2008 ACC Championship Game, Pre-game buildup
Following the last week of the regular season, both teams moved up in the national college football polls. Boston College, which had been ranked No. 21 in the BCS Poll, No. 20 in the AP Poll, and No. 22 in the Coaches' Poll, rose to No. 17 in the BCS, No. 18 in the AP Poll, and No. 20 in the Coaches' Poll. Virginia Tech, which had been unranked during the final week of the regular season, remained in the "Also Receiving Votes" category outside the top 25, except in the BCS Poll, where the Hokies rose to No. 25.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Pre-game buildup
Spread bettors predicted an even game. Various betting organizations favored Boston College either by a single point or none. This close spread was due in small part to the teams' familiarity with each other. The championship game marked the fourth time in 14 months that the two teams played each other, and this fact was prominently mentioned in media coverage before the game's kickoff.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Pre-game buildup, Attendance concerns
Almost immediately after the selection of Virginia Tech and Boston College, concerns about potential attendance at the 2008 ACC Championship Game arose. Because the same matchup resulted in such low attendance at the 2007 championship game in Jacksonville, it was doubted that Tampa, which is several hundred miles further south and more distant from the two schools, could attract as many spectators as the previous season's game. Adding to the problem of selling tickets was the 2008 economic crisis, which many fans cited as a reason for not purchasing tickets.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Pre-game buildup, Attendance concerns
By the Wednesday before the game, Virginia Tech had sold just 3,000 of the 10,000 tickets it was required by contract to sell. There also were questions about how many local fans would attend. To mitigate the problems seen in Jacksonville the year before, ticket prices were lowered from $65 to $25, and it was hoped that the lower capacity of Tampa's Raymond James Stadium compared with Jacksonville Municipal Stadium would allow for a quicker sellout.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Pre-game buildup, Attendance concerns
The campaign to attract more fans was moderately successful, as 30,000 of the 43,000 tickets not assigned to either school were sold by December 1, five days before the game. Team ticket sales were abysmal, however, as Virginia Tech and Boston College combined to sell just 5,000 tickets of the 20,000 allotted to the two teams.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Pre-game buildup, Boston College offense
The Boston College offense, which gained 319 yards per game on average, was ranked 94th (of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams) in total offense. A key component of the offense was guard Cliff Ramsey, who was named a first-team All-ACC selection, signifying his status as the best player at his position in the conference. Tight end Ryan Purvis was named a second-team All-ACC selection. Quarterback Dominique Davis led the Eagles' offense on the field heading into the ACC Championship. Davis had been the second-string quarterback until a season-ending injury to starter Chris Crane. During his limited time in the regular season, Davis had three passing and two rushing touchdowns.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Pre-game buildup, Virginia Tech offense
Virginia Tech's offense was criticized for a lack of production during the regular season and was ranked 103rd in total offense. The Hokies gained just 301 yards of offense on average during the regular season. Despite the meager statistical performance, Tech did have some standout players. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who had been expected to sit out the season in reserve, finished the year as the team's starter. Running back Darren Evans was named a second-team All-ACC selection, as was guard Sergio Render. Taylor's favorite passing targets were wide receivers Danny Coale and Jarrett Boykin. Coale entered the ACC Championship Game having caught 32 catches for 352 yards, while Boykin grabbed 27 passes for 407 yards.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Pre-game buildup, Boston College defense
The Eagles' defense was ranked eighth in the nation in terms of total defense, allowing an average of 277 yards per game. The Eagles led the country in interceptions, recording 25 during the course of the regular season. The Eagles also were ranked among the top 10 in run defense, pass-efficiency defense, and No. 14 in scoring defense. That strong defensive effort was led by linebacker Mark Herzlich, who was selected as the ACC's defensive player of the year for the 2008 season. Herzlich led the Eagles in tackles with 98—fifth among all Division I players—and interceptions, with 6. He was forecast to be a key player during the ACC Championship Game. Defensive tackle B. J. Raji recorded 33 tackles (11 for loss) and a team-high 7 sacks, part of a defense that allowed an average of just 87.3 rushing yards per game.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Pre-game buildup, Virginia Tech defense
The Hokies' defense was ranked sixth in Division I-A during the regular season, permitting 275 yards per game on average. That defensive performance was led by cornerback Victor "Macho" Harris, who was named a first-team All-ACC selection on defense. Heading into the ACC Championship, Harris had 6 interceptions—2 returned for touchdowns—and 42 tackles. Harris also played on offense, catching 8 passes for 63 yards. Another defensive star for the Hokies was Orion Martin, a former walk-on who was third in the ACC in sacks with 7.5 and earned second-team ACC honors.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary
The 2008 ACC Championship Game kicked off on December 6, 2008, at 1 p.m. EST at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. At kickoff, the weather was partly cloudy with 59 percent humidity and a temperature of 72 °F (22 °C). The wind was from the south-southwest at 10 miles per hour (16 km/h). The official reported attendance was 53,927, but this number came from the number of tickets sold. The actual attendance in the stadium—measured by admittance turnstiles—was 27,360, the lowest ever recorded for an ACC football championship game.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary
Ticket demand was so low that tickets were being given away for free outside the stadium before kickoff. The game was televised in the United States by the American Broadcasting Company, and Brad Nessler, Bob Griese, Paul Maguire, and Todd Harris were the announcers. Approximately 3.3 million people watched the game, earning the broadcast a Nielsen rating of 2.9. The rating was the lowest ever recorded for an ACC Championship football game and represented a 41% decline from the previous year's rating of 4.2.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, First quarter
Boston College won the ceremonial pre-game coin toss to determine first possession and elected to kick off to begin the game, ensuring that the Eagles would receive the ball to begin the second half. Virginia Tech kick returner Dyrell Roberts fielded the ball at the Tech six-yard line and returned it to the Tech 33-yard line before the first play of the game, a four-yard pass from quarterback Tyrod Taylor to wide receiver Danny Coale. Despite that initial gain, the Hokies were unable to advance the ball further and punted after going three and out.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, First quarter
Boston College's Rich Gunnell fair caught the kick at the Eagles' 16-yard line, where the Boston College offense ran its first play of the game. Running back Montel Harris ran for a one-yard gain, but Boston College was unable to gain the needed ten yards for a first down, just as Virginia Tech had failed to do in the prior series. After going three and out, the Eagles punted back to Virginia Tech and the Hokies' offense returned to the field at the Tech 39-yard line with 11:30 remaining in the first quarter.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, First quarter
The first play of the drive was an incomplete pass by Taylor, but the Hokies earned the initial first down of the game two plays later when Taylor completed a 14-yard throw to Roberts, advancing the ball to the 41-yard line of Boston College in the process. After a five-yard penalty against the Hokies, Taylor completed two consecutive passes: one to Evans for a 12-yard gain and the other to Roberts for a 10-yard gain. Now at the 24-yard line of Boston College, Virginia Tech's offense began running the ball instead of passing it.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, First quarter
Evans rushed for five yards, then second-string running back Josh Oglesby ran for seven more on the next two plays. The first of Oglesby's rushes resulted in a first down inside the Eagles' red zone, and Tech continued to advance the ball on the ground as Evans ran another five yards. Facing third down at the Boston College five-yard line, Virginia Tech called a timeout to formulate its next offensive play. That play was a five-yard rush by Taylor, who crossed the goal line for the game's first score, a Virginia Tech touchdown. The subsequent extra point kick was successful, and the Hokies took a 7–0 lead with 6:27 remaining in the first quarter.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, First quarter
Virginia Tech's post-touchdown kickoff was fielded at the Boston College 13-yard line by the Eagles' Harris, who returned it to the Boston College 28-yard line, and the Eagles' offense began its second drive of the game. Eagles quarterback Dominique Davis completed his first pass of the game, a 19-yard catch by Brandon Robinson, who advanced the ball to the Boston College 47-yard line for a first down. Davis then scrambled for a four-yard gain, and Harris ran for nine yards on the next two plays, gaining the Eagles' second first down of the game.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, First quarter
Once inside the Virginia Tech 40-yard line, however, the Hokies' defense stiffened. Davis was able to gain six yards on two running plays, but after an incomplete pass, the Eagles were forced to punt for the second time in the first quarter. The kick sailed into the end zone for a touchback, and Virginia Tech's offense began work at its 20-yard line. The Hokies' third drive of the quarter mirrored its first, however, as Virginia Tech went three and out and punted after failing to gain a first down.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, First quarter
The Eagles recovered the ball with 1:32 remaining in the quarter and committed a five-yard false start penalty to begin their possession. On the first play after the penalty, Davis was sacked for a loss of two yards. Harris regained the lost yardage and more with a six-yard run, but after Davis threw an incomplete pass on third down, the Eagles were forced to punt again. Before they could kick the ball, however, the quarter came to an end. With three quarters remaining in the game, Virginia Tech held a 7–0 lead.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Second quarter
The second quarter began with Boston College in possession of the ball at its 28-yard line and preparing to punt. Virginia Tech's Harris fielded the kick at the Tech 35-yard line and returned it to the Tech 49-yard line, where the Hokies' offense took to the field for their first play of the second quarter. Evans gained six yards on a rush, then Coale was stopped for no gain on an end-around. Facing third down and needing four yards, Taylor passed for a first down to Boykin, who advanced the ball to the Boston College 39-yard line.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Second quarter
On the next play, Evans broke free for a 30-yard gain, giving the Hokies a first down at the Eagles' nine-yard line. Three plays later, Taylor ran four yards for the Hokies' second touchdown of the game. The extra point was good, and Tech expanded its lead to 14–0 with 11:08 remaining in the first half.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Second quarter
Virginia Tech's post-touchdown kickoff was returned to the Boston College 20-yard line, and the Eagles began their first full possession of the second quarter. Davis lost a yard on a running play, then was sacked for an eight-yard loss. Facing third down and needing 19 yards for a first down, Harris gained five yards and the Eagles punted after going three and out. The kick was returned to the Eagles' 36-yard line, and Tech began a possession deep in Boston College territory.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Second quarter
The first Tech play lost two yards, but the Hokies regained the lost yardage on the next play, picking up four yards with a pass from Taylor to Evans. Taylor scrambled on third down, gaining eight yards and a first down. The Hokies attempted a short run, then Taylor gained another first down with a pass to the BC 14-yard line. Once there, however, Tech committed a 10-yard holding penalty, pushing the Hokies backwards. After the penalty, Taylor was tackled for a loss of seven more yards. Facing a second down and 27 yards, Taylor attempted to pass for the first down, but the ball was batted into the air and intercepted by a Boston College defender.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Second quarter
Following the turnover, the Eagles' offense began work at their 46-yard line. Davis completed a five-yard pass to Robinson, advancing into Tech territory. An incomplete pass followed, but Davis was able to gain the first down with a pass to Rich Gunnell at the 39-yard line. On the first pass after the first down, Davis and Gunnell connected on a deep pass, but Gunnell fumbled and the ball was recovered in the end zone by a Virginia Tech defender. The play resulted in a touchback, and Virginia Tech took over on offense at its 20-yard line. Following the turnover, Tech went three and out, punting back to Boston College with 2:11 remaining before halftime.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Second quarter
The kick was fair caught at the 34-yard line of Boston College. On the first play after the kick, Davis connected with Harris on a pass play that resulted in a 51-yard gain for the Eagles. At the Tech 15-yard line following the big gain, the Eagles lost one yard on a rushing play before Davis passed to Gunnell for a 16-yard gain and a touchdown. The extra point was good, and with 1:29 remaining in the first half, Virginia Tech's lead was cut to 14–7.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Second quarter
