2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, Pre-season and friendlies
Oldham once again faced Premier League competition on 29 July, as Hull City visited Boundary Park. The Latics would once again finish with a 1–1 draw, following goals from Caleb Folan for Hull and Lewis Alessandra for Oldham. The following day, Oldham faced Barrow at Holker Street. After two early goals, new midfielder Dale Stephens pulled Oldham back to 2–1 in the 17th minute, though Jason Walker scored his second of the game as Oldham lost their first match of the pre-season. Oldham's final pre-season friendly was on 2 August versus Bradford City. Omar Daley of Bradford City scored the only goal of the game, giving Bradford City a 1–0 victory over Oldham in both clubs's final pre-season games.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
Oldham was at home to face Millwall for their first league game of the 2008–09 season. Oldham found themselves down within 1–3 early into the second half. After Andy Liddell scored from a penalty kick in the 74th minute, Lewis Alessandra and Chris Taylor scored twice in the final ten minutes to earn Oldham a 4–3 victory after being down by two goals. In mid-August, Oldham traveled to Elland Road to face Leeds United. Following a 0–0 halftime draw, Chris Taylor scored after a little more than five minutes following the restart.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
His second came in the 65th minute when he scored from a curler from 18 yards out from goal—giving Oldham 2–0 victory. Following a 2–0 victory over Leeds, Oldham was back at Boundary Park to face Cheltenham Town. Lee Hughes would give Oldham their first of the game shortly before halftime whistle. Shortly after the restart, Hughes would score his second of the game before netting his third in the 62nd minute. Danny Whitaker added Oldham's fourth of the game in the 85th minute for a 4–0 victory, sending Oldham to top of the table.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
After an impressive 4–0 rout of Cheltenham Town, Oldham was set to face middle-of-the-table Colchester United at Weston Homes Community Stadium. Mark Yeates gave the home side a 1–0 lead heading into the break, before grabbing his second in the 63rd minute. But in less than 60 seconds, Chris Taylor scored his 4th of the season to bring Oldham back to 2–1 down before Deane Smalley grabbed a goal shortly before full-time—giving Oldham a 2–2 draw.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
Oldham dropped to second place in League One following the 2–2 draw to start September, and was again on the road as they faced Tranmere Rovers. The only goal came in the 35th minute, when Reuben Hazell headed in a goal after a cross from Neal Eardley. The game was played at a quick pace for most of the day as a total of 10 yellow cards were shown, but Oldham held out for a 1–0 win. On 13 September, Oldham was back at home to face 2007–08 League Two champions, Milton Keynes Dons.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
Lee Hughes didn't wait long to get the scoring started as he gave Oldham a 1–0 lead by scoring in the 8th minute. Despite seven shots on target, MK Dons could not get a goal past goalkeeper Mark Crossley before Mark Allott grabbed Oldham's second and final goal in the 95th minute. Oldham battled Hartlepool United on 20 September for their seventh league game of the season. Lee Hughes and Chris Taylor gave Oldham a solid 2–0 lead heading into the halftime break.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
Hartlepool battled back hard in the opening moments of the second half, scoring three times in first ten minutes of the second half with goals from Andy Monkhouse, Antony Sweeney, and Joel Porter. In the 58th minute, Taylor scored Oldham's third of the game as the two teams finished the game with a 3–3 draw. Again at home, Oldham faced off against 15th placed local rivals Huddersfield. Ian Craney scored his second in five games, giving the visitors an early 1–0 lead in the 29th minute. An Andy Liddell free kick early in the second half would be enough, as the game ended with a 1–1 draw.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
The Latics began the month of October in first place, where they had remained for most of the season. Oldham played a Friday night match versus local rival Stockport County, who sat in 7th place at the time. Oldham controlled the first half of the match, as an Andy Liddell goal in the 24th minute gave them a 1–0 halftime lead. However, Stockport dominated the second half, scoring three goals en route to giving Oldham their first defeat of the season. An 82nd-minute goal from Stockport defender Michael Raynes secured the victory, as the Hatters defeated Oldham 3–1.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
After dropping to third place, Oldham looked to regain the top spot in the league versus Hereford United. Lee Hughes got the action started quickly, scoring his fourth goal in the fifth minute of the game. Oldham continued their early pressure against the Hereford defence, which included Hughes earning Oldham a penalty kick after he was taken down in the area by Frenchman Bruno Ngotty—with Andy Liddell converting on the penalty to give Oldham a 2–0 advantage.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
Wolves loaned defender Daniel Jones netted in the 36th minute for the Latics, giving the home side a 3–0 lead at the halftime break. Stephen O'Leary picked up a yellow card in the 81st minute for taking down Jones with a bad challenge, and was sent off only a minute later, forcing Hereford to play out the final minutes with only ten men. Danny Whitaker took advantage of the sending off, netting the final goal in the 90th. Oldham played their third game of the month on 18 October against Leicester.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
A lackluster first half of action led to scoreless action until the 54th minute, when a Steve Howard header gave the visitors a 1–0 lead. Danny Whitaker equalised a quarter-hour later, earning a 1–1 draw as Oldham maintained an unbeaten home record. Three days later, Oldham traveled to Memorial Stadium to face Bristol Rovers. A solid attack was stifled by Rovers goalkeeper Steve Phillips, who stopped all seven shots that were on target. Rickie Lambert netted his 11th goal of the season in the 16th minute, which led the way to a Chris Lines goal in the 35th minute.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
Phillips and Oldham's Mark Crossley both kept out the opposition for the remainder of the match, as Oldham dropped their second consecutive away match. For their second straight away match, Oldham faced Swindon Town who sat in 18th place in League One. Oldham looked to be in control in the first 20 minutes of the match, putting pressure on Swindon's net without any success. Shortly after their barrage on the goal, defender Sean Morrison scored for Swindon.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
A handball in the penalty area by Lee Hughes gave Swindon the opportunity to net another in the 34th minute, which was converted by Jack Smith to double Swindon's lead. The ball was bogged down in midfielder for second half, as neither side put pressure on goal—letting Swindon wrap up their third home victory of the season. A Lewis Alessandra assured that Oldham would end October on a high note, as the striker scored his first hat trick in a 3–0 victory over Scunthorpe United.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
The 19-year-old led Oldham struck first in the 26th, before quickly earning his hat trick in the second half with goals in the 50th and 60th minutes. Oldham's 3–0 win over the Iron was Scunthorpe's first loss since 16 October, and helped the Latics move to 4th place in the league to end October.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
After struggling through October, Oldham started November at home against Yeovil Town who was coming off consecutive scoreless draws. It appeared it could have been three consecutive scoreless matches for Yeovil when the two teams were left without goals at halftime. Aaron Brown capitalised from a deep free kick, ending his side's goal drought to give the visitors a 1–0 lead. Ex-Oldham player Paul Warne grabbed another goal for the Glovers three minutes later from hesitant play by Neal Eardley.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
Oldham was unable to get a ball past goalkeeper Asmir Begović, who secured a 2–0 victory for Yeovil and gave the Latics their first home loss since March 2008. After a 2–2 draw in the FA Cup, the Latics faced Northampton Town on 15 November. Oldham had several chances in the first half including a shot by Lee Hughes which was an apparent early goal, though he was flagged by the official for offsides.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
With a quarter of an hour left in the match, Hughes was cut down in the box to give Andy Liddell a chance to give the Latics a lead. Liddell easily converted on the spot-kick, sending Frank Fielding the wrong way. Despite the 1–0 victory, the game ended on a bad note as Hughes was sent off with his second yellow card. At Roots Hall, Southend United was just once beaten in their previous thirteen home games.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
James Walker tried to help him side continue the streak as he smashed the ball past Mark Crossley from point-blank range for a 1–0 Southend advantage. Chris Taylor pulled Oldham back on level terms with a 67th-minute header, before Hughes scored his seventh of the season to give Oldham a 2–1 victory. Three days later, Oldham faced off against Walsall at home. Mark Allott started the scoring early, grabbing an early 1–0 lead for Oldham from a deflected shot.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
Michael Ricketts, a former Oldham striker, struck back in 23rd minute with a goal before Alex Nicholls gave the visitors a 2–1 advantage. Shortly before the halftime whistle, Hughes scored his 8th goal of the season which put the two sides on level terms at the break. With the game looking like a sure draw, Hughes grabbed another goal in the 89th minute as Oldham moved up to 4th place to end November.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
To begin the final month of 2008, Oldham was at home to play Brighton & Hove Albion. Oldham started the match quickly when Adam Virgo brought down Chris Taylor in the penalty box, allowing Andy Liddell to convert a spot-kick for a 1–0 Latics advantage in the 9th minute. However, Steven Thomson slid a ball past the Oldham defence to Glenn Murray who fired a shot into the roof of the net, putting the Seagulls back level at 1–1.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
Adam Virgo, who received a yellow card for his tackle of Taylor, received a second in the 48th minute and was sent off. Despite having only ten men, the Brighton defence frustrated the Latics, holding on for a 1–1 draw. A week later, the Latics traveled to face Peterborough United at London Road Stadium. This game was again off to a quick start, however, it was the opposition who struck first. A shot from Aaron McLean in the 12th minute deflected off Latics defender Stefan Stam, giving Peterborough a 1–0 lead.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
Eight minutes before the halftime break, McLean extended the lead with another goal with a rebound from a spot-kick, shortly after having another spot-kick saved by Oldham goalkeeper Greg Fleming. After several comebacks throughout the season, Oldham again showed their intentions when Lee Hughes poked the ball into the opposition's net for a 2–1 halftime lead for Peterborough. Just before the hour mark, Hughes again scored when he put a loose ball into the net. With several more chances for both sides, the game ended with a 2–2 draw. After two consecutive draws, Oldham was set to face Leyton Orient.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
Despite early efforts from Danny Whitaker and Darren Byfield, Oldham was unable to net an early goal. A Leyton Orient goal looked possible when Adam Chambers got a rebound twelve yards out, but the midfielder sent the ball high over the net. After Byfield was pulled down in the penalty area by Tamika Mkandawire, Andy Liddell struck his 8th goal of the season via a penalty kick for a 1–0 halftime advantage. Near the midway point of the second half, Greg Fleming gave Orient a chance to get back on level terms when he fouled Ryan Jarvis in the box.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
Fleming saved the penalty, but Jason Demetriou scored from a rebound, earning Leyton Orient a 1–1 draw—Oldham's third consecutive. Oldham was away to face Crewe Alexandra under new manager Gudjon Thordarson on Boxing Day. Despite struggling with an illness just days before the match, Darren Byfield was named to the starting lineup. Just before the hour mark in the match, Byfield scored his first for the club from a through back from Kelvin Lomax.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, League One
The win was secured when Lee Hughes curled a ball past Stuart Tomlinson, before Hughes grabbed another five minutes before the final whistle for a 3–0 win. Two days after the Boxing Day victory, Oldham faced off against Carlisle United for the final match of 2008. Terrific play from Carlisle goalkeeper Tim Krul kept Oldham out of goal, despite giving the Latics nineteen corners. Neither side had an attacking threat until 17 minutes in when a Reuben Hazell header forced Krul into a saved shot. With nineteen total shots for the Latics, manager John Sheridan was surprised when the game ended in a scoreless draw.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, FA Cup
In the first round of the 2008–09 FA Cup, Oldham was paired against League One side Cheltenham Town. Five minutes into the opening half, Scott Murray for Cheltenham opened the scoring with a strike, getting past goalkeeper Mark Crossley. The Robins gained a 2–0 halftime advantage when Lloyd Owusu earned and converted a penalty kick, getting it past the fingertips of Crossley. The Latics got a goal back when Chris Taylor's free kick was deflected by Cheltenham goalkeeper Shane Higgs, with the rebound falling immediately back to Taylor.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, FA Cup
In the 76th minute, Danny Whitaker equalised the game at 2–2 when a deflected shot crept into the corner of the net. A late robins shot from substitute Damian Spencer hit the post at the end of the match, but Oldham held on for a draw—forcing a replay at Boundary Park. In the replay, an early 22nd minute shot from Lewis Montrose proved enough for Cheltenham to advance to the second round, and knock out Oldham for the fourth time in FA Cup history. Despite 17 shots to Cheltenham's three, Oldham could not muster a goal against Scott Brown. Shortly before the halftime break, Oldham was dealt a blow when Deane Smalley picked up an injury—giving Matthew Wolfenden his first senior appearance of the season. Shortly before the final whistle, Kieran Lee almost equalised with a diving header, but the ball rolled past the far post.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, Carling Cup
Oldham's 2008–09 Carling Cup campaign began at near neighbours Rochdale. Craig Davies picked up his first red card of the season in the 45th minute following a clash with Nathan Stanton. Though Rochdale had a one-man advantage for the second half, the game was still level at 0–0 following regular time and extra time. Neal Eardley, Chris Taylor, and Danny Whitaker converted on penalties to put Oldham up 3–1 before Lee Hughes scored the fourth to give Oldham the victory over Rochdale.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, Carling Cup
For their second game, the Latics were once again away—this time to Burnley at Turf Moor, and Greg Fleming made his debut for the club in goal. The visitors found themselves down 1–0 early to Burnley after a Chris McCann goal in the 12th minute. After just over an hour played, Martin Paterson extended Burnley's lead to 2–0, before getting another in the 79th to secure a 3–0 victory.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Review, Johnstone's Paint Trophy
Oldham faced League Two side Morecambe in the first round of the 2008–09 Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Though both sides had numerous chances to take the lead in the first half, the two sides were scoreless at the halftime break. A little over ten minutes after the restart, Danny Whitaker gave Oldham a 1–0 lead in the 56th minute before Stewart Drummond equalised for Morecambe in the 65th. The two teams ended regular time level at 1–1, and after neither side could get a winning goal, they went into a penalty shootout. Following Lewis Alessandra's miss in "sudden death", Andy Parrish sent Oldham goalkeeper Greg Fleming the wrong way to give Morcambe a victory.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Awards, League One Team of the Week
The following Oldham Athletic players have appeared on the official Football League One team of the week.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Awards, League One Team of the Year
The following Oldham Athletic players were named to the PFA Team of the Year for Football League One.


