckler known as the "Filipino monkey", noting that the threatening voice sounds different from that of the Iranian officer. Several media outlets reported that the Navy spliced the audio recording of the alleged Iranian threat onto to a videotape of the incident.


2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute, Incident
The Pentagon spokesman who described the Iranian boats as "highly maneuverable patrol craft" that were "visibly armed" did not note that such boats usually only carry a two- or three-man crew and that they are normally armed only with machine guns. The only boat that was close enough to be visible to the United States ships was unarmed, as an enlarged photo of the boat from the navy video shows.


2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute, Incident
On 12 January 2008, it was revealed that, contrary to previous reports, the packages the Iranian boats had dropped into the water posed no threat to the United States vessels. The leading United States vessels observed that they were harmless light floating objects and did not report them to follow United States vessels as a danger.


2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute, Incident
On 12 January 2008, two earlier incidents during December 2007 were revealed by United States Navy officials, one in which the USS Whidbey Island fired warning shots in response to a small Iranian boat which was approaching it on 19 December. The Iranian boat reportedly then retreated after the shots were fired.


2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute, Incident
In an 8 July speech to the Revolutionary Guards, Ali Shirazi, a mid-level clerical aide to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, "The Zionist regime is pressuring White House officials to attack Iran. If they commit such a stupidity, Tel Aviv and U.S. shipping in the Persian Gulf will be Iran's first targets and they will be burned," according to the student news agency ISNA.


2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute, Historical context
The presence of United States warships in the Strait has been a sensitive issue for Iran since 3 July 1988, when the U.S. Navy cruiser USS Vincennes (CG-49) shot down an Iranian commercial flight in Iranian airspace over the Strait, killing 290 civilians, an incident for which the United States never apologized, though it did provide monetary compensation.


2008 U.S.–Iranian naval dispute, Territorial context
To travel through the Strait of Hormuz, which at its narrowest is 21 nautical miles (39 km) wide, ships pass through the territorial waters of Iran and Oman under the transit passage provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Neither Iran or the United States have ratified the convention, but the United States accepts the traditional navigation rules as reflected in the convention. Iran has stated that it reserves "the right to require prior authorization for warships to exercise the right of innocent passage through its territorial sea." It is unclear if the incident happened in the territorial waters of Iran or Oman.


2008 UAB Blazers football team
The 2008 UAB Blazers football team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Blazers' head coach was Neil Callaway, who entered his second year at UAB. They played their home games at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama and competed in the East Division of Conference USA (C-USA). They improved upon a 2–10 record from the 2007 season and finished the 2008 campaign with an overall record of 4–8 (3–5 C-USA).


2008 UAB Blazers football team
All games were broadcast live on the UAB-ISP Sports radio network. The flagship was WWMM 100.5 FM in Birmingham, and this marked the first season for it serving as the flagship. The games were called by David Crane (play-by-play) and Jake Arians (color commentary), with Pat Green and Dan Burks as field reporters. Other UAB radio programming was carried on WJOX 94.5 FM. The team did not have a local TV contract, but their games appeared nationally on cable television five times—one on Raycom Sports, two on CSS, and two on CBS College Sports (formerly CSTV).


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Preseason, Recruiting
In what was the second recruiting class for head coach Neil Callaway, UAB signed 25 recruits.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, Tulsa
The Blazers began their season at home against Golden Hurricane of Tulsa, but after taking a 13–7 lead after the first would fall by a final score of 45–22. UAB would score first on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Joe Webb to Frantell Forrest. Tulsa would respond with a 10-yard David Johnson pass to Jacob Collums, only to have UAB take a 13–7 lead on a 9-yard Jeffery Anderson touchdown reception.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, Tulsa
Tulsa would respond with a pair of consecutive touchdowns in the second to take a 21–13 lead before Forrest returned a kickoff 90-yards for a touchdown to bring the score to 21–19. A late 32-yard Swayze Waters field goal would give the Blazers a 22–21 halftime lead. However, UAB would not score again for the afternoon and lose by a final score of 45–22.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, Florida Atlantic
The Blazers first road game of the 2008 season took UAB to Ft. Lauderdale, where they would lose too the FAU Owls in a 49–34 shootout. After going down 14–0 on a pair of FAU touchdown passes, UAB would score its first points on a 27-yard Swayze Waters field goal. The Owls would answer with a touchdown run early in the second in taking a 21–3 lead only to see the blazers respond with a pair of Joe Webb touchdown passes, 20-yards to Zach Lankford and 19-yards to Frantell Forrest, in closing the gap to 21–17. However, FAU would score once more before the half in taking a 28–17 halftime lead.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, Florida Atlantic
The Blazers would open the third by scoring on a 2-yard Aaron Johns run only to see the Owls once again respond with another touchdown. After a late 43-yard Waters field goal in the third, UAB's final points would come in the fourth on a 10-yard Justin Brooks touchdown run.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, Tennessee
Traveling to Knoxville to face the Volunteers, all the Blazers could manage was a single 47-yard Swayze Waters field goal in the third to avoid the shutout in this 35–3 defeat. For the game, UAB was outgained on offense 275 to 548 total yards.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, Alabama State
The Blazers would amass 486 yards of total offense in winning their first game of the 2008 season with a 44–10 victory over the Hornets of Alabama State. UAB would strike first on a 41-yard Joe Web run with the Hornets responding in kind on a 39-yard Rei Herchenbach touchdown pass to Darius Mathis in tying the game at 7–7 midway through the first quarter. The Blazers would regain the lead late in the first quarter, and never relinquish it again on a 24-yard Webb touchdown pass to Jeffery Anderson. In the second, the Blazers would add another pair of touchdowns on an 11-yard Rashaud Slaughter run and a 36-yard Webb pass to Anderson in taking a 28–7 halftime lead.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, Alabama State
UAB would continue to amass points in the third on another pair of touchdowns coming on a 6-yard Slaughter run and 15-yard Justin Brooks run in extending their lead to 42–7 entering the fourth. In the fourth, each team would exchange a pair of field goals in bringing the final score to 45–10. For the game, Joe Webb would rush for 121 yards and a touchdown and pass for 238 yards and a pair of touchdowns.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, South Carolina
Traveling to face their second SEC opponent on the 2008 season, the Blazers were defeated 26–13 by the home Gamecocks in Columbia. After only connecting on a pair of Swayze Waters field goals in the first half, the Blazers lone touchdown came late in the fourth on a 1-yard Joe Webb run.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, Memphis
In the annual Battle for the Bones, Memphis defeated UAB 30–33 on a Thursday night in Birmingham. The Blazers would get on the board in the first after Joe Webb connected with Mike Jones for a 16-yard touchdown reception, followed with an 18-yard Swayze Waters field goal to give the Blazers a 10–0 lead entering the second quarter. After Memphis scored early in the second, UAB would respond with a 9-yard Webb run to take a 16–7 lead.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, Memphis
However this would be UAB's final lead of the evening as Memphis would score another pair of touchdowns in taking a 20–16 lead at the half. In the second half, Webb would score on runs of 12 and 10-yards in the third and fourth quarters respectively, but were unable to take the lead in falling by a final score of 30–33. For the game, Webb rushed for 93 yards and three touchdowns in addition to passing for 235 yards and another touchdown for the evening.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, Houston
In the first conference road game of the 2008 season, the Blazers would fall 20–45 at Houston. UAB would dominate the first half in taking a 20–3 lead going into the half. The Blazer would score on a pair of Swayze Waters field goals (50 and 23 yards respectively) and on a 3-yard Joe Webb touchdown run and a 21-yard, Zach Lankford touchdown reception. However, 42 unanswered Cougar points in the second half would provide Houston the 45–20 victory.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, Southern Miss
The Blazers were out-rushed 96 to 463 total yards in this 70–14 blowout loss on the road to the Golden Eagles. After going down 28–0 after the first, UAB would score their first points on a 14-yard Joe Webb touchdown pass to Rashaud Slaughter early in the second. The Blazers only other points would come in the third on a 12-yard Mario Wright touchdown reception. For the game, the Golden Eagles out-gained the Blazers in total offense by a final margin of 610 to 223 yards, with both USM's Tory Harrison and V.J. Floyd each gaining over 100 yards on the ground.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, Tulane
Following a bye week, the Blazers would make the trip to the Superdome and emerge with a 41–24 victory over the home Green Wave.