The Eagles' post-touchdown kickoff was returned to the Tech 33-yard line, and on the first play after the kick, Boston College committed a personal foul penalty when Tyrod Taylor was hit out of bounds. Following the penalty, the ball was advanced to the Tech 42-yard line and the Hokies were given a first down. Tech completed two short passes, advancing to the 50-yard line, but the Hokies punted after not gaining another first down. The kick sailed out of bounds, and the Eagles returned to offense with 19 seconds remaining in the first half. Rather than try to score quickly, Boston College elected to run out the clock with Virginia Tech leading, 14–7.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Third quarter
Because Virginia Tech received the ball to begin the game, Boston College received the ball to begin the second half. Virginia Tech's kickoff was returned to the Eagles' 35-yard line, and Boston College's offense began the first possession of the second half. An incomplete pass by Davis was followed by a short rush and another incomplete pass, and the Eagles were forced to punt after going three and out. The kick went out of bounds at Virginia Tech's 32-yard line, and the Hokies' offense had their first possession of the second half. Tech likewise went three and out, then returned the ball to the Eagles with a punt. The kick went out of bounds, and following the exchange, Boston College's offense started from its 31-yard line.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Third quarter
The first Eagles' play after the Tech punt was a 22-yard pass from Davis to Gunnell for a first down at the Tech 47-yard line. Following the long gain, the Eagles were unable to gain another first down, and punted back to the Hokies. The kick was fair caught at the Tech 16-yard line with 11:08 remaining in the third quarter, and the Virginia Tech offense returned to the field. Tech advanced the ball on three consecutive plays: a six-yard pass to Evans, a short rush by Evans, then a first down pass to Roberts.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Third quarter
Following the first down, Evans ran for another first down, advancing the Hokies to their 44-yard line. Two Tech plays were stopped for little or no gain, but on third and nine, Taylor scrambled for an 18-yard gain and a first down at the Boston College 37-yard line. Evans gained six yards on first down, but the Hokies were unable to gain the next four yards. Instead of punting, Tech head coach Frank Beamer sent kicker Jared Keys into the game to attempt a field goal. Keys' 50-yard kick sailed through the uprights, and Tech extended its lead to 17–7 with 6:07 remaining in the quarter.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Third quarter
Tech's post-score kickoff was returned to the Eagles' 30-yard line. Davis started the drive with an incomplete pass, then Harris gained seven yards with a rush up the middle. A third-down pass fell incomplete, and Boston College punted. The kick was fair caught at the Tech 30-yard line, and with 5:01 left in the quarter, the Hokies returned to offense. On the first play, Taylor ran 11 yards for a first down. Taylor threw an incomplete pass, and the Hokies were penalized 10 yards for holding, pushing them back to the 31-yard line.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Third quarter
Tech was unable to regain the lost yardage, and punted. The kick was 57 yards, and Boston College was further backed up by a penalty during the return. Following the kick, Boston College's offense was forced back to its seven-yard line to start. An incomplete pass was followed by a scramble by Davis. During the run, Davis fumbled the ball, which was recovered by a Boston College player. Facing third down, Davis scrambled again, this time for a first down to the 21-yard line.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Third quarter
On the first play after the first down scramble, a deep pass downfield by Davis was intercepted by Virginia Tech's Stephan Virgil. The interception was returned to the Boston College 10-yard line, and on the first play by Tech's offense, Evans ran the ten yards for a touchdown. The extra point was good, and with 1:17 remaining, the Hokies extended their lead to 24–7.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Third quarter
Tech's post-touchdown kickoff was downed in the end zone for a touchback, and the Eagles began on offense at their 20-yard line. Three consecutive incomplete passes later, Boston College punted, ending their sixth three and out of the game. Following the kick, Tech started at its 27-yard line. On first down, the Hokies ran an end-around for five yards, then the quarter came to an end. With one quarter remaining, Virginia Tech led, 24–7.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Fourth quarter
Virginia Tech began the fourth quarter in possession of the ball and facing a second down and five from their 33-yard line. The first play of the quarter was a seven-yard run by Evans, who earned a first down at the Tech 40-yard line. On the next play after the first down run, Evans fumbled the ball and Boston College recovered. The Eagles' offense started within field goal range at the Tech 30-yard line.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Fourth quarter
Boston College's first play was stopped for no gain, but the second was a 22-yard pass by Davis to Gunnell, giving the Eagles a first down inside the Tech 10-yard line. Davis threw three incomplete passes before Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski sent kicker Steve Aponavicius into the game to attempt a 24-yard field goal. The kick was good, and the Eagles cut Tech's lead to 24–10.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Fourth quarter
The post-touchdown kickoff was returned to the Tech 20-yard line, and the Hokies began an offensive drive hoping to run down the clock and preserve their two-touchdown lead. Because the game clock continues to run on rushing plays, the Hokies executed five consecutive rushing plays, picking up a first down in the process. The Hokies were unable to gain a second first down, however, and Tech punted from its 40-yard line. The kick rolled out of bounds at the Eagles' 28-yard line with 9:28 remaining in the game, and Boston College took over on offense.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Fourth quarter
On the first play after the punt, however, Tech defender Jason Worilds tackled Davis, forcing a fumble, which bounced into the hands of fellow defender Orion Martin, who ran it 17 yards for a defensive touchdown. The extra point bounced off an upright, however, and was no good. Still, with just 9:05 remaining in the game, Tech took a commanding 30–10 lead.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Fourth quarter
The Hokies' kickoff after the defensive score was caught at the goal line and returned to the 28-yard line by Boston College's Chris Fox. Following the return, Davis completed a seven-yard pass to the 35-yard line, then picked up a first down to the 42-yard line with another pass. Davis then scrambled three yards and threw for another first down, this time to tight end Lars Anderson. Now at the Tech 46-yard line, Davis threw three incomplete passes before throwing another on fourth down.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Fourth quarter
With 6:39 remaining in the game, Boston College turned the ball over on downs to the Virginia Tech offense. The Hokies again began to run out the clock. Evans ran the ball three consecutive times, but on the third rush, Evans fumbled for the second time in the game. The fumble was recovered by Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich and Boston College's offense returned to the field.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Fourth quarter
From the Tech 32-yard line, Davis threw an incomplete pass then connected on a 21-yard pass to Jarvis for a first down. After an incomplete pass, Davis threw another pass to Jarvis, who caught it at the four-yard line. Facing third down, Davis attempted another pass. The ball was tipped into the air and caught by Virginia Tech defender Brent Warren. The Hokies resumed running down the clock with short rushes by Evans, who advanced the ball to the 13-yard line with 3:05 remaining in the game.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Fourth quarter
Boston College used its allotted second-half timeouts to stop the clock and preserve time for a late scoring drive. In a strategic move, Tech coach Frank Beamer ordered an intentional safety rather than attempt a punt from the Tech end zone. Any such kick has the potential to be blocked for a defensive touchdown. Thus, an intentional safety gives the defense two points while denying them the slight chance to score seven. The score cut Virginia Tech's lead to 30–12 with 3:05 remaining, but the limited time remaining meant Tech's lead would be sufficient to win the game without a series of unlikely events.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Game summary, Fourth quarter
The free kick following the intentional safety was returned to near midfield, and Davis passed for a first down. Following the second down, Davis was sacked for a loss, but then scrambled for a first down to the Tech 25-yard line. From there, however, Boston College's offense began to struggle. During the four plays that followed, the Eagles were able to gain just one yard and turned the ball over on downs again. The final Boston College play was a sack of Davis, and Virginia Tech proceeded to run out the clock by kneeling on the ball after taking the field on offense.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Statistical summary
In recognition of his winning performance during the ACC Championship, Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor was named the game's most valuable player. Taylor finished the game having completed 11 of his 19 pass attempts for 84 yards and one interception. He also ran the ball 11 times for 30 yards and two touchdowns. On the opposite side of the ball, Boston College quarterback Dominique Davis was the game's leading passer, having completed 17 of his 43 pass attempts for 263 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Davis also carried the ball 14 times for 12 yards on the ground. Davis' 51-yard pass to Harris in the second quarter set an ACC Championship Game record for the longest play recorded to that point.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Statistical summary
Boston College wide receiver Rich Gunnell was the game's leading receiver, having been the primary beneficiary of Davis' prolific passing. Gunnell finished the game having caught seven passes for 114 yards and one touchdown. Virginia Tech wide receiver Dyrell Roberts was the game's second-leading receiver. He caught four passes for 44 yards. Tech's second-most proficient receiver was running back Darren Evans, who caught three passes for 22 yards. Evans was the game's leading rusher, having carried the ball 31 times for 114 yards and a touchdown. On the opposite side, Boston College running back Montel Harris led the Eagles on the ground with nine carries for 34 yards.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Statistical summary
Defensively, Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich led all players with nine tackles. Of the nine stops, one and a half were for negative yardage. The leading Virginia Tech defender was Cody Grimm, who had eight tackles, two and a half of which were for losses. One and a half of the tackles for loss were quarterback sacks, and Grimm also forced a fumble and broke up one Boston College pass. In total, the Hokies' defense intercepted two passes and recovered two fumbles. The Eagles' defense likewise caused three turnovers, recovering two fumbles and intercepting one pass. Boston College sacked Taylor twice, while Virginia Tech's defense reached Davis five times.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Postgame effects
Virginia Tech's win in the ACC Championship Game brought it to a 9–4 record, while Boston College's loss brought it also to a 9–4 record. Both teams' standings in the national polls were affected by the game. In the BCS poll, the Eagles fell from 17th to 24th, while Virginia Tech rose from 25th to 19th. In the AP Poll, Tech rose to 21st, while Boston College fell out of the poll entirely, appearing in the "also receiving votes" category at 27th.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Postgame effects
With the win, Virginia Tech was awarded the ACC's automatic Bowl Championship Series bid to the 2009 Orange Bowl. Boston College, meanwhile, was selected to play in the 2008 Music City Bowl. The pick by the Music City Bowl represented a drop in prestige for Boston College. Had the Eagles won the championship game, they would have earned an automatic bid to the Orange Bowl and a payout of $17.5 million. Instead, the Music City Bowl, which offered a payout of $1.7 million, was contractually obliged to select the Eagles after Boston College was not selected by any of the three more prestigious bowl games with ACC ties.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Postgame effects
The Music City Bowl took place on December 31, and in a contest against Southeastern Conference opponent Vanderbilt, Boston College lost, 16–13. The loss ended a streak of eight consecutive bowl game wins for Boston College. In the Orange Bowl, Virginia Tech emerged victorious against Big East Conference champion Cincinnati, 20–7. The win was Tech's first BCS bowl game win since 1995, and was the first ACC BCS game win since 2000.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Postgame effects, Boston College coaching changes
Following the loss to Vanderbilt in the 2008 Music City Bowl, Boston College head coach Jeff Jagodzinski announced his intention to interview for the vacant head coaching position with the National Football League's New York Jets. In an unusual move, Boston College athletic director Gene DeFillippo announced that if Jagodzinski went ahead with an interview, he would be fired as head coach of the Boston College football team. DeFillippo previously stated that a five-year contract with Jagodzinski, signed in 2007, was contingent on the coach staying "for the long term". Jagodzinski proceeded with the interview and was fired by DeFillippo on January 7.


