American football

• NCAA Bowl Games:
  • Armed Forces Bowl: Houston 34, Air Force 28
  • Sun Bowl: Oregon State 3, (20) Pittsburgh 0
  • Music City Bowl: Vanderbilt 16, (24) Boston College 14
    • Vandy wins in front of their hometown fans 53 years to the day after the Commodores' last bowl win.
  • Insight Bowl: Kansas 42, Minnesota 21
  • Chick-fil-A Bowl: LSU 38, (14) Georgia Tech 3
• NFL News:
  • New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo is named 2008 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Cricket

• Sri Lanka in Bangladesh:
  • 1st Test in Dhaka, day 5:
    •  Sri Lanka 293 and 405/6d;  Bangladesh 178 and 413 (Mohammad Ashraful 101, Shakib Al Hasan 96). Sri Lanka win by 107 runs and lead 2-match series 1–0.
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 1st ODI in Queenstown:
    •  West Indies 129/5 (Ramnaresh Sarwan 38, Tim Southee 2/33). No result as rain stopped play. Five-match series tied at 0–0.

Ice hockey

• World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  (teams in bold advance to the semifinals, teams in italics advance to the quarterfinals)
  • Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
    • Czech Republic  10–2  Kazakhstan
    • Canada  7–4  United States
    • Idle:  Germany
  • Group B (at the Ottawa Civic Centre):
    • Sweden  5–0  Russia
    • Slovakia  3–2  Finland (SO)
    • Idle:  Latvia

Winter sports

American football

• NCAA Bowl Games:
  • Humanitarian Bowl: Maryland 42, Nevada 35
  • Texas Bowl: Rice 38, Western Michigan 14
    • The Owls pick up their first bowl win since 1954, and complete their first 10-win season since 1949.
  • Holiday Bowl: (17) Oregon 42, (12) Oklahoma State 31
• NFL News:
  • Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is named 2008 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
  • The Denver Broncos fire head coach Mike Shanahan.

Cricket

• South Africa in Australia:
  • 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 5:
    •  Australia 394 and 247;  South Africa 459 and 183/1 (Graeme Smith 75, Nathan Hauritz 1/41). South Africa win by 9 wickets and lead three-match series 2–0 and becomes the first South African team to win a Test series in Australia.
• Sri Lanka in Bangladesh:
  • 1st Test in Dhaka, day 4:
    •  Sri Lanka 293 and 405/6d (Mahela Jayawardene 166);  Bangladesh 178 and 254/5 (Mohammad Ashraful 70*). Bangladesh require another 267 runs with 5 wickets remaining.

Ice hockey

• World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  • Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
    • Czech Republic  6–0  Germany
    • United States  12–0  Kazakhstan
  • Group B (at the Ottawa Civic Centre):
    • Russia  8–1  Slovakia
    • Finland  5–1  Latvia

American football

• NCAA Bowl Games:
  • PapaJohns.com Bowl: Rutgers 29, North Carolina State 23
  • Alamo Bowl: (20) Missouri 30, (23) Northwestern 23 (OT)
• NFL News:
  • Detroit Lions head coach Rod Marinelli is fired following the team's 0–16 season.
  • Eric Mangini is fired as New York Jets' head coach after his team missed the playoffs.
  • Romeo Crennel is fired as Cleveland Browns head coach.

Cricket

• South Africa in Australia:
  • 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 4:
    •  Australia 394 and 247 (Ricky Ponting 99, Dale Steyn 5/67);  South Africa 459 and 30/0. South Africa require another 153 runs with 10 wickets remaining.

Ice hockey

• World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  • Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
    • Germany  1–5  Canada
  • Group B (at the Ottawa Civic Centre):
    • Latvia  1–10  Sweden

Football (soccer)

• News:
  • Liverpool midfielder and team captain Steven Gerrard is arrested on charges of assault after being involved in a fight at a pub following a match against Newcastle United.