2008 UAB Blazers football team, Game Summaries, East Carolina
This 17–13 Pirates victory marked the first all-time win for East Carolina in Legion Field against the Blazers.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400
The 2008 UAW-Dodge 400 was the third stock car race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on March 2, 2008, before a crowd of 153,000 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, an intermediate track that holds NASCAR races. The 267-lap race was won by Carl Edwards of the Roush Fenway Racing team, who started from second position. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second and Edwards's teammate Greg Biffle was third.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400
Kyle Busch won the pole position, which he held for twenty laps until he was passed by Edwards. He held the lead until the first green-flag pit stops and regained the position after the stops ended. Busch retook the lead on lap 81 and held it until he was passed by Matt Kenseth. Jeff Gordon took over the lead on lap 163, before Earnhardt became the leader on the 181st lap and maintained this position until Edwards regained it 14 laps later.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400
The race was stopped for 17 minutes when Gordon crashed on lap 262, and car parts were strewn into the path of other drivers, requiring officials to clean the track. Edwards maintained the lead at the restart and held it to win the race. There were 11 cautions and 19 lead changes by nine different drivers during the race.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400
The race was Edwards's second consecutive win of the season, and the ninth of his career. He was later issued with a 100-point penalty after his car was found to violate NASCAR regulations, dropping him from first to seventh in the Drivers' Championship. Kyle Busch increased his lead over Ryan Newman to twenty points as a consequence. Ford took over the lead of the Manufacturers' Championship, five points ahead of Dodge. Chevrolet moved clear of Toyota in third place, with 33 races left in the season. The race attracted 12.1 million television viewers.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Background
The UAW-Dodge 400 was the third out of 36 scheduled stock car races of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on March 2, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, an intermediate track that holds NASCAR races. The standard track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a four-turn 1.5-mile (2.4 km) oval. Its turns are banked at 20° and both the front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch are banked at 9°.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Background
Before the race, Kyle Busch led the Drivers' Championship with 335 points, ahead of Ryan Newman in second and Tony Stewart third. Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards were fourth and fifth, respectively, and Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers, and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top 12. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Dodge and Ford were tied for the lead with 12 points each; their rivals Chevrolet and Toyota were tied for third place with 10 points each. Johnson was the race's defending champion.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Background
In preparation for the race, NASCAR held the second of its two preseason tests for Sprint Cup entrants on January 28–29 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Sessions began at 9:00 am Eastern Standard Time (EST), paused from 12:00 to 1:00 pm, and concluded at 5:00 pm Sixty-seven cars participated in the January 28 morning session; Denny Hamlin was quickest with a top speed of 178.265 miles per hour (286.890 km/h), while Kyle Busch was quickest in the afternoon session, with a top speed of 183.350 miles per hour (295.073 km/h).