2008 ACC Championship Game, Postgame effects, Boston College coaching changes
To replace Jagodzinski, DeFillippo promoted Boston College defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani, who previously served as the Boston College head coach on an interim basis in 2006. Boston College offensive coordinator Steve Logan, who was unhappy with the staff changes on the football team, resigned shortly after Spaziani's promotion. To replace Logan, Spaziani hired former Navy head coach Gary Tranquill as Boston College's new offensive coordinator. One week after Logan's announcement, the Eagles' offensive line coach, Jack Bicknell, Jr., also announced that he was leaving the team. On January 27, special teams and tight ends coach Don Yanowsky announced his resignation from the Eagles, making him the fourth coach to be fired or resign from the Boston College football team after the season.


2008 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place from March 13–16, 2008, at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. The tournament was broadcast on the ESPN family of networks, along with Raycom Sports in the ACC footprint. Both broadcasters had the games available in HD.


2008 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
Florida State and Miami won their first-round games for the second year in a row. Miami became the first #5 seed to win an ACC tournament game since the conference expanded to 12 teams. The past two seasons, the #12 seed pulled off the upset.


2008 ACC Trophy Elite
The 2008 ACC Trophy Elite was a cricket tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, taking place between 25 July and 3 August 2008. It gives Associate and Affiliate members of the Asian Cricket Council experience of international one-day cricket and also forms part of the regional qualifications for the ICC World Cricket League


2008 ACC Trophy Elite, Teams
After the 2006 ACC Trophy it was decided to split the tournament into two divisions. The placement of teams in the divisions was based on their final positions in the last ACC Trophy. The top ten teams went on to take part in the 2008 ACC Trophy Elite and the remaining teams were placed in a lower division, the 2009 ACC Trophy Challenge. The teams that made it into the Trophy Elite were:


2008 ACC Trophy Elite, Squads
Karim KhanRaees AhmadzaiDawlat AhmadzaiAhmed ShahMohammad NabiNoor AliHasti GulSamiullah ShenwariAsghar AfghanHamid HassanNoor ul HaqShafiqullah ShafaqAimal WafaZarab Shah (Manager)Taj Malik (Coach)


2008 ACC Trophy Elite, Squads
Mirza YaqoobAzeem-ul-HaqAkmal MalikMuhammad YaqoobAbdul WaheedQamar SaeedAshraf MughalTahir DarHalal AbbasiHaroon ZafarImran SajjadRizwan BaigDharmesh KumarM.H.M. Sadeq (Manager)Mukhtar Ahmed Yousuf (Coach)


2008 ACC Trophy Elite, Squads
Zain AbbasZafran AliJames AtkinsonIlyas GulRoy LamsamShakeel HaqAshish GadhiaHussain ButtIrfan AhmedNadeem AhmedNajeeb AmarSkhawat AliMoner AhmedJawad Ashraf (Manager)Aaftab Habib (Coach)


2008 ACC Trophy Elite, Squads
Mustansar HasanSaud QamarSibtain RazaAbdulrehman LiaqatSaad KhalidMohammad AkhudzadaMohammad MuradKhalid YameenMohammad AhsanJagath RoshanthaMohammad JavedFaisal NadeemNadeem MalikEmad Al Jassam (Manager)Tahir Khan (Coach)


2008 ACC Trophy Elite, Squads
Rakesh MadhavanSuhan AlagaratnamDarvin MuralitharanNasir AliAhmad FaizEszrafiq AzisShukri RahimDinesh SockalinghamP. WickramasingheSuresh NavaratnamM. KrishnamurthiAnwar ArudinRosman ZakariaRamesh Menon (Manager)Romesh Kaluwitharana (Coach)


2008 ACC Trophy Elite, Squads
Paras KhadkaGyanendra MallaMehboob AlamMahesh ChhetriSanjam RegmiRaj PradhanDipendra ChaudharySharad VesawkarAmrit BhattaraiShakti GauchanKanishka ChaugaiParesh LohaniBasanta RegmiPawan Agarwal (Manager)Roy Dias (Coach)


2008 ACC Trophy Elite, Squads
Mohammad JahangirSaleem AkhtarAbbas KhanTamoor SajjadImtinan MirzaFaisal NoorUsman MalikHaroon AbbasiSardar BadshahRusharat AliZaheer-ud-din IbrahimAnwar PackerAsram MuhammadNazar Malik (Manager)Shamas u din Khadas (Coach)


2008 ACC Trophy Elite, Squads
Suhrab KilsingatakamAsif ShamshadHammad SaeedKhashef RiazSajjad HussainAbid NaseemShafiq AhmedKhalid ButtHussain AnwarMohammad AmjadAbbas Al-NadwiAhmed Al-NadwiIjaz SagheerNidal Khan (Manager)Mansoor Akhtar (Coach)


2008 ACC Trophy Elite, Squads
Glenn MeyerMuhammad AliNarender ReddyChetan SuryawanshiSagar KulkarniVivek VedagiriShoaib RazzakRizwan MadakiaChristopher JanikIrfan MadakiaDharmichand MulewaMunish AroraPramodh RajaHarnam Singh (Manager)M. Venkataramana (Coach)


2008 ACC Trophy Elite, Squads
Mohammad TauqirSaqib AliArshad AliZahid ShahAmjad AliShadeep SilvaSalman FarooqFahad AlhashmiShoaib SarwarRiaz KhaliqQasim ZubairRameez ShahzadMohammad IqbalMazhar Khan (Manager)Vasbert Drakes (Coach)


2008 ADAC Formel Masters
The 2008 ADAC Formel Masters season was the first season of the open wheel racing series from Germany. The ADAC Formel Masters is a new continental series for junior drivers powered by Volkswagen, a 1.6-litre FSI engine delivering 145 hp (108 kW) will power the single-seaters made by the Italian manufacturer Dallara.


2008 ADAC Formel Masters
The season started on May 9, 2008 at the Oschersleben and ended on October 26 at Hockenheim with the win of the Portuguese driver Armando Parente.


2008 ADAC GT Masters
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2008 ADAC GT Masters
The 2008 ADAC GT Masters season was the second season of the ADAC GT Masters, the grand tourer-style sports car racing founded by the German automobile club ADAC. It began on 10 June at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben and finished on 21 September at Sachsenring after seven double-header meetings. Tim Bergmeister with help of his brother Jörg, Marc Basseng and Frank Stippler clinched the championship title.


2008 AF2 season
The 2008 AF2 season was the ninth season of the AF2. It was preceded by 2007 and succeeded by 2009. The regular season began on Friday, March 28 and ended on Saturday, July 26. The league champions were the Tennessee Valley Vipers, who beat the Spokane Shock in ArenaCup IX.


2008 AF2 season, ArenaCup IX
ArenaCup IX was the 2008 edition of the AF2's championship game, played on Monday, August 25, 2008, in which the American Conference Champions Tennessee Valley Vipers defeated the National Conference Champion Spokane Shock in Spokane, Washington by a score of 56-55 in overtime.


2008 AFC Beach Soccer Championship
The 2008 AFC Beach Soccer Championship also known as the 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers for (AFC) was the third beach soccer championship for Asia, held in May 2008, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates won the championship, with Japan finishing second and Iran winning the third place-play off, to claim third. The three teams moved on to play in the 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Marseille, France from July 17- July 28.


2008 AFC Challenge Cup
The 2008 AFC Challenge Cup football tournament was organised by AFC and was hosted by India. The tournament was played from 30 July – 13 August 2008. India won the final against Tajikistan. India was also the winner of the fair play award and the India captain Bhaichung Bhutia won the most valuable player award.


2008 AFC Challenge Cup
Chinese Taipei was originally designated the host, but could not guarantee it would meet the AFC's standards for hosting the tournament. Thailand was first chosen as host but withdrew due to lack of time to prepare. The Philippines also was to take over as host with matches to be played in Bacolod in May 2008 but the plan failed to materialized.


