2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 3B: Long Beach Grand Prix|Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
The race was run under Champ Car rules, which included the standing start, option tire, two-day qualifying format, ran on time (1hr 45 mins) rather than a set number of laps.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 4: RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300
At the start, Scott Dixon took the lead from the pole position. Meanwhile, Enrique Bernoldi spun and headed to the pits. On lap 23, Will Power crashed in turn 2. While the field pitted under the caution, Justin Wilson stayed out and took the lead.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 4: RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300
Dixon took the lead back on the restart, and maintained the lead through the next series of pit stops. On lap 98, the caution came out again for a crash involving E. J. Viso and Tomas Scheckter. After another long green flag segment, Buddy Rice brought out the yellow on lap 153 with a heavy crash in turn 2. In the pits, Danica Patrick retired from the race with a broken wheel hub. Meanwhile, Scott Dixon, who had dominated most of the race, was shuffled back to seventh place.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 4: RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300
The race resumed after a long yellow with Dan Wheldon leading. Wheldon pulled away and led the final 49 laps to record his first IndyCar Series victory since April 2007.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 5: Indianapolis 500
Polesitter Scott Dixon led 115 laps, including the last 29, to win his first Indy 500. Several cars, including Tony Kanaan, Graham Rahal, Jeff Simmons and Justin Wilson were involved in crashes. With 29 laps to go Danica Patrick was eliminated when Ryan Briscoe clipped her car exiting the pits, damaging both.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 6: ABC Supply Company A. J. Foyt 225
Marco Andretti took the lead from the pole position, and led the first 40 laps. He was chased early by Scott Dixon and teammate Tony Kanaan. Graham Rahal, who started on the outside of the front row, shuffled back, but remained in the top 5 for the first half of the race.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 6: ABC Supply Company A. J. Foyt 225
The first half was mostly green, with only a minor caution involving Oriol Servia and another for debris. Later in the first fuel segment, Andretti's handling started to suffer, and Scott Dixon took over the lead. Hélio Castroneves took over second, and Andretti fell back as deep as tenth.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 6: ABC Supply Company A. J. Foyt 225
On lap 130, Graham Rahal went high in turn three to pass Darren Manning. He got into the marbles, and brushed along the wall in turn four. After holding the lead for 136 laps, Dixon was finally challenged by Ryan Briscoe. Briscoe took over the lead on lap 177, and held it until a green flag pit stop on lap 194. After a sequence of pit stops, Castroneves, Andretti and Wheldon all cycled near the front. When all pit stops were complete, Briscoe held a half-second lead over Dixon. The two battled for the lead over the final 21 laps.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 6: ABC Supply Company A. J. Foyt 225
With less than three laps to go, Marco Andretti dove underneath Ed Carpenter in turn one. The cars touched, and both cars spun into the wall. Vítor Meira became caught up in the smoke, and rode up over Andretti, becoming airborne. He landed upright, and all drivers were uninjured. The race finished under caution with Ryan Briscoe picking up his first career IndyCar victory, and 300th overall win for the Mooresville, North Carolina-based Penske Racing in all motorsports series.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 7: Bombardier Learjet 550
In the first half, three single-car incidents involving Mario Domínguez, Justin Wilson, and Oriol Servia slowed the race. The lead changed hands between Hélio Castroneves, Bruno Junqueira, and Scott Dixon for the first 100 laps.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 7: Bombardier Learjet 550
Two sequences of green flag pit stops occurred under a long stretch of green flag conditions. A caution for debris came out on lap 165, sending the leaders to the pits once more. Vítor Meira stayed out to take over the lead.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 7: Bombardier Learjet 550
With 21 laps to go, Meira was forced to pit for fuel, giving up the lead to Marco Andretti. Moments later, Enrique Bernoldi crashed in turn four. Andretti led the field back to green on lap 219.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 7: Bombardier Learjet 550
With six laps to go, Scott Dixon slipped by Andretti to take the lead. On the next lap, down the backstretch, third place Ryan Hunter-Reay dove below Andretti heading into turn three. Hunter-Reay pinched his left wheels onto the apron, lost control, and touched wheels with Andretti. Both cars spun and crashed hard into the wall. The race finished under caution with Dixon the winner, and Hélio Castroneves slipping by the accident to finish second.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 8: Iowa Corn Indy 250
At the green flag, Hélio Castroneves took the lead in turn 1 from polesitter Scott Dixon. Tony Kanaan quickly moved up to second position. Over the next 10–15 laps, Castroneves and Kanaan battled back-and-forth for the lead, side-by-side on many laps. Kanaan finally muscled the lead away on lap 16, and gained a lead of roughly one second.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 8: Iowa Corn Indy 250
On lap 39, Ed Carpenter brushed the outside wall in turn 2. The leaders pit, and Kanaan exited the pits as the leader. On lap 51, the green came back out, and a lap later, Castroneves got by Kanaan for the lead. Jaime Camara brought out the yellow on lap 106 when his car lost power and stopped on the course. After another sequence of pit stops, Tony Kanaan led Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti. On the restart, Wheldon lost control and slid up the track, falling to 8th place.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 8: Iowa Corn Indy 250
On lap 157 Mario Moraes spun into the pit apron, bringing out a caution, and the leaders pitted. John Andretti's pitcrew had trouble engaging the fuel hose, and he dropped back the end of the running order. Prior to this he had been running in 7th place, one of the highest positions ever for a Roth Racing car.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 8: Iowa Corn Indy 250
Castroneves regained the lead on lap 170, and held it until another yellow came out on lap 188 for a spin by Enrique Bernoldi. Most of the leaders pitted, but Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, and Danica Patrick stayed out to lead the field. On the restart Mario Moraes spun for the second time of the day, and prolonged the yellow until lap 202. On lap 212, Tony Kanaan (running third) suddenly lost control and crashed in turn 1.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 8: Iowa Corn Indy 250
On the lap 227 restart, Marco Andretti and Scott Dixon passed Danica Patrick to take third and fourth place respectively. Over the final 15 laps, Mutoh and Andretti battled for second, with Mutoh holding off Andretti's challenge. Dan Wheldon went on to win, and Chip Ganassi Racing donated their race winnings from both cars to Iowa flood relief. After getting by Danica Patrick late in the race, A. J. Foyt IV finished in the top 5, while John Andretti just missed the top 10, working his way back to 11th.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 9: SunTrust Indy Challenge
At the start, Ryan Hunter-Reay spun just before the start/finish line, which brought the yellow out immediately. The first 7 laps were run under yellow with Tony Kanaan leading from the pole position. On lap 8, the green came out, but only one lap was completed before the next yellow. Will Power was driving below Hélio Castroneves, lost control, and crashed in turn 4. The race finally got going on lap 21, when the green came out once again.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 9: SunTrust Indy Challenge
On lap 31, A. J. Foyt IV touched wheels with John Andretti, and Foyt crashed in the wall in turn 2. His Vision Racing teammate Ed Carpenter ran over debris from the crash, and both cars were sidelined. During the caution, a handful of cars pitted, including Danica Patrick and rookie Jaime Camara, but most of the leaders stayed on the track.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 9: SunTrust Indy Challenge
Kanaan continued to lead when debris brought out the caution again on lap 67. All of the leaders pitted, while Camara and Patrick stayed out and took the first two spots. On the restart, Camara led the field, but Buddy Rice spun and tagged the wall on the frontstretch. The field checked up, and Darren Manning, Ryan Briscoe and Bruno Junqueira were involved in a separate crash.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 9: SunTrust Indy Challenge
Camara led at the next restart, while Kanaan, Patrick, and Castroneves went 3-wide for second. Behind them in turn 2, John Andretti and Vítor Meira tangled, and crashed hard in the wall. Patrick returned to the pits, and topped off with fuel. Camara continued to lead, and impressively held off Kanaan on the restart. On lap 116, Marco Andretti caught up to Camara, and took the lead for the first time.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 9: SunTrust Indy Challenge
Graham Rahal crashed on lap 133 in turn 4. Many of the leaders pitted, but Andretti stayed out to lead. Another restart saw only three green laps, as yet another crash occurred, this time involving Ryan Hunter-Reay and Mario Moraes. Around this time, some teams anticipated that rain might end the race early.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 9: SunTrust Indy Challenge
Marco Andretti gave up the lead on lap 204 when he made his final pit stop. That put Tony Kanaan back into the lead. On lap 217, after a brilliant run in the top five, Jaime Camara lost control and crashed on the frontstretch. The yellow trapped Andretti a lap down, and kept Kanaan in the lead after the final sequence of pits stops. The rain held off, and Kanaan led the rest of the way for his first victory of the season.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 10: Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix
Polesitter Ryan Briscoe led from the start, but Scott Dixon, who qualified fourth, quickly passed Justin Wilson and Ryan Hunter-Reay to move into second for most of the first half of the race. Dixon was unable to pass Briscoe, but posed a serious challenge and posted comparable lap times.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 10: Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix
The start of the race was relatively attrition-free, except for incidents involving two championship contenders. Dan Wheldon made contact with Darren Manning on the first lap, leading to suspension damage for Wheldon. On lap 6 Hélio Castroneves, who had started last after being unable to post a time in qualifying due to a broken throttle, snapping his streak of three consecutive poles at Watkins Glen, had a gearbox problem and stopped just shy of pit lane. With few other drivers dropping out in the first 40 laps, Dixon was poised to massively increase his points lead.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 10: Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix
After a brief interlude when Vítor Meira led during a pit stop cycle, Briscoe and Dixon returned to the top two positions and thoroughly dominated the race, leading third-place Hunter-Reay by over 20 seconds. However, Meira and E. J. Viso made contact in turn 8 and the ensuing caution period allowed the other lead-lap cars to catch up to Briscoe and Dixon. All drivers pitted on this caution period except Manning, who stayed out of the pits in an attempt to stretch his fuel mileage. Dixon beat Briscoe and Hunter-Reay out of the pits, but Manning took the lead.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 10: Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix
A brief green-flag period on lap 44 ended when Enrique Bernoldi crashed in turn 1, and then the race took a rather unusual turn, with two wrecks occurring under the caution period, before the race returned to green. A restart was waved off when A. J. Foyt IV and Milka Duno crashed in turn 9. Once that was cleaned up, and the IRL officials attempted to restart the race again, Dixon, who was swerving his tires to clean them, unexpectedly spun out and collected Briscoe. Hunter-Reay, who avoided the wreck, suddenly found himself second to Manning.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 10: Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix
On lap 51, the race returned to green, with Manning ahead of Hunter-Reay. Hunter-Reay, who had no need to conserve fuel, newer tires, and a stronger car, easily dispatched of Manning in a short green-flag period before another caution came out for Jaime Camara's crash in turn 6. This was the final caution of the race, and Hunter-Reay won easily, claiming his first win in IndyCar, his first American open wheel win since 2004, and the Rahal Letterman Racing team's first win since 2004, with Buddy Rice.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 10: Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix
Manning did not come close to running out of fuel with all the cautions and finished second, his best career finish. With Castroneves, Wheldon, and Dixon's trouble, Tony Kanaan, who finished third, was the big gainer in the points standings, but Dixon still held a lead of 48 points on Castroneves, and 51 on Wheldon.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 11: Firestone Indy 200
Pole winner Hélio Castroneves led at the start, with Danica Patrick second. On lap 3, Marco Andretti's car wiggled in turn 2, made contact with Ryan Briscoe, and both cars crashed into the outside wall. After the caution, Castroneves continued to lead, and Patrick held on to second.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 11: Firestone Indy 200
On lap 45, Patrick attempted to take the lead, but Castroneves was able to hold the position. The move shuffled Patrick back to fifth position. After the first sequence of pit stops, the lead changed hands between Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan. Kanaan held the lead through the next caution, when Ryan Hunter-Reay crashed in turn 3 on lap 100. All of the leaders pitted under the yellow on lap 102.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 11: Firestone Indy 200
On lap 139, Kanaan continued to lead when a light rain brought out the caution. On lap 149, Kanaan, Vítor Meira, Patrick, Castroneves, and others, pitted for tires and fuel. Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon, however, stayed out and moved into the lead. When the rain stopped, the race went back to green on lap 152.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 11: Firestone Indy 200
Scott Dixon led Dan Wheldon as the race passed the 160 lap mark (40 laps to go). With fuel running low, both cars gambled on the rain resuming. On lap 166, rain began to fall, with Dixon the leader. Heavy rain put out the red flag after lap 171. Fifteen minutes later, the race was called, and Scott Dixon was declared the winner.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 14: Meijer Indy 300
This race had a shuffling finish, with Dixon, Andretti and Meira each leading at least one lap in the dying stages before pitting for splash-and-go stops. Castroneves inherited the lead, stayed out as his team assumed he would have enough fuel to finish, and was still leading when the white flag came out. But on the final corner, Castroneves ran out of fuel and Dixon flew past to take his sixth win of the season.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 15: Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix
After so many second places, this was the race Castroneves had been waiting for, with a smooth, dominant drive to claim his long-awaited first win of the season and close the gap on Dixon in the title race.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Round 16: Detroit Indy Grand Prix
The finish to this race was not without controversy. Late in the race, Castroneves led Wilson by less than a second, and Castroneves appeared to make an illegal block, causing IRL officials to penalize him, allowing Wilson to move past and take the win by more than 4 seconds.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Nikon Indy 300
Justin Wilson pitted on the warm-up lap, with the gearbox sticking in third, but joined the start from the back. Will Power immediately dominated the start, pulling a two-second lead on the first lap. Scott Dixon started second but after being forced to cut the first chicane was relegated behind Ryan Briscoe by officialdom.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Nikon Indy 300
Mario Moraes and Vítor Meira clashed at the second chicane with Meira spinning without hitting anyone. A few lap later Moraes caused the first safety car, clipping the turn 2 chicane, breaking the right rear corner of the car. Townsend Bell was eliminated after a clash with Hélio Castroneves which wrecked Bell's steering. Later the same lap Castroneves had a right rear puncture caused by Danica Patrick's front wing while passing the Andretti Green Racing driver.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Nikon Indy 300
Lap 17 saw the end of Power's dominance of the meeting as he crashed at the Bartercard chicane, which put Briscoe into the lead ahead of Dixon. Briscoe pitted for fuel immediately upon catching the tailmarker, Patrick, but Dixon waited another lap and was held up behind Patrick. At the same time Graham Rahal touched the rear of Ed Carpenter, spinning the Vision Racing car around, almost blocking the track. The emerging safety car almost hit Dixon as he completed his stop.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Nikon Indy 300
Behind the safety car Patrick stopped and stalled, almost hitting the stationary car of Carpenter. Dario Franchitti clipped the tyre bundle on the inside of the same chicane and spun and stalled bringing out the safety car. After the restart Tony Kanaan had the right rear suspension break without apparent reason.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Nikon Indy 300
After the second round of pitstops the battle for third between Alex Tagliani and Ryan Hunter-Reay was interrupted by Franchitti as a poor pitstop and a poor pit position for Conquest Racing saw Tagliani drop several position behind E. J. Viso. Viso later would twice have to give up spots for cutting chicanes, first to Tagliani, then Castroneves. Lap 48 saw Jaime Camara go straight on and stalled the car attempting to recover.


