2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Super Tuesday
McCain won his home state of Arizona, taking all 53 of the state's delegates and the largest of the Super Tuesday prizes, winning nearly all of California's 173 delegates. McCain also scored wins in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Oklahoma. Huckabee also made surprise wins in states he had polled behind in previously like Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. Huckabee also won the first contest of Super Tuesday in West Virginia. Romney won his home state of Massachusetts. He also won Utah, Colorado, and Minnesota.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Super Tuesday
The next day, McCain appeared confident that he would be the Republican nominee. Estimates showed him with 707 delegates - nearly 60% of the total needed to win the nomination. He began to appeal to disaffected conservatives, saying: "We share the common principles and values and ideas for the future of this country based on a fundamental conservative political philosophy, which has been my record." He also suggested that the right wing of the party "calm down a little bit" and begin to look for areas of agreement. Meanwhile, Romney advisers privately expressed doubts about whether their candidate could realistically hope to defeat McCain, and it was unclear if Romney would spend significant money on key February 12 contests in Virginia and Maryland.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
Both McCain and Romney addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, DC on February 7, while Mike Huckabee spoke on February 9. Romney used his speech to announce the end of his campaign, saying, "Now if I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention – (cheers, applause). I want you to know I've given this a lot of thought. I'd forestall the launch of a national campaign and, frankly, I'd be making it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win. Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror." McCain spoke about an hour later, again appealing to right-wing uncertainty about his ideology.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
He focused on his opposition to abortion and gun control, as well as his support for lower taxes and free-market health care solutions. He told the CPAC audience that he arrived in Washington as "a foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution", and addressed the issue of illegal immigration - one of the major issues where conservatives have attacked McCain. He said that "it would be among my highest priorities to secure our borders first", before addressing other immigration laws.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
Mike Huckabee spoke to CPAC two days later and said, "I know that there was some speculation that I might come here today to announce that I would be getting out of the race. But I want to make sure you understand. Am I quitting? Well, let's get that settled right now. No, I'm not. And the reason is simple – I never learned arithmetic. You see folks, while I didn't get a college degree in mathematics and writing, I majored in miracles. Mathematically impossible miracles.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
It is because I go back to that which helped crystallize in me a conservative viewpoint as a teenager when it wasn't easy or popular to be a Republican or a conservative in my hometown, because I do believe that America is about making choices, not simply echoing that of others. Let others join the "Me, too" crowd. But I didn't get where I am today and I didn't fight the battles in a state that, when I became its governor, was 90 percent Democrat, by simply echoing the voices of others.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
I did it by staking out a choice, stating that choice, making that choice and fighting for that choice, to believe that some things were right, some things were wrong, and it's better to be right and even to not win than it is to be wrong and to be a part of the crowd."


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
February 9 saw voting in Louisiana, Kansas and Washington state. Huckabee won an easy victory in Kansas, claiming all 36 of the state's delegates to the national convention. Only 14,016 votes were cast, and the McCain campaign expressed no concern over the lightly attended caucus. However, social conservatives had a strong presence in the Kansas Republican party, and the results served to highlight conservative dissatisfaction with the Senator. Louisiana was much closer, but Huckabee won there as well, beating McCain by less than one percentage point.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
McCain was declared the winner of the Washington caucuses, where 18 delegates were at stake. The February 19 primary would determine the other 19 delegates from the state. When McCain was declared the winner of the caucuses, with a lead of only 242 (3,468 to 3,226) over Huckabee and counting stopped with only 87% of the precincts reporting, Huckabee's campaign indicated that they would challenge the results.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
Next up was the Potomac primary on February 12, with voting in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. McCain swept the three races and took all 113 delegates which were at stake.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
The next day, the McCain camp released a memo calling a Huckabee win "mathematically impossible." In truth, however, it was not impossible. In fact, if Huckabee failed to reach 1191 delegates but succeeded in keeping McCain from reaching 1191, then the result would have been a brokered convention.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
With the media declaring McCain the "presumptive nominee", McCain began to focus on the Democrats, particularly leading candidate Barack Obama, in anticipation of the general election.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
The day after McCain's Potomac sweep, the Kansas City Star published a list of people who have been mentioned as possible McCain running mates, if he secured the nomination.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
On February 14, Mitt Romney officially endorsed McCain and asked his approximately 280 delegates to support him at the national convention. If all or most of Romney's delegates backed McCain, it would give him nearly enough to win the nomination, with several large states still yet to vote. Despite these developments, Huckabee vowed to stay in the race. "I may get beat, but I'm not going to quit," he said. A few days later, McCain was endorsed by former President George H.W. Bush, in a move intended to shore up his support among base party elements.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, Later February contests
On February 19, McCain continued his winning ways, picking up wins over Huckabee in the Wisconsin primary and the Washington state primary. McCain and Barack Obama engaged in a pointed exchange over Al-Qaeda in Iraq on February 27.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, March contests
CNN had cancelled a debate originally scheduled for February 28, saying that McCain was the "presumptive nominee." Mike Huckabee challenged John McCain to a debate before the March 4 primaries, and the Values Voter coalition stepped in, arranging for a debate hall and inviting both McCain and Huckabee, as well as Rep. Ron Paul to participate in a March 3 debate event. After Governor Huckabee had accepted the invitation, Senator McCain said that he had a prior commitment and begged off. Huckabee had previous success with rural and Evangelical Christian voters. Huckabee was endorsed by Dr. James Dobson.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign, March contests
McCain received an endorsement from Pastor John Hagee (which he later renounced on May 22). On March 4, Super Tuesday 2, McCain managed to win a large number of Evangelical voters along with his usual independent and veteran supporters. John McCain officially clinched the Republican presidential nomination on March 4, 2008, sweeping the primaries in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island, and Vermont. That night, Mike Huckabee withdrew from the race and endorsed McCain. President George W. Bush invited Senator McCain to the White House for Bush's endorsement.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Endorsements
Unlike in the Democratic Party, Republican members of Congress (including Senate members, House members, and non-voting delegates), and state governors are not automatically made delegates to the party's national convention, however their endorsements can hold sway on voters in caucuses and primaries.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Endorsements
Each state's two members of the Republican National Committee, and the party chairs of each U.S. state and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands are the only automatic delegates to the party's national convention. These superdelegates while officially uncommitted, may also publicly endorse a candidate.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Statewide results, Early primaries and caucuses
GOP February 5 ruleUnder Republican National Committee rules, no state was allowed to hold its 2008 primary before February 5. Five states - Wyoming, New Hampshire, Michigan, South Carolina, and Florida - moved their primaries ahead and were subsequently stripped of one-half of their apportioned delegates by the RNC. This punishment was eventually the same as Democratic procedures though that party originally decided to strip all delegates from offending states Michigan and Florida before seating half.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Statewide results, Early primaries and caucuses
The Republican rules did not affect Iowa, Maine, Nevada and Louisiana, because those states did not technically choose their delegates until district or state conventions that occurred after February 5. The Iowa county and state conventions were held on March 15 and June 14, 2008 respectively. The Nevada state convention was held on April 26, 2008, but was suspended by party officials before delegates were elected. The Executive Board of the Nevada Republican Party met on July 25, 2008 and appointed all 34 delegates and 31 alternates. The Louisiana caucuses selected 105 state delegates to the state convention on February 16 in Baton Rouge.


2008 Republican Party presidential primaries, Statewide results, Super Tuesday
Many states moved the dates of their primaries or caucuses up to February 5 (Super Tuesday). With almost half the nation voting on that date it acted as a quasi-"national primary". This has also been dubbed "Super Duper Tuesday," and "Tsunami Tuesday".


2008 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection
This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Republican nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 2008 election. On March 4, 2008, Senator John McCain of Arizona won a majority of pledged delegates for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, and became the presumptive nominee.


2008 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection
McCain held an event with Alaska governor Sarah Palin, revealing her as his vice-presidential running mate on August 29, 2008 (the date coinciding both with McCain's 72nd birthday and the Palins' 20th wedding anniversary), at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio, the day after Barack Obama's acceptance speech. The McCain–Palin ticket ultimately lost in the general election to the Obama–Biden ticket.


2008 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection, Selection process
Sarah Palin was the GOP choice for Vice President. At a speech in Norfolk, Virginia, McCain told supporters that regional considerations would have less bearing on his decision than the candidate's perceived ability to take over the office of the presidency–and the candidate's "values, principles, philosophy, and priorities." One factor that McCain had to consider, more so than did his opponent, was age. Had McCain won in 2008, he would have (on January 20, 2009) been the oldest person to assume the Presidency in U.S. history at initial ascension to office, being 72 years old. Other factors to be considered were shoring up the conservative base, choosing someone with executive experience, expertise in domestic policy (to complement McCain's foreign policy focus), and electoral college calculations.


2008 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection, Selection process
McCain initially wished to choose Lieberman, his close friend and the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, as his running mate; however, Lieberman's liberal record (voting with Democrats 86.9% of the time in the 110th Congress) and pro-choice stance led McCain's aides to veto the choice. Close aide Mark Salter preferred Pawlenty, while the campaign manager Steve Schmidt preferred Palin. By picking Palin, Schmidt argued, McCain could snatch the "change" mantle away from Obama. McCain, rejecting 'safer' choices such as Pawlenty or Romney, instead chose Palin as his running mate.


2008 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection, Media speculation on John McCain's possible running-mates
After his selection by Republican primary voters as presumptive presidential nominee, news sources and political pundits began to speculate on whom McCain would or should choose, based on the candidates' ability to enhance the Republican ticket, personality (ability to work well with McCain), and preparedness for assuming the office of the presidency. The Associated Press reported that McCain had composed a list of 20 or so potential running mates.