2008 AFC Challenge Cup
The winners of the 2008 and 2010 competitions will qualify directly for the 2011 Asian Cup. As a result, India qualified for the AFC Asian Cup,the first time since 1984.This competition is exclusive to members of the emerging nations class of the AFC. However, in the previous edition, Bangladesh and India were invited from the developing nations class – Bangladesh actually hosting the tournament, and India sending their under-20 team. India and Bangladesh have again been invited for the 2008 edition of the tournament, along with North Korea, Myanmar and Turkmenistan who are also a part of the developing nations class.


2008 AFC Challenge Cup
Laos withdrew from the competition on 2 May 2008. Palestine withdrew from the competition on 14 May 2008.


2008 AFC Challenge Cup
Due to the poor conditions of the pitch at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, the AFC moved the majority of the matches to another venue. It was decided that ten matches would be played at the Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, and two at the LBS Stadium. Due to incessant rains in Hyderabad in the days leading up to the final, the AFC changed the venue of the final and the third place play-off to the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi.


2008 AFC Challenge Cup, Tournament
Qualification saw the top team from each of the four qualification groups qualify for the tournament proper, bringing the total number of participating teams in the centralized finals to eight. In addition, India (tournament hosts), Korea DPR, Turkmenistan and Myanmar qualified automatically.


2008 AFC Challenge Cup, Tournament, Seeding
9. Palestine (Withdrew 14 May 2008)10. Chinese Taipei11. Bangladesh12. Brunei


2008 AFC Challenge Cup, Group stage, Tie-breaking criteria
Where two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:


2008 AFC Challenge Cup, Team statistics
This table shows all team performance. Matches that ended in a penalty shoot out are counted as draws


2008 AFC Challenge Cup Final
The 2008 AFC Challenge Cup Final was a football match that took place on 13 August 2008 at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi to determine the winner of the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup.


2008 AFC Challenge Cup Final, Venues
Due to the poor conditions of the pitch at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, the AFC moved the majority of the matches to another venue. It was decided that ten matches would be played at the Gachibowli Athletic Stadium, and two at the LBS Stadium. Due to incessant rains in Hyderabad in the days leading up to the final, the AFC changed the venue of the final and the third place play-off to the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi.


2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification
The qualification phase for the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup saw four teams advance to the finals to join four automatic qualifiers in the final tournament in India. Qualification was held from 2 April to 28 May, 2008 in four different venues. Sixteen teams participated in qualification in four groups containing four teams each. The four group winners joined hosts India, North Korea, Myanmar, and Turkmenistan in the final round.


2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification, Seedings
9. Palestine (Withdrew 14 May 2008)10. Chinese Taipei11. Bangladesh12. Brunei


2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification, Seedings
The draw for the qualification groups was made on 18 January 2008 at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualification, Final tournament
The final tournament, consisting of 8 teams, was held from 30 July to 13 August 2008 in India.


2008 AFC Challenge Cup squads
Below are the squads for the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup in India, that took place between 30 July and 13 August 2008. The players' listed age is their age on the tournament's opening day (30 July 2008).


2008 AFC Champions League
The 2008 AFC Champions League was the 27th AFC Champions League, the top-level Asian club football tournament, and the 6th under the current AFC Champions League title. It was the last AFC Champions League before the competition expanded to 32 teams.


2008 AFC Champions League, Participating clubs
Along with the defending champion, Urawa Red Diamonds, 28 other clubs from fourteen countries qualified based on performance in domestic league and cup competitions. Urawa Red Diamonds entered the competition at the quarter-finals. The draw for group stage took place on 12 December 2007.


2008 AFC Champions League, Participating clubs
† In the 2008 edition, Indonesia were allocated two slots just like the older editions. However, on 12 December 2007, AFC awarded one Indonesian slots to Thailand and the other one to Vietnam, due to delay in Indonesian domestic league and cup tournament, allowing both Thai and Vietnamese slots to be total of two.


2008 AFC Champions League, Format
A total of 28 clubs were divided into seven groups of four, based on region, i.e. East Asian and Southeast Asian clubs were drawn in groups E to G, while the rest were grouped in groups A to D. Each club played double round-robin (home and away) against the other three teams in their group, a total of 6 matches each. Clubs received three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss. The clubs were ranked according to points and tie breakers were in the following order:


2008 AFC Champions League, Format
The seven group winners and the defending champion advanced to the quarter-finals.


2008 AFC Champions League, Format
All eight clubs were randomly paired together, with the restriction that clubs from the same country could not face each other in the quarter-finals. The games were played over two legs, home and away; the team with the higher aggregate score was declared the match winner. If the aggregate score could not produce a winner, "away goals rule" was used. If the two teams were still tied, extra time was played, at the end of which the "away goals rule" was again applied if the scores were tied. If still tied, the game would go to penalties.


2008 AFC Champions League, Knock-out stage, Quarter-finals
The first leg matches were played on 17 September, and the second leg matches were played on 24 September 2008.


2008 AFC Champions League, Knock-out stage, Semi-finals
The first leg matches were played on 8 October, and the second leg matches were played on 22 October 2008.


2008 AFC Champions League, Knock-out stage, Final
The first and second legs of the final were played on 5 and 12 November 2008, respectively.


2008 AFC Champions League, Top scorers
The top scorers from the 2008 AFC Champions League are as follows:


2008 AFC Champions League Final
The 2008 AFC Champions League Final was a two-legged football tie to determine the 2008 champions of Asian club football. Gamba Osaka defeated Adelaide United 5-0 on aggregate to take the title. The first leg took place on 5 November 2008 at 19:00 local time (UTC+9) at Osaka Expo '70 Stadium in Osaka and the second leg took place on 12 November 2008 at 19:30 local time (UTC+10:30) at Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide.


2008 AFC Champions League Final
This was the first final to feature a club from Australia and the second season in a row that a Japanese club has made it this far. The winners, Gamba Osaka, received US$600,000 prize money and qualified to represent Asia in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup where they were defeated at the semi final stage by Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners Manchester United. Despite losing this final, Adelaide United also qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup by replacing the host country berth, which was provisionally reserved for the J. League champions, and were defeated once again by Gamba Osaka at the Quarter Final stage.


2008 AFC Champions League Final, Format
The rules for the final were exactly the same as for the previous knockout rounds. The tie was contested over two legs with away goals deciding the winner if the two teams were level on goals after the second leg. If the teams could still not be separated at that stage then extra time would have been played with a penalty shootout taking place if the teams were still level after that.


2008 AFC Champions League Final, Route to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).


2008 AFC Champions League Final, Pre-final buildup
Adelaide United considered applying for permission to play their home leg in a stadium larger than Hindmarsh such as Adelaide Oval or AAMI Stadium but the club eventually decided that it would not be right to play such a big match away from their traditional home despite its smaller capacity.


2008 AFC Champions League knockout stage
The 2008 AFC Champions League knockout stage was played from 17 September to 12 November 2008. A total of eight teams competed in the knockout stage to decide the champions of the 2008 AFC Champions League.


2008 AFC Champions League knockout stage, Qualified teams
The winners of each of the seven groups in the group stage qualified for the knockout stage. West Asia Zone had four teams qualified, East Asia Zone had three plus the title holders.


2008 AFC Champions League knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The first leg matches were played on 17 September, and the second leg matches were played on 24 September 2008.


2008 AFC Champions League knockout stage, Semi-finals
The first leg matches were played on 8 October, and the second leg matches were played on 22 October 2008.


2008 AFC Champions League knockout stage, Final
The first and second legs of the final were scheduled to be played on 5 November and 12 November 2008, respectively.


2008 AFC Cup
The 2008 AFC Cup was the fifth edition of the AFC Cup, playing between clubs from nations who are members of the Asian Football Confederation.


2008 AFC Cup, Qualified teams
20 clubs will be competing, including champions of the national leagues and champions of the primary knock-out competition from the following countries which are AFC-affiliated countries which fall into the AFC's 'developing nations' category. In that season, the club of Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, Indonesia not participated.


2008 AFC Cup, Qualified teams
Shabab Al-Ordon (2007 AFC Cup winners & 2006–07 Jordan FA Cup winners)


2008 AFC Cup, Group stage
The draw was held on 17 October 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


2008 AFC Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The first leg matches will be played on 16 September, and the second leg matches will be played on 23 September 2008.


2008 AFC Cup, Knockout stage, Semi-finals
The first leg matches will be played on 7 October, and the second leg matches will be played on 21 October 2008.


2008 AFC Cup, Knockout stage, Final
The first and second legs of the final are scheduled to be played on 31 October and 7 November 2008, respectively.


2008 AFC Futsal Championship
The 2008 AFC Futsal Championship was held in Bangkok, Thailand from 11 May to 18 May 2008. The tournament acted as a qualifying tournament for the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Brazil.


2008 AFC Futsal Championship, Draw
The draw for the 2008 AFC Futsal Championship was held on 11 April 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand.


2008 AFC Futsal Championship qualification
The 2008 AFC Futsal Championship qualification was held in March 2008 to determine 4 spots to the final tournament in Thailand. The top 11 teams of the 2007 AFC Futsal Championship, and the host nation for the 2008 competition, receive automatic byes to Finals.


2008 AFC President's Cup
The 2008 AFC President's Cup was the fourth edition of the AFC President's Cup, a competition for football clubs in countries categorized as "emerging nations" by the Asian Football Confederation. For this edition, the tournament was extended from eight to eleven teams, with three groups in place of the previous two. The three new teams came from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Turkmenistan. The eleven teams that competed were split up into three groups and played each other team in their group once. The winner of each group and the best runner-up qualified for the semifinals, and the winners of the semifinal matches played in the final match to determine the winner.


2008 AFC President's Cup
Each group was to be played over a period of days in April at one venue - Group A at Dashrath Stadium, Nepal, Group B at Chungshan Stadium, Taiwan and Group C at Sugathadasa Stadium, Sri Lanka. However, due to political unrest in Nepal, Group A matches were postponed and eventually played at MPPJ Stadium, Malaysia in June.


2008 AFC President's Cup
The final stage of the competition was played in Kyrgyzstan from September 19–21.


2008 AFC President's Cup, Qualifying teams
1 Mehandra Police Club now known as Nepal Police Club. 2 No league held in 2007–08 so 2006–07 champions qualify. 3 Pakistan Army F.C. were originally Pakistan's entrants, but replaced by WAPDA for rearranged group stage.