Winter sports

American football

• National Football League Week 17:
  (Teams that have made playoffs are in boldface)
  • Carolina Panthers 33, New Orleans Saints 31
    • The Panthers win the NFC South title and earn a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs.
  • Houston Texans 31, Chicago Bears 24
    • The Bears loss knocks them out of the playoffs.
  • Pittsburgh Steelers 31, Cleveland Browns 0
    • A pyrrhic victory for the Steelers as Ben Roethlisberger is knocked out of the game with a concussion.
  • Green Bay Packers 31, Detroit Lions 21
    • The Lions earn the first 0–16 season in NFL history.
  • Cincinnati Bengals 16, Kansas City Chiefs 6
  • New England Patriots 13, Buffalo Bills 0
    • The Pats win, but are eliminated from the playoffs when the Dolphins and Ravens both win.
  • Minnesota Vikings 20, New York Giants 19
    • The Vikings win the NFC North on a Ryan Longwell walk-off 50-yard field goal, and will host Philadelphia next Sunday.
  • Oakland Raiders 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24
    • The Bucs are eliminated.
  • Atlanta Falcons 31, St. Louis Rams 27
    • The Falcons will play in Glendale next Saturday against the Cardinals.
  • Indianapolis Colts 23, Tennessee Titans 0
  • Philadelphia Eagles 44, Dallas Cowboys 6
    • The Eagles earn the last NFC wild card berth thanks to sloppy play by Dallas, with five turnovers leading to 24 Eagles points.
  • Baltimore Ravens 27, Jacksonville Jaguars 7
    • The Ravens clinch the last AFC wild card spot.
  • Miami Dolphins 24, New York Jets 17
    • The Dolphins win the AFC East, and will host Baltimore next Sunday.
  • Arizona Cardinals 34, Seattle Seahawks 21
  • San Francisco 49ers 27, Washington Redskins 24
  • San Diego Chargers 52, Denver Broncos 21
    • The Chargers win the AFC West title and will host the Colts next Saturday in a wild card game.
• NCAA Bowl Games:
  • Independence Bowl: Louisiana Tech 17, Northern Illinois 10

Cricket

• South Africa in Australia:
  • 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 3:
    •  Australia 394 and 4/0;  South Africa 459 (Jean-Paul Duminy 166, Dale Steyn 76, Peter Siddle 4/81). Australia trail by 61 runs with 10 second innings wickets remaining.
• Sri Lanka in Bangladesh:
  • 1st Test in Dhaka, day 3:
    •  Sri Lanka 293 (Thilan Samaraweera 90) and 291/4 (Mahela Jayawardene 129*);  Bangladesh 178. Sri Lanka lead by 406 runs with 6 wickets remaining.
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 2nd T20I in Hamilton:
    •  New Zealand 191/9 (Jesse Ryder 62, Brendon McCullum 59, Chris Gayle 2/27);  West Indies 155/7 (Ramnaresh Sarwan 53, Jeetan Patel 2/12). New Zealand win by 36 runs; two-match series tied 1–1.

Football (soccer)

• ASEAN Championship:
  • Finals, second leg:
    • Vietnam  1–1  Thailand, Vietnam win the championship 3–2 on aggregate

Ice hockey

• World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  • Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
    • Kazakhstan  0–15  Canada
    • United States  4–3  Czech Republic
  • Group B (at the Ottawa Civic Centre):
    • Russia  5–2  Finland
    • Sweden  3–1  Slovakia

Winter sports

American football

• NCAA Bowl Games
  • Meineke Car Care Bowl: West Virginia 31, North Carolina 30
    • Mountaineers quarterback Pat White wins his fourth straight bowl game for WVU.
  • Champs Sports Bowl: Florida State 42, Wisconsin 14
  • Emerald Bowl: California 24, Miami (FL) 17

Cricket

• South Africa in Australia:
  • 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 2:
    •  Australia 394 (Ricky Ponting 101, Michael Clarke 88*, Dale Steyn 5/87);  South Africa 198/7 (Graeme Smith 62, Peter Siddle 3/24). South Africa trail by 196 runs with three first innings wickets remaining.
• Sri Lanka in Bangladesh:
  • 1st Test in Dhaka, day 2:
    •  Sri Lanka 293 (Thilan Samaraweera 90, Shakib Al Hasan 5/70);  Bangladesh 177/9 (Imrul Kayes 33, Muttiah Muralitharan 5/48). Bangladesh trail by 116 runs with one first innings wicket remaining.