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Background
Several incidents occurred during the second session; Regan Smith spun leaving turn two and damaged his car's nose after hitting the inside wall; Sam Hornish Jr. heavily damaged his car after scraping the wall hard; and Dario Franchitti heavily damaged his Dodge's rear after spinning. Jacques Villeneuve spun, but did not damage his car; David Ragan wrecked after spinning off turn two; and Mark Martin damaged the front of his vehicle when he hit a concrete piling after swerving to avoid a tow truck.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Background
During the third session with 74 cars, Edwards had the fastest speed of 184.256 miles per hour (296.531 km/h), and Burton damaged the right side of his car after hitting the wall. Juan Pablo Montoya recorded the fastest speed of the two days, at 186.761 miles per hour (300.563 km/h) in the fourth and final session.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Background
Edwards was looking forward to the race weekend, and felt his result would be good. Biffle was confident he could secure a top-five finishing position, and stated if his car's handling were good, he believed he could be in contention for winning the race. Having won twice at the track in the early 2000s, Kenseth said he enjoyed racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and hoped the Roush Fenway Racing cars would be able to contend for race victories.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Background
Johnson was considered by some bookmakers as the favorite to win the race, and in the event he succeeded, he would have become the first person to secure four consecutive victories in a NASCAR Cup Series racing event since Jeff Gordon won the Southern 500 four times between 1995 and 1998. He said it would be "great" if he took the victory, but would not approach the event differently from at a track where he had not won a race.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Background
One change of driver happened before the race. Jon Wood, the grandson of retired driver Glen Wood, was originally scheduled to replace 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing car, but withdrew because of a lack of experience with the Car of Tomorrow, and former Haas CNC Racing driver Johnny Sauter took over his seat. Wood said he felt Sauter was a better qualifier when Elliott was not available to drive. Kahne developed a sinus infection two days before the event, and his team had Nationwide Series driver Jason Keller ready to replace him if he could not compete.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Practice and qualifier
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race, one on Friday and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes, the second 45 minutes and the third 60 minutes. In the first practice session, Kyle Busch was fastest with a time of 30.009 seconds; Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Stewart, David Reutimann, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Elliott Sadler, Kurt Busch, and Jeremy Mayfield rounded out the session's top-10 fastest drivers. Hornish made contact with the turn-two barrier, while Reed Sorenson and Patrick Carpentier spun in turn four, but avoided damaging their cars. Montoya switched to a back-up car after heavily colliding with the turn-two wall, and Bobby Labonte did the same after he lost control in turn four and damaged his left-rear quarter. Kahne made light contact with the turn-four wall, and the car was repaired by his team.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Practice and qualifier
Forty-seven drivers entered qualifying on Friday afternoon. Due to NASCAR's qualifying procedure, 43 could race. Each driver ran two laps, with the starting order determined by the competitors' fastest times. Drivers who recorded their lap times early in the session were at an advantage because the track was cooler, and thus the air was more dense and the track gave more grip. Edwards felt his car had oversteer during his run. Kyle Busch won the third pole position of his career with a time of 29.613 seconds.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Practice and qualifier
He was joined on the grid's front row by Edwards, who was 0.125 seconds slower and had the pole position until Kyle Busch's lap. Martin qualified third, Gordon fourth, and Mike Skinner fifth. Biffle, Scott Riggs, Earnhardt, Kurt Busch, and Sadler completed the top-10 qualifiers. The four drivers who failed to qualify were A. J. Allmendinger, Joe Nemechek, John Andretti, and Sauter (who crashed at turn two on his first qualifying lap). Burney Lamar withdrew from the race prior to qualifying.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Practice and qualifier
After the qualifier, Busch said his team was aware of the car's potential, which was displayed in Friday's sole practice session and the January test session; he was worried about his vehicle being very tight going into the first and second turns, having been on the accelerator pedal throughout his fastest lap.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Practice and qualifier
On Saturday afternoon, Matt Kenseth was fastest in the second practice session with a time of 30.321 seconds, ahead of Clint Bowyer, Earnhardt, Travis Kvapil, David Gilliland, Biffle, Johnson, Newman, Hornish, and Edwards. Kyle Busch scraped the outside wall while driving up the track; he sustained minor damage and did not switch to a back-up car. Later that day, Kahne led the final practice session with a time of 30.580 seconds; Edwards, Paul Menard, Gordon, his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Johnson and Earnhardt, Reutimann, Biffle, Bowyer, and Dave Blaney occupied positions two through 10.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Practice and qualifier
Bowyer moved to the outside of the track, but was unable to steer left and hit the outside wall leaving turn two and into the backstretch; he came down the track and Kyle Petty hit Bowyer and damaged his front-left fender before Bowyer's car stopped after he made contact with the inside wall. Bowyer was required to use a back-up car, but Petty was able to repair his chassis.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Live television coverage of the race began at 3:30 pm EST in the United States on Fox. Around the start of the race, weather conditions were sunny, between 54 and 64 °F (12 and 18 °C), and no rain was expected. Gusty winds from the north created strong headwinds on the back straight. Kenny Farmer, chaplain of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, began prerace ceremonies with an invocation. Actress Carol Linnea Johnson of the stage production Mamma Mia! performed the national anthem, and John Byers, co-director of UAW-Chrysler National Training Center, commanded the drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, two drivers moved to the rear of the field because of unapproved changes: Bowyer had switched to a back-up car, and Kahne had changed his engine.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
The race started at 4:48 pm; Kyle Busch maintained his pole position advantage heading into the first corner and led the field on the first lap. Carpentier went up the track on the same lap, but avoided hitting the barriers, while Reutimann did the same and scraped the outside wall, causing right-rear damage to his car. He was black-flagged by NASCAR because debris was dangling from his vehicle. Reutimann's right-rear tire exploded while entering the pit road on lap 5, but no debris was left on the track.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
On lap 9, Bowyer hit the wall, causing Kahne to drive down the track. He also made contact with Jamie McMurray, who slid through the infield frontstretch grass, causing the first caution flag and the appearance of the pace car. During the caution, most drivers elected to make pit stops for tires, and 18 drivers remained on the track.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Kyle Busch stayed out and led the field back up to speed on the lap 13 restart. Three laps later, Edwards started to challenge Kyle Busch for the lead. Jeff Gordon moved up to third on lap 18, and Martin moved from third to eighth by the same lap. Kyle Busch and Edwards ran alongside each other in the battle for the first position on lap 20; the battle concluded after Edwards passed Kyle Busch on the following lap.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Gordon was passed by Biffle for third place on lap 22, while Kurt Busch moved up to fifth on the same lap. By lap 28, Biffle had closed the gap to Kyle Busch and passed him for second position two laps later. Edwards had a 1.3-second lead over teammate Biffle on the same lap. Kyle Busch fell to fourth place after Gordon passed him on the 33rd lap. Kyle Busch reclaimed the third position from Gordon two laps later; Kurt Busch had moved into third after moving ahead of Gordon on the same lap. By the 42nd lap, Edwards and teammate Biffle had opened a 3.0-second lead over Kyle Busch. Riggs and Kurt Busch both moved in front of Kyle Busch for third and fourth positions on lap 45.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Green-flag pit stops began on lap 48. Edwards and Biffle made pit stops on lap 49, handing the lead to Riggs. Hornish hit the turn-two outside wall on the following lap after his right-front tire went down in the trioval, and sustained damage to his right-front quarter panel, but no debris came off his car. After the pit stops, Edwards regained the lead and held a 5.0-second lead over Kyle Busch; Martin moved into third place, Riggs regained fourth place, and Harvick moved up to fifth place by lap 65.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Four laps later, a second caution was needed when debris was spotted at turn two. Most of the leaders, including Edwards, made pit stops. Jeff Burton chose to remain on the track and led on the lap-76 restart, ahead of Earnhardt and Kyle Busch. On lap 78, Kyle Busch moved ahead of Earnhardt to take second place, and began to close the gap to Burton. Kyle Busch passed Burton to reclaim the lead three laps later, and opened up a 1.3-second advantage over Burton by the 92nd lap.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Earnhardt was passed by Edwards for fifth place on lap 94, and Biffle got ahead of Gordon for seventh on the same lap. Edwards gained fourth place when he passed Stewart on the 96th lap, and Burton lost second to Kenseth two laps later. On lap 102, Burton fell to fourth place after Edwards passed him.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
By lap 105, Kyle Busch held a 3.1-second lead over Kenseth. Four laps later, the third caution was triggered when Stewart's car made heavy contact with the turn-two wall after his right-front tire burst. Stewart grazed his foot and climbed out of his car; emergency workers helped take him to a waiting car, which took him to the infield medical center for further examination. All the leaders, including Edwards, chose to make pit stops for tires and adjustments under caution.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
NASCAR required Edwards to fall back to the end of the longest line because one of his crew members had allowed a tire to roll away from the pit box. Kyle Busch maintained the lead at the restart on lap 115; he was followed by Kenseth and Gordon. Kenseth passed Kyle Busch to take the lead on lap 116. On the next lap, Gordon passed Busch. By lap 135, Kenseth had opened up a 2.2-second lead over Gordon. Biffle moved in front of Burton for fourth place on the 139th lap. On lap 144, Robby Gordon's right-front tire blew, causing him to hit the turn-two wall, and the fourth caution was triggered. All the leaders made pit stops during the caution.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Kenseth remained the leader at the lap-150 restart; he was followed by Gordon. The fifth caution was deployed 12 laps later, when Carpentier was squeezed towards the backstretch outside wall by Newman, causing Carpentier to slide down the track and hit the inside wall. Ken Schrader was close by the incident, but swerved to avoid damaging his car. During the caution, the leading drivers, including Kenseth, elected to make pit stops for tires. Gordon took the lead and maintained it at the lap-166 restart.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Biffle and his teammate Kenseth drove alongside each other in a battle for second place on lap 166, until Biffle escaped and ran onto the apron on the next lap. Mayfield burst his right-front tire on lap 171, but no debris came off his car, avoiding the need for a caution. Six laps later, Biffle passed Kyle Busch to take fifth place. Riggs experienced oversteer in the fourth turn while running down the inside of Labonte; Franchitti ran into Riggs, causing the sixth caution on lap 179. All the leaders, including Kenseth, elected to make pit stops for tires. Earnhardt led the field on the lap-184 restart; he was followed by Harvick and Edwards. Gordon moved into fifth place by lap 188. Harvick fell to fourth place when Edwards and Kenseth passed him.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Edwards passed Earnhardt to reclaim the lead on lap 195, while Earnhardt lost a further position after Kenseth got ahead of him on the same lap. Ten laps later, Biffle moved ahead of Harvick to take fifth place, while his teammate Kenseth had a 1.5-second lead over the second-place Edwards by the 211th lap. Three laps later, the seventh caution was issued when officials located debris in the turn-two groove. The leaders, including Edwards, chose to make pit stops for tires and car adjustments.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
One tire from Edwards's car went outside his pit box, but he was not penalized because a cameraman blocked Edwards's crew from retrieving the tire. Kenseth led the field back up to speed on the lap-220 restart; Earnhardt was in second place and Edwards third. Casey Mears hit Vickers, who spun and triggered the eighth caution on lap 224; both drivers avoided contacting the wall. Kenseth maintained the lead on the lap-228 restart. Edwards drove up the track in an attempt to take the lead on lap 229, but Kenseth kept the position.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Four laps later, the ninth caution was needed when Dale Jarrett spun and hit the turn-two outside wall. Kenseth remained the leader at the restart on lap 237. Edwards passed teammate Kenseth for the lead two laps later, and began to pull away. Earnhardt caught up to Kenseth by lap 243, and 10 laps later, he passed Kenseth for second.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Kurt Busch's right-front tire exploded, causing him to hit the wall between turns three and four, and the 10th caution happened on lap 257. Kurt Busch retired from the race because of his crash. He was transported to the infield medical center for a mandatory check-up. Edwards remained in the lead for the lap-263 restart. Earnhardt spun his tires, forcing Kenseth onto the outside lane and Gordon to the inside, where he passed Earnhardt.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Kenseth moved in front of Earnhardt and then made contact with Gordon, who was sent into the inside backstretch retaining wall, which had no SAFER barrier installed. Gordon's car's radiator flew out from its chassis and into the path of oncoming traffic. Kenseth slid, but was able to straighten his car and continue. The final caution was initially waved before a red flag was shown, stopping the race to allow officials to remove debris from the track. The race resumed 17 minutes later, with Edwards leading Earnhardt and Biffle.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race
Edwards maintained the lead for the remaining two laps to secure his second consecutive win and the ninth of his career. Earnhardt finished second, ahead of Biffle in third, Harvick fourth, and Burton fifth. Ragan, Kahne, Kvapil, Hamlin, and Martin rounded out the top-10 finishers. The race had 11 cautions and 19 lead changes among 9 drivers. Edwards led four times for a total of 86 laps, more than any other competitor.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race, Postrace comments
Edwards appeared in Victory Lane in front of the crowd of 153,000 people to celebrate his second victory of the season, earning him $425,675. He was pleased with the result, saying it was "a very special win" and that he felt he was close to the form he had achieved in 2005: "I tried hard to stay calm. And I'm not the best at it sometimes. We all know that." He added, "We do this to win. Winning these races is the greatest. Winning a championship would be the ultimate.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race, Postrace comments
What we’re trying to do is win the championship this year. That's our number-one goal." Second-place finisher Earnhardt was disappointed, saying he had his car in his chosen position, but the red-flag period prevented him from winning the race: "Carl wasn't going to get beat today. He had it in the bag. He was so strong ... I was terrible on cold tires. I wish all of you knew what that felt like. I hate it." Biffle was philosophical as he argued that he had the fastest car, but did not gain the track position he needed to challenge Edwards because he slid on pit road.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race, Postrace comments
Despite his injury, Stewart said he hoped to participate in a planned two-day test session at Phoenix International Raceway. He also said he was worried about his crash because his legs and hips were tingling and his lower back was in pain. Stewart said the crash scared him and the tingling in his legs had improved after leaving the infield care center. Kurt Busch's crew chief Pat Tryson said  the Penske Racing South team and he were relieved the driver emerged uninjured after his crash on lap 256, and that they would do better at the next weekend's race.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race, Postrace comments
Gordon said his crash on lap 264 was "probably the hardest hit I've ever taken" and admitted fault for causing the crash. According to Kenseth, "I knew he was going to get a run on me, so I laid back a little bit ... We came off [turn] 2 and I was up as high as I thought I could, and Jeff just came across. Whether it was on purpose or not, it just kind of wiped us out."