2008–09 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season, Awards, Internal awards
Each season, the club allows fans to vote on several awards, including Oldham's Player of the Year and the Colin Shaw Memorial Trophy, which goes to the Young Player of the Year.


2008–09 Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team
The 2008–09 Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team represented the University of Mississippi in the 2008–09 college basketball season. This was head coach Andy Kennedy's third season at Ole Miss. The Rebels competed in the Southeastern Conference and played their home games at Tad Smith Coliseum. They finished the season with a record of 16–15, 7–9 in SEC play and did not qualify for any postseason tournaments.


2008–09 Olympiacos B.C. season
Olympiacos Piraeus B.C. 2008–2009 season was the 2008–09 basketball season for Greek professional basketball club Olympiacos.


2008–09 Olympiacos B.C. season, Squad changes for the 2008–09 season
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Olympiacos B.C. season, Squad changes for the 2008–09 season
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Olympiacos B.C. season, Squad changes for the 2008–09 season
Out on loan:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Olympiacos B.C. season, Results, schedules and standings, A1 2008–09, Regular season
Pts=Points, Pld=Matches played, W=Matches won, L=Matches lost, F=Points for, A=Points against, D=Points difference


2008–09 Olympiacos F.C. season
The 2008–09 season was Olympiacos's 50th consecutive season in the Super League Greece, but they are competing in the UEFA Cup after an 11-year participation in the UEFA Champions League, as they were eliminated in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round by Anorthosis. In the beginning of the summertime, Olympiacos unveiled Spanish Ernesto Valverde as their new coach.