2008 IndyCar Series, Race summaries, Nikon Indy 300
In the races closing stages Dixon closed in on Briscoe, the two remaining local drivers lapping significantly faster than the rest of the field. Carpenter hit the wall at turn 3 on the last lap but it did not affect the lead battle and Briscoe won his home race ahead of Dixon and Hunter-Reay finished third.


2008 Insight Bowl
The 2008 Insight Bowl was a college football bowl game played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The game, in its 20th year of existence, was played on December 31, 2008. The game, which was telecast on NFL Network, featured the Kansas Jayhawks of the Big 12 Conference against the Minnesota Golden Gophers from the Big Ten Conference, with the Jayhawks winning, 42–21. The victory gave the Jayhawks their 3rd consecutive win in a Bowl Game and 6th Bowl Game victory overall.


2008 Intense Football League season
The 2008 Intense Football League season was the fourth and final season of the Intense Football League. The regular season began on Saturday, March 1, 2008 and ended on Saturday, June 28. The league champions were the Louisiana Swashbucklers, who defended their title by defeating the Corpus Christi Hammerheads in Intense Bowl IV on July 28, 2008.


2008 Intense Football League season
Following Intense Bowl IV, the IFL champion, the Louisiana Swashbucklers, played against the UIF champion, the Sioux Falls Storm, on Saturday, August 2 in the inaugural National Indoor Bowl.


2008 InterLiga
The tournament was held between January 2 and January 12, 2008. Eight teams competed for two Copa Libertadores 2008 spots in this tournament.


2008 InterLiga, Qualification
Once the  2006-07 season was ended, the clubs that participate in the InterLiga were defined:


2008 Intercity Football League
The 2008 season of Intercity Football League started from August 23, 2008. Taiwan Power Company F.C. won the league championship.


2008 Intercity Football League, Qualifications
Taipei City (Tatung F.C. ), Tainan County, Yilan County, and Taipei County qualified for being the top 4 places in the 2007 season. Taiwan Power Company F.C., Bros, Chia Cheng Hsin, and Hualien County qualified through the qualification tournament held between July 19 and August 2.


2008 Intercontinental Rally Challenge
The 2008 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season was the third season of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The season consisted of ten rounds and began on April 4, with the Istanbul Rally. The season ended on December 12 with the China Rally. Nicolas Vouilloz won the title ahead of Freddy Loix and Giandomenico Basso.


2008 International Bowl
The 2008 International Bowl was played on January 5, 2008, at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The game featured the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University—who finished 5th in the Big East Conference—and the Cardinals of Ball State University—who finished co-champions of the Mid-American Conference's West Division. The game was the only NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision game from the 2007–2008 season to be played outside the United States. Rutgers won by a score of 52–30.


2008 International Bowl, Overview
The game featured tie-ins from the Big East and Mid-American Conferences (MAC). Representing the Big East was Rutgers, who finished the 2007 regular season with an overall record of 7–5 (3–4 in the Big East). Representing the MAC was Ball State, who finished the 2007 regular season with an overall record of 7–5 (5–2 in the MAC).


2008 International Bowl, Overview
Announcers for the American TV coverage on ESPN2, John Saunders (Toronto) and Jesse Palmer (Ottawa), and sideline reporter Stacey Dales (Collingwood) are all Canadians. Additionally, Doug Flutie played in the CFL.


2008 International Challenge Cup
The 2008 International Challenge Cup (also called the AEGON Challenge Cup after its title sponsor) was held between March 6 and 9, 2008 in The Hague. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, and ice dancing, across the levels of senior, junior, novice, and the pre-novice discipline called "Debs". The junior compulsory dance was the Viennese Waltz.


2008 International Formula Master
The 2008 International Formula Master season was the second International Formula Master series season.


2008 International Formula Master, Teams and drivers
All teams use a Tatuus chassis with a Honda K20A engine


2008 International Formula Master, Championship Standings, Drivers
† Half points were awarded for Race 2 at Pau as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed.


2008 International Formula Master, Championship Standings, Teams
† Half points were awarded for Race 2 at Pau as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed.


2008 International GT Open
The 2008 International GT Open season was the third season of the International GT Open, the grand tourer-style sports car racing founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It began on 19 April at ACI Vallelunga Circuit and finished on 2 November, at Barcelona after eight double-header meetings.


2008 International GT Open
Overall championship and GTA class was won by Scuderia Playteam SaraFree drivers Michele Maceratesi and Andrea Montermini, while GTS class title was clinched by Marco Cioci and Andrea Pellizzato.


2008 International League season
The 2008 International League season was the 125th season of the Triple-A International League. It took place between April and September 2008.