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race, Postrace comments
Gordon said he hoped Speedway Motorsports chairman and chief executive Bruton Smith (the owner of Las Vegas Motor Speedway) would install SAFER barriers along the inside retaining walls around the track. Biffle said the circuit barriers should not have had gaps, and that all NASCAR tracks should have SAFER barriers installed. After consulting NASCAR officials, construction crews installed a 1,700-foot (520 m) long SAFER barrier along the inside backstretch wall in August 2008.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race, Postrace comments
After the race, NASCAR announced it had found a problem with the lid on the oil reservoir encasement during a postrace inspection on Edwards's car, which was later taken to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further analysis.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race, Postrace comments
Three days after the race, Roush Fenway Racing was given penalties for "actions detrimental to stock car racing", "car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules", and a device or duct work that permitted air to pass through the car from one area of the interior of the car to another, or to the outside of the car. The penalties included a $100,000 fine and a six-race suspension for Edwards's crew chief Bob Osborne, who was suspended from NASCAR until April 30, 2008, and placed on probation until December 31, 2008.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race, Postrace comments
Roush Fenway Racing chief engineer Chris Andrews took over Osborne's role at the next race weekend. Edwards and car owner Jack Roush incurred the loss of 100 driver and owner points. If Edwards qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, he would not receive 10 bonus points awarded to him for winning the race, which was used to determine the seeding order. Edwards was allowed to keep the victory; he moved from first to seventh in the Drivers' Championship. On March 12, Roush Fenway Racing announced it would not appeal the penalties.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race, Postrace comments
Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith said a bolt that held the oil lid together did not work because of vibration harmonics generated by Edwards's car and the Las Vegas race track. Edwards said the infraction was "an absolute mistake" and that his team had no intention of cheating. Edwards's teammate Biffle and Newman agreed the penalties were justified. According to Sadler, the penalties were not severe enough; he argued that the driver should be penalized or required to miss one event.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race, Postrace comments
Toyota Racing Development general manager Lee White said Roush Fenway Racing had modified Edwards's car to enhance downforce by 240 lb (110 kg), which increased the car's horsepower leaving the corners. Roush felt White's comments were motivated by results. White later issued a statement in which he apologized for his comments. An internal investigation found no evidence another person had intentionally caused the bolt to come loose, and that the team enacted protective measures to ensure the oil lid would stay fastened in future events.