Ice hockey

• World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  • Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
    • Kazakhstan  0–9  Germany
  • Group B (at the Ottawa Civic Centre):
    • Slovakia  7–2  Latvia

Winter sports

American football

• NCAA Bowl Games:
  • Motor City Bowl: Florida Atlantic 24, Central Michigan 21

Cricket

• South Africa in Australia:
  • 2nd Test in Melbourne, day 1:
    •  Australia 206/6 (Ricky Ponting 101, Dale Steyn 2/61).
• Sri Lanka in Bangladesh:
  • 1st Test in Dhaka, day 1:
    •  Sri Lanka 172/6 (Michael Vandort 44, Shakib Al Hasan 3/43).
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 1st T20I in Auckland:
    •  New Zealand 155/7 (Ross Taylor 63, Chris Gayle 2/16);  West Indies 155/8 (Chris Gayle 67, Daniel Vettori 3/16). West Indies win in a 'Super Over' playoff and lead the two-match series 1–0.

Ice hockey

• World Junior Championships in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  • Group A (at Scotiabank Place):
    • Germany  2–8  United States
    • Canada  8–1  Czech Republic
  • Group B (at the Ottawa Civic Centre):
    • Latvia  1–4  Russia
    • Finland  1–3  Sweden

Basketball

• NBA Christmas Day Games:
  • Orlando Magic 88, New Orleans Hornets 68
    • Chris Paul's streak of 108 consecutive games with a steal was broken.
  • San Antonio Spurs 91, Phoenix Suns 90
    • Roger Mason hits a walk-off three-pointer to win the game for the Spurs.
  • Los Angeles Lakers 92, Boston Celtics 83
    • The Celtics' 19-game winning streak ends and Lakers coach Phil Jackson becomes the fastest coach to the 1,000-win mark.
  • Cleveland Cavaliers 93, Washington Wizards 89
  • Dallas Mavericks 102, Portland Trail Blazers 94

American football

• NCAA Bowl Games:
  • 2008 Hawaiʻi Bowl: Notre Dame 49, Hawaiʻi 21
    • The Irish break a nine-game bowl losing streak thanks to Jimmy Clausen's 401 yards of passing and five touchdowns.

Football (soccer)

• ASEAN Championship:
  • Finals, first leg:
    • Thailand  1–2  Vietnam

American football

• NCAA Bowl Games:
  • Poinsettia Bowl: (11) TCU 17, (9) Boise State 16
    • The Horned Frogs spoil the Broncos' bid for a perfect season.

Baseball

• News: ESPN reports that free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira has signed an eight-year deal with the New York Yankees for US $180 million, subject to passing a physical.

Cricket

• England in India:
  • 2nd Test in Mohali, day 5:
    •  India 453 and 251/7 declared (Gautam Gambhir 97, Monty Panesar 1/44);  England 302 and 64/1 (Ian Bell 24*, Ishant Sharma 1/7). Match drawn, India win the two match series 1–0.
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 2nd Test in Napier, day 5:
    •  West Indies 307 and 375 (Chris Gayle 197, Jeetan Patel 5/110);  New Zealand 371 and 220/5 (Jesse Ryder 59*, Jerome Taylor 2/67). Match drawn, two match series drawn 0–0.

Football (soccer)

• Argentine league:
  • Apertura play-off:
    • Boca Juniors 0–1 Tigre
      • Boca wins the championship despite their loss by better goals-difference.

American football

• National Football League Week 16 Monday Night Football:
  • Chicago Bears 20, Green Bay Packers 17 (OT)
    • The Bears block a potential game-winning field goal attempt by Mason Crosby with 18 seconds left in regulation, and Robbie Gould's 38-yarder in overtime keeps the Bears alive for a playoff berth.