2008 AFC U-16 Championship
The 2008 AFC U-16 Championship was the 13th competition of the AFC U-17 Championship organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which was held between 4 and 19 October 2008 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The Qualifiers was held in 2007 from 17–28 October.


2008 AFC U-16 Championship
Iran won their first title after beating South Korea 2–1 in the final.


2008 AFC U-16 Championship, Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:


2008 AFC U-16 Championship, Goalscorers
There were 113 goals scored in 31 matches, for an average of 3.65 goals per match.


2008 AFC U-16 Championship, Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup
The following four teams from AFC qualified for the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.


2008 AFC U-16 Championship qualification
2008 AFC U-16 Championship qualification was the qualification for the 2008 AFC U-16 Championship football competition. The matches were held from 1 October to 7 November 2007.


2008 AFC U-16 Championship qualification
The draw for the qualification stages was made on 22 December 2006 in Kuala Lumpur, seven groups with six teams and one group with three teams were made. However Afghanistan, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, the Maldives and Myanmar withdrew before the start of the qualification.


2008 AFC U-16 Championship qualification
On 18 February 2008, the AFC Disciplinary Committee ejected eight teams for fielding overage players, including DPR Korea, Tajikistan and Iraq, who had originally qualified for the AFC U-16 Championship 2008.


2008 AFC U-16 Championship qualification
The winners and runners-up of Groups A–G along with the winner of the three-team Group H qualified for the finals. Hosts Uzbekistan also qualified automatically for the finals, after qualified by its own performances during the qualification.


2008 AFC U-19 Championship
The 2008 AFC U-19 Championship the 35th edition of this tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), was hosted by Saudi Arabia between 31 October and 14 November. The matches were played in Dammam and Khobar, both located at the Eastern Province.


2008 AFC U-19 Championship, Draw
The draw was held on 6 April 2008 in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.


2008 AFC U-19 Championship qualification
The qualification competition for the 2008 AFC U-19 Championship took place from 17 October 2007 to 28 November 2007. Saudi Arabia qualified automatically as hosts.


2008 AFC U-19 Championship squads
For the start of the tournament each team were allowed 23 players within their squad. Players birthdays should be correct as of October 31, 2008 which was the start of the tournament.


2008 AFC U-19 Championship squads, Group D, Uzbekistan
The following players were called for AFC U-19 Championship 2008 in Saudi Arabia


2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup
The 2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup was played in Vietnam from 28 May to 8 June 2008. It was won by North Korea.


2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup, Seedings
The draw was held on 18 April 2008 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.


2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup, Goalscorers
There were 57 goals scored in 16 matches, for an average of 3.56 goals per match.


2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification
The 2008 AFC Women's Championship qualification is the qualification for the 2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup football competition. The matches were held from 24 to 28 March 2008. The AFC Women's Asian Cup is organised by the Asian Football Confederation.


2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification, First round
First leg played on 20 October 2007 in India. Second leg played on 27 October 2007 in Iran


2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification, First round
Both legs played in Hong Kong. First leg on 20 October 2007, second leg on 22 October 2007.


2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification, First round
First leg played on 20 October 2007 in Singapore. Second leg played on 27 October 2007 in Malaysia


2008 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification, Second round, Group A
All matches were played in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam


2008 AFF Championship
The 2008 AFF Championship was the seventh edition of the tournament. It was primarily sponsored by Suzuki and therefore officially known as the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup. The group stage was held in Indonesia and Thailand from 5 to 10 December 2008. Two-legged home-and-away semi-finals and finals were held between 16 and 28 December 2008.


2008 AFF Championship, Summary
The tournament would originally have been hosted by Myanmar because of the rotation system among ASEAN countries, however, they withdrew in August 2007 due to security concerns. In the third AFF council meeting in Bali, Indonesia and Thailand beat three other countries to win the right to host (the other three were Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam). However, if both countries are unable to fulfill certain obligations set by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), Vietnam will step in and host the tournament. The winning team will take home USD100,000, runners-up USD 50,000, and USD 15,000 for the losing semi-finalists. Nike will be an official supplier for the 2008 AFF Championship.


2008 AFF Championship, Summary
10 days before the start of the tournament, safety issues were raised contending the safety of the teams who were due to play in Bangkok. This was because of the riots that were happening in the city which also resulted in the closure of the Suvarnabhumi Airport (see 2008 Thai political crisis for further information). Due to the political crisis, the Football Association of Thailand stated that the Group Stages in the Thai capital Bangkok would go ahead, or if the situation got worse, games would be moved to Chiang Mai in the north of the country or Phuket in the South of the country.


2008 AFF Championship, Summary
As well as Thailand confirming themselves as steady hosts, Vietnam and Malaysia also stated that they would be prepared to host the tournament at short notice.


2008 AFF Championship, Summary
On 29 November, with less than one week before the start of the tournament, the Group Stages held in Thai sport were moved from the capital Bangkok to the southern province Phuket.


2008 AFF Championship, Venues
Indonesia prepare Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in the capital city and Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung, while Thailand prepare Rajamangala Stadium and Suphachalasai Stadium where both of them located in Bangkok. All of the stadiums are 2007 AFC Asian Cup venues except of Si Jalak Harupat Stadium. Bung Karno Stadium will be the opening match venue, while Rajmangala Stadium will be the final match venue.


2008 AFF Championship, Venues
Group stage matches in Thai sport were switched from the capital Bangkok to the southern provinces Phuket at Surakul Stadium in Phuket City on 29 November due to security issues in Bangkok.


2008 AFF Championship, Qualification
The qualification took place in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, from 17 October 2008 to 25 October 2008. The five lower-ranked teams in Southeast Asia play within a round-robin tournament format and the top two countries in the group will qualify for this tournament.


2008 AFF Championship, Final tournament, Knockout stages
Note: Although the knockout stages are two-legged, away goals rule is not applied. If the total aggregate score of both teams after both matches remained the same, extra time would have been played, followed by a penalty shootout if necessary.


2008 AFF Championship qualification
The 2008 AFF Championship qualification was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 17 to 25 October 2008 for the five lower-ranked teams in Southeast Asia. All teams play in a round-robin tournament format and the top two teams of the group qualify for the tournament proper.


2008 AFF Championship qualification, Qualified Teams
Teams who finished Top 2 on the group will qualify to the main tournament.


2008 AFF Championship squads
This article lists the squads for 2008 AFF Championship. Players marked (c) were named as captain for their national squad.


2008 AFF Futsal Championship
The 2008 AFF Futsal Championship was held in Bangkok, Thailand from 27 August to 31 August 2008.


2008 AFF Futsal Championship
Hosts Thailand have sent their under-21 team for this tournament as their senior team were preparing for the FIFA Futsal World Cup. While Laos are making their debut in this competition.


2008 AFF U-16 Youth Championship
The 2008 AFF U-16 Youth Championship is the first edition of the tournament as an under-16 youth championship as it was previously played at under-17 level. It took place in Jakarta, Indonesia in July 2008.


2008 AFF U-16 Youth Championship
Only five nations took part which includes associate AFF member Australia and guest nation Bahrain, competing in a round-robin format with the top two teams playing in the final.


2008 AFF U-19 Youth Championship
The 2008 AFF U-19 Youth Championship took place from 5 October to 11 October 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. This is the first edition of tournament as an under-19 competition as it was previously for players under-20. Only four nations participated, two from the ASEAN region and two invitee teams.


2008 AFF Women's Championship
The  2008 AFF Women's Championship was held from 8 October to 20 October 2008, hosted by Vietnam. All games were played at the Thanh Long Sports Centre in Ho Chi Minh City.


2008 AFL Grand Final
The 2008 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between the Geelong Football Club and the Hawthorn Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 27 September 2008. It was the 112th annual grand final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League), staged to determine the Premiers for the 2008 AFL season. The match, attended by 100,012 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 26 points, marking that club's tenth premiership overall and first since 1991. Hawthorn's Luke Hodge was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Background
Geelong, the 2007 Premiers, won 21 of 22 games during the home and away season to win its second consecutive McClelland Trophy, and tied the 2000 Essendon Bombers for most wins ever in a home and away season. They were 58-point winners in their qualifying final against St Kilda, earning them a week's rest and a home preliminary final. They then defeated the Western Bulldogs by 29 points to qualify for the grand final. Leading up to the grand final, Geelong had won its past fifteen games.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Background
Hawthorn won its first nine games of the season, and sat atop the AFL ladder at Round 11. They began to lose a few games towards the end of the season, and finished in second place with a record of 17 wins and 5 losses; full-forward Lance Franklin won the Coleman Medal with 102 goals. They convincingly beat the Western Bulldogs by 51 points in their qualifying final, which earned them a week's rest and home preliminary final, in which they beat St Kilda by 54 points. Hawthorn had won four games in a row leading into the grand final, all by more than 50 points. It was the team's first appearance in a grand final since winning the 1991 AFL Grand Final.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Background
The two teams had met only once during the season, in a Friday night game in Round 17. Geelong was missing defending and eventual Leigh Matthews Trophy winner Gary Ablett, Jr., but defeated Hawthorn 12.16 (88) to 11.11 (77). Geelong was the warm favourite to win the grand final, with Hawthorn attracting odds of $3.05 for the win at the opening bounce.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Background
The game was the third grand final meeting between the two teams in their long history, having previously contested in the 1963 and 1989 VFL Grand Finals. It was the first grand final contested by two Victorian-based teams since Essendon and Melbourne met in 2000.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Background
It was a highly anticipated grand final, eliciting memories of the classic 1989 VFL Grand Final played between the same teams, with Geelong entering the match as the favourites to win. It was attended by 100,012 spectators, the first crowd to exceed 100,000 for a VFL/AFL game since the 1986 VFL Grand Final.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Pre-match entertainment
The 2008 decider was telecast by the Seven Network, its first grand final telecast since 2001. The network had only broadcast the match following an agreement that would see them, along with rival Network Ten (which had telecast the event between 2002 and 2007 inclusive), share the rights to the match every year, with the other network broadcasting the pre-season grand final and the Brownlow Medal presentation that year as well.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Pre-match entertainment
Included a live performance by Powderfinger of their hit "(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind", interspersed with a rendition of the AC/DC classic, "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", including bagpipers. Ian Moss also performed lead guitar notes to the tune of "Up There Cazaly". The traditional grand final motorcade, which was controversially omitted from the 2007 pre-match entertainment, returned, honouring the 2008 Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees, individual award winners and retiring players with over 200 games' experience, as well as Olympic and Paralympic gold medallists. The Australian National Anthem Advance Australia Fair was performed by Amanda Harrison and Lucy Durack, stars of the hit musical Wicked.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Match summary
The grand final was played in warm conditions under sunny skies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with conditions reaching 27 °C.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, First quarter
The first goal of the game was scored by Geelong's Tom Lonergan from a mark. The Hawks opened up a thirteen-point lead with goals from Chance Bateman on the run, Xavier Ellis from a set shot and Jarryd Roughead along the ground from an acute angle. Hawthorn started conceding goals through free kicks, first to Gary Ablett, Jr. then to Max Rooke, to reduce the margin. Geelong looked stronger than Hawthorn at stoppages, but Hawthorn was damaging from rebounds, so neither team could gain the overall dominance in general play, leading to an intense see-sawing quarter of football which saw each team score five goals and Geelong lead by one point at quarter time.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Second quarter
Geelong began to completely control play in the midfield, winning the stoppages easily and providing their forwards with plenty of opportunities which they wasted. However, a combination between inaccurate goalkicking from the Geelong forwards – the worst of which were a Brad Ottens behind from 15 metres (49 ft) on the run and a Cameron Mooney behind from a 5-metre (16 ft), 45° set shot after the siren – and strong defensive pressure from the Hawthorn defense restricted Geelong to just 1.9 (15).