2008 UAW-Dodge 400, Race, Postrace comments
The result meant Kyle Busch maintained his lead in the Drivers' Championship, 20 points ahead of Newman in second place. Kahne's seventh-place finish allowed him to advance into third place, 16 points in front of Harvick, who also moved up three positions. Biffle was in fifth at 427 points. Burton, Edwards, Truex, Sadler, Earnhardt, Stewart, and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 12. Ford moved into the lead of the Manufacturers' Championship, five points ahead of Dodge. Chevrolet moved three points clear of Toyota. The event had a television audience of 12.1 million viewers; it took 3:08:08 to complete the race, and the margin of victory was 0.504 seconds.


2008 UC Davis Aggies football team
The 2008 UC Davis football team represented the University of California, Davis in the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They competed in the Great West Conference (GWC). The conference had previously been only football, but converted to all sports for the 2008–2009 school year.


2008 UC Davis Aggies football team
The 2008 Aggies were led by head coach Bob Biggs in his sixteenth year and played home games at Aggie Stadium. UC Davis finished the season with a record of five wins and seven losses (5–7, 2–1 GWC). This was the second straight losing season after 37 consecutive winning years. The Aggies outscored their opponents 342–326 for the season.


2008 UC Davis Aggies football team, UC Davis players in the NFL
No UC Davis Aggies players were selected in the 2009 NFL Draft.


2008 UC Davis Aggies football team, UC Davis players in the NFL
The following finished their UC Davis career in 2008, were not drafted, but played in the NFL:


2008 UCF Knights football team
The 2008 UCF Knights football team represented the University of Central Florida in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Their head coach was George O'Leary, in his fifth season with the team. For the second season, the UCF Knights played all of their home games at Bright House Networks Stadium on the school's main campus in Orlando, Florida. The Knights sought unsuccessfully to defend their Conference USA football championship.