2008–09 Olympiacos F.C. season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Olympiacos F.C. season, Summer squad changes
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Olympiacos F.C. season, Summer squad changes
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Olympiacos F.C. season, Summer squad changes, Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Olympiacos F.C. season, Summer squad changes, Current national players
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season
The 2008–09 season was Olympique Lyonnais's 50th anniversary season in Ligue 1 and was their 20th consecutive season in the top division of French football. They were the defending champions having won the title the past seven consecutive seasons. They were entering the season after achieving their first ever double after winning the Coupe de France, along with their league title.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, News
Following the 2007–08 season, it was announced by Lyon Chairman Jean-Michel Aulas that manager Alain Perrin would not be returning despite being the first Lyon manager to win the double. Lyon management attributed the firing to "Perrin's several malfunctions that affected the squad daily throughout the season" and their constant failure in Europe.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, News
Following an extensive search, which linked the Lyon managerial position to several managers, including former Manchester United assistant and current Portugal national football team coach Carlos Queiroz, Brazilian manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo, and former French players and managers Didier Deschamps and Laurent Blanc to name a few, it was announced on 18 June 2008 that Lille manager Claude Puel would succeed Perrin.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, News
During the managerial search, Lyon made several transfers, though even prior to the managerial search, Lyon made a significant transfer deal, signing Brazilian midfielder Ederson from Nice in January for €15 million. The summer transfers included Hugo Lloris (€8.5 million) who was brought in to replace to outgoing Grégory Coupet, Miralem Pjanić (€7.5 million), Jean Makoun (€14 million) and John Mensah (€8.4 million), who was brought in to replace the outgoing Sébastien Squillaci.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, News
Following last year promotions of youth players Sandy Paillot, Anthony Mounier and Romain Beynié from the youth scheme to the professional squad, Lyon signed another set of youth players to professional contracts. Midfielders Pierrick Valdivia (no relation to Chilean playmaker Jorge Valdivia), Clément Grenier and Saïd Mehamha, and striker Yannis Tafer were promoted to the first-team squad, although they will still play on Lyon's second squad in the CFA.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, News
Lyon also sign young prospect Timothée Kolodziejczak from Lens. Kolodziejcak, a teammate of Tafer and Grenier on the international stage, will initially move to Lyon on a loan with a purchase clause likely to occur at a later date. Also in an effort to increase their youths' playing time, Lyon re-loaned Sandy Paillot to Grenoble for the entirety of the season and loaned out midfielder Romain Beynié to Belgian side Tubize.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, News
Notable departures included Loïc Rémy, who moved to Nice and French wunderkind Hatem Ben Arfa, who moved to rivals Marseille. The Ben Arfa move was put into speculation after Lyon officials argued that an agreement was not made between the two clubs. However, after a meeting between the two clubs organized by the LFP, the transfer was back on. Morevor, aforementioned central defender Sébastien Squillaci moved to Sevilla of La Liga.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, News
Other departures include Grégory Coupet, who moved to Atlético Madrid after spending 12 years with the club, Patrick Müller and Frédéric Roux, whose contracts expired on 30 June 2008, and Marc Crosas, who returned to Barcelona after spending the winter on loan with Lyon. Inconsistent striker Milan Baroš additionally moved to Turkish side Galatasaray.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, News
This summer also saw the departure of several Lyon youth players who will attempt to ply their trade elsewhere. Lossémy Karaboué, Alexandre Bouchard, and Aurélien Badin have moved to Ligue 2 sides Sedan, Châteauroux and Troyes respectively. The Italian Francesco Migliore moved to Belgian side R.A.E.C. Mons. Young striker Stephen Ettien moved to Scottish side Hamilton Academical, while Mohamed Bedda and Mickael Charvet earned trials at Strasbourg and Nice respectively.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Team kits
Umbro will provide the kits for Olympique Lyonnais. Umbro have been the official kit provider of Lyon since 2003 and just last year signed an extension with Lyon until 2013. This season, Lyon will have brand new home, away, and Champions League kits. The kits were presented on June 30, 2008. The new home kit is original white with the red and blue vertical strip, along with single blue stripes along the shoulders.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Team kits
The new away kit is all blue with single black stripes along the shoulders and the new Champions League away kit is electric yellow with the red and blue vertical stripe, along with single red and blue stripes on the shoulders. The team's alternate away kit consists of the home shirt with red shorts and white socks. It is only worn when Lyon are unable to wear their white shorts in an away tie due to the designated home team wearing white shorts.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Pre-season friendlies
Lyon played a total of six friendly matches. Lyon opened up their pre-season on 12 July with a 3–2 victory over Nîmes in Albertville, near Tignes, the location of Lyon's pre-season camp. A week later, on 19 July, they traveled away to Bucharest to face Rapid București, which resulted in a 2–1 loss. They then took a trip to Belgrade to play against Partizan on 23 July. Lyon came out with a positive result, beating the Serbian side 3–1 with goals from Karim Benzema and Sidney Govou.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Pre-season friendlies
They followed that victory up with another as they cruised to a 3–0 victory over Ligue 1 side Nancy in nearby Villefranche-sur-Saône. Their last friendly in the month of July would in turn be a 0–1 defeat to AS Monaco on July 29 in Annecy. Their final friendly match was the annual Trophée des Champions match. Since Lyon won both the league and the Coupe de France, they faced the club that finished in second place in Ligue 1 this past season, Bordeaux. The match was played on 2 August at Bordeaux's ground, the Stade Chaban-Delmas. After 90 minutes without a goal, Bordeaux defeated Lyon 5–4 on penalties to earn their first Trophée des Champions title, ending Lyon's streak of six-straight Trophée des Champions titles.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
Lyon opened up their Ligue 1 season in a positive fashion, defeating Toulouse 3–0 with a brace from Karim Benzema and a rare goal from Jean Makoun. Following a 0–0 draw away to Lorient, which dropped them to third in the league standings, Lyon rebounded with back-to-back wins over Rhône-Alpes rivals Grenoble and Saint-Étienne respectively. Following that, Lyon picked up their third-straight victory with a 3–2 win over Nice. The match was, however, marred with controversy—after trailing 0–2, Lyon got back into the match with two spectacular free-kicks from Juninho.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
With the match in injury time and looking to end in a draw, referee Jean-Charles Cailleux and one of his assistant referees ruled a handball infraction had been committed by Nice defender Vincent Hognon in the box, giving Lyon a penalty which was converted by Benzema. Looking at the replay, it could have easily been determined that the handball infraction had been without malice and that the penalty should have not been given. However, Lyon escaped with a victory, which moved them into first place. They followed this win up with back to back one goal wins over newly promoted side Le Havre and Nancy giving them five-straight league victories.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
The following week, Lyon received their first loss in the league against Rennes that would later be described as a "thrashing" by the media. Lyon struggled in every aspect of the match and allowed Rennes striker Mickaël Pagis to score a hat-trick, the last goal being a beautiful strike from almost 30 yards out. The loss to Rennes showed as Lyon's horrible form continued drawing with both Lille and Auxerre the following two weeks. Lyon finally got back on track with shut-out wins over Sochaux, Le Mans and Monaco before heading into their showdown with imminent rivals Bordeaux.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
With Lyon playing at home, they proved to still be the most dominant French side in the league, defeating Bordeaux 2–1 with goals from Benzema and a beautiful goal from Kim Källström. The following week, Lyon got another test, this time in Paris. In this match, Lyon not only incurred their second defeat, but they lost their consistent right back Anthony Réveillère to injury with the player likely being out for the season, though he later returned to the squad. The following match, Lyon only managed a 0–0 draw in the downpouring rain against Valenciennes.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
Lyon suffered their third defeat of the season the following week against relegation strugglers Nantes. Lyon came into the match apparently looking ahead to their Champions League clash with Bayern Munich and proceeded to underestimate the West Coast side, who defeated Lyon 1–2 with two goals from the Croat Ivan Klasnić. The loss was promptly followed by a showdown for first place with rivals Marseille the following week. Other than battling for first place, the return of Hatem Ben Arfa to the Stade Gerland was on the minds of supporters, as well as the players.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
However, despite the hype and build-up leading up to the match, including achieving a record television audience, both clubs failed to score a goal as the match ended in another 0–0 draw. Lyon finally ended their winless run with a 1–0 victory over Caen with Benzema scoring Lyon's lone goal, his tenth of the league campaign. With the victory, Lyon were assured first place heading into the three-week winter break.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
Lyon returned from the winter break taking on Lorient. Despite getting an early goal from Ederson, Lyon failed to get a winning result leaving the match with a 1–1 draw. The following week, they rebounded with a 2–0 victory over Grenoble with Ederson getting on the scoreboard for the second-straight week. Due to Lyon's cup matches being postponed, they were forced to endure two cup matches in a span of four days before facing rivals Saint-Étienne. The match ended in another 1–1 draw.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
After a full week of training, Lyon again rebounded from a draw picking up a convincing 3–1 victory over Hugo Lloris' former club Nice, with Jean Makoun scoring an unexpected brace. This match also marked the league debut of youth product Yannis Tafer. The following week, they picked up another convincing 3–1 win, this time against Le Havre, with Makoun scoring again. This match also marked Lyon's third-straight match where a red card was given. The following week, Lyon again earned a victory, defeating Nancy 2–0. Lyon started the match without the majority of their regulars who were being rested for the first leg of their Champion's League showdown with Barcelona.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
Returning from Champion's League play, Lyon faced Rennes, who was responsible for the champions first loss of the season. The match remained even until the 66th minute when Kim Källström scored following a gifted pass from the youngster Miralem Pjanić. The scoreline remained until injury time when Rennes striker Jimmy Briand scored after receiving a nice through-ball which caught Lyon defender Cris off guard. Briand proceeded to get a shot on the ball off balance, which got past the charging Hugo Lloris to tie the match 1–1, the eventual final scoreline.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
Lyon followed this draw with a defeat taking on Lille, whom they had just contested three days ago in a Coupe de France tie. With the match being played at the Stade de France and the clubs entertaining a record crowd, Lyon fielded a pretty strong, yet questionable side with players Mathieu Bodmer and François Clerc returning from a long absence and also having the task of defeating Barcelona in Spain in the second leg of their Champion's League clash.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
In the match, Lyon failed constantly to get on the scoreboard with the former mastiff Kader Keïta missing on numerous opportunities. Lille made sure they made good on their chances with Róbert Vittek scoring the opening goal in the 60th minute and Michel Bastos finishing off Lyon, scoring the second goal in the 88th minute to pick up a 0–2 victory.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
After returning from their embarrassing defeat to Barcelona in Spain, Lyon suffered another embarrassment losing their first match at home this season to minnows Auxerre, despite both management and Claude Puel stating the club would respond positively to their elimination from the Champion's League.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