2008 International League season
In the semifinal playoff rounds, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees defeated the Pawtucket Red Sox 3-1 and the Durham Bulls defeated the Louisville Bats 3-1. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees defeated the Durham Bulls 3-1 in the championship series to win the Governors' Cup.


2008 International League season, Playoffs
The following teams qualified for the postseason:  Durham Bulls, Louisville Bats, Pawtucket Red Sox, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.


2008 International League season, Playoffs
Scranton played in the Triple A Championship Game but lost to the defending champions, the Sacramento River Cats. This marks the first time a defending champion successfully defended its title.


2008 International Pokka 1000km
The 2008 International Pokka 1000 km was the 6th round of the 2008 Super GT season and the 37th running of the 1000 km Suzuka. It took place on August 24, 2008.


2008 International Rally of Canberra
The 2008 International Rally of Canberra was the second Round on the Australian Rally Championship calendar. The 2008 version of the Rally once again saw competitors from the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, the Australian Rally Championship and the local Rally Championship in the Australian Capital Territory (PCD Engineering ACT Regional Rally Series). A total of 62 competitors started the Rally.


2008 International Rally of Canberra, The Results
The race was once again held around the Nation's Capital. The gravel roads surrounding the city were once again utilized in the race. A total of 48 cars (not including the local Rally series competing alongside the 2 main competitions) competed across the 18 stages of the Rally. One special note is that the 2008 British Rally Championship Winner, Guy Wilks also competed in this year's Rally.


2008 International Rules Series
The 2008 International Rules Series was the 14th annual International Rules Series and was played between Ireland and Australia.


2008 International Rules Series
After the 2007 series was cancelled by the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Australian Football League and the GAA agreed in 2008 to resume the series.


2008 International Rules Series
The matches were played in Australia – 24 October in Perth, Western Australia and 31 October in Melbourne (after the AFL Grand Final and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship).


2008 International Rules Series
Ireland won by five points on aggregate after recording victories in both tests.


2008 International Rules Series, Matches, First test
Overs: Marc Murphy 4, Matt Campbell 2, Scott Thompson 2, Leigh Montagna, Brent Harvey, Michael Osborne, David Rodan


2008 International Rules Series, Matches, First test
Overs: Seán Cavanagh 2, Paddy Bradley, Leighton Glynn, Kieran Donaghy, Ciarán Lyng


2008 International Rules Series, Matches, Second test
Overs: Drew Petrie 2, Daniel Wells 2, Jared Brennan, Campbell Brown, Shaun Burgoyne, Michael Osborne


2008 International Rules Series, Matches, Second test
Overs: Seán Cavanagh 4, Paddy Bradley, Benny Coulter, Kieran Donaghy, Paul Finlay


2008 International Women's Open
The 2008 International Women's Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 34th edition of the International Women's Open, and was part of the Tier II Series of the 2008 WTA Tour. It took place in Eastbourne, United Kingdom, from 16 June through 21 June 2008.


2008 International Women's Open, History
The singles draw featured WTA No. 4 and French Open semifinalist Svetlana Kuznetsova, Paris semifinalist Marion Bartoli, and Prague titlist Vera Zvonareva. Also competing were Pattaya and Istanbul winner Agnieszka Radwańska, French Open mixed doubles champion Victoria Azarenka, Alizé Cornet, Nicole Vaidišová and Nadia Petrova. Recently crowned World No. 1 and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic was due to take part, but she withdrew due to a muscle strain.


2008 International Women's Open, Finals, Doubles
Cara Black /  Liezel Huber defeated   Květa Peschke  /   Rennae Stubbs, 2–6, 6–0, 10–8


2008 International Women's Open – Doubles
Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur were the defending champions, but lost in the quarterfinals to Květa Peschke and Rennae Stubbs.


2008 International Women's Open – Doubles
Cara Black and Liezel Huber won in the final 2–6, 6–0, 10–8, against Květa Peschke and Rennae Stubbs.


2008 International Women's Open – Singles
Justine Henin was the defending champion, but retired from the sport on May 14, 2008.


2008 International Women's Open – Singles
Agnieszka Radwańska won the title, defeating Nadia Petrova in the final 6–4, 6–7(11–13), 6–4.


2008 International Women's Open – Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2008 Internationaux de Nouvelle-Calédonie
The 2008 Internationaux de Nouvelle-Calédonie was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the fifth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2008 ATP Challenger Series. It took place in Nouméa, New Caledonia between 1–6 January 2008.


2008 Internationaux de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2008 Internationaux de Nouvelle-Calédonie – Doubles
Alex Kuznetsov and Phillip Simmonds were the defending champions but chose not to defend their title.


2008 Internationaux de Nouvelle-Calédonie – Doubles
Flavio Cipolla and Simone Vagnozzi won the title after defeating Jan Mertl and Martin Slanar 6–4, 6–4 in the final.


2008 Internationaux de Nouvelle-Calédonie – Singles
Michael Russell was the defending champion but chose not to defend his title.


2008 Internationaux de Nouvelle-Calédonie – Singles
Flavio Cipolla won the title after defeating Stéphane Bohli 6–4, 7–5 in the final.


2008 Internationaux de Strasbourg
The 2008 Internationaux de Strasbourg was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 22nd edition of the Internationaux de Strasbourg, and was part of the Tier III Series of the 2008 WTA Tour.The tournament took place at the Centre Sportif de Hautepierre in Strasbourg, France, from 19 May until 24 May 2008. Sixth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues won the singles title, her third at the event, after 2005 and 2007, and earned $28,000 first-prize money.


2008 Internationaux de Strasbourg, Finals, Doubles
Tatiana Perebiynis /  Zi Yan defeated  Yung-jan Chan /  Chia-jung Chuang, 6–4, 6–7(3–7), 10–6


2008 Internationaux de Strasbourg – Doubles
Yan Zi and Jie Zheng were the defending champions, but Zheng chose not to participate, and only Yan competed that year. Yan partnered with Tatiana Perebiynis, and won in the final 6–4, 6–7(3–7), 10–6, against Yung-jan Chan and Chia-jung Chuang.


2008 Internationaux de Strasbourg – Singles
Sixth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues was the defending champion, and successfully defended her title, defeating Katarina Srebotnik in the final 4–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–0.


2008 Internationaux de Strasbourg – Singles, Seeds
The top two seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2008 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo
The 2008 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 21st edition of the Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, and was part of the Tier IV Series of the 2008 WTA Tour. It took place in Palermo, Italy, from July 7 through July 13, 2008.


2008 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo, Champions, Doubles
Sara Errani /  Nuria Llagostera Vives defeated  Alla Kudryavtseva /  Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 10–4


2008 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo – Doubles
Mariya Koryttseva and Darya Kustova were the defending champions, but Kustova chose not to participate, and only Koryttseva competed that year. Koryttseva partnered with Galina Voskoboeva, but lost in the semifinals to Sara Errani and Nuria Llagostera Vives


2008 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo – Doubles
Sara Errani and Nuria Llagostera Vives won in the final 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 10–4, against Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.


2008 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo – Singles
Ágnes Szávay was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo – Singles
Sara Errani won in the final 6–2, 6–3, against Mariya Koryttseva.


2008 Interprovincial Hurling Championship
The 2008 Interprovincial Hurling Championship was the 81st staging of the Interprovincial Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1927. The championship began on 25 October 2008 and ended on 1 November 2008.


2008 Interprovincial Hurling Championship
On 1 November 2008, Leinster won the championship following a 1-15 to 1-12 defeat of Munster in the final at O'Moore Park. This was their 26th championship title overall and their first title since 2006.


2008 Interprovincial Hurling Championship
Munster's Eoin Kelly was the championship's top scorer with 1-12.


2008 Iowa Corn Indy 250
The 2008 Iowa Corn Indy 250 was the eighth round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season. The race was held on June 22, 2008 at the 0.894-mile (1.439 km) Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. At the green flag, Hélio Castroneves took the lead in turn 1 from polesitter Scott Dixon. Tony Kanaan quickly moved up to second position. Over the next 10-15 laps, Castroneves and Kanaan battled back-and-forth for the lead, side-by-side on many laps. Kanaan finally muscled the lead away on lap 16, and gained a lead of roughly one second.


2008 Iowa Corn Indy 250
On lap 39, Ed Carpenter brushed the outside wall in turn 2. The leaders pit, and Kanaan exited the pits as the leader. On lap 51, the green came back out, and a lap later, Castroneves got by Kanaan for the lead. Jaime Camara brought out the yellow on lap 106 when his car lost power and stopped on the course. After another sequence of pit stops, Kanaan led Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti. On the restart, Wheldon lost control and slid up the track, falling to 8th place.


2008 Iowa Corn Indy 250
On lap 157 Mario Moraes spun into the pit apron, bringing out a caution, and the leaders pitted. John Andretti's pitcrew had trouble engaging the fuel hose, and he dropped back the end of the running order. Prior to this he had been running in 7th place, one of the highest positions ever for a Roth Racing car. Castroneves regained the lead on lap 170, and held it until another yellow came out on lap 188 for a spin by Enrique Bernoldi. Most of the leaders pitted, but Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, and Danica Patrick stayed out to lead the field. On the restart Moraes spun for the second time of the day, and prolonged the yellow until lap 202. On lap 212, Kanaan (running third) suddenly lost control and crashed in turn 1.