2008 UCF Knights football team, Personnel, Recruiting class
Coach O'Leary and his coaching staff announced these people to the 2008 UCF Knights Football Team on Wednesday February 6, 2008; as it was the National Football Signing Day:-- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- --


2008 UCF Knights football team, Personnel, Recruiting class
Defensive EndsJarvis Gathers (Feather River C.C. – Andrews, South Carolina)Robert Pritchard (North Gwinnett – Suwanee, Georgia)


2008 UCF Knights football team, Personnel, Recruiting class
Defensive TackleTheo Goins (Hightower – Fort Bend, Texas)Chris Martin (Choctawhatchee – Fort Walton Beach, Florida)


2008 UCF Knights football team, Personnel, Recruiting class
LinebackersJosh Linam (Tavares – Tavares, Florida)Loren Robinson (Lyman – Longwood, Florida)David Williams (Cardinal Gibbons – Ft. Lauderdale)


2008 UCF Knights football team, Personnel, Recruiting class
Offensive LinemanChad Hounshell (Lake Catholic – Mentor, Ohio)Jarien Moreland (Glade Central Community – Belle Glade, Florida)John Oliver (Troup – LaGrange, Georgia)Steven Robinson (Lincoln – Tallahassee, Florida)


2008 UCF Knights football team, Personnel, Recruiting class
Running BacksBrandon Davis (Peachtree Ridge – Suwanee, Georgia)Brynn Harvey (Largo – Largo, Florida)Vance King (Stockbridge – Stockbridge, Georgia)Latavius Murray (Onondaga Central – Nedrow, New York)


2008 UCF Knights football team, Personnel, Recruiting class
Tight Ends / Hybrid BackBrendan Kelly (Shoreham-Wading River – Shoreham, New York)Kyle Madden (Harrison – Kennesaw, Georgia)


2008 UCF Knights football team, Offseason
On August 22, 2008, wide receiver Richard Jackson announced that he had completed his enrollment at UCF, completing a transfer from the University of Notre Dame. Jackson was a star prospect from East Ridge High School in nearby Clermont, Florida. He received a hardship waiver from the NCAA on September 5, giving him immediate eligibility.


2008 UCF Knights football team, Game summaries, South Carolina State
The Knights began their season at home against South Carolina State. Making his first start at quarterback, Michael Greco had a difficult time trying to find his groove, completing 9-of-16 passing for 90 yards, and running 13 times for 57 yards. But the defense remained strong and carried the team, holding the Bulldog offense to less than 22 minutes of play time, with Jason Venson catching an interception.


2008 UCF Knights football team, Game summaries, South Florida
Greco's struggles continued when the Knights hosted South Florida for the last match in their "War on I-4" rivalry. While the Bulls scored first, Joe Burnett answered back with a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The Knights defense held as well as they could, holding the Bulls to 10 points in the first half and allowing the Knights to tie the game going into halftime. However, the Knights had difficulty maintaining their discipline, and it cost them in penalties. The Knights had 12 penalties for 148 yards, one of which negated a touchdown on an interception in the second quarter.


2008 UCF Knights football team, Game summaries, South Florida
Although it appeared the Bulls would begin to run away with the game, scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter, Michael Greco finally awoke toward the end of the fourth quarter, leading two touchdown drives in the final minutes of regulation to force overtime. However, they came up short on a fourth-down run on their turn, failing to answer a quick South Florida touchdown.


2008 UCF Knights football team, Game summaries, South Florida
Although sluggish for most of the game, the Knights offense did not turn the ball over. After their first two games, UCF has a +3 turnover ratio.


2008 UCF Knights football team, Game summaries, South Florida
The unanticipated struggles for the Bulls dropped them back to their preseason #19 ranking in the AP poll despite the win.


2008 UCI BMX World Championships
The 2008 UCI BMX World Championships took place in Taiyuan in China and crowned world champions in the cycling discipline of BMX racing. Great Britain's Shanaze Reade won her second consecutive world championships in the elite women's category, whilst Latvian Māris Štrombergs won the elite men's category.


2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships
The 2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships took place in Treviso, Italy on the weekend of January 26 and January 27, 2008. As 2007, four events were scheduled.


2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Men's elite race
This event was held on Sunday January 27, 2008 as part of the 2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Treviso, Italy.


2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Men's elite race, Race summary
Due to the speedy track, no riders managed to break away from the pack and about 20 riders were still in contention for the title going into the final lap. One of the favourites, Lars Boom, managed to break away at the beginning of the last lap and stayed away, riding to his first World Championship title in the Men's Elite category. Sven Nys, Zdeněk Štybar and Erwin Vervecken came within 4 seconds of closing the gap again, but never succeeded. At the finish line, Štybar outsprinted Nys to take the silver, Vervecken finished fourth. Boom was the first non-Belgian winner since Richard Groenendaal in 2000.


2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Men's elite race, Race summary
Other favourites Francis Mourey and Bart Wellens crashed heavily in the sixth lap. Mourey abandoned the race, Wellens finished but was unable to recover fully and get back into the leading group.


2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Men's elite race, Ranking
2 riders, Francis Mourey and Maarten Nijland abandoned the race.


2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Men's junior race
This event was held on Saturday 26 January 2008 as part of the 2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Treviso, Italy.


2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Men's under-23 race
This event was held on Saturday January 26, 2008 as part of the 2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Treviso, Italy.


2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Men's under-23 race
Niels Albert was the big favorite to win and on the first lap he drew away from the rest of the pack, where he remained, finishing more than half a minute in front of the number two. Duval pulled away from the pack, while Cominelli outsprinted Lopez to take the bronze.


2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Women's elite race
This event was held on Sunday 27 January 2008 as a part of the 2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Treviso, Italy.


2008 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Women's elite race, Ranking
Two riders, Katie Compton and Birgit Hollmann, abandoned the race.


2008 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships
The 2008 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships were held in Val di Sole, Italy from 17 to 22 June 2008. The disciplines included were cross-country, downhill, four-cross, and trials. The event was the 19th edition of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and the 23rd edition of the UCI Trials World Championships.


2008 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships
Future three-time road world champion and seven-time Tour de France points classification winner Peter Sagan won the junior men's cross-country title.


2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
The 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup includes four disciplines: cross-country, downhill, marathon and four-cross. It is sponsored by Nissan.


2008 UCI ProTour
The 2008 UCI ProTour is the fourth year of the UCI ProTour system. Following protracted disagreement between the organisers of the Grand Tours (ASO, RCS and Unipublic) and the UCI, all races organized by ASO, RCS and Unipublic were withdrawn from the ProTour calendar. This removed all three Grand Tours (Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España), four of the five monuments (Milan–San Remo, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Giro di Lombardia) and four further races (Paris–Nice, Tirreno–Adriatico, La Flèche Wallonne and Paris–Tours). As such, the quality of the races of the ProTour was diminished. The Australian race, the Tour Down Under was added to the calendar, making it the first race outside Europe on the ProTour (although races had previously been held outside Europe as part of the UCI Road World Cup).