Fielding exactly the same lineup that lost 2–5 to Barcelona, Lyon failed for the second week in a row to get on the scoreboard losing 0–2 to Auxerre, who got goals from Ireneusz Jeleń and Thomas Kahlenberg, leaving Lyon to hope they get a positive result from the Le Classique in order to hold on to their first-place position.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
They would indeed keep hold of first place as a result of Marseille's 3–1 victory over PSG. Lyon responded by picking up their first league victory in over three matches in a 2–0 win over Sochaux. They captured their second-straight league victory in a win over Le Mans with Karim Benzema securing a much-needed brace in a 3–1 win. With the likes of Marseille, Bordeaux, PSG, Lille and Toulouse on their backs, Lyon needed victories to ensure their eighth-straight league title. They proceeded to falter drawing with mid-table club Monaco 2–2.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
Despite being ten spots down in the table, Monaco were the stronger side forcing Lyon to come back from a goal down twice. The draw also dropped Lyon from the top spot, which they had held since the fourth week of the season. With Marseille recording a victory over Lorient hours before, Lyon needed a victory over Bordeaux to ensure they remain in the title race. Early on in the match, Lyon were denied a clear penalty chance after Ederson was taking down in the box by Bordeaux right back Matthieu Chalmé.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
Bordeaux proceeded to score just before half-time with a goal from the former Lyonnais Alou Diarra after Wendel hit the post on a shot off a corner kick. Chalmé would be involved in another denied penalty dispute later in the match, this time with Benzema. Despite the initial foul occurring inside the penalty box, referee Stéphane Bré ruled the foul had occurred outside the box where Benzema fell.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
Eventually, Lyon fell to Bordeaux dropping the defending champions to third and, instead of fighting for the title, were now fighting for the third and final Champions League place with PSG, whom they faced next week. Played on a Friday, Lyon failed to score a goal for the second straight week as the match ended in a 0–0 draw. The next week against Valenciennes, Lyon endured their seventh defeat of the season, losing 0–2. The lost effectively, but not mathematically, eliminated Lyon from winning their eight consecutive title. That occurred the following week. Despite defeating Nantes 3–0 with Jean Makoun scoring a brace, a victory by Bordeaux over Valenciennes eliminated Lyon from title contention.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
Instead of reminiscing, Lyon took the opportunity to focus on qualifying for next year's UEFA Champions League with a key match against Marseille. Though they were positioned for the third qualifying round in the standings, Lyon looked to jump Marseille into second position to go directly through the group stage. In front of a record crowd for a Marseille match, Lyon cruised to a 3–1 victory, with Benzema finally ending his goal drought scoring a brace. Juninho scored the third goal. The following week, against Caen, Juninho and Benzema scored again in a 3–1 victory.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions
For Juninho, it was his 100th career goal for Lyon. Juninho also received a standing ovation upon being substituted out, in what some knew was his final match at the Stade Gerland. Unfortunately, the victory was with malice since Marseille also won that week. Lyon were now guaranteed to finish in the third spot, meaning they would be seeded directly into the Playoff round, where they might end up facing the likes of the 2008–09 UEFA Cup champions Shakhtar Donetsk and Sporting CP.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, UEFA Champions League
Lyon entered the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League for the eighth-straight season. Due to finishing as champions of Ligue 1 the past season, Lyon again entered directly to the group stage. The draw for the group stage was determined on August 28, 2008. Lyon were paired with the defending German champions Bayern Munich, Italian side Fiorentina and the Romanian runners-up Steaua București.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, UEFA Champions League
Lyon began their Champions League quest at home taking on Fiorentina. Lyon also unveiled their fluorescent green third kit in this match. As with the Nice match, which occurred just four days before, this match had its share of controversy. Following a disappointing first half, with Fiorentina leading 0–2 after two goals from Alberto Gilardino, Lyon came out for the second half with scoring in mind. With Lyon attacking, following a cross into the box, a collision occurred just inside the field of play between Frédéric Piquionne and Fiorentina defender Luciano Zauri, which unexpectedly injured the latter.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, UEFA Champions League
Following a clearance by the Fiorentina defence, it was expected, by Fiorentina, that the ball would be put out of play with fair play being in mind. However, with Lyon trailing 0–2 and several Lyon players not having any idea of Zauri being down, they proceeded to attack and eventually a goal was scored by Piquionne. Following this incident, Lyon still trailed 1–2, but in the 86th minute, after earning a free kick, Juninho and Benzema proceeded to display excellent and sly teamwork as Benzema equalised for his side drawing the match 2–2 and giving both clubs one point through one round.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, UEFA Champions League
With one point in hand, Lyon traveled to Munich to take on group leaders Bayern, who defeated Steaua București 1–0 on the opening matchday. With both teams coming off unimpressive matches a couple of days before (Lyon an unspectacular 2–1 victory over Nancy and Bayern, a 0–1 loss away to Hannover 96), the match showed why with Lyon's only goal coming off the head of Bayern defender Martín Demichelis in the 25th minute from one of Juninho's spot-kicks. Bayern later equalised through Zé Roberto in the second half. Though Lyon had decent chances, including one where Karim Benzema had a chance to capitalize on a Bayern mistake late in the second half, the match remained 1–1 with Lyon leaving Munich with just two points through two matches.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, UEFA Champions League
After starting off slow, Lyon rebounded picking up two victories in their home-away series with Steaua. Similar to last season matches with VfB Stuttgart, Lyon used these matches to get back into the competition defeating Steaua 5–3 in Romania. They came back from a 2–0 deficit and a 3–2 one-goal deficit before finishing off the Romanian side in the latter portion of the second half with a goal from Benzema and a brace from Fred. The second match was a positive result as well, with Lyon picking up a solid 2–0 victory with goals from Juninho and Anthony Réveillère. With the result in the other match between Bayern and Fiorentina being a draw, this moved Lyon into first place in the group (on goal differential) heading into the final two matchdays.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, UEFA Champions League
With the group stage drawing to an end and injuries piling up, Lyon traveled to Florence to again face Fiorentina. Despite having injury troubles at the back of the defense, Lyon performed well and only conceded one goal, again from Alberto Gilardino, though at the time of the goal, Lyon were up 2–0 after goals from Jean Makoun and Karim Benzema. Despite chances from Juninho and Ederson, in which both players hit the post in amazing fashion, the scoreline remained as Lyon booked their place in the knockout stage.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, UEFA Champions League
In the final group stage match, which decided what team would finish first place in the group, Bayern Munich defeated Lyon 2–3, scoring all three of their goals in the first half. Lyon controlled the second half with two goals from Sidney Govou and Benzema, but could not get a third to draw the match or a fourth to win the group. With this result, Lyon went through as second.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, UEFA Champions League, First Knockout Round
For the six-straight season, Lyon reached the first knockout round. Due to finishing second, Lyon faced the danger of being paired with several big clubs that finished first in other groups. Notable clubs Lyon could have been paired with include Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona and Juventus to name a few. Following the draw, Lyon indeed received a tough draw, being given La Liga side Barcelona. Lyon and Barcelona were in the same group the previous Champions League season. Lyon lost to Barcelona 0–3 at the Camp Nou, but played well enough to earn a 2–2 draw at home.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, UEFA Champions League, First Knockout Round
In the opening leg at the Gerland, Lyon got off to a quick start scoring in just the seventh minute with a deceiving free kick, from an odd angle, by Juninho, which confused Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés and eventually with into the inside of the side netting. Lyon continued to perform well into the first half, with the defence constantly pressing Barcelona's attack and Lyon's offence missing on a variety of goal chances. Barcelona eventually got its equaliser from the head of Thierry Henry, drawing the match at 1–1. This was the final scoreline as Lyon headed into the second leg at the Camp Nou.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, UEFA Champions League, First Knockout Round
In the second leg, the exact opposite occurred, with Barcelona constantly pressurizing Lyon in the first half, leaving Barcelona to control the match with most of the possession occurring in Barça's attack. This showed as Barcelona earned first half goals from Henry twice, Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o, which effectively ended Lyon's chances of advancing to the quarter-finals, despite Jean Makoun and Juninho scoring back-to-back goals in the 44th and 48th minutes respectively. The final scoreline eventually was 2–5, eliminating Lyon from the Champion's League for the seventh consecutive season and for the third consecutive season in the Round of 16.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, Coupe de la Ligue
Lyon entered the Coupe de la Ligue season having last won the cup in 2001. The previous season, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Le Mans. As with all other years, Lyon entered the cup in the Round of 16 as they qualified for the UEFA Champions League, where they faced last year's relegated side Metz. However, despite being relegated last season, Metz pulled off a tremendous 1–3 victory eliminating the defending league champions from the competition for the 8th straight season. Since winning the title in 2001, Lyon have only made it to January (usually when the quarter-finals take place) four times.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, Coupe de France
Lyon entered the 2008–2009 Coupe de France season as defending champions, having won the title the previous season in a highly contested 1–0 victory against Paris Saint-Germain. Lyon began the defense of their title heading to the West coast to take on the Brittany-based side US Concarneau. The match was postponed from its assigned 3 January date due to a frozen pitch and was rescheduled to be played on January 24, 2009. Though Lyon were the dominant side the entire match, the score at halftime was only 2–0. Lyon came out blazing in the second half scoring four goals, three of them in the final six minutes of the match to defeat Concarneau by a score of 6–0.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, Coupe de France
Lyon advanced to the Round of 32 where they faced rivals Marseille in what was the first big draw of the Cup. In the match, Lyon got off to a quick start with Karim Benzema scoring the first goal in just the second minute.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, Coupe de France
The rest of the match was fairly even, though, marred with several incidents, including former Lyon player Hatem Ben Arfa receiving a barrage of boos when he entered as a substitute in the 16th minute, as well as every time he touched the ball and Lyon player Kader Keïta picking up a second yellow card for elbowing new Marseille player Brandão in the face. In the end, Benzema's goal was the only goal of the match with Lyon securing their place in the Round of 16, where they faced another secondary rival, Lille.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Competitions, Coupe de France
Lille, whom Lyon were to face in a league tie three days later, opened the scoring with a goal from Michel Bastos in the 22nd minute. Lyon responded just two minutes later with a goal from Jean Makoun. Just before half-time, Lille's prolific youngster Eden Hazard scored to give Lille a 2–1 lead. Lyon again responded just two minutes later in injury time with a goal from a Lyon youngster Anthony Mounier, thus evening the match heading into halftime. With Lyon constantly responding back, Lille effectively ended Lyon's chances of defending their title by scoring at the death with a goal from Nicolas Fauvergue giving Lyon no time to respond back, eliminating the defending champions from the Coupe de France.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Start formations, Starting 11
Note: Formation shown indicates formation used in  club's league match against Toulouse on May 30.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Start formations, Starting 11
Last updated: 30 May 2009Source: Squad stats and Start formations. Only competitive matches. Using the most used start formation. Ordered by position on pitch (from back right to front left).


