2000s in sports

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[edit] Notable events and themes

The World Series (in 2000, 2002, 2005, and 2006), NBA Finals (in 2003 and 2005), BCS (in 2004) and Men's NCAA Basketball Championship Game (in 2004) all hit record lows in Nielsen ratings and/or total viewers in America.
Basketball decreases in popularity in the U.S. with the loss of Michael Jordan to retirement, the Kobe Bryant controversy, the Pacers–Pistons brawl, the 2007 betting scandal, and a new television deal signed in 2002 relegates most NBA games to cable. Despite this, the emergence of stars such as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (as well as a new collective bargaining agreement signed in 2005) helps the league maintain much of its status.
Baseball in the United States undergoes controversy and Congressional scrutiny due to steroids; stars such as Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, ranked #1 and #2 in single-season home runs, are suspected to have used steroids, while others such as Jason Giambi and Rafael Palmeiro are confirmed to have been using the drugs. Thanks to two consecutive years of Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees American League Championship Series, however, ratings and popularity for the sport (while lower than previous years) still remain high.
The National Hockey League suffers a lockout that wiped out the entire 2005 season, as well a television deal with OLN that prevented many fans from being able to see games (several NHL telecasts on OLN were outdrawn by WNBA games on ESPN2 [1]).
NASCAR Racing becomes more mainstream as TV ratings for the sport grows in the U.S.. NASCAR races regularly outdraw NBA, MLB and NHL telecasts by over 200 percent (in fact, NASCAR's average rating in 2005 outdid the combined regular season averages for the NBA and Major League Baseball during that same year). TV networks such as Fox, NBC, ABC, and TNT air races on a regular basis on Sundays and sometimes Saturday nights. Popular drivers during this period include Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr.,Jeff Gordon, and Kasey Kahne.
American Football continues to become more popular; Super Bowl XLI, in which the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 becomes the third most watched television event in the US market ever. The NFL also draws criticism, especially following the Super Bowl XXXVIII fiasco, the Terrell Owens controversy in 2004 and 2005, and the Michael Vick dogfighting fallout in 2007. College Football is popular, with the rise of USC, and stars such as Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, LenDale White, etc. Also the 2007 season saw many programs ranked number 1, and number 2 respectively, with surprising teams (such as Oregon, California, and South Florida) on top for most of the season, but ended anyway with LSU upsetting Ohio State in the National Championship game that year.
The Boston Red Sox break the 86 year "curse" by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series (they also won in 2007). The following year the Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros to win the 2005 World Series, winning their first since 1917.
Horse racing in the United States enjoys a surge in ratings, thanks to three straight years of Triple Crown hopefuls (War Emblem, Funny Cide and Smarty Jones in 2002, 2003 and 2004). However, all three horses fail to win the Triple Crown, and the next hopeful (Barbaro in 2006) is severely injured during the Preakness.
Beach volleyball becomes an increasingly popular sport worldwide, establishing its first generation of superstars and branching out into large inland cities.
Football begins to gain popularity amongst North Americans and Australians, fuelled by World Cup successess for the USA in 2002 and Australia in 2006. Previously, North America and Australia had been considered the only continents to not have pertinent followers of World Football.
Many British football clubs are being bought by Eastern European millionaires such as Chelsea by Roman Abramovich, Hearts by Vladimir Romanov and Portsmouth F.C. by Milan Mandarić and Alexandre Gaydamak.
The IRB Rugby World Cup increases in size and audience to become The third most watched sporting event in the world after the FIFA World Cup and The Summer Olympics respectively.
WADA, The World Anti-doping Agency, introduces a standardised anti-doping code for all sports.
P.R. China's sportsmen make continuous improvements in several sports, in preparation for the Beijing (北京) Olympic Games.
Professional wrestling, which had separate golden ages in the 1980s and 1990s, begins to decline in popularity in North America. Many attribute this decline to the monopoly on the industry held by World Wrestling Entertainment after the collapse of both World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2001, with WWE acquiring the remains of both companies. However, WWE would revive ECW as a third brand alongside its RAW and SmackDown! brands in 2006 due to increased nostalgia. Because of the WWE's monopoly and the internet helping to spread word, a trend begins with smaller independent promotions garnering many fans during the decade. During this period Total Nonstop Action Wrestling attempts to create an alternative to the WWE product with little success. The death of WWE stars Eddie Guerrero in 2005 and Chris Benoit in 2007, gave the WWE mainstream publicity. WWE continues to be popular overseas during this period, which prompts them to increase the number of televised foreign shows. Female wrestlers gain more exposure with the WWE expanding its women's division and adding a second women's championship, the Divas title. Later in the decade, women's wrestling also gains exposure and credibility through TNA creating their own division, and with the all-female promotion Shimmer Women Athletes. Ring of Honor essentially establishes itself as the number three company in the United States. Finally, in puroresu, a mass exodus occurs in All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2000, with almost all contracted employees following Mitsuharu Misawa to form Pro Wrestling Noah later that year.
In light of the waning popularity of professional wrestling and boxing, mixed martial arts competitions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships gain popularity in the United States,.Top stars such as Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz become household names and the UFC is featured on the May cover of Sports Illustrated. However boxing stil retains a healthy following, with exciting and popular fighters including Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Diego Corrales, Manny Pacquiao, and many others. Many exciting fights have also taken place.
"Sporno" becomes immensely popular, mainly with gay men. 'Sporno' Is described by its coiner Mark Simpson, to be a cross between sports and pornography, which is advertised by soccer star David Beckham and by the popular French Rugby union calendar series Dieux du Stade. Sporno is very common with professional wrestling.
Rugby league in Australia enjoys increasing popularity amongst the Eastern states, with record crowd figures almost yearly from 2003 onwards. The national competition, the National Rugby League, has 6 different winners in the space of 6 seasons.
The New England Patriots of the NFL win three championships in four years and are considered a dynasty, something many thought was impossible in the modern NFL. Key men of the Patriots dynasty include coach Bill Belichick, quarterback Tom Brady, linebacker Teddy Bruschi, and clutch place kicker Adam Vinatieri. In 2007, the Patriots become the first time to go 16-0 and in 2008, the Detroit Lions become the first team go 0-16.