2008 UCI ProTour
The highly successful U.S. Postal Service ceased operations at the end of the 2007 season. Johan Bruyneel signed on to become the directeur sportif and revamp the embattled Astana; joining him are 2007 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador and 2007 Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer. Other major signings included American George Hincapie moving to Team High Road and Daniele Bennati from Lampre to Liquigas, while Giro d'Italia winner Danilo Di Luca left Liguigas for the UCI Professional Continental team LPR Brakes–Ballan.


2008 UCI ProTour, Teams
Unibet.com Cycling Team, whose sponsors have pulled out of cycling, failed to submit its application renewal by the November 20, 2007 deadline.


2008 UCI Road World Championships
The 2008 UCI Road World Championships took place in Varese, Italy, between September 23 and September 28, 2008. The event consisted of a road race and a time trial for men, women and men under 23.


2008 UCI Road World Championships, Participating nations
Cyclists from 57 national federations participated. The number of cyclists per nation that competed is shown in parentheses.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race
The Men's Individual Road Race of the 2008 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on September 28 in Varese, Italy. The course comprised 15 laps around 17.35-kilometre route, making a total distance of 260.25 km. Each lap featured two ascents: the first at Via Montello (6.5% gradient for 1.15 kilometres); and the second at Ronchi (4.5% for 3.13 kilometres). The highest elevation measured 480 metres (1,570 ft) at Via Montello.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race
Pre -race favourites included Paolo Bettini, who was trying for an unprecedented third consecutive title, and the 1999, 2001 and 2004 champion Óscar Freire.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race
The race was won by Alessandro Ballan, with his fellow Italian Damiano Cunego in second and Matti Breschel of Denmark taking the bronze medal.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, Final classification, Did not finish
128 riders failed to finish the race. Levi Leipheimer of the United States did not start the race.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Men's time trial
The 2008 edition of the UCI Road World Championships Time Trial took place on September 25 in Varese, Italy.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Qualification
This page is an overview of the qualification criteria for the 2008 UCI Road World Championships.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Qualification, Elite events, Elite men's road race
Qualification was based on performances on the UCI run tours during 2008. Results from January to the middle of August would count towards the qualification criteria on both the 2008 UCI ProTour and the UCI Continental Circuits across the world, with the rankings being determined upon the release of the numerous tour rankings on 15 August 2008.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Qualification, Elite events, Elite women's road race
Qualification will be based mainly on the 2008 UCI Nation Ranking as of 15 August 2008. The first five nations in this classification qualified 7 riders to start, the next ten nations qualified 6 riders to start and the next 5 nations qualified 5 riders to start. Other nations and non ranked nations had the possibility to send 3 riders to start. Moreover, the outgoing World Champion and continental champions are qualified to take part in the race on top of the nation numbers.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Qualification, Elite events, Elite men's time trial
All National Federations were allowed to register four riders for the race, with a maximum of two riders to start. In addition to this number, the outgoing World Champion and the current continental champions may take part.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Qualification, Elite events, Elite women's time trial
All National Federations were allowed to enter four riders for the race, with a maximum of two riders to start. In addition to this number, the outgoing World Champion and the current continental champions were also able to take part.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Qualification, Under-23 events, Men's under-23 time trial
All National Federations were allowed to register four riders for the race, with a maximum of two riders to start. In addition to this number, the outgoing World Champion and the current continental champions may take part


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race
The women's road race of the 2008 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on 27 September in Varese, Italy. The course comprised eight laps around a 17.35-kilometre route, making a total distance of 138.8 km. Each lap featured two ascents: the first at Montello (6.5% gradient for 1.15 kilometres); and the second at Ronchi, Gallarate (4.5% for 3.13 kilometres). The race included a total of 1,937 metres of climbing.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race
Pre -race favourites included Varese local rider Noemi Cantele and her team mates Tatiana Guderzo and Giorgia Bronzini, Marianne Vos of the Netherlands, Judith Arndt of Germany (champion in 2004), reigning Olympic champion Nicole Cooke and silver medallist Emma Johansson. Notably missing from the start list was Marta Bastianelli, reigning champion from 2007, who was awaiting a verdict on a non-negative drug test result in July 2008.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race
The race was won by Great Britain's Nicole Cooke, with Marianne Vos and Judith Arndt finishing with the same time, second and third respectively. Cooke was the first British woman to win the race since Mandy Jones in 1982.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race, The race
Not long after the race began, a Swedish rider brought down the front row of the peloton when her tyres slipped on some painted letters on the road. Christine Thorburn was also brought down in a crash, when she was squeezed up against a fence. Although she was not severely injured and did attempt to chase the bunch, she failed to make contact and did not finish.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race, The race
A group of thirteen riders soon broke away from the main group, driven mainly by the American Kristin Armstrong. They gained 25 seconds on the field but were pulled back by the Dutch and British teams with one lap to go. As soon as the break was caught, Marianne Vos launched a counter-attack on the Montello climb, Nicole Cooke, Judith Arndt, Trixi Worrack and Emma Johansson, and Susanne Ljungskog joined her in what was to become the winning break. Ljungskog's chances ended when she punctured, leaving five in the break.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race, The race
Worrack and Vos attacked on the final hill, but were brought back to the break with 2 km to go. The race finished with a sprint, Vos took the lead before being overtaken by Cooke just before the finish line. Arndt struggled to match their speed in the sprint, she was nearly caught out by a late surge by Johansson, but eventually crossed the line in third place.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race, Final classification, Did not finish
45 riders failed to finish the race. Mayuko Hagiwara of Japan was disqualified, and Grassi Herrera of Mexico did not start the race.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Women's time trial
The Women's time trial of the 2008 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on 24 September in Varese, Italy.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Women's time trial
After finishing one place out of the medals in last World Championships, Amber Neben became gold medal winner, recording a time 7 seconds quicker than Austria's Christiane Soeder with Germany's Judith Arndt finishing behind Soeder in third.