2008 Iowa Corn Indy 250
On the lap 227 restart, Marco Andretti and Dixon passed Patrick to take third and fourth place respectively. Over the final 15 laps, Mutoh and Marco Andretti battled for second, with Mutoh holding off Andretti's challenge. Wheldon went on to win, and Chip Ganassi Racing donated their race winnings from both cars to Iowa flood relief. After getting by  Patrick late in the race, A. J. Foyt IV finished in the top 5, while John Andretti just missed the top 10, working his way back to 11th.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses
The 2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucus occurred on January 3, and was the state caucuses of the Iowa Democratic Party. It was the first election for the Democrats of the 2008 presidential election. Also referred to as "the First in the Nation Caucus," it was the first election of the primary season on both the Democratic and Republican sides. Of the eight major Democratic presidential candidates, then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois received the most votes and was ultimately declared the winner of the Iowa Democratic Caucus of 2008, making him the first African American to win the caucus. Former U.S. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina came in second place and then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York finished third, though Clinton received more delegates than Edwards. Campaigning had begun as early as two years before the event.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, History of the caucus
The Iowa Caucuses have historically been the first held in the United States. The caucus marked the traditional and formal start of the delegate selection process for the 2008 United States presidential election, and the process in which members of the Democratic Party gathered to make policy decisions.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, History of the caucus
Iowa state law mandates that its caucus must be held at least eight days before any other meeting, caucus, or primary for the presidential nominating process. Therefore, the Iowa Caucuses have always been traditionally the leading state in the nominating process. Not only did controversy brew between the candidates, but the caucuses themselves drew a large amount of media attention. The decisions of the Iowans often affect the rest of the campaign season. Barack Obama's victory in Iowa helped establish him as one of the Democratic frontrunners of 2008 and was a first step toward his eventual nomination.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Process
The caucuses followed the regular procedures of the Democratic Party process. Any voter who was a registered Democrat and a resident of Iowa was eligible to participate in the event. Individuals could have chosen to register or change their party affiliation at the door. It was estimated that 60 percent of the caucusgoers would have attended the caucuses for the first time. All of the caucusgoers met in public buildings or schools in their respective precincts and divided themselves into groups; each group represented a candidate. The voting was done publicly in a voice vote.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Process
To be viable, each preference group or candidate needed at least 15 percent of the caucusgoers' votes. If a candidate received less than 15 percent of the caucusgoers' votes, then the supporters of that non-viable candidate had 30 minutes to join a viable candidate's group, join another non-viable candidate's group to make the candidate viable, join an uncommitted group, or choose not to be counted as a voter.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Process
In Iowa, there were 1,784 precincts for the caucuses. Each viable preference group at each caucus elected a certain number of delegates proportional to the group's size that would represent the candidate at the county conventions. There are 99 counties in Iowa, and their Democratic conventions took place on March 15, 2008. At these conventions, a subset of delegates were chosen to attend the district, then state conventions. At the Iowa Democratic Party State Convention on June 14, 2008, a subset of delegates were chosen to attend the Democratic National Convention held August 25–28, 2008, in Denver, Colorado. As in the precinct caucuses, the pledged delegates to the national convention proportionally represented the candidates compared to the results of the state caucus.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Process, Delegate allocation
The delegate allocation to the Democratic National Convention was as follows: 29 district delegates proportionally represented a candidate's support at each congressional district. The First Congressional District receives six pledged delegates, the Second Congressional District receives seven, the Third Congressional District receives six, the Fourth Congressional District receives six, and the Fifth Congressional District receives four. All of these pledged delegates represent each congressional district independently; they are not affected by the results of the state convention.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Process, Delegate allocation
At the Iowa Democratic Party State Convention, on the other hand, 16 pledged delegates proportionally represented the candidates' support. Ten of these delegates were designated as at-large, meaning that they represent the entire state as a whole. The other six were referred to as Party Leaders and Elected Officials (PLEO). These may include members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, the Governor, and former party leaders. Not all of the PLEOs were pledged, but if they were, they would represent the state as a whole along with the at-large delegates. In total, the Democratic presidential candidates were allocated a total of 45 pledged delegates, depending on their support in each district and in the state.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Process, Delegate allocation
Twelve delegates that did not represent caucus results were sent to the Democratic National Convention; they are referred to as unpledged. Eleven of them are PLEOs, which include six members of the DNC, one U.S. Senator, three U.S. Representatives, and one Governor. Because these unpledged delegates' profiles are usually high-profile elected officials, they are referred to as superdelegates. The other unpledged delegate is an add-on delegate, who is selected at the Iowa Democratic Party State Convention.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Process, Delegate allocation
While this process lasts for a period of approximately five months, the results of the state caucus are usually predictable by the results of the precincts' caucuses combined. Therefore, the results of the precinct caucuses provide a good measurement of Iowa's delegation to the Democratic National Convention.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
Before the caucuses, the Des Moines Register reported that during a poll of 800 likely Democratic caucus goers from December 27 to December 30, 2007, the candidates had the following results:


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
The above results have a margin of sampling error of ±3.5 percentage points.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
Barack Obama's results in the opinion polls rose from 28% in the Des Moines Register's poll in late November 2007. This was in part a result of a "dramatic influx of first-time caucusgoers, including a sizable bloc of political independents." Hillary Rodham Clinton remained at a constant 25%, while John Edwards was almost unchanged when his ratings increased to 24% from 23% in November. Approximately one-third of likely caucusgoers said that they could have been persuaded to choose a different candidate before the caucuses.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
The December results of the Des Moines Register's poll also showed a widened gap between the three-way contest for the lead — Clinton, Edwards, and Obama — and the rest of the Democratic candidates. No other Democrat received more than 6 percent support of caucusgoers.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
Thirty percent of the sample population from the Des Moines Register's poll said that a candidate's ability to bring about change in the United States was the most important to them; 27% said that a candidate who would be most successful in unifying the country would have taken priority in their votes. Most caucusgoers also said that Obama was strong in both of these areas. Having the experience and competence to lead was considered the most important aspect of a candidate by 18 percent of the sample population; Hillary Clinton was rated best on this trait. Only 6 percent of the sample population said that being best able to win the general election was the top priority; Clinton, again, was rated best on this trait.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Results, Caucus results
The Iowa Democratic Party does not release vote counts (it releases only the number of delegates to the state convention). Since Hillary Rodham Clinton had the highest delegate strength in Iowa's 5th congressional district (a district allocated four national convention delegates) and received the same amount of national delegates elsewhere, she was projected to receive one more national delegate than Edwards despite receiving fewer projected delegates to the state convention.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Results, Caucus results
The Democratic National Committee gives the 50 states 794 superdelegates. According to a January 4, 2008 poll conducted by the Associated Press, most of the superdelegates were undecided, but 160 had endorsed Clinton, compared to 59 for Obama and 32 for Edwards. Along with the delegates that the candidates secured from Iowa, the numbers were as follows: 175 for Clinton, 75 for Obama, and 46 for Edwards. (To win the Democratic nomination for president, 2,025 delegates are needed.) Thus, Clinton initially retained an overall delegate lead following the Iowa results.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Results, Caucus results
Dennis Kucinich and Barack Obama competed against each other in the Iowa Caucuses, but Kucinich asked that Iowans caucusing for him, should they fail to build a viable preference group on Caucus Night to realign to Barack Obama in the second round. Both had fought for the same priorities including ending the Iraq War, reforming Washington, D.C., and creating a better life for working families. In the 2004 Iowa Democratic Caucuses, Kucinich made a similar announcement in favor of John Edwards. At that caucus, Edwards's aides claimed that this request helped put him in second place. In the 2008 Iowa Caucus, however, Kucinich did not conduct much of a campaign in Iowa. He paid for no organizers nor offices in the state, and he was not invited to the Des Moines Register's debate in December 2007. Mike Gravel didn't conduct an active campaign in Iowa either.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Results, Caucus results
The 2008 Iowa Caucuses saw a record turnout for both parties; the Democrats drew more than 239,000 voters, almost double the Republican turnout. Entrance polling indicated that a significant portion of the turnout came from first-time caucus attendees, as well as attendees under the age of 30; two groups of voters that primarily lent their support to Barack Obama. Women, previously expected to largely back Hillary Clinton, split their vote between Clinton and Obama, the latter of whom actually received slightly more support. In the aftermath of the results from the Iowa Caucuses, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Results, Caucus results
As a result of the Iowa Caucus, Barack Obama received a significant surge of support in the next competition, the New Hampshire Democratic Primary five days after. In New Hampshire pre-primary polls conducted from January 4 to January 6, 2008, Obama enjoyed a 13-point lead over Clinton.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Results, District convention results
On June 3, the Obama Campaign announced that all 4 national delegates previously pledged to former Senator John Edwards, elected by four Iowan congressional districts (CD1+CD2+CD3+CD5), had committed instead to vote for Senator Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Results, State convention results
In addition to the above 45 pledged national delegates, the state convention will also send the following 12 uncommitted superdelegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention: 6 Democratic National Committee members, 1 Senator, 3 House Representatives, 1 Governor and 1 Unpledged "add-on" selected at the state convention.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Analysis
Barack Obama scored a major victory in the Iowa Democratic Caucuses due to a number of factors. According to exit polls, 93 percent of voters in the Iowa Democratic Caucus were Caucasian and 33 percent voted for Obama, 27 percent for Clinton, and 24 percent for Edwards; 4 percent of voters were African American and 72 percent voted for Obama, 16 percent for Clinton, and 8 percent for Edwards; 3 percent represented other races and they went 49 percent for Obama, 26 percent for Clinton, 10 percent for Richardson, and 5 percent for Edwards.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Analysis
Obama also won young voters ages 17–44 with 52 percent of the vote compared to 16 percent for both Clinton and Edwards. Edwards won middle-age voters ages 45–59 with 30 percent while Obama received 29 percent and Clinton took in 26 percent of their support. Clinton did best among elderly voters ages 60 and over with 40 percent of the vote while Edwards received 27 percent and Obama took in 19.5 percent of their support. Obama won self-identified Democrats by a margin of 32-31-23 (Obama-Clinton-Edwards), Independents backed Obama 41-23-17 (Obama-Edwards-Clinton), as well as self-identified Republicans who supported Obama 44-32-10 (Obama-Edwards-Clinton). Obama also won moderates and liberals but Edwards won conservatives. Socioeconomic class was not really a factor in how voters made their decisions, as Obama won all groups of family incomes.