2008 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Second quarter
Meanwhile, Hawthorn scored 3.1 (19) for the quarter, with goals to Cyril Rioli, Mark Williams and Clinton Young, generating almost all of their scoring from rebounds. Hawthorn defender Trent Croad left the field midway through the second quarter with a broken foot. Midfielder Sam Mitchell was reported for making forceful front-on contact on Ablett (the charge was withdrawn at the tribunal). Geelong captain Tom Harley was concussed because of a clash of heads with Hawthorn's Williams and he left the ground.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Third quarter
The same trends continued into the early third quarter, with Geelong winning in the midfield but faltering in the forward-line. Set shots from Mooney and Lonergan hit the posts. A running goal from 45 metres (148 ft) from Ablett broke a string of eleven consecutive behinds for Geelong, and put them back in front. However, Lance Franklin kicked his first goal forty seconds later from outside 50m with a set shot. The Hawks regained the lead and were never headed again.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Third quarter
In the latter half of the third quarter, Hawthorn started to win stoppages for the first time in the game. Now dangerous from both rebounds and stoppages, the Hawks started to gain the ascendancy, and a crumbing goal from Rioli put Hawthorn two goals up. Stuart Dew went forward, and either scored or assisted with three goals in just 2:47 of playing time late in the quarter to open up a five-goal lead. The Cats scored two goals against the run of play in the final minute of playing time to reduce the margin to 17 points at three quarter time.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Final quarter
The first half of the final quarter was closely fought on the field, with Hawthorn controlling general play, and both teams missing shots at goal. After nine minutes of playing time, Franklin scored the opening goal of the quarter to increase the margin to 21 points. Mitchell goaled less than a minute later. Hawthorn was able to maintain the margin, and eventually won its tenth Premiership by the score of 18.7 (115) to 11.23 (89).


2008 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Overall
Hawthorn's Luke Hodge was the winner of the Norm Smith Medal for best afield, just edging out Geelong's Gary Ablett. Playing as a loose defender, Hodge was instrumental in generating and directing the rebounds which Hawthorn dominated throughout the game, and in applying the defensive pressure which helped keep the Hawks in the game when the Cats' midfield was dominating the second quarter.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Aftermath
By failing to win the grand final, Geelong set the record for the best win/loss record by a non-Premier (breaking the 16-2 record set by South Melbourne in both 1935 and 1936) and for the most home and away wins by a non-Premier (breaking the record of 19 wins set by Collingwood in 1973 and tied by West Coast in 1991).


2008 AFL Grand Final, Aftermath
Geelong's twenty-three behinds included eleven rushed behinds by Hawthorn, some of which were deliberate, and some of which occurred directly from kick-ins. Hawthorn defenders made a clear effort to rush behinds whenever there was any applied pressure from the Geelong forwards, which was reflected in Geelong's inability to defend against Hawthorn's rebounds. This was one of the major contributing factors to a rule change the following year, prohibiting defenders from conceding rushed behinds unless under immediate pressure.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Aftermath
Hawthorn held celebrations for its members in both Victoria and Tasmania, Sunday at Glenferrie Oval and Monday in Hobart and Launceston, in the latter of which it plays four home games each season. Shane Crawford retired after the game setting a record for most games before playing in a Premiership (305 games); the sound bite of Crawford hijacking the microphone and shouting "That's what I'm talkin' about!" as he received his medallion has been replayed and paraphrased frequently over the following seasons. Trent Croad never played again, as he never fully recovered from his broken foot; as a result, he sat out the entire 2009 season and retired before the 2010 season began.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Aftermath, Kennett curse
In the seasons following the grand final loss, Geelong enjoyed an eleven-match winning streak in matches against Hawthorn, the longest-ever winning streak by the team which lost a grand final against the team which beat it. It included numerous come-from-behind victories and narrow margins, and two kicks after the siren to win by Jimmy Bartel in 2009 (behind to win 99-98) and Tom Hawkins in 2012 (goal to win 118-116).


2008 AFL Grand Final, Aftermath, Kennett curse
The winning streak, known as the "Kennett curse", achieved iconic status in the AFL in the intervening years. It is so-called due to comments made by then-Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett prior to the clubs' first re-match in 2009:


2008 AFL Grand Final, Aftermath, Kennett curse
What they don't have, I think, is the quality of some of our players; they don't have the psychological drive we have. We've beaten Geelong when it matters.


2008 AFL Grand Final, Aftermath, Kennett curse
The curse was also attributed to a private pact made amongst Geelong players after the grand final loss, and later made public by Paul Chapman, that the Cats "will never lose to Hawthorn again".


2008 AFL Grand Final, Aftermath, Kennett curse
The curse ended when Hawthorn defeated Geelong in the 2013 first preliminary final.


2008 AFL Rising Star
The NAB AFL Rising Star award is given annually to a stand out young player in the Australian Football League. The 2008 Ron Evans medal was given to Rhys Palmer from the Fremantle Football Club.


2008 AFL Rising Star, Eligibility
Every round, an Australian Football League rising star nomination is given to a stand out young player. To be eligible for the award, a player must be under 21 on 1 January of that year, have played 10 or fewer senior games and not been suspended during the season. At the end of the year, one of the 22 nominees is the winner of award.


2008 AFL Under 18 Championships
The 2008 AFL Under 18 Championships is the 2008 series of the AFL Under 18 Championships, a state and territory based Australian rules football competition which showcase the best junior footballers in Australia, primarily with the aim for them to be drafted into the Australian Football League.


2008 AFL Under 18 Championships
The competition is split into two divisions. The major football states of Victoria (split into separate Country and Metropolitan teams), South Australia and Western Australia are in Division 1, with the smaller football states of Northern Territory, NSW/ACT, Tasmania and Queensland are in Division 2. Unlike previous years, in 2008 the top two teams from the Division 2 competition advanced to be part of Division 1.


2008 AFL Under 18 Championships
Division 2 games were played as a qualifying series over a week in May in Melbourne, whereas Division 1 will be played mainly as curtain-raisers before AFL matches in late May and early June.


2008 AFL Under 18 Championships, Division 2 qualifying series
Tasmania is the No.1 Qualifier and NSW/ACT is the No.2 Qualifier into Division 1.


2008 AFL Under 18 Championships, Division 2 qualifying series
Mitch Robinson from Tasmania won the Hunter-Harrison Medal as best player in Division 2.


2008 AFL Under 18 Championships, Division 1
In 2008 Division One was extended from 3 rounds to 5 rounds with the addition of the top 2 teams from Division Two.


2008 AFL Under 18 Championships, Division 1
Fox Sports 1 telecast the final round of games live from the Telstra Dome on Wednesday 9 July from 10 am EST.


2008 AFL Under 18 Championships, Division 1
Melbourne Radio Station 3XX 1611AM broadcast games played in Melbourne on Wednesday 9 July


2008 AFL Under 18 Championships, Division 1
The Larke Medal (Best Player in Div 1) was awarded to Jack Watts (Victoria Metro).


2008 AFL Under 18 Championships, 2008 AFL Under 18 All-Australian team
The 2008 Under 18 All-Australian team was announced following the conclusion of the 2008 AFL National Under 18 Championships.


2008 AFL draft
The 2008 AFL draft consisted of four opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2008/09 Australian Football League off-season. These were trade week (held between 6 October and 10 October), the national draft (held on 29 November), the pre-season draft (16 December) and the rookie draft (16 December). It was considered to be the last uncompromised draft before the draft concessions given to the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney expansion teams restrict the existing AFL clubs' access to the best young players in the future years drafts.


2008 AFL draft, Player changes, Trades
Throughout the year there was much speculation about high-profile players such as Jonathan Brown, Alan Didak and Daniel Kerr being likely to be traded during the AFL's annual trading period, but each re-signed with their clubs before the trading period started. The main discussions during trade week were the surprise request by Ryan O'Keefe to be traded from Sydney, as well as the destination of young Fremantle ruckman Robert Warnock, both of whom wished to be traded back to their home city of Melbourne. Other players to request trades include Andrew Lovett, Brent Prismall, Mark Seaby, Farren Ray, Josh Carr and Daniel Harris.


2008 AFL draft, Player changes, Trades
North Melbourne surprised many early in the week by naming Hamish McIntosh and Corey Jones as players available to trade, with McIntosh later being withdrawn from the offer after a backlash from his manager and club legend Glenn Archer.


2008 AFL draft, Player changes, Trades
Like most years, no trades were completed during the first three days of the trade week and for the first time the AFL was requested to assist by providing a mediator to solve the stand-off between Fremantle and Carlton over the Warnock deal. Carlton had offered its second round selection, #24 overall, but Fremantle wanted its first round selection, the sixth overall. On the final day of trade week Warnock was traded. The deal included Fremantle's pick No. 69, in exchange for Carlton's picks 24, 56 and 72.