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Reserves and Academy
The Olympique Lyonnais Reserves and Academy teams will also participate in seasonal activities this season. The second team, Olympique Lyonnais B, will participate in the Championnat de France Amateurs. The under-18 squad will participate in their league, the Championnat National Under-18 and the Coupe Gambardella. The under-16 squad will also participate in their league, Championnat National Under-16, as well as the Coupe Nationale des 16 ans, which is a regional tournament composed of regional squads that play against other regions. Lyon players selected will participate with the Rhône-Alpes team.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Reserves and Academy, Match results
Note: For the squads of the CFA, Under-18, and the Under-16, click here and here.


2008–09 Olympique Lyonnais season, Olympique Lyonnais Ladies
The Olympique Lyonnais Ladies will also participate in their respective activities this season. The ladies, just like their male counterparts, won the double last season. They will compete in the top tier French women's division, the Division 1 Féminine, the women's version of the Coupe de France, the Challenge de France, and the UEFA Women's Cup, where they will begin from the second qualifying round.


2008–09 Olympique de Marseille season
During the 2008–09 French football season, Olympique de Marseille competed in Ligue 1.


2008–09 Olympique de Marseille season, Season summary
Marseille finished 3 points behind league champions Bordeaux. Manager Eric Gerets left after his contract expired at the end of the season. Replacing him was former Marseille player Didier Deschamps.


2008–09 Olympique de Marseille season, First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Olympique de Marseille season, First-team squad, Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Omani League
The 2008–09 Omani League was the 33rd edition of the top football league in Oman. It began on 23 October 2008 and finished on 27 May 2009. Al-Oruba SC were the defending champions, having won the previous 2007–08 Omani League season. On Wednesday, 27 May 2009, Al-Nahda Club lost 1-0 away in their final league match against Sur SC and emerged as the champions of the 2008–09 Omani League with a total of 45 points.


2008–09 Omani League, Teams
This season the league had 12 teams. Al-Wahda SC, Oman Club and Bahla Club were relegated to the Second Division League after finishing in the relegation zone in the 2007-08 season. The three relegated teams were replaced by Second Division League teams Sohar SC, Saham SC and Al-Shabab Club.


2008–09 Oregon Ducks men's basketball team
The 2008–09 Oregon Ducks men's basketball team represented the University of Oregon in the college basketball season of 2008–09. The team was coached by Ernie Kent and played their home games at McArthur Court.


2008–09 Oregon Ducks men's basketball team
The season came to an end on March 11, 2009 when the Ducks lost to Washington State in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, 62–40. There were speculations that coach Ernie Kent would be fired after the season, however, he was retained as head coach.


2008–09 Oregon Ducks men's basketball team, Roster
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.


2008–09 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team
The 2008–09 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team represented Oregon State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball during the 2008–09 season. Playing in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) and led by first-year head coach Craig Robinson, the Beavers finished the season with a 18–18 overall record and won the 2009 College Basketball Invitational. It was Oregon State's first-ever postseason tournament championship. Their 12-win improvement over the previous season was the third-highest turnaround in Division I in 2008–09.


2008–09 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team
In Pac-10 play, the Beavers finished in eighth place with a 7–11 record. They lost in the first round of the 2009 Pac-10 Tournament to Stanford, 62–54.


2008–09 Oregon State Beavers women's basketball team
The 2008–09 Oregon State Beavers women's basketball team represented Oregon State University in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Beavers were coached by LaVonda Wagner. The Beavers are a member of the Pacific-10 Conference and competed in the Women's National Invitation Tournament. Oregon State finished the 2008-09 season with a 20-12, the team's most victories since the 1994-95 season.


2008–09 Oregon State Beavers women's basketball team, Regular season
Entering the year, OSU was selected to finish eighth by both the league's coaches and media. The Beavers were 9-9 in Pacific-10 Conference games, finishing in a tie for fourth place. The nine wins were their most wins in league since the 2001-02 season. Oregon State was 13-3 in home games, 6-6 in games played on the road and 1-3 in neutral site contests. Oregon State won 11 non-conference games, which is the most for a Beavers' team since the club joined the Pac-10 more than 20 years ago. Oregon State went 6-0 in the month of December, the first time the team ever accomplished that. It also marked the longest win streak for Oregon State since the 2000-01 season.


2008–09 Oregon State Beavers women's basketball team, Player stats
Brittney Davis scored in double figures in the last 17 games straight. Of the Beavers' 32 games in 2008-09, she reached at least 10 points in 24. Talisa Rhea set the Pacific-10 Conference single-game record for three-pointers with 10 in the season opener against Sacramento State. She finished the game with 42 points, which is tied for fifth-most in school history. Rhea also had 64 three-pointers in 2008-09, the third-most in a single season. After just two seasons, she has made 131 three-pointers, which is second-most by an Oregon State player. As a team, the Beavers shot .744 from the free-throw line, a school record. That surpassed the previous best, set in 2004-05, of .734.


2008–09 Oregon State Beavers women's basketball team, Postseason, Women’s National Invitation Tournament
Oregon State made its second trip to the WNIT under head coach LaVonda Wagner and the sixth since the 2001 season. The Beavers opened the WNIT with a 59-47 victory over Portland State at legendary Gill Coliseum. Advancing to the third round, they lost to New Mexico, 61-56, in Rio Rancho. All-time, Oregon State is 12-6 (.667) in the WNIT, winning it in 1980 and 1982. Carol Menken holds the school record for points in a WNIT game with 33 against Drake in 1980.


2008–09 Oregon State Beavers women's basketball team, Postseason, Women’s National Invitation Tournament
Davis scored her last collegiate three-pointer with 7.2 seconds remaining to pull the Beavers to within three points, making the score 59-56. The shot, a running jumper from way beyond the three-point line, came just seconds after New Mexico nailed two free throws.


2008–09 Oregon State Beavers women's basketball team, Awards and honors
April 25: The Oregon State women's basketball team held its annual banquet at the Club (level) at Reser. The event was sponsored by The Rebounders, the Oregon State women's basketball booster organization. There were more than 200 in attendance at the event, which served as an opportunity to honor the team's seniors: Tiffany Ducker, Brittney Davis and Mercedes Fox-Griffin, and to celebrate the team's accomplishments.


2008–09 Orlando Magic season
The 2008–09 Orlando Magic season was the 20th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Led by 23-year-old center Dwight Howard, the team finished the regular season with a 59–23 record, the most wins since the 1995–96 season.


2008–09 Orlando Magic season
The Magic would go on to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers in six games in the First Round, highlighted by forward Hedo Türkoğlu's game winner in game four of the first round of the playoffs, then defeated the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in a tough, hard-fought seven-game series in the semi-finals, and finally, defeated the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in six games in the conference finals, thanks to all-star defensive player of the year center Dwight Howard's 40 points and 10 rebounds in Game 6, to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1995, only to lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.


2008–09 Orlando Magic season
Following the season, Türkoğlu was traded to the Toronto Raptors in a three-team deal and Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee were all dealt to the New Jersey Nets. It was also Tyronn Lue’s last season as an NBA player, as 6 years later, he would return to the NBA, as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.


2008–09 Orlando Magic season, Roster
Traded out during season: 10. Bogans, Keith (SG) 43. Cook, Brian (PF) 29. Wilks, Mike (G)


2008–09 Orlando Magic season, Regular season
The first half of the 2008–09 season went very well for the Magic. After 41 games, the Magic were 33–8, leading the Southeast Division, as well as having one of the top four records in the league. On January 13, 2009, they scored an NBA record 23 three-pointers against the Sacramento Kings. Nine of the twelve Magic players who played that night scored at least one three pointer. At the start of February, Jameer Nelson, their all-star starting point guard, went down with a shoulder injury which caused him to miss the remainder of the season.


2008–09 Orlando Magic season, Regular season
The Magic then began a stretch where they did not win or lose consecutive games for almost the entire month. The Magic did make a deal at the trade deadline with the Houston Rockets for Rafer Alston. Still having to deal with the absence of Nelson though, Orlando managed to maintain one of the top records in the league, secured a second straight winning season, and clinched a playoff berth in mid-March.


2008–09 Orlando Magic season, Regular season
The Magic defeated the defending champion Boston Celtics to capture their second consecutive division championship, and on the same night assured themselves of winning more games than the previous season. Finishing the regular season with a 59–23 record, it was the most games the team had won in a season since the 1995–96 season in which they had 60 wins.


2008–09 Orlando Magic season, Playoffs
The Magic drew the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs. With the series tied at two wins for each team, Game 5 saw Vivani an incident in the 1st quarter involving Dwight Howard throwing an elbow at 76ers center Samuel Dalembert. Howard was assessed a technical foul but was not ejected from the game. The NBA reviewed the play and suspended Howard for Game 6. A second incident involving an elbow from Dwight Howard happened in Game 5 not long after the elbow to Dalembert.


2008–09 Orlando Magic season, Playoffs
This time however, Magic rookie Courtney Lee was the recipient of the hit from his teammate. Lee left the game and did not return. Suffering a fractured sinus, it was announced that Lee was expected to have surgery and could miss the remainder of the postseason. Neither player's absence would prove costly to Orlando in Game 6, who won the series with a blowout on the road, and Lee returned to action in the next series wearing a protective face mask, such as one worn by Richard Hamilton.


2008–09 Orlando Magic season, Playoffs
In the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the Magic faced the defending champion Boston Celtics. Facing a 3–2 series deficit, the Magic tied the series with a home game victory in Game 6 and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals by winning Game 7 on the road, ending Boston's 32–0 undefeated record when leading the series 3–2. Assistant Coach Patrick Ewing had guaranteed a win in Game 7.


2008–09 Orlando Magic season, Playoffs
Returning to the conference finals for the first time since 1996, the Magic's opponent was the Cleveland Cavaliers, who compiled the league's best regular season record led by the season's MVP, LeBron James. That didn't stop the Magic as they closed the series out at home in Game 6, winning 103–90 as Dwight Howard scored 40 points, a career high for him in a playoff game. The Magic won the series 4–2, the Eastern Conference championship, and the right to face the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2009 NBA Finals.


2008–09 Orlando Magic season, Playoffs
After dropping the first two games in the series, the Magic finally won their first ever game in the finals in Game 3. With the franchise losing their first six finals games 1995 and 2009 combined, it was the second most games a team had lost in the finals before earning their first win. However, in Game 4 the Magic lost to the Lakers 99–91 in overtime; the Lakers took a 3–1 series lead and won again in Game 5, thus ending the Magic's longest playoff run in team history and ending up 1–8 in the finals.


2008–09 Országos Bajnokság I (men's water polo)
2008–09 Országos Bajnokság I (men's water polo) (known as the Vodafone férfi OB I osztályú Országos Bajnokság for sponsorship reasons) was the 103rd water polo championship in Hungary.