2008 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, Analysis
Obama performed best in Eastern Iowa, which is considered to be the more liberal part of the state, and Central Iowa which is considered to be the more moderate part of the state. Clinton performed best in Western Iowa, which is considered to be the most conservative part of the state.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team
The 2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa and the Iowa Hawkeyes football program in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Coached by Kirk Ferentz, the Hawkeyes  played their seven home games in Kinnick Stadium.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Previous season
Iowa opened the 2007 season on September 1, 2007, against Northern Illinois in a game played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. Hawkeye running backs Albert Young and Damian Sims ran for 144 and 110 yards rushing respectively, while Iowa's defense held the Huskies to just 21 yards rushing. The Hawkeyes won, 16–3, and ended the four-game losing streak that comprised the final four games of Iowa's 2006 season. The next week, Iowa defeated Syracuse in the Hawkeyes' home opener, 35–0.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Previous season
Jake Christensen threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns as the Hawkeye defense held the Orange to just five first downs and 103 yards of total offense in Syracuse's worst defeat since a 51–14 loss to Georgia Tech in the 2004 Champs Sports Bowl. Iowa took a quick 28–0 lead with 9:55 left in the second quarter, and the Hawkeye defense sacked Syracuse six times while holding the Orange to 24 rushing yards.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Previous season
Following the first two games – which saw the Iowa defense give up only three points – the Hawkeyes traveled to Ames, Iowa, to play 0–2 Iowa State on September 15. The Cyclones began the season with losses to Kent State and Northern Iowa, but had won six out of the last nine games against the Hawkeyes, including three of the last four played at Jack Trice Stadium. Iowa fell behind by 12 at half-time, and lost, 15–13, starting yet another four-game losing streak. Placekicker Bret Culbertson scored all of Iowa State's points on five field goals, the last coming with one second remaining.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Previous season
Following a 20-point loss at Penn State on October 6, which was preceded by losses to Wisconsin and Indiana, the Hawkeyes returned to Kinnick Stadium for a game against Illinois, who was coming into the game after home victories over Penn State and Wisconsin. Christensen threw for 182 yards and the game's only touchdown – a 20-yard pass to Brandon Myers in the third quarter which gave the Hawkeyes a 10–6 lead.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Previous season
However, it appeared that Illinois had taken a 12–10 lead on an 83-yard Eddie McGee touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter, but it was called back due to a penalty. The Illini were forced to punt, but got the ball back with 2:28 remaining. McGee threw passes of 28 and 24 yards to Arrelious Benn, putting the Illini at the Iowa 12-yard line. However, Brett Greenwood intercepted a McGee pass at the goal-line, sealing the win and snapping an eight-game Big Ten losing streak for Iowa heading into a road game at Purdue.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Previous season
But Iowa lost to the Boilermakers a week later, 31–6, to put the Hawkeyes' record at 3–5 with only four games remaining. Curtis Painter threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns for Purdue, who had lost to the Hawkeyes, 47–17, only a year earlier. In Iowa's next game against Michigan State, the Hawkeyes entered half-time down by 14 points only to take a 20–17 lead with 10:05 remaining in regulation.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Previous season
The game was destined for overtime when Michigan State's Brett Swenson hit a field goal with four seconds remaining, and the Spartans quickly garnered a seven-point lead following a Jehuu Caulcrick touchdown in the first overtime. Down by a touchdown, Christensen found wide receiver Paul Chaney for a 23-yard touchdown pass and  following the extra point, the game headed to double overtime. Iowa had the ball first and scored on a Jevon Pugh one-yard run, giving the Hawkeyes their own seven-point lead. However, the Spartans were unable to score and Iowa won, 34–27. The win was Iowa's first overtime victory in Kinnick Stadium history.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Previous season
On November 3, Iowa defeated Northwestern, 28–17, after trailing, 14–0, in the first quarter. The Wildcats took a 17–14 on a third-quarter field goal after the Hawkeyes tied the game at 14, but Sims ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to seal the Iowa victory. Christensen threw for 299 yards for Iowa, who came back from a 14-point deficit in the second straight game. Later, on November 10, Iowa defeated Minnesota, 21–16, to reclaim the Floyd of Rosedale trophy. With one home game remaining against Western Michigan, Iowa held a three-game winning streak and a 6–5 overall record.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Previous season
But the Hawkeyes lost to the Broncos, 28–19, and gave up 489 yards in the process. Western Michigan took a 19–0 second quarter lead before Iowa scored 13 straight points to make it a six-point game. But the Hawks would get no closer and eventually lost by nine. Soon thereafter, Iowa was not selected for a bowl game, ending a six-year streak in which the Hawkeyes played in a bowl and rumors about the firing of Kirk Ferentz were rampant.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Coaching rumors
Following Michigan's loss to Appalachian State, rumors about the possibility of Ferentz becoming Michigan's head coach began to circulate. LSU coach Les Miles was widely believed to be Michigan's top choice for the job, but any chance of that happening likely ended when LSU extended Miles' contract through 2012. Ferentz's relationship with Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman may have contributed to the rumor, as Coleman was the president at Iowa when Ferentz was hired.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Coaching rumors
However, indications that the rumor was false were revealed when Iowa's sports information director, Phil Haddy, reported that Michigan had not asked for permission to talk with Ferentz. It was a point reiterated by Gary Barta, Iowa's athletic director. Ferentz's contract has a clause requiring him to contact Barta when talking to other schools, which indicates that he was not a candidate to become Michigan's next head coach. On December 16, West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez was hired as Carr's successor at Michigan.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Coaching rumors
Soon thereafter, Ferentz was once again rumored for a coaching job, this time for the Baltimore Ravens. Ferentz was an assistant head coach at Baltimore for six years, and became a "respected assistant" in his time there. However, when asked about the Baltimore job, Ferentz said, "I've got a great job here, and with that being said, I'm sure Baltimore will get a top-notch coach." Ferentz also cited wanting to see his son James – who is slated to be a freshman at Iowa in 2008 – play every weekend. The Ravens eventually hired Philadelphia Eagles secondary coach John Harbaugh on January 18, 2008.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Leading up to the season, Recruiting class
The Hawkeyes had 24 verbal commitments for the 2008 recruiting class. One of the players, Nate Guillory, is a junior college recruit. The other 23 players are all high school seniors. James Ferentz, Kirk's son, is among the players committed to play for Iowa in 2008.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Schedule
The Hawkeyes opened the 2008 season with three home games against Maine, Florida International, and Iowa State, followed by a road game versus Pittsburgh. The game marked the first of four meetings between Pittsburgh and Iowa. The teams will met in Iowa City in 2011 and 2015, and in Pittsburgh in 2016. Pitt closed the 2007 season with an upset victory over second-ranked West Virginia. Had the Mountaineers won, they would have likely played in the national championship game.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Schedule
Following the conclusion of the non-conference portion of their schedule, the Hawkeyes will begin Big Ten play with a home game against Northwestern, and will open October with road games against Michigan State and Indiana. Iowa was 1–1 against the Spartans and Hoosiers in 2007, winning, 34–27, over MSU while losing, 38–20, to IU. Following the two road games, Iowa will play at home against Wisconsin. Iowa lost, 17–13, to the Badgers in 2007. Following a bye week, the Hawkeyes will play at Illinois, in what will be Iowa's third road game in five weeks.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Schedule
However, Iowa follows this with two home games, against Penn State and Purdue. Iowa lost to both teams in 2007 by 20 points or more. A week following the Hawkeyes' final home game against Purdue, Iowa will play Minnesota in the Gophers' home finale. Minnesota will look to take back the Floyd of Rosedale trophy a year after Iowa won it for the sixth time in seven years. The game will likely also be Minnesota's last at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Schedule
Two of Iowa's games – vs. Northwestern and at Michigan State – have been scheduled for 11:00 AM starts. The season finale against Minnesota has been set for a 6:00 p.m. start time.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Personnel, Coaches
Kirk Ferentz will be in his tenth season as head coach at Iowa in 2008, and he has a 61–49 record entering the season. Ferentz came to Iowa in 1999, following an assistant coaching job for the Baltimore Ravens and a heading coaching job at Maine. Earlier in his career, Ferentz was an assistant coach under Hayden Fry at Iowa. From 1981 to 1989, Ferentz was Iowa's offensive line coach. From there, Ferentz took the heading coaching position at Maine, and followed that by taking an assistant position in Baltimore. He was named Iowa's 25th head football coach on December 2, 1998.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Personnel, Coaches
Norm Parker, Iowa's defensive coordinator, will also be in his tenth year at Iowa. The same can also be said for Ken O'Keefe, Iowa's offensive coordinator. Under Parker, Iowa's rushing defense has nationally ranked in the top 10 in three seasons. Parker has also coached several linebackers now playing in the NFL, including Chad Greenway, Abdul Hodge, and LeVar Woods. Before coming to Iowa, Parker coached 12 seasons at Michigan State, five at Minnesota, and three at Illinois.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Personnel, Coaches
Under O'Keefe, Iowa has had the top scoring offense in the Big Ten twice, in 2001 and 2002, and 14 offensive players coached by O'Keefe have been drafted into the NFL. Before coaching at Iowa, O'Keefe was the head coach at Allegheny College, where he won a Division III national title in 1990. He was also head coach at Fordham University for one year before coming to Iowa.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Personnel, Players
Returning for the Hawkeyes in 2008 are nine starters on offense, and as many as 18 total starters could be back for Iowa. Senior running back Young is gone, along with fellow running back Damian Sims and fullback Tom Busch. The rest of the offense, including the offensive line and wide receiver positions, are intact going into 2008. On the defense, up to seven starters may return, but the Hawkeyes lose linebackers Mike Klinkenborg and Mike Humpal along with defensive ends Kenny Iwebema and Bryan Mattison.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Personnel, Players
Cornerbacks Adam Shada and Charles Godfrey are also done with their playing days at Iowa. Godfrey, who completed 2007 with five interceptions, was regarded as a possible third- to sixth-round draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft before being picked in the third-round. Another Iowa player, Devan Moylan, is seeking for another year after missing most of 2007 with an injury.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Personnel, Players
Returnees on offense include Jake Christensen, who succeeded Drew Tate at the quarterback position. Christensen threw for 2,269 yards and 17 touchdowns in his sophomore season, while throwing only six interceptions. Also returning are 11 true freshmen and 20 redshirt freshmen who saw playing time in 2007. With 31 total freshmen receiving playing time, the Hawkeyes ranked third in the country in that category, behind North Carolina and Florida, who played 38 and 33 freshmen respectively.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Season, Maine
Iowa was able to push visiting Maine around in this opening day victory. Running back duo Shonn Greene and Jewel Hampton combined for almost 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns as the Hawkeyes didn't have to go to the air often is this one-sided contest.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Season, Florida International
Iowa shutout visiting Florida International in this blowout win. Ricky Stanzi had three touchdowns on just 10 passing attempts and Shonn Greene added 130 yards rushing as the Panthers could not stop the Hawkeyes. The final score isn't even indicative of how much Iowa dominated as they played their second string for the majority of the second half.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Season, Iowa State
Iowa reclaimed the Cy-Hawk trophy in this low-scoring affair. Ricky Stanzi had trouble getting the Iowa offense going throughout the first half. Jake Christensen was brought in and led Iowa on a long drive that put them up 10-3 in the fourth quarter. The game's victor was still well in doubt until Andy Brodell returned a punt back 82 yards for a touchdown to put Iowa in control in the final minutes. With seconds left in the game Iowa kneeled down in the end zone resulting in a safety forcing Iowa State into a long drive that proved to be too much for the Cyclones to overcome.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Season, Wisconsin
Shonn Greene had arguably the best game of his Doak Walker Award season as he rushed for 217 yards and four touchdowns with nearly nine yards per attempt. Wisconsin was utterly unable to slow him down and Iowa cruised to the win as they rarely had to go the air in this contest.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Season, Penn State
Iowa got a much-needed win in this under-the-lights upset. Penn State came in heavily favored and was playing for a chance to reach the national championship. It was a back-and-forth affair that came down to a crucial kick. Daniel Murray nailed a 31 yard field goal to give the Hawkeyes the victory. Iowa did have to kick off again though as one second still remained on the clock but Penn State was unable to do anything as Iowa recovered the ball. It was a critical game for Ferentz and propelled them to a 13 game winning streak.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Season, Minnesota
This was the final college football game at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. After a sluggish start in the first quarter Iowa dominated the rest of the way. The Hawkeyes shut out the Gophers and Iowa's offense was able to score at will. Shonn Greene became the all-time single season rushing leader with another great performance – 144 yards and 2 TD. Derrell Johnson-Koulianos hauled in 7 receptions for 181 yards and a touchdown.