Cricket

• England in India:
  • 2nd Test in Mohali, day 4:
    •  India 453 (Gautam Gambhir 179) and 134/4 (Gambhir 44*);  England 302 (Kevin Pietersen 144). India lead by 285 runs with 6 wickets remaining.
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 2nd Test in Napier, day 4:
    •  West Indies 307 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 126) and 278/7 (Chris Gayle 146*);  New Zealand 371 (Tim McIntosh 136). West Indies lead by 214 runs with 3 wickets remaining.

Winter sports

American football

• National Football League Week 16:
  (teams in boldface are in the playoffs; teams in italics are eliminated)
  • New England Patriots 47, Arizona Cardinals 7
  • Cincinnati Bengals 14, Cleveland Browns 0
  • Miami Dolphins 38, Kansas City Chiefs 31
    • The Dolphins keep their playoff hopes alive with a win in Arrowhead Stadium.
  • New Orleans Saints 42, Detroit Lions 7
    • The Lions' 15th straight loss sets a new record for futility at the start of a season and clinches the first pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
  • Tennessee Titans 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 14
    • The Titans clinch home field advantage in the AFC playoffs.
  • San Diego Chargers 41, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24
    • The Chargers stay in contention for the AFC West title.
  • San Francisco 49ers 17, St. Louis Rams 16
  • Buffalo Bills 30, Denver Broncos 23
    • The Broncos' loss and the Chargers win set up a winner-take-all game for the AFC West title next Sunday in San Diego.
  • Oakland Raiders 27, Houston Texans 16
  • Seattle Seahawks 13, New York Jets 3
    • Mike Holmgren wins his last home game as the Seahawks' coach.
  • Atlanta Falcons 24, Minnesota Vikings 17
    • The win gives the Falcons a playoff spot.
  • Washington Redskins 10, Philadelphia Eagles 3
  • New York Giants 34, Carolina Panthers 28 (OT)
    • The Giants clinch home-field advantage in the playoffs after a Brandon Jacobs touchdown in overtime.
• NCAA Bowl Games:
  • New Orleans Bowl: Southern Mississippi 31, Troy 28 (OT)

Badminton

• Super Series Masters Finals in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia:
  • Men's singles: Lee Chong Wei (1) bt Peter Gade (4) 21–8 21–16
  • Men's doubles: Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong (6) bt Jung Jae-sung/Lee Yong-dae (3) 21–18 21–14
  • Women's singles: Zhou Mi (1) bt Wang Chen (3) 21–14 21–18
  • Women's doubles: Chin Eei Hui/Wong Pei Tty (1) bt Vita Marissa/Liliyana Natsir (2) 21–15 22–20
  • Mixed doubles: Thomas Laybourn/Kamilla Rytter Juhl (2) bt Nova Widianto/Liliyana Natsir (1) 21–19 18–21 22–20

Cricket

• South Africa in Australia:
  • 1st Test in Perth, day 5:
    •  Australia 375 and 319;  South Africa 281 and 414/4 (Graeme Smith 108, AB de Villiers 106*, Mitchell Johnson 3/98). South Africa win by six wickets and lead the 3-match series 1–0.
• England in India:
  • 2nd Test in Mohali, day 3:
    •  India 453;  England 282/6. England trail by 171 runs with 4 wickets remaining in the 1st innings.
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 2nd Test in Napier, day 3:
    •  West Indies 307 and 62/2 (Chris Gayle 36*);  New Zealand 371 (Tim McIntosh 136, Fidel Edwards 7/87). West Indies trail by two runs with eight second innings wickets remaining.

Football (soccer)

• FIFA Club World Cup in Japan:
  • Match for third place:
    • Pachuca 0–1 Gamba Osaka
  • Final:
    • LDU Quito 0–1 Manchester United
      • Wayne Rooney scores for United in the 73rd minute.
• ASEAN Championship:
  (first leg result in parentheses)
  • Semifinals, second leg:
    • Singapore  0(0)–1(0)  Vietnam

Golf

• European Tour:
  • South African Open Championship in Paarl, South Africa:
    • Winner: Richard Sterne 274 (−14)^PO
• Men's unofficial events:
  • Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, California:
    • Vijay Singh wins.