2008 UCI Road World Championships – Women's time trial, Qualification
All National Federations were allowed to enter four riders for the race, with a maximum of two riders to start. In addition to this number, the outgoing World Champion and the current continental champions were also able to take part.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships
The 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship for track cycling. They took place at the Manchester Velodrome in Manchester, United Kingdom from 26 to 30 March 2008. Eighteen events were scheduled; the women's team pursuit being the only addition from the 2007 championships.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships
As in 2007, the domination of the Great Britain team was clear. Breaking three world records en route, they won eleven medals in total. Indeed, half of the eighteen gold medals on offer were won by the British team.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's 1 km time trial
The 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships - Men's 1 km Time Trial was the 2008 world championship track cycling time trial. It was held on 30 March 2008 in Manchester, United Kingdom. The event was conducted over a single round.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's individual pursuit
The Men's individual pursuit event of the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was held on 26 March 2008.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's keirin
The Men's keirin event of the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was held on 29 March 2008.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's madison
The Men's madison event of the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was held on 29 March 2008.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's omnium
The Men's sprint event of the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was held on 30 March 2008.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's points race
The Men's points race event of the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was held on 28 March 2008.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's scratch
The Men's scratch event of the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was held on 26 March 2008.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's sprint
The Men's sprint event of the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was held on 27 and 28 March 2008.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's team pursuit
The Men's team pursuit event of the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was held on 27 March 2008.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's team sprint
The Men's team sprint event of the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was held on 26 March 2008.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's 500 m time trial
The Women's 500 m time trial was one of the 8 women's events at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, held in Manchester, United Kingdom.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's 500 m time trial
16 cyclists from 12 countries participated in the contest. The final was held on March 26.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's individual pursuit
The Women's Individual Pursuit was one of the 8 women's events at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, held in Manchester, United Kingdom.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's individual pursuit
20 Cyclists from 16 countries participated in the contest. After the qualification, the fastest 2 riders advanced to the Final and the 3rd and 4th best riders raced for the bronze medal.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's individual pursuit
The qualification took place on 27 March and the Finals later the same day.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's keirin
The Women's Keirin is one of the 8 women's events at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, held in Manchester, United Kingdom.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's keirin
20 Cyclists from 16 countries participated in the contest, which was held on 29 March.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's points race
The Women's Points Race was one of the 8 women's events at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, held in Manchester, United Kingdom.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's points race
22 Cyclists from 22 countries participated in the contest. Because of the number of entries, there were no qualification rounds for this discipline. Consequently, the event was run direct to the final.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's points race, Final
The Final and only race was run on March 29. The competition consisted on 100 laps, making a total of 25 km with 10 sprints.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's scratch
The 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's scratch  was the women's scratch race at 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. It was one of the eight women's events, held at the Manchester Velodrome in Manchester, Great Britain on the fifth and final day of the Championships on 30 March 2008. It was the seventh women's scatch race appearance at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships. 21 women from 21 countries participated in the race.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's scratch
After several attacks that did not come to anything Ellen van Dijk of the Netherlands struck out alone with less than eight laps to go. No one else reacted and she rode solo to the finish. The sprint of the peloton behind Van Dijk was won by Yumari González of Cuba who took the silver medal with Belinda Goss from Australia taking bronze.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's scratch, Qualification
Qualification for the race was restricted to one cyclist per nation for the countries in the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) individual standings as of 18 February 2008, after the fourth and final round of the 2007–08 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics. Additionally, one place was available at the B World Championship, one place at each continental championships and one wild card for nations that did not qualify through the UCI standing. National federations of the qualified countries selected the rider. The maximum quota of the event was set at 24 cyclists but only 21 cyclists were registered.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's scratch, Competition format
A scratch race is a race in which all riders start together and the object is to cross the finish line. The competition consisted on 40 laps, making a total of 10 km without intermediate points or sprints. There were no qualification rounds for this discipline so the event was run direct to the final.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's scratch, Schedule
Times are in British Summer Time (UTC+1)Sunday 30 March16:30-16:50 Final17:15:-17:25 Victory Ceremony


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's scratch, Pre-race favorites
Not all 2007–08 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics medalists could participate in the race because each qualified country was only allowed to select one rider. Beside that, not all countries selected their World Cup medalist, if they had one. The main favorite for the race was Yumari González from Cuba, the defending champion, who won the scratch race at the 2007 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and won the first World Cup race in Sydney and finished third in the second World Cup race in Beijing. The silver medalist of 2007, María Luisa Calle of Colombia, was also selected.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's scratch, Pre-race favorites
The start list further included Belinda Goss of Australia, Jarmila Machačová from the Czech Republic and Annalisa Cucinotta from Italy who won all three a silver medal during a World Cup race. The Netherlands did not select Marianne Vos, who won two of the four World Cup races, but selected Ellen van Dijk instead.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's scratch, Race
The race started at 16:30 British Summer Time (UTC+1) and was scheduled to last until 16:50. 21 women form 21 countries took part in the race.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's scratch, Race
The race had several attacks, the first meaningful one coming in only lap five from Aksana Papko of Belarus in an early bid to match her countryman Aliaksandr Lisouski's victory in the men's race on day one. She was chased down by a small group that included Svetlanan Paulikaite of Lithuania, Svitlana Halyuk of Ukraine and Ellen van Dijk of the Netherlands. The rest of the bunch was very attentive at this early stage and they were soon back together. Paulikaite struck out alone, but her effort did not come to anything.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's scratch, Race
A crash in the middle period of the race took down Catherine Cheatley of New Zealand and Spain's Gema Pascual Torrecilla after a touch of wheels near the back. Cheatley rejoined after a few minutes, but Torrecilla pulled out having fallen more heavily. More attacks continued, but all were reeled. With less than eight laps to go, Van Dijk struck out alone and no one else reacted. She overtook the Danish rider Trine Schmidt from an earlier escape and had soon almost half lap lead. The rest of the riders did not react and looked to each other.


2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Women's scratch, Race
Despite having almost half a lap on the rest of the bunch, Van Dijk refused to start getting complacent and kept going. When a chase did materialise, it was too late and Van Dijk finished alone with a considerable gap to take the gold medal and the rainbow jersey. Behind Van Dijk the sprint was won by the 2007 champion Yumari Gonzalez Valdivieso of Cuba, ahead of Belinda Goss from Australia. Annalisa Cucinotta of Italy was fourth and Rebecca Quinn from the United States of America finished fifth.