2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Season, Outback Bowl
Shonn Greene was unstoppable in this Outback Bowl blowout as he rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns. Iowa shutout South Carolina through the first three quarters and forced five turnovers as well.


2008 Iowa House of Representatives election
The 2008 Iowa House of Representatives election were held on November 4, 2008. The Iowa House, like the United States House of Representatives, is up for re-election in its entirety every two years. Prior to the election, the Democrats were in the majority - this marked the first time in 42 years that the Democrats had controlled both branches of the Iowa General Assembly and the Governor's Office. Democrats retained this majority following the 2008 elections.


2008 Iowa House of Representatives election, Results
The election took place on November 4, 2008. Candidate list and official results from the Iowa Secretary of State.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses
The 2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses took place on January 3, 2008. The Iowa Republican caucuses are an unofficial primary, with the delegates to the state convention selected proportionally via a straw poll. The Iowa caucuses mark the traditional formal start of the delegate selection process for the 2008 United States presidential election.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses
Prior to the 2008 caucuses, as in previous election cycles with a competitive presidential race, an unofficial Ames Straw Poll was held, on August 11, 2007. The official one, electing delegates to the state convention, was held on January 3, 2008, the same day as the Democratic contest. In the Ames Straw Poll, Mitt Romney finished first with 32% of the vote. In the January 2008 caucuses, Mike Huckabee finished first with 34% of the vote.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, January 2008 procedure
Unlike the Democratic caucus, the Republican Party does not use voting rounds or have minimum requirements for a percent of votes. The Republican version is done with a straw vote of those attending the caucus. This vote is sometimes done by a show of hands or by dividing themselves into groups according to candidate. However, officially it is done with voters receiving a blank piece of paper with no names on it, and the voter writing a name and placing it in a ballot box.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, January 2008 procedure
Following the straw poll, delegates are then elected from the remaining participants in the room, as most voters leave once their vote is cast. All delegates are officially considered unbound, but media outlets either apportion delegates proportionally or apportion them in terms of winner-take-all by counties. In precincts that elect only one delegate, the delegate is chosen by majority vote and the vote must be by paper ballot. The state party strongly urges that delegates reflect the results of the preference poll, but there is no obligation that they do so.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, The Ames Straw Poll
The 2007 Ames straw poll was held at Iowa State University (Ames)'s Hilton Coliseum on August 11, 2007. This was primarily a fundraising event for the state's Republican Party, and  only Iowa residents who paid the $35 price for a ticket were eligible to vote. Tickets were available through the various presidential campaigns and the Iowa Republican Party's headquarters.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, The Ames Straw Poll
In general, the candidates bought large blocks of tickets and gave them out for free to whoever agreed to go and vote for that candidate. The candidates also rented buses to transport voters to Ames.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, The Ames Straw Poll
Mitt Romney finished first with 32% of the vote, followed by Mike Huckabee (18%), Sam Brownback (15%), Tom Tancredo (14%), and Ron Paul (10%). Six other candidates shared the remaining 14% of the vote.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
Before the caucuses, the Des Moines Register reported the following results from a poll of 800 likely Republican caucus goers from December 27 to December 30, 2007:


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
The above results have a margin of sampling error of ±3.5 percentage points.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
Mike Huckabee's results in the opinion polls rose from 29% in the Des Moines Register's poll in late November 2007. Mitt Romney rose two points from 24% in November to 26% in December. John McCain enjoyed the biggest increase from November, increasing six points from 7% to 13%, while Rudy Giuliani suffered the biggest drop from November, decreasing eight points from 13% to 5%. Giuliani's large drop was attributed to his strategy of skipping early states such as Iowa and New Hampshire in favor of larger, delegate-rich states such as Florida, California, and New York. No other candidate polled more than 10%.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
Huckabee's poll numbers in Iowa rose dramatically from October to December, in part due to his backing among evangelical voters, who accounted for almost one-half of those polled. Huckabee led Romney in that group 47%-20%. Huckabee also polled higher than Romney among the group who said it was more important to be a social conservative than a fiscal conservative, while Romney led Huckabee 29%-25% among the group who said that being fiscally conservative was most important. In addition, Romney also polled highest in the categories of experience and competence, the ability to bring about change, and electability.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, Results of the January 2008 caucuses
As of 11:05 p.m. EDT, January 4, 2008, with 100% of the votes reported, the results were:


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, Results of the January 2008 caucuses
*Candidate had already dropped out of the race prior to caucus.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, Results of the January 2008 caucuses
Only three candidates won either pluralities or majorities in individual counties: Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul. The Giuliani campaign followed an unusual strategy of focusing on larger states that vote later in the process, and had done little if any campaigning in Iowa. Tancredo had already withdrawn from the presidential race two weeks earlier and endorsed Romney, but his name remained in the official list of candidates of the Iowa Republican Party.


2008 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses, Results of the January 2008 caucuses
Some 120,000 Iowa Republicans attended the 2008 caucuses, a new record. About 87,000 attended in 2000; in 2004, George W. Bush ran unopposed.


2008 Iowa Senate election
The 2008 Iowa Senate election were held on November 4, 2008. The Senate seats for the twenty-five even-numbered districts were up for election. Senate terms are staggered such that half the membership is elected every two years, with each Senators serving a four-year term. Prior to the election, the Democrats were in the majority - marking the first time in 42 years that the Democrats had controlled both branches of the Iowa General Assembly and the Governor's Office. They expanded this majority by two seats in the 2008 elections.


2008 Iowa Senate election, Results
The election took place on November 4, 2008. Candidate list and official results from the Iowa Secretary of State.


2008 Iowa State Cyclones football team
The 2008 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented Iowa State University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by head coach Gene Chizik, who had coached the Cyclones since 2007. They played their home games at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa.


2008 Iowa State Cyclones football team, Coaching staff
Gene Chizik: Head Coach (1 yr)Robert McFarland: Offensive Coordinator (1 yr)Wayne Bolt: Defensive Coordinator (1 yr)Scott Fountain (TE/RC (2yr)


2008 Iowa State Cyclones football team, After the season, Awards
No Cyclone player or coach won any awards this season.


2008 Ipswich Borough Council election
Elections for Ipswich Borough Council were held on Thursday 1 May 2008. One third of the seats were up for election. The Labour Party won enough seats to become the largest party gaining 3 seats (2 from Con 1 from Lib Dem). The Conservatives had been the largest party since the 2006 Ipswich Council election. The results came as a stark contrast which saw the Conservatives make significant gains from Labour across the country. Particular disappointments for the Conservatives came when they lost Rushmere and Bridge to Labour and narrowly failed to gain St Margaret's from the Liberal Democrats, while narrowly holding onto St John's by a mere 3 votes. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats lost Whitehouse.


2008 Ipswich Borough Council election
Despite the losses, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition continued to run the Council with a reduced majority of 6 seats.