2008 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection, Media speculation on John McCain's possible running-mates
Over two dozen names had been offered as viable potential running mates by the Kansas City Star, the Salt Lake Tribune, the New York Sun, the Indianapolis Star, the Saint Louis Post Dispatch, the Times of India, and The Globe and Mail. This list includes both names that had been mentioned in several sources and some much less likely candidates:


2008 Rexall Edmonton Indy
The 2008 Rexall Edmonton Indy was the thirteenth round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season, and was held on July 26, 2008, at Rexall Speedway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The race was won by Scott Dixon, followed by Hélio Castroneves and Justin Wilson. Although it was the fourth edition of the Grand Prix, it was the first race in the IndyCar Series, but also the first IndyCar Series race to be held in Canada.


2008 Rhode Island Democratic presidential primary
The 2008 Rhode Island Democratic presidential primary took place on March 4, 2008. It was an open primary. 21 delegates were awarded on a proportional basis. Rhode Island's delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention also included 11 superdelegates whose votes were not bound by the results of the primary election. Hillary Clinton won the primary.


2008 Rhode Island Democratic presidential primary, Delegate breakdown
The Rhode Island Democratic Party sent a total of 32 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Of those delegates, 21 were pledged, and 11 were unpledged. All of the 21 pledged delegates were allocated (pledged) to vote for a particular candidate at the National Convention according to the results of the Rhode Island Presidential Primary. The 11 unpledged delegates were popularly called "superdelegates" because their vote represented their personal decisions, whereas the regular delegates' votes represented the collective decision of many voters. The superdelegates were free to vote for any candidate at the National Convention and were selected by the Rhode Island Democratic Party's officials.


2008 Rhode Island Democratic presidential primary, Delegate breakdown
The 21 pledged delegates were further divided into 13 district delegates and 8 statewide delegates. The 13 district delegates were divided among Rhode Island's 19 Congressional Districts and were allocated to the presidential candidates based on the primary results in each District. Congressional District 1 chose 6 delegates and Congressional District 2 chose 7 delegates. The 8 statewide delegates were divided into 5 at-large delegates and 3 Party Leaders and Elected Officials (abbreviated PLEOs). They were allocated to the presidential candidates based on the primary results statewide.


2008 Rhode Island Democratic presidential primary, Delegate breakdown
Of the 11 unpledged delegates, 10 were selected in advance and 1 was selected at the State Executive Committee meeting on June 19, 2008. The delegates selected in advance were 6 Democratic National Committee members; the two Democratic U.S. Representatives from Rhode Island, Patrick J. Kennedy (District 1) and James Langevin (District 2); and both Democratic U.S. senators from Rhode Island, Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse.


2008 Rhode Island Democratic presidential primary, Polling
On March 2, 2008, the most recent opinion polling of likely Democratic Primary participants showed Senator Clinton leading her opponent, Senator Barack Obama, 42% to 37%, with 22% undecided.


2008 Rhode Island Democratic presidential primary, Polling
Among Rhode Island's 11 superdelegates, ten had endorsed a candidate by February 2. Eight had announced support for Senator Hillary Clinton, and two had committed to Senator Barack Obama.


2008 Rhode Island Rams football team
The 2008 Rhode Island Rams football team was an American football team that represented the University of Rhode Island in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season. In their first and only season under head coach Darren Rizzi, the Rams compiled a 3–9 record (1–7 against conference opponents) and tied for last place in the North Division of the CAA's North Division.


2008 Rhode Island Republican presidential primary
The 2008 Rhode Island Republican presidential primary took place on March 4, 2008.


2008 Rhode Island Republican presidential primary, Results
* Candidate dropped out of the race before March 4.


2008 Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council election
The fourth election to Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council was held in May 2008. It was preceded by the 2004 election and followed by the 2012 election. On the same day there were elections to  the other 21 local authorities in Wales as well as community councils.


2008 Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council election, Overview
All 75 council seats were up for election. Labour maintained control of the authority.


2008 Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council election, Ward Results, Llantwit Fardre (two seats)
One of the councillors elected for Plaid in 2004 had defected to Labour.


2008 Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council election, Ward Results, Penygraig (two seats)
Davies had been elected as a Plaid Cymru candidate in 1999.


2008 Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council election, Ward Results, Rhigos (one seat)
The sitting Plaid Cymru member had been returned unopposed in 1999.


2008 Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council election, Ward Results, Tonypandy (one seat)
The retiring member had defected from Plaid Cymru to the Liberal Democrats since 1999.


2008 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships
24th Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships were held in Torino, Italy from 5 June to 7 June 2008.


2008 Rice Owls football team
The 2008 Rice Owls football team represented Rice University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Owls played six home games at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas The Owls finished the season with an overall record of 10–3 and a conference record of 7–1 in David Bailiff's second season.


2008 Rice Owls football team, Game summaries, SMU
The game kicked off Rice's 97th season of football. Rice began down 13–0, but two scores, both Chase Clement touchdown passes, within 52 seconds put the Owls up by one point to close the first quarter. Clement threw two touchdown passes in the second quarter as well, to Jarett Dillard (21 yards) and Corbin Smiter (12 yards), to take a 28–13 lead into halftime. After a Mustang touchdown pass, Rice exploded for four scores, two Clement passes, a James Casey run, and an interception returned 55 yards for a score by Andrew Sendejo. Logan Turner would throw a touchdown for SMU with 2:10 remaining in the contest.


2008 Rice Owls football team, Game summaries, SMU
Clement's six touchdown passes and Dillard's three receiving TDs both tied career highs in Rice's highest offensive output in a season opener in their history.


2008 Rice Owls football team, Game summaries, Memphis
The Owls were behind the Tigers by fifteen, 35–20, with 8:33 to play. The comeback began when James Casey snared a 41-yard pass from Chase Clement, setting up a 5-yard hook-up with Jarett Dillard on the ensuing play, cutting the Memphis lead to 35–27 with 6:22 remaining. Rice began their comeback. After a quick stop, the Owls were looking to score again, taking over at their own six. Clement would sprint in from the nine four plays later. Casey would haul in the two-point conversion that knotted the game at 35–35.


2008 Rice Owls football team, Game summaries, Memphis
Memphis would drive to the Rice 38, until the third-and-one slant was intercepted by Chris Jammer, who broke a tackle and scored with eleven seconds left, giving Rice the 42–35 win.


2008 Rice Owls football team, Game summaries, Memphis
Dillard became the all-time leader in total points and touchdowns during the game, with Clement passing Tommy Kramer on the Rice all-time passing list. James Casey set career highs with 11 receptions and 208 yards, which passed David Houser for the Owl's single-game receiving yardage record.


2008 Rice Owls football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
The Vanderbilt game marked the first time the Owls traveled to Nashville to play the Commodores, although the two programs had met three times before.


2008 Rice Owls football team, Game summaries, Texas
Rice began the game with a Clark Fangmeier field goal,  but it would be all Texas after that. Colt McCoy would run in a score before tossing two touchdowns to Jordan Shipley. Texas also added a field goal to their lead, making it 24–3. The lone Owls touchdown came in the third quarter, a Clement-to-Dillard hook-up of fifteen yards. McCoy would strike again, with a 46-yard completion to Chris Ogbonnaya for a score. Back-up Longhorn signal-caller John Chiles added a rushing touchdown, as did Cody Johnson, to put the final at 52–10.


2008 Rice Owls football team, Game summaries, Texas
Colt McCoy of Texas threw four touchdown passes, and led the Longhorns in rushing, as Texas rolled over Rice. McCoy also took the all-time passing touchdown record at Texas. Andrew Sendejo recorded 13+ tackles for the third consecutive game. His 17 stops against the Longhorns also fell one short of a career mark. Jarett Dillard had 158 yards receiving to lead the Owls. Clement also had his second career punt downed inside the twenty.


2008 Rice Owls football team, Game summaries, North Texas
Rice set a record for most points by a Rice team since 1916, when the Owls defeated SMU 146–3. Quarterback Chase Clement and receiver Jarett Dillard combined to set a record, becoming the most productive duo in NCAA history, eclipsing Tim Rattay and Troy Edwards at Louisiana Tech. Rice took advantage of North Texas mistakes, recovering three muffed punts, picking off three passes (two returned for touchdowns), and blocking a pair of kicks.


2008 Rice Owls football team, Game summaries, North Texas
Rice opened the scoring with a 50-yard pass from Chase Clement to Toren Dixon. The Mean Green responded with a 71-yard drive capped with a one yard score by Cam Montgomery, but the extra point was blocked. Clement came back with a touchdown pass to Jarett Dillard, giving the Owls a 14–6 lead. Rice would score another touchdown before the close of the first quarter, a 25-yard scamper by Clement. Cam Montgomery again scored in the first period for North Texas.


2008 Rice Owls football team, Game summaries, North Texas
Rice's Jeramy Goodson threw a touchdown pass to Dillard, and North Texas replied with a Giovanni Vizza passing touchdown to push the score to 28–20. Chase Clement then added a rushing touchdown, followed by a Marcus Knox rushing score to give the Owls a 22-point lead. Dillard and Clement hooked up for two scores within four minutes, giving the Owls a 56–20 lead and the two players a place in history.


2008 Rice Owls football team, Game summaries, North Texas
After halftime, Clement would hit Patrick Randolph for a six-yard touchdown, and two North Texas interceptions would be returned for touchdowns by Rice, first by Arnaud Gascon-Nadon, then by Christopher Douglas. Neither team would score in the fourth quarter, leaving the Owls a 77–20 victory. Clark Fangmeier set a school record by converting eleven extra points in the contest.