2008–09 Országos Bajnokság I (men's water polo), First stage
Pld - Played; W - Won; L - Lost; G+ - Points for; G- - Points against; Diff - Difference; P - Points.


2008–09 Országos Bajnokság I (men's water polo), European competition Playoff
Pld - Played; W - Won; L - Lost; G+ - Points for; G- - Points against; Diff - Difference; P - Points; BP - Bonus Points.


2008–09 Országos Bajnokság I (men's water polo), Relegation Playoff
Pld - Played; W - Won; L - Lost; G+ - Points for; G- - Points against; Diff - Difference; P - Points; Bp - Bonus Points.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season
The 2008–09 Ottawa Senators season was the team's 17th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team began the season with a new head coach, Craig Hartsburg, and numerous personnel changes after narrowly making the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs. However, the team had a losing record under the new coach and he was fired in February, replaced by Binghamton Senators' head coach Cory Clouston. The team improved its record under Clouston, but not enough to qualify for the 2009 playoffs, ending an 11-year string of qualifying for the playoffs.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Off-season
It was an off-season of numerous personnel changes. Wade Redden, a long-time Senator, signed a contract as a free agent with the New York Rangers. Ray Emery and Brian McGrattan, considered poor influences in the dressing room, were discarded. The Senators re-signed forwards Shean Donovan, Chris Kelly and Antoine Vermette and made several free agent signings, including Alex Auld, Jarkko Ruutu and Jason Smith. After an extended period of negotiations with Andrej Meszaros failed to produce a contract, the Tampa Bay Lightning showed interest in the defenceman, who was a restricted free agent. Unable to provide the draft picks needed to compensate the Senators, a trade was made and the Senators received Filip Kuba, Alexandre Picard and a first-round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft from Tampa Bay.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Off-season, Highlights
On June 5, it was reported that Wade Redden would not sign a contract paying $3.5 million annually with the Senators. He instead became an unrestricted free agent (UFA) on July 1 and signed a six-year, $39 million contract with the New York Rangers. On June 13, 2008, the Senators named Craig Hartsburg, coach of the Ontario Hockey League's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, the new head coach after having interviewed candidates Bob Hartley and Peter DeBoer. Hartsburg signed a three-year contract with the Senators.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Off-season, Highlights
On June 20, the day of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, the Senators placed Ray Emery on waivers and re-signed Chris Kelly to a new four-year, $8.5 million contract. At the draft, the Senators selected Erik Karlsson with their first-round pick (15th overall) and proceeded to select Patrick Wiercioch (42nd overall), Zack Smith (79th overall), Andre Petersson (109th overall), Derek Grant (119th overall), Mark Borowiecki (139th overall) and Emil Sandin (199th overall).


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Off-season, Highlights
On July 1, the Senators announced that they had signed goaltender Alex Auld to a two-year contract worth $1 million annually. Auld is expected to serve as a backup to Martin Gerber for the 2008–09 season. On July 2, the Senators announced that they had re-signed forward Shean Donovan to a two-year contract at $625,000 per season. The Sens also announced that they have signed forward Jarkko Ruutu to a three-year contract worth $1.3 million per season. On July 5, the Ottawa Senators announced that Antoine Vermette had elected to take the club to salary arbitration.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Off-season, Highlights
The Senators and Vermette agreed to a two-year deal on July 31. On July 8, the Senators announced that they had signed defenceman Jason Smith to a two-year, $5.2 million contract. On July 16, the Senators announced that they will host the Detroit Red Wings in their official home-opener on October 11. On July 17, the Ottawa Senators and CHUM Radio announced that the club and The Team 1200 had signed a multi-year extension to their agreement to broadcast Senators' games. The original ten-year contract expired at the end of the 2007–08 season. On July 31, the Ottawa Senators and Antoine Vermette avoided going to arbitration by agreeing to terms on a new two-year contract worth $5.525 million. Vermette would make $2.525 million and $3 million for the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons respectively.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Off-season, Highlights
On August 29, in a trade similar to the Alexei Yashin trade in 2001, former first-round pick Andrej Meszaros was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Filip Kuba, Alexandre Picard and a first-round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft (obtained by Tampa Bay in an earlier trade with the San Jose Sharks). Meszaros was a restricted free agent demanding $1 million more per season than what the Senators were willing to offer.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Off-season, Highlights
After Tampa threatened to offer Meszaros an offer sheet with picks as compensation on August 28, the Senators opted to make a trade with Tampa. Meszaros subsequently signed a six-year, $24 million contract on August 30 with the Lightning. On September 2, the Senators made a deal with the Vancouver Canucks and traded defenceman Lawrence Nycholat for centre/right winger Ryan Shannon. On the same day, they signed another former Canucks player, Brad Isbister, who was an unrestricted free agent. On September 27, veteran defenseman Luke Richardson re-signed on a one-year, two-way contract with the Senators for his second season with the club.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Pre-season
On October 2, the Senators played their first-ever game in Europe, a pre-season exhibition game in Gothenburg, Sweden, against Frolunda HC, which Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson played for before joining the NHL and during the 2004–05 NHL lockout. The Senators finished the 2008 pre-season with a record of 4–2–0–0.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
The Senators started their season with a pair of games in Stockholm, Sweden. The Senators played the Pittsburgh Penguins twice at the Scandinavium on October 4 and October 5. The teams split the results, with the Penguins winning the first in overtime and the Senators winning the second. New Senator defenceman Filip Kuba picked up at least one point in each of the Senators' first eight games of the season, setting the NHL record for consecutive team games with assists from the start of a season by a defenceman. The previous mark of seven was set by Brad Park with the Boston Bruins in 1981–82. All points were assists and Kuba did not score his first goal with the Senators until November 13.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
Alexander Nikulin, who had been demoted to the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Binghamton Senators, threatened to return to Russia unless he was traded. As a result, he was traded from Binghamton to the Phoenix Coyotes' AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, for Drew Fata.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
For a game on November 22 against the New York Rangers, the Senators unveiled their new third jersey. Marketed as "Back in Black," the jersey is primarily black. The Senators' primary logo moves to the shoulders and the nickname "SENS" is across the front of the jersey.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
Prior to that game, the Senators players, the team below the playoff cutoff in the standings for most of October through November, decided to grow moustaches, similar to the playoff beard tradition of teams in the playoffs. The team started growing the moustaches following a loss to the Montreal Canadiens on November 20. The idea originated with Dany Heatley.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
On November 27, the Senators waived Luke Richardson, a veteran of nearly 20 years in the NHL. He was not picked up by any other team and subsequently retired. He had not seen much playing time with Senators, and had been a healthy scratch several times in the season.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
From December until early January, the Senators took an eight-game road trip as Scotiabank Place was used for the 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. The team, already well back of a playoff spot, received intense scrutiny by the media, believing a "shake-up" of some kind was imminent. The team only won one game on the road trip, and on January 7, Owner Eugene Melnyk was compelled to respond to media reports of the imminent firings of General Manager Bryan Murray and Head Coach Craig Hartsburg:


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
“Contrary to what is being reported today by the media, I have made no decisions with respect to any personnel changes within the Senators organization. Winning remains our No. 1 priority and there is a collective focus by our management, our coaching staff and our players to deliver this to our fans. I, along with our fans, will do nothing but continue to remain fully committed to our Senators and enthusiastically cheer them on to a successful second half of the season. This is crunch time. Now, more than ever, is the time to rally behind our team. We don’t surrender half-way through the season. Every victory from here on in matters. We know it and the fans know it. Period.”


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
At the end of the road trip on January 8, the club was 13 points behind the eighth and final playoff spot, held by the Buffalo Sabres. The Ottawa Citizen launched the "Tavares Cup," similar in spirit to the "Daigle Cup" of 1993, to keep track of the bottom five teams in the NHL, all of which had a chance, at least via the draft lottery, to draft the highly rated junior player, John Tavares. At the time of the start of the "competition," the Senators were within the lowest five teams in the League.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
Also on January 7, forward Jarkko Ruutu received a suspension of two games for biting in an altercation with a Buffalo Sabres forward on January 6. It was Ruutu's second suspension of the season, after elbowing a Montreal Canadiens forward earlier in the season.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
On January 9, 2009, goaltender Brian Elliott was recalled by Ottawa from Binghamton. He had been named the AHL's Goaltender of the Month for December. On January 15, Senators goaltender Martin Gerber was demoted to Binghamton for a two-week conditioning stint; he was placed on waivers and was assigned to Binghamton on January 27. Elliott started six games in a row and remained with Ottawa.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
On January 29, less than a month after previous comments to the media about the Senators, Eugene Melnyk responded to media speculation about possible organization changes with another memorable quote:


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
“Anybody that says we should blow up this organization should get their own bomb and go blow themselves up.”


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
At the time, the Senators remained near the bottom of the League in 29th place, with the lowest goal-scoring record in the NHL.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
However, only three days later, on February 2, Head Coach Craig Hartsburg was fired, ending his tenure with the Senators at only 48 games. Following a 7–4 loss to the Washington Capitals on February 1, Hartsburg had called out his team for not playing hard. Binghamton Senators' Head Coach Cory Clouston was elevated to head coach of Ottawa for the balance of the season. Clouston became the fourth head coach to coach the Senators in a year, prompting the media to dub the players as "coach-killers." Assistant Coach Curtis Hunt was also let go (he became the Binghamton head coach) and recently retired defenceman Luke Richardson joined the coaching staff as an assistant.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
On February 12, former Head Coach John Paddock (who had moved on to coach the AHL' Philadelphia Phantoms) weighed in on the firing, stating that at some point that GM Bryan Murray would be held accountable:


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
“I think now he's next in line. We were 14 games over .500 when I was fired. They're seven under now. Somebody needs to take responsibility for that. Whether the coaches he hired and fired were good or not, they're his players and they're either not playing good or can't play, one or the other.” He was then asked which was the case: “The players are not very good, that's the problem.”