2008 Iranian legislative election
Legislative elections for Majlis of Iran were held on 14 March 2008, with a second round held on 25 April 2008. Conservatives loyal to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were considered the victors of the election, at least in part because "all the most prominent" reformist candidates were disqualified from running.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Qualification of candidates and campaign
A few months before the election on December 14, 2007, twenty-one moderate and reformist parties formed a coalition centered on Mohammad Khatami to increase their chances in the election. However, around 1,700 candidates were barred from running by the Guardian Council vetting body, the Supervisory and Executive Election Boards, on the grounds that they were not sufficiently loyal to the Iranian revolution. These included 90% of "independent and reformist candidates," 19 sitting MPs, and Ayatollah Khomeini's grandson, Ali Eshraghi, who complained,


2008 Iranian legislative election, Qualification of candidates and campaign
"What saddens me most is the method of discernment used [by the Council of Guardians]. . . . They had asked my neighbors if I pray my daily prayers, or fast? Does my wife respect the Hijab? Do I shave? Or smoke cigarettes? What kind of car do I drive, and do I dress in a suit!"


2008 Iranian legislative election, Qualification of candidates and campaign
Another candidate, Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi, protested his disqualification on the grounds of "lack of belief in law and in Islam," noting that he was not only an ayatollah and a member of the scientific board of the theological seminaries of Qom, but he had earlier qualified to run for the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body whose functions include selection of the supreme leader.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Qualification of candidates and campaign
With the elimination of reformists, the election has been described as a "contest between conservatives who still support" president Ahmadinejad, and conservatives who don't, or "hard-liners generally in sync with Ahmadinejad and ... ` pragmatic conservatives,` ... unsympathetic" to him.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Qualification of candidates and campaign
Reformist leaders pushed for Iranians to vote in parliamentary elections, hoping to prevent a sweep by hard-liners allied with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Allies of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seized the largest share of parliament seats, vote counting nearly completed everywhere in the country except for the capital, Tehran, on March 16, 2008. Conservative critics of Ahmadinejad won a substantial bloc in the legislature, highlighting the growing discontent with the president's fiery style and failure to repair the ailing economy of Iran.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Qualification of candidates and campaign
Reformists, who seek greater democracy in Iran and closer ties with the West, showed strength in some cities where the clerical leadership allowed them to compete. Reformist leaders said March 16, 2008 that at least 14 winning independents are pro-reform, bringing their bloc to 45 seats so far. If correct, that would be around the size of the reformist presence in the outgoing parliament. Iran's leaders on March 16, 2008 declared the country's parliament elections, which were carried by conservatives, a victory that showed Iranians' defiance of the West. The United States and Europe called the vote unfair after most reformists were barred from running.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Results
More than half of the reformist seats belongs to the main reformist coalition and the rest are affiliated with the NTP.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Results
According to Farideh Farhi, out of the 287 seats, approximately 170 can be identified as won by conservatives whose candidacy was supported by the two major conservative lists. United Front of Principlists won 117 seats and Principlists Pervasive Coalition won 96, while 50 were endorsed by both. A portion of conservatives, "die-hard" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad supporters secured about 40% of the seats.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Results
According to Democracy Party's organ, the conservatives won 199 seats while the  reformists won 47 and 41 were independents.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Results, First round results
Some 4,500 candidates nationwide were running for parliament's 290 seats vote, in which an estimated 44 million Iranians of over 18 years of age were eligible to vote.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Results, First round results
With less than two-thirds of the 290 contests decided by March 15, conservatives had won 125 seats, reformers won 35 and independents won 10, according to news agency Fars. Another 39 winners were independents whose political leanings were not immediately known. Five other seats dedicated to Iran's Jewish, Zoroastrian and Christian minorities have been decided.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Results, Voter turnout
Anoushiravan Ehteshami, citing the ministry of interior as the source, writes that number of eligible voters were 43,824,254 and 22,350,254 votes were cast.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Results, Voter turnout
Voter turnout in the first round is disputed. Government officials claim that as many as 65% of Iran's 49 million eligible voters took part, a solid turnout but not reaching the around 80% that flooded the polls in elections in the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade). some conservative circles insisted that it was 73% or higher, "showing" popular support for the regime. "Yet the Ministry of the Interior's own figures indicated a national turnout of 52%, and no more than 30% in Tehran", roughly equivalent to 2004 turnout.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Results, Voter turnout
From amongst the 49 million eligible voters above 18 years of age announced by the Iran Statistics Center some 23 million Iranians, i.e. 47 percent, participated in the parliamentary elections of March 2, 2008. This is the lowest level when compared with the eight previous parliamentary elections. Of this amount, 30 percent of the voters came from large cities and provincial capitals while in Tehran which is the political nerve center of the country whose residents demonstrate the most political behavior, the number stood at 27 percent.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Results, Voter turnout
According to the government’s final figures, 650,000 citizens of Tehran have taken part in the second round of the elections for the Majlis (Iranian parliament), that is less than 8% of those eligible to vote.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Results, Second round
82 seats in which no candidate gained more than 25% of the vote in the first round held another round of voting on 25 April 2008; 11 of those seats were in Tehran. Of the 164 candidates, 69 are considered to be Conservative, 41 Reformists and 54 as Independents. Turnout in the second round was only about 25%.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Results, Second round
Following the election, the 8th parliament opened on May 27, 2008.


2008 Iranian legislative election, Issues
Issues in the election have been described as "unemployment, inflation and fuel shortages" in a petroleum-exporting country, and increasing inequality. "The price of some basic foods has doubled within the past year and rents are soaring." Influential conservative clerics are also said to be irritated by president Ahmadinejad's "folksy and superstitious brand of ostentatious piety and his favouritism to men of military rather than clerical backgrounds."


2008 Iraqi Day of Ashura fighting
The 2008 Iraqi Day of Ashura fighting was a series of clashes that occurred on the Islamic holy day of Ashura on January 18, 2008 and the next day in the Iraqi cities of Basra and Nasiriyah. The battles were fought between the Iraqi security forces and fighters of an Iraqi cult called the Soldiers of Heaven, which a year before fought a similar battle, also on Ashura, near the city of Najaf. Then their leader was reported killed along with his deputy Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni but this time around it was reported that al-Yemeni was still alive and leading the cultists.


2008 Iraqi Day of Ashura fighting, The battle
Cultist fighters started attacking members of the security forces in the two cities on January 18 and heavy fighting ensued. Initially the rebels had the upper hand and even took control of a police station in Nasiriyah. And set up a command center in a mosque in the city. Fighting raged late in the evening, and burned out police vehicles were seen on the streets of Basra. Rebels captured an oil facilities building and a hospital in Basra and at one point there was fighting in 75 percent of the city.


2008 Iraqi Day of Ashura fighting, The battle
The next morning a coalition air strike destroyed the police station which was taken over, and late in the afternoon an Iraqi Army raid on the mosque ended the fighting.


2008 Iraqi Day of Ashura fighting, Aftermath
Up to 58 cultist fighters and 18 members of the security forces were killed, along with four civilians. 33 policemen were wounded. Among the casualties of the security forces, 15 were Police and 3 were Army. The Iraqi Police and Army also detained 166 militants.


2008 Iraqi Day of Ashura fighting, Aftermath
In fighting in Basra: 5 policemen, 3 soldiers, 40 rebels and 2 civilians were killed. In the fighting in Nasiriyah: 10 policemen, 18 rebels and 2 civilians were killed. Among the dead were Abu Mustapha Ansari, the leader of the Soldiers of Heaven in Basra and four police colonels: Colonel Zamel Khazaal Badr, the head of police intelligence in Nasiriyah, Colonel Abdel Amir Jabbar, the commander of the rapid-intervention force in Ziqar province, Colonel Naji Rustom, head of the emergency police force of Nasiriyah and Lt. Colonel Ali Hashim, commander of the Nasiriyah transport police. 166 cultists were captured in Basra, Nasiriyah and Musayyib. Among the captured rebels were two 14-year-old snipers that were responsible for the deaths of two policemen in Basra.


2008 Iraqi Day of Ashura fighting, Aftermath
However some reports only days later suggested that the death toll from the fighting was much higher than firstly reported with at least 50 people killed in Nasiriyah and up to 97 people killed and 217 wounded in Basra.


2008 Iraqi Day of Ashura fighting, Aftermath
Once again the fate of Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni remained unknown.


2008 Ireland rugby union tour of New Zealand and Australia
The 2008 Ireland rugby union tour of New Zealand and Australia was a series of matches played in June 2008 in New Zealand and Australia by Ireland national rugby union team.


2008 Irish Classic
The 2008 Irish Classic (often known as the 2008 Lucan Racing Irish Classic for sponsorship and promotion purposes) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place on 2 and 3 August 2008 at the Celbridge Snooker Club in Kildare, Republic of Ireland.


2008 Irish Classic
Ken Doherty won in the final 5–2 against Fergal O'Brien.


2008 Irish Greyhound Derby
The 2008 Irish Greyhound Derby took place during August and September with the final being held at Shelbourne Park in Dublin on 13 September 2008.


2008 Irish Greyhound Derby
The winner Shelbourne Aston won €175,000 and was trained by Pat Curtin (Ireland), owned by the Curtin-Hehir-Montgomery Syndicate and bred by James Marks. The race was sponsored by the Paddy Power.


2008 Irish Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
Defending champion Tyrur Rhino and 2007 runner-up Tyrur Laurel were two of the leading entries for the 2008 Irish Derby. 2008 English Greyhound Derby champion Loyal Honcho only just made the start of the competition after picking up an injury and the other main contenders were listed as Killahan Phanter, College Causeway and Mid West Blue. Tyrur Laurel and Loyal Honcho both sealed early wins but Tyrur Rhino was a shock elimination in round two. Loyal Honcho finished lame signalling the end of two Derby champions’ campaigns.


2008 Irish Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
College Causeway won all three of his rounds but Tyrur Laurel struggled through and Shelbourne Aston came through the back door after finishing fourth and claiming a lucky losers spot. The quarter finals began College Causeway completed a fourth successive win in the quarter finals and Express Ego won at 10-1. The remaining two heats went to Headleys Bridge and Slip the Lark, Tyrur Laurel made it no further.