2008 AFL draft, Player changes, Trades
In total only six trades were completed, with O'Keefe, Lovett, Seaby, Carr and Harris unable to finalise deals during the week. The low number of completed trades prompted calls by the AFLPA for a form of free agency to be introduced, although it could be explained as a one-off event due to a combination of the high regard for the players available in year's draft and the impending concessions to be given to the expansion teams, Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney in the coming years.


2008 AFL draft, 2008 national draft
The 2008 national draft was held on 29 November. Melbourne finished the 2008 AFL season in last position and had the first selection in the draft. As both Melbourne and West Coast Eagles won less than 5 games during the season, they were eligible for a priority pick. As this was the first year in which they qualified, the priority pick was allocated between the first and second rounds of selections.


2008 AFL draft, 2008 national draft
Ayce Cordy was the first player selected in the draft as the only father–son selection. The Western Bulldogs had to use their 1st round selection, #14, to secure him after St Kilda bid their #1st round selection for him. His father, Brian, played 124 games for the Bulldogs in the 1980s.


2008 AFL draft, 2008 national draft
The top two selections were widely tipped to be Jack Watts and Nic Naitanui, with Daniel Rich, Ty Vickery, Stephen Hill, Chris Yarran and Hamish Hartlett  to fill the next few selections.


2008 AFL draft, 2009 pre-season draft
The pre-season draft was held on 16 December 2008 (but is referred to as the 2009 pre-season draft in continuation from the early years of the AFL draft when it was held in January or February) and most pre-draft interest was on whether or not former West Coast Eagles captain and Brownlow Medal winner Ben Cousins would be selected by the Richmond Football Club. Richmond, the only club to show interest in recruiting Cousins, had one selection in the pre-season draft (because it had only one space left on its senior list).


2008 AFL draft, 2009 pre-season draft
In the week leading up to the pre-season draft, Richmond requested to have Graham Polak (who had been hit by a tram the previous season, with it not clear at this stage whether or not the resulting injuries would end his career) moved to the rookie list, to free up an additional list space and give them a second selection in the pre-season draft.


2008 AFL draft, 2009 pre-season draft
The request was similar to one made by and granted to the Essendon Football Club a few years earlier with respect to Adam Ramanauskas, but there were key differences which led to Richmond's request being rejected by the AFL and a majority of rival clubs on December 15. Although Richmond had maintained throughout the previous week that it would draft Cousins only if its request to put Polak on the rookie list was granted, they selected Cousins anyway with their only selection in the pre-season draft. Josh Carr's return to Port Adelaide was the other major player move.


2008 AFL draft, 2009 rookie draft
Due to the expansion in the number of rookie places available for clubs to use - from the previous maximum of six players to the maximum of eight rookies and veteran listed players combined - the 2009 rookie draft featured more selections than usual.


2008 AFL draft, Rookie elevation
A total of 15 players were promoted from their respective clubs' rookie lists to the club's primary lists at the conclusion of the 2008 season.


2008 AFL finals series
The Australian Football League's 2008 Finals Series determined the top eight final positions of the 2008 AFL season. It began on the weekend of 5 September 2008 and ended with the 112th AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September 2008. The Hawthorn Football Club were crowned the 2008 AFL Premiers, beating the Geelong Football Club by 26 points in front of a crowd of 100,012.


2008 AFL finals series
The eight teams qualified for the finals series by finishing in the top eight positions of the premiership ladder at the completion of the home and away series.


2008 AFL finals series, Ladder
With twenty-one wins and one loss Geelong continued from its crushing 2007 season to dominate the home and away rounds of 2008.


2008 AFL finals series, The finals system
The system is a final eight system. This system is different from the McIntyre Final Eight System, which was previously used by the AFL.


2008 AFL finals series, The finals system
The top four teams in the eight receive what is popularly known as the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals; this means that if a top-four team loses in the first week, it still has a chance to redeem itself by getting a chance to play in a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight are forced to play what are called elimination finals, in which only the winners survive and move on to week two to play the losers of the qualifying finals.


2008 AFL finals series, The finals system
In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week, while the losers of those qualifying finals must play the winners of the elimination finals for a chance to play the qualifying finals winners. Home-city advantage goes to the team with the higher seed in the first two weeks, and the qualifying final winners in the third week, with games in Victoria played at the MCG, regardless of the team's usual home ground.


2008 AFL finals series, The finals system
In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week, with the latter receiving home-ground advantage. The winners of those matches move on to the Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, where the new premier will be crowned.


2008 AFL finals series, Week One, First Qualifying Final (Geelong vs. St Kilda)
St Kilda finished in 4th spot on the AFL Ladder after thrashing Essendon by 108 points in the final regular season match. They entered this match with the double chance and were beaten by 58 points. Onballer Lenny Hayes was booked for striking Geelong's Joel Selwood in the third quarter, a report that was later dropped. Geelong earned a bye and home preliminary final with its win, whilst St Kilda was forced to face Collingwood, a team that they had twice lost to in the regular season, in a semi-final.


2008 AFL finals series, Week One, Second Qualifying Final (Hawthorn vs. Western Bulldogs)
For much of the second half of the season, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs looked certain to finish second and third (in some order), setting up this particular qualifying final; Hawthorn would ultimately be the home team after the Bulldogs' late-season form dropped. Hawthorn won the match comfortably, with Lance Franklin kicking eight goals (the most ever in a final by a Hawthorn player) to earn a week's break, whilst the Western Bulldogs were forced to host the Sydney Swans, whom they had beaten twice during the year, in a semi-final.


2008 AFL finals series, Week One, First Elimination Final (Adelaide vs. Collingwood)
Two teams who were early-season top-four candidates were playing for survival in this elimination final played at AAMI Stadium on a fine 26 degree C day. Collingwood started slight favorites and led early in the match but Adelaide got its game going, with a season's best second quarter, to lead at half-time before quickly falling behind for good during a second half collapse. For the second year in succession, Adelaide were eliminated the first week of the finals, whilst Collingwood went on to face St Kilda in a semi-final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.


2008 AFL finals series, Week One, Second Elimination Final (Sydney vs. North Melbourne)
These two teams were clashing in a final for the first time since the 1996 AFL Grand Final, which was won by North Melbourne by 43 points. Sydney entered this match having won only three matches since Round 13, but, after a slow start and an ordinary first half, they got on with the job and ended the Kangaroos' season. It was also the last game for retiring Kangaroo and ex-Swan Shannon Grant. The Swans won the right to face the Western Bulldogs the next week at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where they had not won a final since the 2005 AFL Grand Final.


2008 AFL finals series, Week One, Second Elimination Final (Sydney vs. North Melbourne)
Most controversially, the crowd for this game was a very low 19,127. The AFL attributed the poor turnout to several factors, including high ticket prices, the bad weather (it was raining heavily, and had been doing so for several days) and North Melbourne's lack of popularity in Sydney (where they had once played home games). However, it also attracted heavy commentary in the media and public against the viability of the AFL's decision to base its 18th franchise in Western Sydney.


2008 AFL finals series, Week Two, First Semi Final (St Kilda vs. Collingwood)
Collingwood came into the game as favourites to defeat St Kilda, who had been on the end of a heavy defeat at the hands of Geelong the week prior, and whom they had beaten twice during the year. St Kilda led by just three points at quarter time but kicked ten goals to Collingwood's two in the middle two quarters to take a 40-point lead going into the final quarter. Justin Koschitzke was reported for a dump tackle involving Shane Wakelin, but the charge was later dismissed. St Kilda progressed to play Hawthorn in the preliminary final, hoping to atone for two previous preliminary final losses (2004 and 2005) to make the Grand Final.


2008 AFL finals series, Week Two, Second Semi Final (Western Bulldogs vs. Sydney)
Sydney held a one-point lead at quarter time, but failed to score a major in the third quarter, and fell apart to lose by 37 points, thus ending their season at the semi-finals stage. Fullback Leo Barry was booked for striking Shaun Higgins but the report was thrown out. The Western Bulldogs were drawn to play defending premier Geelong in the preliminary final to battle for a Grand Final berth.


2008 AFL finals series, Week Three, First Preliminary Final (Geelong vs. Western Bulldogs)
Western Bulldogs: Josh Hill for making head-high contact with Andrew Mackie in the third quarter.


2008 AFL finals series, Week Three, First Preliminary Final (Geelong vs. Western Bulldogs)
Geelong progressed to their second straight Grand Final but had to, for the second year in succession, withstand a late challenge from their preliminary final opponent. The Western Bulldogs had much of the play, but missed shots on goal in the second half when they were available. This was the Western Bulldogs's furthest finish in a season since 1998, when they made back-to-back preliminary finals.


2008 AFL finals series, Week Three, Second Preliminary Final (Hawthorn vs. St Kilda)
Hawthorn defied a poor recent record against the Saints to post one of their best wins of the season, with strong performances by much of the team making up for Coleman Medallist Lance Franklin being kept to a single goal by Saints backman Max Hudghton. The loss was the 383rd and last game for St Kilda's Robert Harvey who left the game as the most capped player without an AFL premiership.


2008 AFL finals series, Week Four, Grand Final (Geelong vs. Hawthorn)
Hawthorn surprise the minor premiers Geelong to come away with there 10th premiership to win by 26 points in a match that was played in front of 100,012 people on a warm 27°C afternoon. The Cats kicked 23 behinds for the match, some which deliberately done by the Hawks.


2008 AFL finals series, Week Four, Grand Final (Geelong vs. Hawthorn)
Luke Hodge won the Norm Smith Medal as best afield while teammates Shane Crawford retired after playing 306 games and Trent Croad would ultimately would also play his last game after 222 games after breaking his foot during the game.


2008 AFL season
The 2008 Australian Football League season was the 112th season of the elite Australian rules football competition and the 18th under the name 'Australian Football League', having switched from 'Victorian Football League' after 1989. This season commenced on 20 March 2008 and concluded on 27 September 2008. The season consisted of twenty-two rounds of home-and-away matches, and four rounds of finals. The premiership was won by Hawthorn, who beat minor premiers Geelong by 26 points in the 2008 AFL Grand Final.


2008 AFL season
A significant feature of the season was the celebration of the 150th anniversary since the sport of Australian rules football was first established in 1858.