[edit] Olympic Games

Five Olympic Games were held in this decade

2000 XXVII Summer Olympics - Sydney, Australia (most gold medal wins USA)
2002 XIX Winter Olympics - Salt Lake City, USA (most gold medal wins Norway)
2004 XXVIII Summer Olympics - Athens, Greece (most gold medal wins USA)
2006 XX Winter Olympics - Turin, Italy (most gold medal wins Germany)
2008 XXIX Summer Olympics - Beijing, China (most gold medal wins China)

[edit] Athletics

[edit] Baseball

Major League Baseball World Series Results:

2000 World Series- New York Yankees defeated the New York Mets
2001 World Series- Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the New York Yankees
2002 World Series- Anaheim Angels defeated the San Francisco Giants
2003 World Series- Florida Marlins defeated the New York Yankees
2004 World Series- Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals
2005 World Series- Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros
2006 World Series- St Louis Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers
2007 World Series- Boston Red Sox defeated the Colorado Rockies
2008 World Series- Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays

[edit] Basketball

NBA Finals results:

2000 NBA Finals - Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers
2001 NBA Finals - Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Philadelphia 76ers
2002 NBA Finals - Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Jersey Nets
2003 NBA Finals - San Antonio Spurs defeated the New Jersey Nets
2004 NBA Finals - Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers
2005 NBA Finals - San Antonio Spurs defeated the Detroit Pistons
2006 NBA Finals - Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks
2007 NBA Finals - San Antonio Spurs defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers
2008 NBA Finals - Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers
2009 NBA Finals - Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic

Notable Top 10 Draft picks
2000 NBA Draft – Kenyon Martin, first by the New Jersey Nets
2001 NBA Draft – Pau Gasol, third by the Atlanta Hawks
2001 NBA Draft – Joe Johnson, tenth by the Boston Celtics
2002 NBA Draft – Yao Ming, first by the Houston Rockets
2002 NBA Draft – Amar'e Stoudemire, ninth by the Phoenix Suns
2003 NBA Draft - LeBron James, first by the Cleveland Cavaliers
2003 NBA Draft - Carmelo Anthony, third by the Denver Nuggets
2003 NBA Draft - Chris Bosh, fourth by the Toronto Raptors
2003 NBA Draft - Dwyane Wade, fifth by the Miami Heat
2004 NBA Draft - Dwight Howard, first by the Orlando Magic
2005 NBA Draft - Deron Williams, third by the Utah Jazz
2005 NBA Draft - Chris Paul, fourth by the New Orleans Hornets
2006 NBA Draft - Brandon Roy, sixth by the Minnesota Timberwolves
2007 NBA Draft - Greg Oden, first by the Portland Trail Blazers
2007 NBA Draft - Kevin Durant, second by the Seattle SuperSonics
2008 NBA Draft - Derrick Rose, first by the Chicago Bulls
2008 NBA Draft - Michael Beasley, second by the Miami Heat
2008 NBA Draft - O. J. Mayo, third by the Minnesota Timberwolves
2009 NBA Draft - Blake Griffin, first by the Los Angeles Clippers

[edit] Cricket

There have been two ICC Cricket World Cups this decade:

2003 Cricket World Cup - South Africa (winner Australia)
2007 Cricket World Cup - West Indies (winner Australia)

[edit] Cycling

There have been eight Tour de France races held so far this decade:

2008 Tour de France - started in Brest, France (winner Carlos Sastre)

[edit] Figure Skating

[edit] Football (Australian)

2000 - Essendon 19.21 (135) def. Melbourne 11.9 (75)

2001 - Brisbane 15.18 (108) def. Essendon 12.10 (82)

2002 - Brisbane 10.15 (75) def. Collingwood 9.12 (66)

2003 - Brisbane 20.14 (134) def. Collingwood 12.12 (84)

2004 - Port Adelaide 17.11 (113) def. Brisbane 10.13 (73)

2005 - Sydney 8.10 (58) def. West Coast 7.12 (54)

2006 - West Coast 12.13 (85) def. Sydney 12.12 (84)

2007 - Geelong 24.19 (163) def. Port Adelaide 6.8 (44)

[edit] Football (American)

NFL Super Bowl Results

2000 Super Bowl XXXIV- St Louis Rams defeated the Tennessee Titans
2001 Super Bowl XXXV- Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants
2002 Super Bowl XXXVI- New England Patriots defeated the St Louis Rams
2003 Super Bowl XXXVII- Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Oakland Raiders
2004 Super Bowl XXXVIII New England Patriots defeated the Carolina Panthers
2005 Super Bowl XXXIX New England Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles
2006 Super Bowl XL Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks
2007 Super Bowl XLI Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears
2008 Super Bowl XLII New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots
2009 Super Bowl XLIII Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals

[edit] Football (Association, Soccer)

There have been two FIFA World Cups this decade:

2002 FIFA World Cup - South Korea & Japan (winner Brazil)
2006 FIFA World Cup - Germany (winner Italy)

[edit] Golf

there has been 4 Ryder cups in this decade.

the 2002 Ryder cup was won by Europe 15 and a half to USA's 12 and a half.

the 2004 Ryder cup was won by Europe 18 and a half to USA's 9 and a half.

the 2006 Ryder cup was won by Europe again 18 and a half to USA's 9 and a half

the 2008 Ryder cup and last this decade was won by USA 16 and a half to Europe's 11 and a half.

this Decade Europe 3;1 USA

[edit] Ice Hockey

Stanley Cup Results:

2000 - New Jersey Devils defeated the Dallas Stars 4-2
2001 - Colorado Avalanche defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3
2002 - Detroit Red Wings defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1
2003 - New Jersey Devils defeated the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4-3
2004 - Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Calgary Flames 4-3
2005 - Lockout, no champion
2006 - Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3
2007 - Anaheim Ducks defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-1
2008 - Detroit Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2
2009 - Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-3

Notable Draft Picks:
2008 - Steven Stamkos is first overall draft pick in the NHL draft picked by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

2005 - Sidney Crosby is first overall draft pick in the NHL draft picked by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

2004 - Alexander Ovechkin is the first overall draft pick in the NHL draft picked by the Washington Capitals.

[edit] Motorsports

F1-Michael Schumacher wins World Championship for the third time at Suzuka, Japan 2000 in a Ferrari F1-2000, Ferrari's first driver's championship in 21 years

Michael Schumacher wins World Championship for the fourth time at Hungaroring, Hungary 2001 in a Ferrari F2001

Michael Schumacher wins fifth at Magny-Cours, France 2002 in a Ferrari F2002

Michael Schumacher wins sixth at Suzuka, Japan 2003 in a Ferrari F2003-GA

Michael Schumacher wins seventh and last at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium 2004 in a Ferrari F2004

Fernando Alonso become youngest champion, winning his first at Interlagos, Brazil 2005 in a Renault R25

Fernando Alonso wins second at Interlagos, Brazil in a Renault R26

Kimi Räikkönen wins first World Championship at Interlagos, Brazil, in a Ferrari F2007, winning by 1 point over Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso (Both Vodafone McLaren Mercedes)

Lewis Hamiliton Wins F1 Championship 2008 beating Felipe Massa by one Point

Jimmie Johnson in 2008 gets his third straight championship title.

[edit] Rugby Union

There has been two Rugby World Cups this decade:

2003 Rugby World Cup - Australia (winner England defeated Australia)

2007 Rugby World Cup - France (winner South Africa defeated England)

[edit] Swimming and Diving

Michael Phelps won six gold medals in the 2004 Olympics, and a record eight in the 2008 Olympics (some of those medals coming from split-second wins).

[edit] Tennis

Roger Federer wins 14 grand slam titles (3 Australian Open's, 1 French Open, 5 Wimbledon titles, and 5 U.S. Open titles) to tie the record with Pete Sampras

Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer at the 2008 Wimbledon final with a score of 6-4,6-4,5-7,5-7,9-7. People consider this match the greatest tennis match of all-time. The match lasted for 8 hours (with 2 rain delays).

[edit] Volleyball