2008 Richmond Spiders football team
The 2008 Richmond Spiders football team represented the University of Richmond during the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Richmond competed as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), and played their home games at the University of Richmond Stadium.


2008 Richmond Spiders football team
The Spiders were led by first-year head coach Mike London. Richmond finished the regular season with a 9–3 overall record and 6–2 record in conference play. After suffering three defeats, the Spiders secured an at-large berth for the FCS playoffs. At home they defeated Eastern Kentucky, and then on the road, Richmond beat Appalachian State and Northern Iowa to advance to the championship game. In Chattanooga, Richmond defeated Montana, 24–7, to earn the NCAA Division I FCS championship. It was the University of Richmond's first NCAA national title in any sport.


2008 Rink Hockey European Championship
The 2008 Rink Hockey European Championship was the 48th edition of the Rink Hockey European Championship—the biennial rink hockey competition for European national teams, supervised by CERH—that took place in the Spanish city of Oviedo, at the local arena Palacio de los Deportes (English: Sports Palace), on July 21–26, 2008. In a final against long-time rivals, Portugal, the hosts and holders Spain won their fifth consecutive European title.


2008 Rink Hockey European Championship, Format
The tournament consists of two distinct phases: a single round-robin group phase and a knockout phase. In the first phase, the eight finalist teams are divided into two groups of four teams. Within each group, every team plays one match against all the other teams, to decide the group classification. Unlike previous editions, all participating teams advance to the quarterfinals phase, whatever their final placing in the group phase. In the quarterfinals, each group winner and the runner-up teams will play the third and fourth placed teams of the other group, respectively, for a place in the semifinals. The four losing teams will play one last game to decide their final ranking in the tournament. The quarterfinal winning sides progress to the semifinals and the two winners meet in the title-awarding final. A game deciding the third and fourth place will be held between the semifinal losing sides.


2008 Rink Hockey European Championship, Group phase
The group phase was contested on July 21–23, with two matches per group, each day. Group A was composed by France, Italy, Netherlands and hosts Spain; Group B included Germany, England, Portugal and Switzerland.


2008 Rink Hockey European Championship, Goalscorers
Below is a list of all the tournament goalscorers by decreasing number of goals scored:


2008 Rink hockey World Club Championship
The 2008 Rink hockey World Club Championship was the (second edition) of the Rink hockey World Club Championship and took place in Reus, Spain from September 22 to 28, 2008.


2008 Rink hockey World Club Championship, Format
16 teams from 10 different countries participated. The teams were divided into 4 groups of four teams each. The top two teams of each group advanced to the semifinals. The teams that didn't advance to the final stage played the classification knockout rounds.


2008 Road America 500
The 2008 Generac 500 at Road America presented by Time Warner Cable was the seventh round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at Road America, Wisconsin on August 9, 2008.


2008 Road America 500, Race results
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).


2008 RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300
The 2008 RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 was the fourth round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season and took place on April 27, 2008 at the 1.520-mile (2.446 km) Kansas Speedway. At the start, Scott Dixon took the lead from the pole position. Meanwhile, Enrique Bernoldi spun and headed to the pits. On lap 23, Will Power crashed in turn 2. While the field pitted under the caution, Justin Wilson stayed out and took the lead. Dixon took the lead back on the restart, and maintained the lead through the next series of pit stops.


2008 RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300
On lap 98, the caution came out again for a crash involving E. J. Viso and Tomas Scheckter. After another long green flag segment, Buddy Rice brought out the yellow on lap 153 with a heavy crash in turn 2. In the pits, Danica Patrick retired from the race with a broken wheel hub. Meanwhile, Dixon, who had dominated most of the race, was shuffled back to seventh place.


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


2008 Robert Morris Colonials football team
The 2008 Robert Morris Colonials football team represented Robert Morris University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Colonials were led by 15th-year head coach Joe Walton and played their home games at Joe Walton Stadium. They were a member of the Northeast Conference.


2008 Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council election
Elections to Rochdale Council in Greater Manchester, England were held on 1 May 2008. One third of the council was up for election. The Liberal Democrats stayed in control of the council after gaining seats in Balderstone and Kirkholt, and North Heywood from the Labour party but losing East Middleton back to Labour.


2008 Rochester Knighthawks season
The Rochester Knighthawks were a lacrosse team based in Rochester, New York, that played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2008 season was the 14th in franchise history.


2008 Rochester Knighthawks season
After finishing the 2007 season with a 14-game winning stream winning the Champion's Cup, the Knighthawks hoped to continue their success into 2008. They continued their winning streak by beating the Buffalo Bandits in the season opener, but then lost the next three. The Knighthawks finished with an 8-8 record, good for 5th place in the Eastern division, and missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.


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


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


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


2008 Rochford District Council election
Elections to Rochford Council were held on 1 May 2008. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.


2008 Rochford District Council election
The Conservative party won all 15 seats up for election with no surprises in the results.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season
Roger Federer won one major in 2008, the US Open, defeating Briton Andy Murray, 6–2, 7–5, 6–2. Federer was defeated by Rafael Nadal in two Grand Slam finals: at the French Open, which he lost 1–6, 3–6, 0–6, and at Wimbledon in a famous five-setter, 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–6, 7–9, when he was aiming for six straight wins to break Björn Borg's record. At the Australian Open, Federer lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic, ending his record streak of 10 consecutive Major finals. Roger Federer lost twice in Master Series 1000 Finals on clay to Nadal at Monte Carlo and Hamburg. However, Federer was able to capture three more victories in 250-level events at Estoril, Halle, and Basel.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season
In doubles, Federer and compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Early hard court season
Federer began the year by attempting to defend his title at the Australian Open. Federer suffered an illness related to food poisoning prior to the start of the Australian Open. He lost, however, in the semifinals to eventual champion Djokovic, 5–7, 3–6, 6–7. This ended his record of ten consecutive Grand Slam finals, the most ever for a men's player.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Early hard court season
In March, Federer revealed that he had recently been diagnosed with mononucleosis and that he may have suffered from it as early as December 2007. He noted, however, that he was now "medically cleared to compete". Despite being cleared to compete Federer admitted that he had suffered a significant dip in fitness due to his struggle with mononucleosis, which would prove to negatively impact his results till the Miami Masters in which he lost to long-time foe, Andy Roddick.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Early hard court season
Although Federer was seeded first and was the defending champion at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, he lost to Murray in the first round. On 10 March, Federer won his third exhibition match out of four against former world no. 1 Pete Sampras at Madison Square Garden in New York City, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Clay court season
Federer began the clay-court season at the Estoril Open in Portugal. This was his first tournament with coach José Higueras. and his first non-Master Series clay-court tournament since Gstaad in 2004. Federer won his first tournament of the year, when Nikolay Davydenko retired from the final while trailing, 7–6, 1–2 with a leg ligament strain.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Clay court season
Federer then played three Masters Series tournaments on clay. At the Masters Series Monte Carlo, Federer lost to three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the final in straight sets. Federer made 44 unforced errors, lost a 4–0 lead in the second set, and fell to 1–7 against Nadal on clay courts. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Federer lost in the quarterfinals to Radek Štěpánek. Federer was the defending champion at the Masters Series Hamburg, but lost to Nadal in the final.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Clay court season
At the French Open, Federer was defeated quickly by Nadal in the final, 1–6, 3–6, 0–6. This was the fourth consecutive year that Federer and Nadal had played at the French Open, with Federer losing his third consecutive final to Nadal. Federer's record of 23–4 (2005–08) at the French Open is second only to Nadal's record of 28–0 during the same period.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Grass court season
Federer bounced back by winning the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany without dropping a set or a service game. This was the fifth time he had won this event. With this result, he tied Pete Sampras's record for most titles on grass in the open era with 10.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Grass court season
At Wimbledon, Federer once again played world no. 2 Nadal in the final. A victory for Federer would have meant his sixth consecutive Wimbledon singles title, breaking Borg's modern era men's record and equaling the all-time record held since 1886 by William Renshaw. Federer saved two championship points in the fourth set tiebreak, but eventually lost the match, 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–6, 7–9. The rain-delayed match ended in near darkness after 4 hours, 48 minutes of play, making it the longest (in terms of elapsed time) men's final in Wimbledon recorded history.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Grass court season
It concluded 7 hours, 15 minutes after its scheduled start. The defeat also ended Federer's 65-match winning streak on grass. John McEnroe described the match as "The greatest match I've ever seen." After Nadal surpassed him as world no. 1 later in the year, Federer stated that his main goal would be to regain the Wimbledon title, rather than the top spot.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Summer hard court season
Federer made early exits in his next two singles tournaments, the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Federer was chosen to carry the national flag at the Beijing Olympics.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Summer hard court season
At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Federer lost in the quarterfinals to James Blake for the first time in their nine matches. Federer however, finally won his first Olympic gold medal in the men's doubles, when he and compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka upset the world no. 1 doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States in the semifinals and defeated Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson in the final, 6–3, 6–4, 6–7, 6–3. The following day, Federer lost his world no. 1 ranking to Nadal after 237 consecutive weeks.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Summer hard court season
At the US Open, Federer reached the fourth round without dropping a set. He defeated third-seeded Novak Djokovic in a rematch of the 2007 US Open Final, 6–3, 5–7, 7–5, 6–2, in the semifinals, and then defeated Andy Murray, who was playing in his first Grand Slam final, 6–2, 7–5, 6–2, to win his fifth straight US Open title and 13th career Grand Slam title, leaving him one Grand Slam title from tying Pete Sampras's all-time record of 14. This extended his US Open winning streak to 34 matches. Federer became the first player in tennis history to have five consecutive wins at both Wimbledon and the US Open.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Fall indoor season
At the Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid, Federer reached the semifinals without losing a set. There he lost to Murray, 6–3, 3–6, 5–7. Meanwhile, he became the all-time leader in career prize money in men's tennis, earning over US$43.3 million at the end of the tournament and surpassing 14-time Grand Slam singles champion Pete Sampras.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Fall indoor season
Federer won his 57th career title at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel, beating David Nalbandian in the final. He became the only player in history to win the title three consecutive years.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Fall indoor season
He reached the quarterfinals of his next event, the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, before withdrawing because of back pain. This was the first time in Federer's career of 763 matches that he had withdrawn from a tournament. This meant that 2008 was the first year since 2003 in which he did not win a Masters Series title. Federer entered the Tennis Masters Cup as the top-seeded player, after Nadal withdrew from the tournament. He drew Simon, Murray, and Roddick in the Red Group.