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
Paddock apologized to Murray via e-mail. Murray commented, "I'm disappointed and a little bit surprised by it. I'm not sure what purpose he was trying to achieve doing that. He sent me an apology. The only complaint I ever had with John was that I didn't think he worked hard enough at getting himself ready and getting the team ready to play games."


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
Late in February and early in March, as the season neared the trade deadline, the team still held out hold of making the playoffs although the team remained over ten points out of a playoff spot, as the team was winning more often with Clouston. The Senators began making roster deals, sending Dean McAmmond and a 2009 first-round pick for Chris Campoli and Mike Comrie. By the NHL trade deadline day of March 4, Murray admitted to the media that the club would be "sellers" and had given up hope of making the playoffs. On March 4, Antoine Vermette was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for goaltender Pascal Leclaire and a draft pick. Martin Gerber was put on waivers three times and was finally picked up by the Toronto Maple Leafs.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
Although the club improved its record under new coach Clouston, including a 10–5–0 record in March, it was not enough to salvage the season. On March 31, following a loss to the Florida Panthers and a win by the Montreal Canadiens, the club was officially eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 1996.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season
Although eliminated, the team continued to play well, including a nine-game win streak on home ice. By April 8, the team's record under Clouston was 19–10–3 and he was rewarded with a two-year deal to continue coaching the Senators.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season, Conference standings
bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Regular season, Conference standings
AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Player statistics, Goaltenders
#Retired. †Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Senators. Stats reflect time with Senators only. ‡Traded mid-season.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Playoffs
The Senators attempted to make the playoffs for the 12th straight season. Prior to the season, a majority of predictions by the media placed the Senators to enter the playoffs as the fourth seed or lower. Some, including The Hockey News' Adam Proteau, placed the team to miss the playoffs altogether. However, if they make the playoffs, Proteau plans to


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Playoffs
“Commission a musical mash-up consisting of Alanis Morissette and Paul Anka music – and Tom Green's short-lived professional rap career – and listen to it on repeat for an entire drive from Toronto to Ottawa. And back, even.”


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Playoffs
After changing coaches and improving play, the Senators were not able to qualify for the playoffs. On March 31, the Senators were mathematically eliminated from the playoff race.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Draft picks
Ottawa's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario.


2008–09 Ottawa Senators season, Farm teams
The Senators continued their affiliation with the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League (AHL) and added an affiliation agreement with the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL. In previous years, Elmira had accepted players from Binghamton on a player-by-player basis. The new agreement formalized the arrangement of Elmira as the primary affiliate of Binghamton and the secondary affiliate of Ottawa.


2008–09 Owen Cup
Following are the results of the 2008-09 Owen Cup, the Staffordshire, England Rugby Union Cup played at Senior Level.


2008–09 PAOK FC season
The 2008–09 season is PAOK FC's 50th consecutive season in the Super League Greece.


2008–09 PAOK FC season, Statistics, Squad statistics
Appearances denote players in the starting lineup, with the numbers in parentheses denoting appearances as substitute.


2008–09 PAOK FC season, Statistics, Disciplinary record
Only competitive matches Ordered by ,   and   = Number of bookings;   = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card;  = Number of sending offs by a direct red card. 0 shown as blank


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup
The 2008-09 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup or known as the 2008-09 KFC PBA Philippine Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the first conference of the 2008-09 PBA season. The tournament started on October 4, 2008 and ended on February 11, 2009. The new conference will have games on Thursdays and Saturdays. The tournament is an All-Filipino format, which bans an import or a pure-foreign player for each team.


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup
The tournament featured the first ever regular season game played in Singapore. It was played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium between the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters and the San Miguel Beermen on November 30.


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup, Format
The following format was observed for the duration of the conference:


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup, Quarterfinals, (3) Barangay Ginebra vs. (6) San Miguel
In a battle of the two teams owned by the San Miguel Corporation, the Beermen escaped with a one-point win at game 1. The Kings averted elimination when the Beermen collapsed at Game 2, but Dondon Hontiveros lead the charge at game 3's fourth quarter to prevent a second-consecutive PBA championship for Ginebra as the Beermen closed out the Kings in a sold-out Cuneta Astrodome.


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup, Quarterfinals, (4) Rain or Shine vs (5) Sta. Lucia
In their first playoff appearance since joining the league in 2006, the Elasto Painters were overwhelmed in Game 1 by the defending champions, who played with the comebacking Ryan Reyes who just came from injury. Fracas involving Rain or Shine's Gabe Norwood and Solomon Mercado at the end of the first game caused Norwood to be suspended in Game 2, and Mercado on Game 3 if it happens. The short-handed Elasto Painters wound up short in Game 2 as they were eliminated.


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup, Semifinals, (1) Alaska vs (5) Sta. Lucia
In a rematch of the 2007-08 semifinals series, the Aces won two consecutive game to lead the series 2–0. However, the Realtors won Game 3 to cut the series lead. But Alaska, seeking to prevent what happened last year, won Game 4 to take a commanding 3–1 series lead. Sta. Lucia won Game 5 but they came out short in Game 6 with Willie Miller having an all-around performance to lead the Aces to a rematch of the 2007 PBA Fiesta Conference Finals against Talk 'N Text.


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup, Semifinals, (2) Talk 'N Text vs. (6) San Miguel
Unlike the other semifinal which was a slow defensive battle, the Talk 'N Text–San Miguel matchup was a high-scoring offensive-minded series, with both teams passing the century mark in all of the games. The Texters walloped the winded Beermen in Game 1 with a 29-point win, but the Beermen were able to get even with a Game 2 victory. The Texters escaped at Game 3 thanks to Jimmy Alapag's clutch baskets, despite Hontiveros' 39-point explosion.


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup, Semifinals, (2) Talk 'N Text vs. (6) San Miguel
In a do-or-die Game 5, Marc Pingris and former Talk 'N Text player Jay Washington had double-double efforts to prevent the Texters from barging in the Finals. With Yancy de Ocampo was suspended after committing a flagrant foul-penalty 2 against Danny Seigle in Game 6, his brother Ranidel was ejected in the second quarter with the same offense. The game was close until the third quarter when the Texters made a run, but the Beermen tied the game at the end of the fourth quarter; Alapag missed a go-ahead tree-pointer as time expired to force overtime.


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup, Semifinals, (2) Talk 'N Text vs. (6) San Miguel
With 1:57 left in overtime, Washington scored on a put-back to put SMB up 115–113. On the next possession, Mark Cardona converted his own three-pointer to put TNT up 116–115. Washington missed a short stab, and Harvey Carey missed his own shot at the other end. Ali Peek tapped the ball, and Cardona grabbed it as time expired, to lead the Texters into the Finals.


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup Finals
The 2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup Finals was the best-of-7  championship series of the 2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The Alaska Aces and the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters played for the 96th championship contested by the league.


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup Finals
This wss the first Philippine Cup Finals where no team from the San Miguel Corporation took part since 2000, and the second time the Aces and the Tropang Texters met in the finals, the first was from the 2007 PBA Fiesta Conference in which the Aces won in seven games.


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, Series summary, Game 5
Conference best player Willie Miller knocked in a big triple to make up for two crucial errors down the stretch. TNT had a chance to salvage the game but Renren Ritualo misfired his own three-point try then Harvey Carey missed a tip-in in the last eight seconds.


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, Broadcast notes
*Marjon filled in for Picson who mistakenly went to the Araneta Coliseum instead of the Cuneta Astrodome which was the Game 5 venue.


2008–09 PBA Philippine Cup Finals, Broadcast notes
Music used in the coverage were "We Made It" by Busta Rhymes featuring Linkin Park.


2008–09 PBA season
The 2008–09 PBA season was the 34th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. The season formally opened on October 4, 2008  and ended on July 17, 2009.This was the first time that the league will hold their opening ceremonies on a Saturday. The league started the season with the 2008-09 Philippine Cup, or the traditional All-Filipino Conference, while capping off the season with the import-laiden 2009 Fiesta Conference.


2008–09 PBA season
The first activity of the season was the 2008 PBA Draft last August 31 at the Market! Market! in Taguig.


2008–09 PBA season, Pre-season events, Broadcast contracts
The 2008-09 season would be the first season under the PBA's new broadcast contract with Solar Sports. Games would now air on their cable channel Basketball TV, and on the stations of the Radio Philippines Network (who curiously, were the first broadcaster of the PBA) after an intense bidding war between Solar and ABS-CBN.


2008–09 PBA season, Opening ceremonies
The season began on October 4 with the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters defeating the Coca Cola Tigers, 98-97.


2008–09 PBA season, Smart Gilas exhibition games
Exhibition games were held prior to Games 4 and 6 of the Philippine Cup Finals between the Smart Gilas (Philippines team that will compete in the FIBA Asia Championship 2011) coached by Rajko Toroman and previously eliminated teams from the Philippine Cup. The games also marked the appearance of the newly renamed Burger King Titans team formerly known as the Air21 Express.


2008–09 PBA season, Philippines-Australia goodwill series
An Australian team was invited to a two-game series between the national team, with the winner of a game being awarded P75,000 (about A$4,340).