2008 Irish Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
In the semi-finals Ballymac Ruso won in 29.91 from Machu Picchu and Slip the Lark in the first heat but College Causeway was lacklustre and came in fourth behind Advantage Johnny, Headleys Bridge and Shelbourne Aston in the second heat, Express Ego finished last.


2008 Irish Greyhound Derby, Competition Report
The final was the most open final in Irish Derby history based on the starting prices. Slip the Lark and Advantage Johnny broke best from the traps and remained in the lead around the first two bends closely followed by Ballymac Ruso and a little further back was Headley Bridge. The four all went into the run-in with chances to win the first prize but Shelbourne Aston produced a strong finish and overtook all four to win by a short head.


2008 Irish flash floods
The 2008 Irish flash floods were a series of flash floods that occurred across the island of Ireland in August 2008. The floods and related weather conditions primarily affected the following counties; Limerick, Cork, Dublin, Antrim, Carlow, Galway, Laois, Louth, Meath, Kildare, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Offaly, Sligo and Donegal. Parts of Ireland's large urban centres, including Dublin and Belfast, were submerged, whilst Carlow town has experienced some of the worst flooding in the country. One person died; 31-year-old Polish dad-of-one Przemyslaw Jablonski. He went missing in the River Fergus, in Ennis, and was found 6 days later (on 18 August) in the same river. He was pronounced dead at the scene.


2008 Irish flash floods, Conditions before the floods
Rainfall in Cork for the month of July 2008 was the heaviest recorded since 1975. The combined total for June and July was more than twice the normal level of rainfall expected for that time period. Around the country the weather was wetter than normal for July with exceptional rainfall in County Limerick in the last 24 hours of July giving rise to this figure. Met Éireann described July as "a dull month generally".


2008 Irish flash floods, Conditions before the floods
The highest average temperature recorded in July was 15.7 degrees (Shannon Airport); the same location also enjoyed the warmest day of the month at 25.2 degrees on 24 July. The lowest air temperature since the early 1970s was recorded at Mullingar during July –  a figure of 3.6 degrees was recorded on the 5th. The greatest level of sunshine was in the east of the country – Dublin Airport recorded 156 hours of sunshine – whilst the lowest level of rainfall was recorded at Belmullet – 54 millimetres fell during July.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 1 August
County Limerick and County Cork were the first areas to be affected. On the night of 31 July/1 August, the River Blackwater in Cork burst its banks, causing severe flooding between Banteer and Mallow. Cork County Council issued a flood warning for Mallow on the morning of the 1st whilst council staff distributed sandbags. Bridge Street in Mallow was closed for a time but later reopened for motorist use. The Town Park Road in Mallow was closed for a longer period. Flood relief works had been ongoing in Mallow for six months but were not expected to finish for another 18 months. Further downstream, floodwaters reached Fermoy at around 10 pm.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 1 August
In Limerick, it took several hours before electricity was restored to 3,000 homes in Newcastle West, where a major clear-up operation was underway after the River Arra burst its banks earlier in the morning. Up to 20 homes were badly affected by "freak" flash flooding overnight, with residents having to be rescued from their houses. There were few injuries; although an elderly woman was airlifted from her home and immediately diagnosed with hypothermia.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 1 August
Met Éireann said that the average rainfall for the last week of July was about 26mm – three times that amount dropped between 7 pm and midnighton 31 July in Newcastle West. At one rainfall station in the area, a measurement of 90.1mm was recorded in that time. Around 100mm of rain would be expected in one month. The rainfall was said to be "tropical-like in intensity". Limerick County Council issued a public drinking water notice residents of Newcastle West to boil their water before use. The areas affected by the boil notice included Newcastle West, Coolcappagh and Rathcahill and the Ballyine, Dually, Reens Kilscannell, Old Mill Road, Killoughteen and Killeline Group Water Supply Schemes.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 2 August
The River Deel threatened to flood in Askeaton, County Limerick. Localised flooding occurred earlier in the day in the town. The Newcastle West Business Association called on the government to help those worst affected by the flash floods of the previous day. Spokesman Pat O'Donovan stated that many businesses were uninsured or under-insured and needed financial assistance. A huge cleanup operation continued in parts of Limerick and Cork. It was estimated that millions of euro worth of damage was caused. Met Éireann claimed that the area around Newcastle West experienced the equivalent of four weeks rain in five hours.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 9 August
The record for a single 24-hour period of rain in August was almost broken in Dublin. 56mm of rain fell on Dublin Airport in 24 hours. The record (60mm) was set in August 1986, in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley. Celbridge was flooded and nearby roads were impassable. Flooding was reported between Naas and Blessington. A river burst its banks along the Ballyroan to Portlaoise road at Cashel Cross in County Laois. Only one lane of the road was open to traffic at the time.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 9 August
The road between Portlaoise and Timahoe was badly flooded whilst the Stradbally Village to Athy road was impassable. Other roads closed included the N3 (inbound and outbound at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre), the M1 (inbound and outbound after the Port Tunnel), the M50 (blocked at Ballymun northbound) with diversions in place. Dart services were suspended between the Malahide and Howth junctions whilst there was also disruption to Northern Commuter and Belfast rail services. Garda diversions were put in place and long delays were to be had. Dublin Airport authorities asked passengers to give plenty of time to reach the airport and, if possible, to check their route before they leave. A football match between Shamrock Rovers and Sunderland, due to be played at Tolka Park at 7.30pm that evening, was cancelled due to the flooding.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 9 August
In Dublin, it was reported that one vehicle was swept down a road in a torrent of flood water. "The combination of monsoon-like rain and a high-tide" prompted a spokesperson for Dublin Fire Brigade to report that crews spent most of the night rescuing people from houses and cars. He claimed that, between 4 pm and midnight, 800 calls were taken with 600 of these flood-related, going on to say: "We’ve never had anything like that. We wouldn’t generally get that many calls on Halloween.”


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 9 August
Hundreds of Armagh Gaelic football fans, attending the All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park, were stranded by torrential rain when they left the stadium to discover their cars surrounded by water. The rain prompted GAA officials in Croke Park to turn on the floodlights for the second half of the All-Ireland quarter final between Kerry and Galway in what was to be the first ever floodlight championship game in Croke park, the game was described by many as the greatest game of pure vintage football played in Croke Park in the 2000s (decade) despite the worst rain in Irish history.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 10 August
A clean-up operation was underway in Dublin and Kildare following the previous day's flash flooding. Gardaí said flood water had subsided in most parts except for some areas in north county Dublin. The N3 near Blanchardstown was re-opened. On the M50 there was still severe flooding on both the northbound and southbound lanes. The M1 at Whitehall was re-opened on both sides following flood-related closures. According to Met Éireann, in the 24-hour period from midnight on 8 August until midnight on 9 August, 76.2mm of rain was recorded at Dublin Airport, a new record for the month of August. The previous record, 73mm, was recorded in August 1986.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 10 August
Kildare County Council reported bad flooding in Celbridge. Eight houses in the Vanessa Close Estate were flooded with water of approximately 60 cm after the Toni River, a tributary of the River Liffey, overflowed. The Clane to Celbridge Road and Ardrass Road from Straffan to Celbridge were closed due to flooding. Flooded pumps caused sewage to flow into the streets of Celbridge, damaging some premises on the Main Street. 4,000 Scouts at Jamboree 2008 in Punchestown had to spend the night indoors after being removed by the Civil Defence to the major events centre on the site. Leixlip and Maynooth experienced flooding although no damage to property was reported.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 10 August
In County Laois the Ballyroan to Portlaoise Road was flooded at Cashel Cross after a river burst its banks. In County Offaly, the Tullamore Show, due to take place that day, was cancelled for the second consecutive year due to the weather. Dublin Fire Brigade said all areas of the capital had been affected by overnight flooding, particularly in Swords and Drumcondra. Houses in the Knocklyon and Firhouse areas of south Dublin were flooded. The Civil Defence was also called in to help pump water. On the M50 a bus full of people journeying to Dublin Airport was marooned in the floods and had to be pulled free with the aid of a tractor. Racing at the Curragh was cancelled because of a waterlogged track.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 12 August
Heavy rainfall in Dublin led to flooding and collisions on commuter routes. Dublin City Council described the situation as "serious". In Mulhuddart the Church Road was reported as closed at the cemetery through to the Hollystown Golf Club. Two open manholes were reported; one at the Drumcondra/Home Farm Rd junction, another outbound on the Ballymun Road outside the library, resulting in a flooded bus lane. The N3 at Blanchardstown was closed between the two exit slips which access the Blanchardstown Town Centre. Traffic was diverted around the flooded area via the Snugborough and Mulhuddart interchanges.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 12 August
The left lane of the M50 Southbound at J5 Finglas was closed due to flooding. There were reports of "a lot of surface water" on the M50 at J4 Ballymun in both directions. Flooding was seen at the Strawberry beds approaching Lucan and on Tandys Lane in Lucan village, from the Old Swords Road to Coolock Lane, and at the Griffith Ave Ballymun Road junction. The flooding on River Road in Finglas was described as "heavy". Surface water and debris on the Killinarden side of the Killtipper Road at "a very bad bend"  caused delays to motorists.


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 12 August
On the Naas Road outbound there was surface water after Newlands Cross and at the Kylemore Road junction and Eglinton Road in Donnybrook was flooded. In Dublin city centre there was flooding at Westland Row, Lincoln Place. In County Louth, the R173 Carlingford to Newry Road was described as "flooded and impassable".


2008 Irish flash floods, Timeline of events, 13 August
Several hours of heavy rainfall led to flash floods in Dublin, with the Phoenix Park's Castleknock gate closed off and the road rendered impassable by the heavy floods. Some DART services were suspended for a time in the evening. Rail services between Drogheda and Dundalk were not operating overnight due to the flooding. In County Leitrim the Dowra to Drumkeeran Road was impassable when part of the road and a small bridge was swept away in heavy flooding. There were widespread road closures elsewhere including County Meath, County Louth, County Mayo, County Sligo and County Donegal.