2008 Roger Federer tennis season, Year summary, Fall indoor season
In his opening match, Federer lost to Simon, but kept his hopes alive by defeating Roddick's replacement, Stepanek, in his second match. He lost his third match to Murray, 6–4, 6–7, 5–7. Federer had received medical treatment for back and hip problems in the third set, but lost after saving seven match points. However, Federer still ended the year ranked world no. 2.


2008 Rogers Cup
The 2008 Canada Masters (also known as the 2008 Rogers Masters and 2008 Rogers Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 119th edition of the Canada Masters for the men (the 107th edition for the women), and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2008 WTA Tour.


2008 Rogers Cup
The men's event took place at the Rexall Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from July 19 through July 27, 2008, and the women's event at the Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from July 26 through August 3, 2008. The event was scheduled two weeks earlier than the usual early-August date to avoid conflicting with the 2008 Summer Olympics.


2008 Rogers Cup
The men's field featured World No. 1, French Open and Wimbledon runner-up Roger Federer, ATP No. 2, French Open and new Wimbledon winner Rafael Nadal, and Australian Open titlist and Canada Masters defending champion Novak Djokovic. Also competing were ATP No. 4, Miami Masters, Pörtschach and Warsaw titlist Nikolay Davydenko, Valencia and s'Hertogenbosch winner David Ferrer, Andy Roddick, James Blake and Andy Murray.


2008 Rogers Cup
On the women's side were present World No. 1 and French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, Rome Tier I winner and 2007 Canada Masters runner-up Jelena Janković, and reigning Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova. Other top seeded players were French Open semifinalist Svetlana Kuznetsova, Wimbledon semifinalist and Dubai titlist Elena Dementieva, Anna Chakvetadze, Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva.


2008 Rogers Cup, Finals, Men's Doubles
Daniel Nestor /  Nenad Zimonjić defeated  Bob Bryan /  Mike Bryan 6–2, 4–6, [10–6]


2008 Rogers Cup, Finals, Women's Doubles
Cara Black /  Liezel Huber defeated  Maria Kirilenko /  Flavia Pennetta 6–1, 6–1


2008 Rogers Cup – Doubles
Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama were the defending champions, but Srebotnik chose not to participate, and only Sugiyama competed that year. Sugiyama partnered with Ayumi Morita, but lost in the quarterfinals to Květa Peschke and Rennae Stubbs.


2008 Rogers Cup – Doubles
Cara Black and Liezel Huber won in the final 6–1, 6–1 against Maria Kirilenko and Flavia Pennetta.


2008 Rogers Cup – Doubles, Seeds
The top four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2008 Rogers Cup – Singles
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by EditQwerty (talk | contribs) at 16:05, 22 June 2020 (Added {{Unreferenced}} tag (TW)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


2008 Rogers Cup – Singles
Justine Henin was the defending champion, but retired from the sport on May 14, 2008.


2008 Rogers Cup – Singles
Dinara Safina won in the final 6–2, 6–1, against Dominika Cibulková.


2008 Rogers Cup – Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds received a bye into the second round.


2008 Rogers Masters – Doubles
Mahesh Bhupathi and Pavel Vízner were the defending champions. They were both present but did not compete together. Bhupathi partnered with Mark Knowles, but lost in the quarterfinals to Lukáš Dlouhý and Leander PaesVízner partnered with Martin Damm, but lost in the second round to Mario Ančić and Jeff Coetzee.


2008 Rogers Masters – Doubles
Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić won in the final 6–2, 4–6, [10–6], against Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.


2008 Rogers Masters – Singles
Rafael Nadal defeated Nicolas Kiefer in the final, 6–3, 6–2, to win the Singles title at the 2008 Canadian Open.


2008 Rogers Masters – Singles
Novak Djokovic was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Andy Murray.


2008 Rogers Masters – Singles, Seeds
The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2008 Rolex Sports Car Series
The 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the ninth season of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. The 14-race championship for Daytona Prototypes (DP) and 13-race championship for Grand Touring (GT) cars began January 26, 2008 and concluded on September 20, 2008. New Jersey Motorsports Park replaced Iowa Speedway. At 15 races, it was the longest Rolex Sports Car Series season.


2008 Rolex Sports Car Series
Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas won the DP drivers' championship, with Riley and Pontiac won the chassis and engine manufacturers' championships, respectively. In the GT class, Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards won the drivers' championship and brought Pontiac the manufacturers' championship.


2008 Rolex Sports Car Series, Schedule
All 200 or 250-mile (400 km) events have a maximum time limit of 2 hours and 45 minutes. 2008 season marked New Jersey Motorsports Park's Rolex Sports Car Series debut.


2008 Rolex Sports Car Series, Driver standings, GT
†: Did not complete 30 minutes of driving, and was not awarded points


2008 Roma Open – Doubles
Flavio Cipolla and Marcel Granollers were the defenders of championship title, but Granollers decided to not participate this year, he played in Barcelona with Nicolás Almagro. Cipolla chose to play with Simone Vagnozzi, and won in the final 6–3, 6–3, against Paolo Lorenzi and Giancarlo Petrazzuolo.


2008 Roma Open – Singles
Thierry Ascione was the defender of title; however, he chose not to play. Eduardo Schwank won in the final 6–3, 6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–3), against Éric Prodon.


2008 Romanian Figure Skating Championships
The 2008 Romanian Figure Skating Championships took place between January 10 and 13, 2008 in Bucharest. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles and ladies' singles on the senior and junior levels. The results were used to choose the Romanian teams to the 2008 World Championships and the 2008 European Championships.


2008 Romanian Figure Skating Championships, Senior results, Men
Vlad Ionescu won the junior men's competition with a score of 101.41, and the ISU recognizes him as the senior silver medalist, subsequently making Zsolt Kosz the bronze medalist.


2008 Romanian legislative election
Legislative elections were held in Romania on 30 November 2008. The Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) won most seats in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, although the alliance headed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) won a fractionally higher vote share. The two parties subsequently formed a governing coalition with Emil Boc of the PDL as Prime Minister.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Electoral system
President Traian Băsescu had wanted to introduce a single-winner two-round electoral system before this election, but a 2007 referendum on the proposal failed due to insufficient turnout. A new electoral system was introduced as a compromise, with the previous party-list proportional representation system changed to a mixed member proportional representation system using sub-county constituencies (colegii electorale). A candidate was declared the winner in any electoral college where they obtained more than 50% of the vote. Seats where no candidate won an outright majority are then allocated using the D'Hondt method.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Electoral system
If necessary, the number of seats for each chamber is raised, by giving supplementary seats. An electoral threshold of 5% was applied for each chamber; or winning at least six colleges for the Chamber of Deputies and three colleges for the Senate by more than 50%. There was an additional adjustment for the Chamber of Deputies around the national minorities candidates.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Contenders
The main contenders in the election were the centre-left alliance made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Conservative Party (PC); the liberal-conservative Democratic Liberal Party (PDL); and the liberal National Liberal Party (PNL).


2008 Romanian legislative election, Contenders
Other significant contenders were the ethnic Hungarian party Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and the right-wing nationalist Greater Romania Party (PRM), both of whom were represented in the previous Parliament.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Opinion polls
The first exit-polls, published by INSOMAR after the polls were closed, predicted the results for the Chamber of Deputies as:


2008 Romanian legislative election, Results
According to the official final results, the centre-left Alliance PSD+PC won 33.1% in the Chamber of Deputies, just ahead of the PDL on 32.4%, with the National Liberal Party on 18.6% and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania on 6.2%. The alliance led by Social Democratic Party won 34.2% in the Senate, just ahead of the PDL on 33.6%, with the National Liberal Party on 18.7% and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania on 6.4%.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Results
Compared to the 2004 election, the Social Democratic Party-led alliance fell back a few percent in the national vote share. The PDL and National Liberal Party had competed in the last election together as the Justice and Truth Alliance (DA), but had split in April 2007.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Results
The Democratic Liberal Party made significant gains in 2008 to become the largest party in both houses, while the National Liberal Party made smaller gains. Support for the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania was largely unchanged. The Greater Romania Party obtained 13% of the national vote for the Chamber in 2004, but failed to make the 5% threshold for representation this year. Another nationalist party, the New Generation Party, again failed to cross the 5% threshold for representation.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Aftermath, Government formation
It was expected that a grand coalition of the Social Democrats and the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) would be formed. Initially the Prime Minister-designate was Theodor Stolojan, the PDL's official candidate. He was designated Prime Minister by the President Traian Băsescu on 11 December 2008, the official decree being issued and printed in the Monitorul Oficial the next day.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Aftermath, Government formation
On 15 December 2008, four days after his nomination, and one day after the coalition protocol was signed, Stolojan announced that he had resigned from the position of Prime Minister-designate, without giving any reason. The same day, Băsescu signed a decree that nominated the Mayor of Cluj-Napoca and PDL president Emil Boc.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Aftermath, Government formation
Boc's coalition government with the Social Democrats was approved by parliament in a 324–115 vote and was sworn in on 22 December 2008. Mircea Geoana of the Social Democrats became the new head of the Senate, with Roberta Alma Anastase of the PDL as the new President of the Chamber of Deputies.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Aftermath, By-elections
At the start of the 2008–2012 parliamentary term, only parties that had won seats in the 2008 elections were eligible to contest parliamentary by-elections. However, this changed in 2011, after which all parties were allowed to propose candidates. The change came after repeated contests to the Constitutional Court of Romania of former 2009 presidential candidate Remus Cernea.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Aftermath, By-elections
Following the nomination of Bogdan Olteanu to the Council of Administration of the National Bank of Romania as Deputy Governor, the first by-election of the parliamentary term took place in Bucharest constituency 1 will be held the first by-election of this legislature. The election was held on 17 January 2010 and was a contest between Radu Stroe of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and Honorius Prigoană, representing the PDL. The Social Democrats decided not to propose a candidate and to support the PNL candidate. Stroe was subsequently elected.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Aftermath, By-elections
Daniela Popa resigned from the Chamber of Deputies to take office as President of the Insurance Supervising Committee, also stepping down as president of the Conservative Party. The PNL decided not to have its own candidate, but to support the PSD+PC candidate, based on the gentlemen's agreement for the Bucharest by-election. The PSD nominated Conservative Party member and former Romanian Lottery director Liliana Mincă, with the PDL putting forward former TV show host Teo Trandafir, who went on to win.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Aftermath, By-elections
Following the death of Ioan Timiş, Deputy for Hunedoara County constituency 3, a by-election took place on 28 November 2010. All parties nominated candidates, with former Minister of Labour, Mariana Câmpeanu of the PNL winning.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Aftermath, By-elections
In January 2011, the representative of the Macedonians in Romania, Liana Dumitrescu, died. As she was a representative of a national minority, her seat had no college. As a result, her seat was left empty.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Aftermath, By-elections
In April 2011 Victor Surdu died, vacating his seat in the Chamber of Deputies, Neamț County constituency 6. The by-election was held on 21 August 2011 and won by the PDL candidate, Adrian Rădulescu, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Agriculture.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Aftermath, By-elections
In May 2011, Cătălin Cherecheș was elected Mayor of Baia Mare, automatically vacating her seat in the Chamber of Deputies, Maramureș County constituency 2. The by-election on 21 August saw Florin Tătaru of the Social Liberal Union elected.


2008 Romanian legislative election, Aftermath, By-elections
On 30 August 2011, Zoltán Pálfi died, vacacting Cluj County constituency 9.


2008 Romanian local elections
Local elections were held in Romania on 1 June 2008, with a runoff for mayors on 15 June 2008.


2008 Romanian local elections
On 17 April 2008, the Social Democratic Party and the Conservative Party announced they would form a political alliance for these elections, the Alliance PSD+PC. For the first time the presidents of the County Councils were elected directly by the people, and not by later negotiations inside the County Council; other notable characteristics included a substantial number of Roma candidates standing, as well as some representatives of the Romanian Orthodox Church.


2008 Romanian local elections
Turnout was low, with fewer than half of the eligible voters turning out to vote; in most big cities, except for Constanţa (incumbent PSD member Radu Ştefan Mazăre won) and Cluj-Napoca (incumbent Democratic Liberal Party member Emil Boc won), the election was not decided in the first round; in Bucharest, PDL member Vasile Blaga and independent Sorin Oprescu (former member of the PSD) will meet in the run-off.


2008 Romanian local elections
Overall, PD-L got 28.37%, PSD got 28.04%, PNL got 18.66%, and UDMR got 5.43% of the cast votes.


2008 Romanian local elections, Runoff
The mayoral runoff was held in 1,441 local constituencies. Also, in the communes of Ştefăneşti and Vidra, in Ilfov County the first tour was repeated, due to the cancellation of the election held on 1 June in the two communes. If a runoff is needed for the mayor's election, it will be held on 24 June. A sentence regarding the cancellation of the electoral process in the commune of Iepureşti, Giurgiu is pending from the Central Electoral Bureau.


2008 Romanian local elections, Runoff
The independent and former Social Democratic Party member Sorin Oprescu won the election for mayor of Bucharest with 54% against Vasile Blaga from the president's Democratic Liberal Party. Overall, Social Democratic Party won about a third of the mayors, while Democratic Liberal Party won slightly less.


2008 Romanian local elections, Runoff
In Voineşti, a tiny town in northeastern Romania, the incumbent Social Democratic Party mayor Neculai Ivaşcu, who died on the election day, was nonetheless elected over his rival, Gheorghe Dobreanu of the National Liberal Party; however, the election commission declared the runner-up elected, but Social Democratic Party said they would appeal that decision.


2008 Romanian local elections, Notable partial election
The legislature of the local authorities is of four years, for all the local authorities. If a local elected official cannot serve its term (death, incompatibility or resignation), he (or she) is replaced. The members of the Local Councils and County Councils are replaced by the next person on the list elected. For the Mayors and Presidents of the County Councils, elected on a two-round system, and first past the post respectively, no later than 90 days from the vacancy of the post the Government must announce the day the early election is called.


2008 Romanian local elections, Notable partial election
The election is not called if the vacancy occurs in the last six months of the term. The newly elected Mayors and Presidents of the County Councils serve the rest of the term. The ad interim Mayors and Presidents of the County Councils are one of the Deputy-Mayors (elected by the Local Council, if the settlement has more than one Deputy-Mayor), and one of the Vice President of the County Council, elected by the County Council.


2008 Romanian local elections, Notable partial election, Cluj-Napoca
On 22 December 2008 Emil Boc was sworn in as Prime Minister of Romania. He resigned from the office of Mayor of Cluj-Napoca on 4 January 2009. The Government called for partial election in Cluj-Napoca on 15 February 2009. The three main competitors were the ad interim Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Sorin Apostu (PD-L), former Cluj County Council President and current Senator Marius Nicoară (PNL), and former Cluj-Napoca Police commander, Teodor Pop-Puşcaş (PSD).


2008 Rome municipal election
Snap municipal elections were held in Rome on 13–14 April 2008, at the same time as the Italian general elections.


2008 Rome municipal election
The incumbent Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni (PD), resigned on 13 February 2008 to run as the main candidate of the centre-left coalition in the general election.


2008 Rome municipal election
The center-right coalition candidate Gianni Alemanno, who was defeated by Veltroni in 2006, faced the centre-left coalition candidate, the incumbent Minister of Culture and Deputy Prime Minister Francesco Rutelli, who had previously hold the position of Mayor of Rome from 1993 to 2001.


2008 Rome municipal election
Gianni Alemanno unexpectedly won the election on the second round and became the first centre-right directly elected mayor of Rome.


2008 Rome municipal election, Background
Following the fall of Prodi's government in January 2008, Veltroni, as national secretary of the newborn Democratic Party (PD), was chosen to run as the main candidate for the centre-left coalition in the April snap general election and resigned to concentrate on the national campaign.


2008 Rome municipal election, Background, Mayoral election
The centre-right coalition was led by Gianni Alemanno (PdL). Alemanno rejected a formal alliance with the far-right parties, but his critics emphasized that his victory was greeted by crowds of supporters, among them far right skinheads.


2008 Rome municipal election, Background, Mayoral election
The centre-left coalition was led by Francesco Rutelli, who continued to maintain a huge popularity across the city.


2008 Rome municipal election, Voting system
The voting system is used for all mayoral elections in Italy, in the city with a population higher than 15,000 inhabitants. Under this system voters express a direct choice for the mayor or an indirect choice voting for the party of the candidate's coalition. If no candidate receives 50% of votes, the top two candidates go to a second round after two weeks. This gives a result whereby the winning candidate may be able to claim majority support, although it is not guaranteed.


2008 Rome municipal election, Voting system
For municipi the voting system is the same, not referred to the mayor but to the president of the municipio.


2008 Rome municipal election, Voting system
The election of the city council is based on a direct choice for the candidate with a preference vote: the candidate with the majority of the preferences is elected. The number of the seats for each party is determined proportionally.


2008 Rome municipal election, Municipi election
Table below shows the results for each municipio with the percentage for each coalition on the first round:


2008 Rome municipal election, Municipi election
Table below shows the results for each municipio with the percentage for each coalition on the second round:


2008 Rose Bowl
The 2008 Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi, the 94th Rose Bowl Game, played on January 1, 2008 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, was a college football bowl game. The contest was televised on ABC, the 20th straight year the network aired the Rose Bowl, starting at 4:30pm EST. The game's main sponsor was Citi.


2008 Rose Bowl
The 2008 Rose Bowl featured the 7th-ranked USC Trojans hosting the 13th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini. As with the previous year's game, the contest was a semi-traditional Rose Bowl in that while it was a Big Ten versus Pac-10 matchup, the Big Ten representative was an at-large team because the conference champion, Ohio State, which lost to Illinois earlier in the season, was selected to play in the BCS National Championship Game.