2008 AFL season, Statistics, Leading goalkickers
The Coleman Medal was awarded to Lance Franklin for kicking the most goals at the end of the home and away season.


2008 AFL season, Awards, Rising Star Nominees
The AFL Rising Star award for 2008 was awarded to Rhys Palmer from Fremantle.


2008 AFL season, Umpires
The AFL introduced an additional two boundary umpires in round 21 in order to reduce the error rate and enable the umpires to keep up with the play.


2008 AFL season, Umpires
Brett Rosebury was appointed the 2008 All-Australian umpire, the first West Australian umpire to receive that honour. Controversially, however, he was not appointed to umpire the AFL Grand Final, with Scott McLaren, Michael Vozzo and Shaun Ryan selected ahead of Rosebury.


2008 AFL season, Umpires
Scott McLaren umpired his 300th game, and Shane McInerney umpired his 250 game, in round 4. Experienced field umpires Martin Ellis and Matthew Head both announced their retirements during the year.


2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships
The 2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships was an international women's boxing competition hosted by China from November 22 to 29, 2008 in Ningbo City. It was the 5th championship, which debuted 2001 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States.


2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships
The World Championship was contested in 13 weight disciplines by 218 amateur women boxers from 41 countries, and was conducted in the Ningbo Sports Center.


2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships
China won four gold, two silver and four bronze medals, while Turkey finished second with two gold and two bronze medals, followed by Canada with a tally of 2-0-1. India, the champion in the 2006 edition, were fourth with one gold, one silver and two bronze.


2008 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships, Medal summary, Medalists
1 Ying Chen (China) originally won the gold medal but was disqualified for failing doping test.


2008 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships
The 2008 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships were held in Guadalajara, Mexico, from October 31 to November 1, 2008. It was the first edition of the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships which had taken over from the Junior World Championship. The competition is under the supervision of the world's governing body for amateur boxing  AIBA and is the junior version of the World Amateur Boxing Championships.


2008 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships
A total of 359 fighters from 68 different countries registered to compete in the inaugural edition of the competition.


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships
The 2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 35th edition of the event known that year as the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, and was part of the International Series Gold of the 2008 ATP Tour, and of the Tier III Series of the 2008 WTA Tour. Both the men's and the women's events took place at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan, from September 29 through October 5, 2008.


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships
The men's field was led by ATP No. 5, Valencia and 's-Hertogenbosch winner, Tokyo defending champion David Ferrer, Dubai, San Jose and Beijing champion Andy Roddick, and Olympic silver medalist, Viña del Mar, Munich titlist Fernando González. Also present were Stuttgart finalist Richard Gasquet, Stuttgart, Kitzbühel, Los Angeles, Washington winner Juan Martín del Potro, Tommy Robredo, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mikhail Youzhny.


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships
The women's line up included Stockholm and New Haven champion Caroline Wozniacki, Fes and Portorož runner-up, Strasbourg winner Anabel Medina Garrigues, and Wimbledon semifinalist Jie Zheng. Other seeded players were Estoril, Barcelona and Seoul titlist Maria Kirilenko, French Open quarterfinalist Kaia Kanepi, Shahar Pe'er, Tamarine Tanasugarn and Aleksandra Wozniak.


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, Finals, Men's Doubles
Mikhail Youzhny /  Mischa Zverev defeated  Lukáš Dlouhý /  Leander Paes, 6–3, 6–4


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, Finals, Women's Doubles
Jill Craybas /  Marina Erakovic defeated  Ayumi Morita /  Aiko Nakamura, 4–6, 7–5, [10–6]


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles
Jordan Kerr and Robert Lindstedt were the defending champions, but lost in the semifinals to Mikhail Youzhny and Mischa Zverev.


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships – Men's Doubles
Mikhail Youzhny and Mischa Zverev won in the final 6–3, 6–4, against Lukáš Dlouhý and Leander Paes.


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships – Men's Singles
David Ferrer was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Juan Martín del Potro.


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships – Men's Singles
Ninth-seeded Tomáš Berdych won in the final 6–1, 6–4, against Juan Martín del Potro.


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships – Women's Doubles
Sun Tiantian and Yan Zi were the defending champions, but Yan chose not to participate, and only Sun competed that year. Sun partnered with Vania King, but lost in the semifinals to Aiko Nakamura and Ayumi Morita.


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships – Women's Doubles
Jill Craybas and Marina Erakovic won in the final 4–6, 7–5, [10–6], against Aiko Nakamura and Ayumi Morita.


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships – Women's Singles
Virginie Razzano was the defending champion, but chose not to participate that year.


2008 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships – Women's Singles
First-seeded Caroline Wozniacki won in the final 6–2, 3–6, 6–1, against fifth-seeded Kaia Kanepi.


2008 AIHL season
The 2008 AIHL season was the ninth season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 19 April 2008 until 24 August 2008, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 30 and 31 August 2008. The Bears won the H Newman Reid Trophy (backdated) after finishing the regular season first in the league standings. The Newcastle North Stars won the Goodall Cup for the fourth time by defeating the Western Sydney Ice Dogs in the final.


2008 AIHL season, League business
In 2008, Brisbane Blue Tongues became the Gold Coast Blue Tongues after the team relocated from Brisbane's Ice World in Boondall to Gold Coast's Iceland Bundall ice rink.


2008 AIHL season, League business
April 2008, the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium was significantly upgraded for the 2008 IIHF World Championship Division II, featuring plexi-glass boards, along with new lighting, scoreboards and expanded seating. The upgrade saw the Newcastle venue selected by the AIHL for the 2008 Goodall Cup finals weekend.


2008 AIHL season, League business
On 17 June, financial difficulties forced the Adelaide Avalanche to withdraw from the remainder of the 2008 season, leading to the cancellation and forfeiting of its 21 and 22 June games in Canberra and Penrith against the Knights (double points match) and Bears. Following negotiations, the Thebarton Ice Arena was one week later given a license for a new Adelaide team, the Adelaide A's, to fulfil the Avalanche's remaining commitments for the season, and inheriting their 2008 season results.


2008 AIHL season, Regular season
The regular season began on 19 April 2008 and will run through to 24 August 2008 before the top four teams advanced to compete in the Goodall Cup playoff series.


2008 AIHL season, Regular season, Statistics, Scoring leaders
List shows the ten top skaters sorted by points, then goals. Current as of 31 August 2008


2008 AIHL season, Regular season, Statistics, Leading goaltenders
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage with a minimum 40% of the team's ice time. Current as of 31 August 2008


2008 AIHL season, Goodall Cup playoffs
The 2008 playoffs was scheduled for 30 August with the Goodall Cup final held on 31 August 2008. Following the end of the regular season the top four teams advanced to the playoff series which was held at the redeveloped Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Warners Bay, Newcastle, New South Wales. The series was a single game elimination with the two winning semi-finalists advancing to the Goodall Cup final. The Goodall Cup was won by the Newcastle North Stars (4th title) who defeated the Western Sydney Ice Dogs 4-1. The North Star's Canadian import forward, Mickey Gilchrist, was named the finals most valuable player (MVP).


2008 AIK Fotboll season
AIK continued treading water in a disappointing season. The failure to qualify for European competitions ensured popular coach Rikard Norling got the sack, much to the dismay of the AIK supporters.


2008 AMA National Speedway Championship
The 2008 AMA National Speedway Championship Series was staged over three rounds, which were held at Costa Mesa (June 7), Auburn (July 25) and Auburn (September 20). Defending champion Billy Hamill only raced in the opening round. In his absence, Billy Janniro won the title for the first time, winning all three rounds in the process. It was the first time neither Greg Hancock or Billy Hamill had won the title since Mike Faria in 1997.


2008 AMA National Speedway Championship, Event format
Over the course of 20 heats, each rider raced against every other rider once. The field was then split into sections of four riders, with the top four entering the 'A' Final. Points were then awarded depending on where a rider finished in each final. The points in the 'A' Final were awarded thus, 21, 18, 16 and 14. Bonus points were also awarded.


2008 AMA Superbike Championship
The 2008 AMA Superbike Championship was the 33rd season of the AMA Superbike Championship. Ben Spies won the championship riding a Suzuki.


2008 AMF Futsal Women's World Cup
The 2008 AMF Futsal Women's World Cup, supported by the AMF, was the inaugural edition of the AMF Futsal Women's World Cup. The tournament was held in Reus, Catalonia, from September 29 to October 5, 2008. It was organized by the Catalonia Futsal Federation and there were 12 national teams in the competition.


2008 AMNRL season
The 2008 American National Rugby League season was the 11th season of the competition, the rugby league football competition for semi-professional clubs in the United States.


2008 AMNRL season, Final
The New Haven Warriors won the grand final 50-18 against Aston DSC Bullsthe point  scorers were;


2008 AMP Energy 500
The 2008 AMP Energy 500 was the 30th stock car race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the fourth in the ten-race, season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on October 5, 2008 at Talladega Superspeedway, in Talladega, Alabama before a crowd of 145,000. Tony Stewart of the Joe Gibbs Racing team won the 190-lap race starting from 34th position; Paul Menard finished second, David Ragan was third.


2008 AMP Energy 500
Travis Kvapil, who had the pole position, led until Carl Edwards passed him on lap nine. The race was first stopped 63 laps later when a multi-car collision was triggered by Brian Vickers, and was restarted 17 minutes later, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. leading the field. A second red-flag period was triggered after Edwards ran into teammate Greg Biffle starting a chain-reaction accident involving a further ten drivers. Stewart led the field for the remainder of the race, until Regan Smith passed him below the yellow line (out of bounds line) on the final lap. Stewart was therefore handed the victory, and Smith was demoted from second to 18th. The race had a total of ten cautions, and 64 lead changes among 28 different drivers, setting a new Sprint Cup Series record.


2008 AMP Energy 500
It was Stewart's first victory of the season, his first at Talladega Superspeedway, and the 33rd of his career. The result advanced him to seventh in the Drivers' Championship, 232 behind leader Jimmie Johnson who extended his lead to 72 points over Edwards. Toyota extended its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, twelve points ahead of Ford in second place. Chevrolet remained in third with a 41-point advantage over Dodge with six races left in the season. The race attracted 7.44 million television viewers.