2008–09 PBA season, 2009 PBA All-Star Weekend
The 2009 PBA All-Star Weekend was held from April 22 to April 26 at three different cities, particularly: Victorias, Negros Occidental (April 22), Panabo, Davao del Norte (April 24), and Quezon City (April 26). The winners were:


2008–09 PFC CSKA Sofia season
The 2008–09 season was PFC CSKA Sofia's 58th season in A Group. This article shows player statistics and all matches (official and friendly) that the club have and will play during the 2008–09 season.


2008–09 PFC CSKA Sofia season, Players in/out, Summer transfers
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 PFC CSKA Sofia season, Players in/out, Summer transfers
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 PFC CSKA Sofia season, Players in/out, Winter transfers
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 PFC CSKA Sofia season, Players in/out, Winter transfers
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 PFC Cherno More Varna season
This page covers all relevant details regarding PFC Cherno More Varna for all official competitions inside the 2008-09 season. These are A PFG, Bulgarian Cup and UEFA Cup.


2008–09 PFC Levski Sofia season
The 2008–09 PFC Levski Sofia season included the club's 26th win of the A group of Bulgarian professional football, A Group. Additionally they competed in the Semi-finals of the 2008–09 Bulgarian Cup, but lost to OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad. The club made it to the third round of the UEFA Champions League. The top goal scorer was Georgi Ivanov with 13 total goals. The club changed managers from Velislav Vutsov to Emil Velev on the 13th of August 2008.


2008–09 PFC Levski Sofia season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 PFF League
The 2008–09 PFF League was the 5th season of Pakistan Football Federation League, second tier of Pakistan Football Federation. The season started on 28 December 2008 concluded on 11 March 2009.


2008–09 PSV Eindhoven season
During the 2008–09 Dutch football season, PSV Eindhoven competed in the Eredivisie.


2008–09 PSV Eindhoven season, Season summary
Despite winning the Johan Cruyff Shield, manager Huub Stevens resigned in late January. His assistant Dwight Lodeweges acted as caretaker manager for the rest of the season, leaving at the season's end to manage NEC Nijmegen.


2008–09 PSV Eindhoven season, First-team squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 PSV Eindhoven season, First-team squad, Left club during season
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season
The 2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season ended with six teams participating in the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and two teams playing in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season
The Washington Huskies won the regular season championship and its head coach Lorenzo Romar was named coach of the year.


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season
Only three teams, Washington (#14), UCLA (#17) and Arizona State (#19), finished the season in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. They were #15, #18, and #19 respectively in the "AP Top 25" polls. However, in the final post-NCAA tournament coaches' poll, Arizona was also ranked, coming in at #24, behind Washington (#16), UCLA (#18) and Arizona State (#19).


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Pre-season
Mike Montgomery, who was previously the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal, came back to college coaching with the California Golden Bears. Craig Robinson, President Barack Obama's brother-in-law, became the head coach of the Oregon State. Lute Olson retired from Arizona and Russ Pennell took over.


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Pre-season
Pac-10 teams participated in the Pac-10/Big 12 Series. They also took part in other x-season tournament games, including the 2K Sports Classic, and the John R. Wooden Classic in the Honda Center. Oregon Ducks played in the Maui Invitational Tournament and Washington State Cougars were there at the Legends Classic.


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Conference games
Washington was first in scoring offense and rebounding offense, while Washington State was first in scoring defense and free throw percentage in conference games. UCLA was on top in scoring margin, field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage.


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Conference games
Arizona led the conference in attendance with a total of 232,576 in 17 games, averaging 13,681 (14,545 capacity).


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Conference tournament
USC, the #6 seed team, won the 2009 Pacific Life Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on March 14, in front of a crowd of 16,988. The team defeated #4 seed Arizona State and won the school's first tournament championship. It was also the first time a team seeded sixth in the tournament went on to win the championship. The Trojans received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament.


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Postseason
Six Pac-10 teams participated in the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Five teams won their first round games, but only Arizona played in the regional semi-finals. The Wildcats lost to Louisville 103–64.


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Postseason
Oregon State and Stanford played in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Oregon State defeated Stanford (65–62) in over-time in the semi-finals and played UTEP for the championship in a best of three-game series. Oregon State won the CBI title by winning the first and third games over UTEP.


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Highlights and notes
At the end of March 2009, Washington State head coach Tony Bennett announced that he was leaving Washington State to take the head coaching job at Virginia. Ken Bone, formerly with Portland State, takes over.


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Highlights and notes
On March 31, 2009, UCLA's senior point guard Darren Collison was named the 2009 recipient of the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The award goes to the "nation's outstanding senior male collegian 6'0" and under who has excelled both athletically and academically."


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Highlights and notes
Russ Pennell left Arizona after a year coaching one of the country's premiere basketball programs. He coached the Wildcats to the Sweet 16, where the team lost the final game to Louisville, 103–64. USC's Tim Floyd went to Tucson for an interview of the Arizona job, but he decided to remain at USC. Sean Miller, former Xavier coach, accepted the job on April 6.


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Highlights and notes
The conference set a new attendance record with 8,541 per game, beating the 2007 record of 8,524.


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Awards and honors, All-Americans
James Harden (SG, Sophomore), of Arizona State was named to the 2009 Consensus All-America first team. He was listed on the Associated Press, the USBWA, and the Sporting News All-American lists to qualify for the "Consensus All-America".


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Awards and honors, All-Americans
The following players from Pac-10 were honored on the AP All American list:


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Awards and honors, All-Academic
The 2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball All-Academic teams (minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average and be either a starter or significant contributor):


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Awards and honors, All-Academic
Taylor Rochestie, of Washington State, was named a Pacific-10 Conference winter Scholar-Athletes of the Year.


2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Awards and honors, USBWA All-District team
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association's 2008–09 Men's All-District Teams (District IX: CA, OR, WA, HI, AZ, AK):


2008–09 Pakistan Premier League
The 2008 season is the 54th season of Pakistan domestic football and the 5th season of the Pakistan Premier League, and was held from July 22, 2008 to December 6, 2008 under the auspices of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF).


2008–09 Pakistan Premier League, Format
Teams play each other on a home and away basis


2008–09 Pakistan Premier League, Format
The winners will represent Pakistan at the 2009 AFC President's Cup. The bottom two teams will be relegated to the Pakistan Football Federation League. Two teams will be promoted to the PPL.


2008–09 Pakistan Premier League, Format
The matches will be held at 1:00 and 3:00 pm respectively on home and away basis. This time the winning bonus will be Rs 500,000, the runners-up team will receive Rs 300,000 while the third position holder will receive Rs 100,000. All matches are likely to be supervised by neutral referees.


2008–09 Pakistan Premier League, The 2008 season
KPT F.C. lead from the start and up to the midway point remained ahead of KRL, WAPDA and Army, who all made slips up. However, by the final third of the season KPT began to falter, and towards the end of the season it became a three horse race between Army, WAPDA and KRL, just as it has done the past four seasons. The season ended with WAPDA holding on to the title with Army in second over perennial third placers KRL. Pakistan Steel and PTV were both relegated.


2008–09 Pakistan Premier League, The 2008 season
WAPDA were given Rs500,000 as champions of Pakistan, while Pakistan Amy and KRL picked up Rs300,000 and Rs200,000 respectively. The Fair Play trophy along with Rs100,000 went to Afghan Club. Player of the season and Rs100,000 went to KRL F.C. defender Samar Ishaq. His teammate Mohammad Rasool was top scorers and received Rs50,000. While Abdul Aziz of WAPDA was goalkeeper of the season and was given Rs50,000. Ali Nawaz Baloch was best match commissioner and Mohammad Rauf Bari was best referee and each took Rs50,000


2008–09 Panathinaikos F.C. season
The 2008–09 season is Panathinaikos' 50th consecutive season in the Super League Greece. They have qualified for the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round for the 2008–09 season. The 2007–08 season ended with Jose Peseiro's removal from the team's bench. After a year's absence they will return to Athens Olympic Stadium for the season. On 27 May 2008 after two hours of conversations between Panathinaikos chairmen, it was decided that Nikos Pateras would take over as Panathinaikos president. On 13 June 2008 Panathinaikos announced that the new team coach will be Henk ten Cate for the next two years.


2008–09 Panathinaikos F.C. season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Panathinaikos F.C. season, Squad changes for 2008/09 season
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Panathinaikos F.C. season, Squad changes for 2008/09 season
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Panathinaikos F.C. season, Squad changes for 2008/09 season
Out on loan:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2008–09 Panionios F.C. season
The 2008–09 season is Panionios is 118th season in existence and its 48th in the top tier of the modern Greek football league system. They will also compete in the Greek Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup. This year Álvaro Recoba the star of Uruguay who was in Inter Milan for years transferred to Panionios on September. He came to Athens with his compatriot Fabián Estoyanoff who also signs his contract with Panionios.


2008–09 Panonian League season
The 2008–2009 Panonian League Season was the fourth and last season of the league. Like in the previous season, the teams came from only two countries - Croatia and Serbia. The same teams participated, and there were playoffs. The season started earlier, on September 30, and lasted until February 15, 2008.


2008–09 Panonian League season
HK Vojvodina won the league playoffs. This was the first time a Serbian team won this cross-border league. In the finals, HK Vojvodina beat HK Partizan. The two teams would also reach the finals for the Serbian championship one month later.


2008–09 Panonian League season, Playoffs, Semifinals
The semifinals were held on February 6 & February 9, 2009.


2008–09 Panonian League season, Playoffs, Finals
The finals were scheduled for 13, 16, 19, 22 and 25 February 2009.


2008–09 Panonian League season, Playoffs, Third Place
The third place competition was held on February 13 & February 16, 2009.


2008–09 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League
The 2008–09 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League season, known as the Telikom NSL Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the third edition of Papua New Guinea National Soccer League.