2008 Rose Bowl
USC was making its third straight appearance in the Rose Bowl, while Illinois had not played in the game since 1984. Though Illinois won the Big Ten Conference title in 2001, the then-rotating BCS title game moved them to the Sugar Bowl.


2008 Rose Bowl, Game summary
USC took an early 21–0 lead, including a touchdown pass by backup quarterback Garrett Green on a trick play. Illinois verged on closing to 21–10 midway through the third quarter, but receiver Jacob Willis fumbled into the end zone after a catch and Trojans linebacker Brian Cushing recovered for a touchback. USC converted that miscue into a touchdown and then cornerback Cary Harris intercepted Illinois quarterback Juice Williams's pass on the first play of the ensuing possession. Five plays later, Trojans freshman Joe McKnight scored on a 6-yard run, making the score 35–10. USC gained a Rose Bowl-record 633 yards of offense in defeating Illinois 49–17.


2008 Rose Bowl, Game records
Most TD passes career, Rose Bowl History- 7, John David Booty


2008 Rossendale Borough Council election
Elections to Rossendale Borough Council were held on 1 May 2008. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party gained overall control of the council from no overall control. Overall turnout was up by one per cent from the last election in 2007 at 36.3%.


2008 Rossendale Borough Council election
The Conservative party gained three seats in the election including Worsley, the seat of the former Conservative leader of the council, Duncan Ruddick, who had defected from the party in 2007 to become an independent councillor. The Liberal Democrats gained one seat, while the Labour party lost three seats, with one defeated Labour councillor, Tina Durkin, blaming the Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the losses.


2008 Royal Bank Cup
The 2008 Royal Bank Cup was the 38th Junior "A" 2008 ice hockey National Championship for the Canadian Junior Hockey League. The national championship was won by the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.


2008 Royal Bank Cup
The Royal Bank Cup was competed for by the winners of the Doyle Cup, Anavet Cup, Dudley Hewitt Cup, the Fred Page Cup and the host team, the Cornwall Colts of the Central Junior A Hockey League.


2008 Royal Bank Cup
The tournament ran from May 3–11, 2008 with games played at the Ed Lumley Arena in Cornwall, Ontario.


2008 Royal Bank Cup, Event
The 2008 Royal Bank Cup was kicked off with an announcement from the CJAHL that it was shortening its name to the Canadian Junior Hockey League.


2008 Royal Bank Cup, Event
The first game of the tournament was between the Western Champion Humboldt Broncos and the Host Cornwall Colts. The Colts, who finished the season barely breathing and only played five playoff games, held the Broncos to only one goal in the first period. In the second period, the Colts fell apart and allowed six more goals on the next 16 shots over the last forty minutes. Humboldt's Laurent Benjamin scored a hat trick, while Taylor Nelson made 21 saves in the 7–0 shutout victory.


2008 Royal Bank Cup, Event
The early game on day two was between the Eastern Champion Weeks Crushers and the Pacific Champion Camrose Kodiaks. Weeks came out strong and took an early 1–0 lead, but the Crushers started taking a lot of penalties which killed their momentum. The Kodiaks scored five unanswered goals to win the game 5–1. In the late game, the Eastern Champion Oakville Blades challenged Cornwall. The Blades came out flat and left the first period down 2–0. Oakville returned on fire in the second period, scoring three goals in less than three and a half minutes. The momentum did not last, and the Colts took advantage by eventually pulling out an unexpected 5–4 victory.


2008 Royal Bank Cup, Event
On day three, the Kodiaks defeated the Broncos 2–1 in a very close game. The Broncos led the game until the final nine minutes by a score of 1–0, but the Kodiaks finally solved Taylor Nelson's 111+ minute shutout streak by score two quick goals to win the game. The late game placed the Oakville Blades against the Weeks Crushers. The Blades outshot the Crushers 49–25, but the Crushers kept it close and came from behind to tie it in the third period. The Crushers took advantage of a Too Many Men penalty in the extra frame as Geoff Hum scored a powerplay marker to win the game for the Crushers.


2008 Royal Bank Cup, Event
The only game of day four was between the Host Colts and the Fred Page Cup champion Weeks Crushers based in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. A strong opening period from the hometown Colts allowed for a 3–0 lead that was never breached by the Crushers. A lone goal by the Crushers in the second period would be as close as they would get to the Colts. Another three goal period by Cornwall in the final frame sealed the deal as the Colts skated to a 6–1 win.


2008 Royal Bank Cup, Event
On day five, the early game had the Oakville Blades, on the brink of elimination, versus the Humboldt Broncos. The Broncos blew three leads in the game; 1–0, 2–1, and 5–3; to allow the Blades to live another day with a 7–6 victory. The loss for the Broncos kills their ability to clinch a semi-final spot before their final game. The next game was between Cornwall and Camrose. Cornwall came out to send a message and caught the Kodiaks on their heels. Camrose came out with a tight 2–1 victory despite badly outshooting them. Because of Humboldt's loss, both Camrose and Cornwall clinch a spot in the semi-finals.


2008 Royal Bank Cup, Event
Despite the fact that they didn't play each other on day six, the day was a battle between Oakville and Humboldt. If Weeks defeated Humboldt, Oakville was in and Humboldt was out. If Oakville beat the undefeated Kodiaks in a game that meant nothing to them statistically, Humboldt was out and Oakville was in. If Humboldt won, they were in. If neither Weeks or Oakville won, Humboldt was in. The day began by the Humboldt showing their worth in a 4–1 victory over the Weeks Crushers. The day closed out with Camrose dismantling the Oakville Blades 6–1, even though the Blades outshot them.


2008 Royal Bank Cup, Event
After six days of play, the Oakville Blades were eliminated from the tournament by virtue of their head-to-head loss to the Weeks Crushers. The Blades were suspect in the goaltending department. Goalie Oliver Wren sported an 0.810 save percentage, the worst amongst starting goaltenders in the tourney. Wren came into the tournament cold, having barely played in Oakville's long playoff run. Season and Playoff long starter Scott Greenham, left the team in the middle of the Dudley Hewitt Cup and could not return due to NCAA eligibility issues.


2008 Royal Bank Cup, Event, Semi-finals
The Camrose Kodiaks defeated the Weeks Crushers by a score of 3–0 in the early semi-final. Two early first period goals and a strong patient defense held off the Crushers' attack. A late goal was added by the Kodiaks to ensure a fifth straight tournament victory.


2008 Royal Bank Cup, Event, Semi-finals
In the late semi-final, the host Cornwall Colts played off against the Humboldt Broncos. The Broncos proved dominant, but the Colts kept the score tight. The score was 2-1 Humboldt after the first and 3-1 after the second, but the Colts could not hold on any longer as the Broncos cracked the twine three times in the third to complete the 6-1 route.


2008 Royal Bank Cup, Event, Final
The RBC final was a battle of the goaltenders. Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick Allen York 27 of 28 shots for the Camrose Kodiaks, while a rock solid Taylor Nelson held a 31-save shutout for the Humboldt Broncos to win the Royal Bank Cup. Nelson made a game saving glove save with less than a second to go to hold on for Humboldt's second ever Royal Bank Cup. The game-winning goal was scored by Edward Gale in the first period on the power play. Gale is the cousin of former NHLer Gary Leeman. This marks the fourth time in six years that the Kodiaks have made the RBC tournament and have failed to win. The victory for the Humboldt Broncos marks their first national championship since 2003.


2008 Rugby League European Bowl
The competition had a major setback with the Ukrainian team's visas not being passed in time for them to play a double header in Latvia. The tournament was won by Latvia, with an aggregate score of 110–20.


2008 Rugby League World Cup
The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final between Australia and New Zealand on 22 November.


2008 Rugby League World Cup
2008 was the fourth time that the World Cup was held in Australia, the first being in 1957. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sport. The tournament featured the best ten teams around the globe which were split into three groups. A total of eighteen matches took place in twelve different venues across four Australian states. The tournament ended a year of celebrations commemorating the centenary of the game in the southern hemisphere and was part of the Festival of World Cups.


2008 Rugby League World Cup
The thirteenth Cup was scheduled to be held in Australia in 2004, however the lack of international success by Great Britain and New Zealand after the 2000 World Cup and the rise of the Tri-Nations tournament meant that it was delayed for a further four years. The Rugby League International Federation officially announced this tournament on 6 May 2006, with further details on scheduling and dates following on 19 April 2007.


2008 Rugby League World Cup
The first match took place in Townsville between England and Papua New Guinea, although the official opening ceremony of the competition occurred before the Australia and New Zealand match the following day in Sydney. The final took place at Lang Park (Suncorp Stadium) in Brisbane.


2008 Rugby League World Cup
The tournament proved a commercial success, delivering a profit of A$5 million and re-establishing the credibility of the competition.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Format, Draw
The draw, after being confirmed by the RLIF on 19 April 2007, involved three groups. The first group was made up of four teams; Australia, England, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Whilst the other two groups involved three teams each. The semi finals were made up of the first three teams in the first group and the winner of a playoff between the winners of the second and third groups.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Format, Draw
The draw was put into doubt after the Papua New Guinea team claimed that it was unfair to them and threatened to boycott the tournament should it not be changed. Marcus Bai, former Papua New Guinean winger and captain, said:


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Format, Draw
They have to change it and if they don't, we won't come. We will ring up the other island nations and teams elsewhere who don't qualify and we can have our own competition. They have shown no respect for our country or for our efforts to promote the game up there.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Format, Draw
Fortunately for the tournament, this separate island competition did not eventuate. Papua New Guinea still remained upset with the draw, seeing it as a huge challenge but one which would have seen them be rewarded if they had won. The draw was finalised on 4 October 2007.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Format, Points
Teams received 2 points for a win, and 1-point for a draw. This meant that, unlike in the Australasian National Rugby League, there was no "golden point" rule enforced. In group stages, if two teams had the same number of points then positions were determined on points difference, the number of points scored minus the number of points conceded.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Format, Ranking matches
After group matches were completed, a match featuring the second placed teams in Group B and Group C took place with the winner receiving 7th place. Similarly the third placed teams in Group B and Group C played off for 9th place. It was believed that these results were to be taken into account in the 2009 RLIF World Rankings.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Qualification
The hosts, Australia, were given automatic entry into the World Cup, along with New Zealand, England, France and Papua New Guinea. The five remaining places in the World Cup were determined by qualification rounds. Two European rounds and Pacific, Atlantic and Repêchage rounds were scheduled.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Qualification
Tonga and Fiji became the first two nations to qualify after Tonga defeated Samoa 18–10 in Leeds on 22 October, forcing Samoa to enter the repêchage. In the European Group Two, Ireland drew 16–16 with Lebanon to ensure qualification, while Lebanon were forced to enter the repêchage. The final automatic place went to Scotland, who defeated Wales 37–32 on aggregate after two legs. Wales then faced Lebanon in the repêchage semi-final, where they lost in a surprise 50–26 defeat, to knock them out of World Cup Qualifying.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Qualification
Lebanon then faced Samoa, who beat USA 42–10 in the first semi-final, on 14 November for the final qualifying position. The game was won by Samoa, 38–16, and so they booked the tenth and final place. Many qualification matches were broadcast live by Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, whilst BigPondTV broadcast matches online for other fans around the world.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Match officials
Six referees from four countries controlled matches in the tournament. These four nations also provided touch judges while England and Australia provided the video referees. In support of the Australian National Breast Cancer Foundation, the referees wore pastel pink shirts while officiating matches to raise awareness. The shirts, which carried the NBCF logo on the collar, were signed by the team captains at each World Cup game and were later auctioned off with the proceeds going to the NBCF.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Venues
Due to Rugby League World Cup rules prohibiting the use of commercial venue names, all venues were known by their non-commercial names, e.g. Suncorp Stadium was known as Lang Park during the tournament. Lang Park would also host the World Cup Final.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Opening ceremony
On Sunday night, 26 October, the Sydney Football Stadium hosted the Opening Ceremony of the World Cup. It started with Greg Inglis reciting a speech about "Playing Fair". Following Inglis' speech there was an Aboriginal Smoking ceremony to welcome all the athletes and participants. This included a rather large sized Rainbow Serpent which represented the Aboriginal Dreamtime. The last part of the ceremony involved a performance of the Rugby League World Cup anthem "Hero" by Natalie Bassingthwaighte. A curtain raiser to the Australia vs. New Zealand match included an Indigenous Australian squad playing against New Zealand Māori which featured several prominent NRL players and rising stars, including Chris Sandow, Wairangi Koopu, Preston Campbell, Sam Thaiday, Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Carl Webb.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Opening ceremony
As part of the official opening of the World Cup on 26 October, an exhibition game was played between an Aboriginal selection and a New Zealand Māori side.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Group stage
The 2008 Rugby League World Cup's eighteen matches were played during October and November in various locations throughout the east coast of Australia. The tournament's teams were divided into three pool groups. The teams finishing highest amongst those groups progressed to the play-offs.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Group stage
All teams from group A (shaded in green) with the exception of the bottom qualifying team progressed to the semi-finals, the other two groups the top finisher progressed to a playoff match, in which the winner would qualify to the semi-finals.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Criticism and controversy
Due to the generally poor response of the 2000 World Cup, there were several key criticisms of the tournament before any matches had kicked off. The RLIF were forced to defend the credibility of the tournament in October 2007 after New Zealand, one of the favourites for the competition, were heavily beaten in a Test match 58–0 in Wellington against Australia. Another concern was whether there would be enough competitiveness throughout the ten teams, with some fans worried about the possibility of too many one-sided matches, which was a common sight in the Group Stages of the 2000 tournament.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Criticism and controversy
Ricky Stuart, coach of the Australian team, was reported to be so incensed by his team's defeat in the final that he verbally attacked Geoff Carr, the chief executive of Australian Rugby League, claiming that tournament organisers and match officials conspired to cause the Australian loss. The next morning he had a chance meeting with Ashley Klein, who refereed the final, and Stuart Cummings, the Rugby Football League's director of match officials, at their hotel. He reportedly abused both officials in front of a number of witnesses, calling Klein a cheat, and behaved in an aggressive and physically intimidating manner. Stuart later apologised for his behaviour and resigned from his post.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Tickets
Tickets for Australian residents went on sale 7 November 2007 and internationally on 18 February. However tickets were not distributed until 3 March. Ticketek were announced as the official ticketing agency for the competition, selling tickets for all matches. Ticketmaster and Pilbeam Theatre were selling tickets to the Telstra Dome and Browne Park matches respectively.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Sponsorship
The Official Sponsors of the Rugby League World Cup 2008 were:


2008 Rugby League World Cup, "Heroes Here 08" campaign
The World Cup's "Heroes Here 08" promotional campaign was launched at the Sydney Opera House on 6 May 2008. At the launch, Paul Kind, the World Cup Director of Marketing, explained, "Heroes Here 08 underlines that fact that the international game, and particularly this tournament, will bring out the best in every player who takes part. It will create heroes."


2008 Rugby League World Cup, "Heroes Here 08" campaign
Natalie Bassingthwaighte recorded an "Australian version" of the Mariah Carey song "Hero" which accompanied the "Heroes 08" promotional video and other World Cup advertising. The World Cup Opening Ceremony featured a live performance of the song by Bassingthwaighte.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, "Heroes Here 08" campaign
Filming of visuals for the promotional video began in Leeds during the worldwide ticketing launch for the event in November 2007.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, "Heroes Here 08" campaign
Advertising agency MJW, celebrity photographer Garry Heery and production company Engine worked together to combine the latest digital animation with a dark and determined set that highlighted the passion players feel in representing their country on the international stage.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, "Heroes Here 08" campaign
The Heroes campaign featured Mark Gasnier (Australia), Roy Asotasi (New Zealand), Rob Burrow (England), Keith Peters (PNG), Waisale Sukanaveita (Fiji), Nigel Vagana (Samoa), Jerome Guisset (France), Lee Paterson (Scotland), Stuart Littler (Ireland) and Lopini Paea (Tonga). Gasnier was later removed from some of the promotional material after he left the sport mid-season and was replaced by Darren Lockyer.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, "Heroes Here 08" campaign
The video also appeared in the video game Rugby League 2: World Cup Edition, which featured a world cup mode based on the event.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Broadcasting, Television
The 2008 World Cup had 26 separate television deals taking coverage to 127 countries and generating more than $20 million income. A global television audience of 19.2 million made it the most widely broadcast event in the game's history.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Broadcasting, Television
Channel 9 broadcast all Group A matches and the Knockout Stage matches in Australia. Fox Sports broadcast all Group B and C matches plus Ranking Stage matches live. In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports broadcast all matches live, meaning that all were shown in the morning and some as early as 06:00 am with highlights being shown on the BBC. Sky Sport showed all games live across New Zealand. Mai TV broadcast all matches live in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands. Orange Sport provided coverage of all matches live in France.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Broadcasting, Television
Coverage of the competition also extended to countries not taking part. Showtime showed all matches live across the Middle East. G offered coverage of all games in many countries in Africa. Astro showed all matches in Malaysia, and ESPN360 showed all matches in the United States. In Brazil, some matches were broadcast by Bandsports.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Broadcasting, Television
The only participating country with no television coverage of the matches was Tonga; the RLIF were hoping to secure a deal before the World Cup started, but this never happened.


2008 Rugby League World Cup, Broadcasting, Television
BigPondTV, an online television station, broadcast all matches live and also repeated matches. This service was available to everyone for free.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Final
The 2008 Rugby League World Cup final was the championship-deciding game of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup tournament. Played between New Zealand and Australia on 22 November 2008 at Brisbane's Lang Park, the match was a re-play of the 2000 Rugby League World Cup final and its outcome determined who became World Cup-holders for the following five years. In one of the biggest rugby league upsets of all time, New Zealand beat Australia by 34-20 after trailing by four points at half time.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background
Australia went into the final as favourites, having not only won every game of the tournament so far, but each with margins ranging from 24 to 52 points. It was Australia's 10th consecutive World Cup Final having played in each one since the second-ever in 1957, and New Zealand's 3rd.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Final, Background
The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final between Australia and New Zealand on 22 November. The two teams had played each other once already at this World Cup in the opening ceremony where Australia ran out easy winners.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Final, Match Details
Australia went into the match as clear favorites. They had won 9 of the previous 12 Rugby League world cup's including the last six consecutively. Australia had also not lost since 2006. New Zealand had won the Tri nations in 2005 but had lost to Australia eight times in a row since that victory. The TAB offered odds of more than 20 to one on a Kiwi win by more than 13 points and New Zealand were paying $6.25 to win at many outlets. Suncorp Stadium was sold out months in advance for the final. The captains of both teams, Nathan Cayless and Darren Lockyer, were the only players in this match who had also played in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup final.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Final, Match Details
At halftime Justin Morgan said on the BBC "It has been a great display from both teams in the first half. The Kiwis have been a little unlucky but they are still in the game and I would like to see them put the ball in the air more in the second half and see if they can get some results."


2008 Rugby League World Cup Final, Match Details
The game was the Australian team's first loss since Great Britain defeated them in November 2006 and their first loss to New Zealand since November 2005. It was also their first loss in a World Cup match since 1995 and in a final since 1972. 1.2 million Australians watched the game live on television.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Final, Post Match
Hundreds of New Zealanders welcomed the team home at Auckland Airport.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Final, Post Match
Ricky Stuart, coach of the Australian team, was reported to be so incensed by his team's defeat in the final that he verbally attacked Geoff Carr, the Chief Executive of Australian Rugby League, claiming that tournament organisers and match officials conspired to cause the Australian loss. The next morning he had a chance meeting with Ashley Klein, who refereed the final, and Stuart Cummings, the Rugby Football League's director of match officials, at their hotel. He reportedly abused both officials in front of a number of witnesses, calling Klein a cheat, and behaved in an aggressive and physically intimidating manner. Stuart later apologised for his behaviour and resigned from his post.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Final, Post Match
The Kiwis were nominated for team of the year in the Halberg Awards but lost to the gold medal rowing pair of Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A
2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A was one of the three groups of teams that competed in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Group A was the largest of the tournament, consisting of four teams: Australia, New Zealand, England and Papua New Guinea. After all teams had played each other once, only Papua New Guinea did not advance to 2008 Rugby League World Cup Knockout stage.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs Papua New Guinea
The World Cup tournament opened with England facing Papua New Guinea at Townsville in tropical North Queensland. It was to be the first time the two nations had met at a World Cup and second time ever since 1975, the Kumuls having only played against Great Britain previously.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs Papua New Guinea
The first points of the tournament were scored in the twelfth minute of the game by English winger Ade Gardner who received a short ball from dummy half James Roby close to the try-line and dived over in the right corner. Kevin Sinfield's sideline conversion was successful and the score was 6 nil. PNG responded with a try of their own seven minutes later when Rod Griffin, running a good line, received the ball from dummy half Paul Aiton and crashed over near the uprights.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs Papua New Guinea
John Wilshere kicked the extras and with a quarter of the match gone the score was level at 6 all. In the twenty-sixth minute PNG's Jessie Joe Parker was taken from the field and subsequently to hospital with a suspected fractured eye socket. Two minutes later England were on the attack and spread it out wide to the left this time for Lee Smith who crossed for a try in his World Cup debut.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs Papua New Guinea
Sinfield was again successful with his sideline conversion, making the score 12 - 6 in favour of the English with ten minutes of the first half remaining. The Kumuls however were dominating possession, making their opposition do a mountain of defence, and just after the 35-minute mark, while raiding England's line again, PNG's five-eighth, Stanley Gene (playing in his third consecutive World Cup), threw a cut-out pass to Jason Chan that saw him cross untouched for Papua New Guinea's second try. Wilshere's conversion made the scores level once again.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs Papua New Guinea
With a minute until the half-time siren Kumuls halfback Keith Peters sent a high kick across-field which England couldn't secure and it bounced up for winger George Kepa who put it down in the corner. The video referee ruled it was a try and Wilshere's attempt at goal from the sideline was missed so Papua New Guinea went into the half-time break leading 16 - 12.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs Papua New Guinea
Less than seven minutes into the second half Papua New Guinea crossed England's line again but the try was disallowed by Shane Hayne for a slightly forward pass. England were the first to score with Smith crossing from close range in the fifty-first minute to pick up his second try and level the scores again. Sinfield's conversion attempt was unsuccessful, leaving the score at 16 all.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs Papua New Guinea
The English however, with the weight of possession, raided the Kumuls' line repeatedly and scored again in the 58th minute with halfback Rob Burrow dummying wide before passing back inside for Martin Gleeson to go over untouched from close range. This gave England the lead once more and Sinfield converted the try, pushing the margin out to six points with just over a quarter of the match remaining.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs Papua New Guinea
With Papua New Guinea struggling to get out of their own half, England's Danny McGuire sent his winger Smith over the try-line once again, but the pass was ruled to have been forward. However, in the seventieth minute, England worked the ball to the other wing and Gardner crossed out wide for his second try off what appeared to be a forward pass from Leon Pryce. Sinfield's boot added the extras to give England the biggest lead of the match so far at 28 - 16.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs Papua New Guinea
Three minutes later, now back on the other wing, England made a break and got the ball to Smith who crossed again. The video referee was required to check the grounding as PNG's fullback Wilshere had gotten his arm between the ground and the ball, but the try was awarded, giving Smith a hat-trick. Sinfield's conversion attempt was wide but England had scored twenty unanswered points in the second half and had a comfortable lead at 32 - 16 with only six minutes to play left.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, England vs Papua New Guinea
This would not be the final score however, as from the restart Papua New Guinea went for the short kick-off and successfully re-gathered, going on the attack. On the last tackle Peters sent a grubber through and Aiton dived on it for the Kumuls' fourth try. Wilshere's conversion put the final score at 32 - 22.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs New Zealand
Although this was actually the second World Cup match to be played, it featured the tournament's opening ceremony as it was the first game featuring hosts Australia and was played in Sydney.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs New Zealand
The first points of the match came from a penalty kick by Johnathan Thurston (playing despite the murder of his uncle the previous day in a Brisbane park)  after New Zealand's Simon Mannering held Brett Stewart down for too long in a tackle at the 9-minute mark. Three minutes later the Kiwis were again penalised in their own territory when Steve Matai's swinging arm struck Paul Gallen in the head, the incident being placed on report.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs New Zealand
Australia opted to attack New Zealand's line and the first try of the match went to Greg Inglis who beat his opposite number Matai to dive over. Thurston's successful conversion gave the Kangaroos an 8 nil lead. Later as the Kiwis were on the attack, second-rower Sika Manu, playing his debut match for New Zealand, ran an inside line onto a Benji Marshall short ball and found a way through the middle of Australia's defence to touch down near the uprights just on 27 minutes. Matai's conversion brought the margin back to two points. Shortly after however, Australia struck back through debutant winger Joel Monaghan whose try was awarded by the on-field referee after the video official referred the decision back to him. Thurston's conversion gave the Kangaroos a 14 - 6 lead going into the half-time break.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs New Zealand
Australia were again the first to score in the second half, this time on the right side, with Israel Folau's arm reaching out over one of his tacklers at the goal-line to plant the ball down in the 48th minute. Thurston missed his first kick of the night so the score was 18 - 6.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs New Zealand
Ten minutes later Brent Tate was being taken from the field with a neck injury just before the Australian halfback Thurston made a break mid-field and, as he was being brought to the ground by a defender, threw the ball back for Billy Slater to regather and score. Thurston then kicked the extras, pushing Australia's lead out to three converted tries with just under a quarter of the match remaining.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, Australia vs New Zealand
With less than three minutes of game time left the Kiwis looked to have scored a consolation try when Jerome Ropati crashed over out wide, the decision being put to the video referee. The replay however showed that the Australian fullback, Slater, had slid across in desperation feet-first, knocking the ball from Ropati's grasp with his boot just before he could touch it to the ground. In the final seconds of the match Australia scored one more try when quick hands from Slater flicked the ball out wide for Folau who dived over for his second. Cameron Smith was assigned the conversion from the side-line and was successful, giving the Kangaroos a 30 - 6 victory.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea
In the second week of the tournament, Group A's New Zealand and Papua New Guinea faced off at Queensland's Gold Coast. It was the first time the two countries had met since the Kiwis had a 64-0 win over the Kumuls at Palmerston North in 1996. Papua New Guinea made no changes to their side from the previous match, while New Zealand were without Steve Matai who was serving a suspension due to his high tackle on Australia's Paul Gallen in their previous match. This meant Krisnan Inu got his chance to play, and Sika Manu and Dene Halatau were also replaced by Isaac Luke and David Fa'alogo.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea
The first points came in the ninth minute when New Zealand, from fifteen metres out, moved the ball through the hands from the right side of the field out to the left, catching PNG's defence outnumbered so Jermoe Ropati could crossed untouched. Krisnan Inu's conversion attempt missed, leaving the score at 4 nil. Less than four minutes later it was Ropati again who fell over PNG's line, but was held up in goal.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea
In the sixteenth minute the Kiwis again moved the ball out wide through the hands, this time to the right side where Simon Mannering was able to pass untouched between the thinly stretched defence to score. Inu kicked the extras and New Zealand were leading 10 nil. Mannering scored his second try eight minutes later, again on the right side of the field, after taking on the defensive line and breaking through. Inu's conversion was successful, taking New Zealand's lead out to 16 nil with fourteen minutes of the first half remaining.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea
New Zealand's defence then withstood a series of assaults on their line when Papua New Guinea got repeat sets. Back in the Kumuls' half though, the Kiwis scored in the thirty-fourth minute, again on the right wing, when Benji Marshall threw an enormous cut out pass over to Sam Perrett who jogged over unchallenged by PNG's severely outnumbered defence. Inu's conversion made it 22 unanswered points by New Zealand and this would remain the scoreline at the half time break.


2008 Rugby League World Cup Group A, New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea
Marshall, New Zealand's key play maker, sat out the second half to ice a tightened hamstring muscle and after seven minutes it was Papua New Guinea who got the first points. On the left side of the field Neville Costigan got a pass out of a tackle to Jessie Joe Parker who also managed to pass from a tackle back inside for winger David Moore to race through some defenders and over the try-line, improving his kicker's field position by putting the ball down behind the uprights. Wilshere's simple conversion made the score 22 - 6.