Snooker

• UK Championship in Telford, United Kingdom:
  • Final: Shaun Murphy def. Marco Fu 10–9

Winter sports

American football

• National Football League Week 16 Saturday Night Football:
  • Baltimore Ravens 33, Dallas Cowboys 24
    • A celebration of the last game played at Texas Stadium is ruined by two late touchdown runs by Willis McGahee (77 yards) and Le'Ron McClain (82 yards) for the Ravens.
• College football:
  • NCAA Bowl Games:
    • EagleBank Bowl: Wake Forest 29, Navy 19
    • New Mexico Bowl: Colorado State 40, Fresno State 35
    • St. Petersburg Bowl: South Florida 41, Memphis 14
    • Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona 31, (16) Brigham Young 21
  • NCAA Division III Final at Salem, Virginia:
    • Mount Union 31, Wisconsin-Whitewater 26
      • The Purple Raiders win for the third time in four consecutive D-III finals against the Warhawks, taking a 21–7 lead in the first quarter and never looking back. Mount Union's Nate Kmic becomes the first player in NCAA history to rush for over 8,000 yards in his career.

Cricket

• South Africa in Australia:
  • 1st Test in Perth, day 4:
    •  Australia 375 and 319;  South Africa 281 and 227/3. South Africa require another 187 runs with 7 wickets remaining.
• England in India:
  • 2nd Test in Mohali, day 2:
    •  India 453 (Gautam Gambhir 179, Rahul Dravid 136)
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 2nd Test in Napier, day 2:
    •  West Indies 307 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 126*, Iain O'Brien 6/75);  New Zealand 145/2 (Tim McIntosh 62*, Fidel Edwards 2/26). New Zealand trail by 162 runs with 8 wickets remaining in the first innings.
      • Fidel Edwards took his 100th Test wicket when he dismissed Daniel Flynn in New Zealand's first innings.

Football (soccer)

• ASEAN Championship:
  (first leg result in parentheses)
  • Semifinals, second leg:
    • Thailand  2(1)–1(0)  Indonesia
• Argentine league:
  • Apertura play-off:
    • Boca Juniors 3–1 San Lorenzo
      • A goal by Cristian Manuel Chávez in injury time for Boca means they can lose to Tigre by one goal margin on Tuesday and still win the championship.

Volleyball

• Penn State wins their second consecutive NCAA women's championship, defeating Stanford 3–0. The Nittany Lions finish the season 38–0, only losing two sets total.

Winter sports

American college football

• NCAA Division I FCS Final in Chattanooga, Tennessee:
  • Richmond 24, Montana 7
    • The Spiders win their school's first national championship in any sport.

Cricket

• South Africa in Australia:
  • 1st Test in Perth, day 3:
    •  Australia 375 and 228/7 (Brad Haddin 39*, Jacques Kallis 2/19);  South Africa 281 (Jacques Kallis 63, Mitchell Johnson 8/61). Australia lead by 322 runs with 3 second innings wickets remaining.
• England in India:
  • 2nd Test in Mohali, day 1:
    •  India 179/1 (Gautam Gambhir 106*, Stuart Broad 1/45).
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 2nd Test in Napier, day 1:
    •  West Indies 258/6 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 100*, Daniel Vettori 2/58).

Winter sports

American football

• National Football League Week 16 Thursday Night Football:
  • Indianapolis Colts 31, Jacksonville Jaguars 24.
    • The Colts will be the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs with this win.

Basketball

• Euroleague, week 8:
  (teams in bold advance to the Top 16; teams with strike are eliminated)
  • Group A:
    • Le Mans 73–87 Maccabi Tel Aviv
      • Maccabi punch their ticket to the Top 16.
    • Unicaja Málaga 72–68 Air Avellino
      • Málaga's win secures them, as well as Cibona, a Top 16 berth and eliminates Avellino.
  • Group B:
    • Žalgiris Kaunas 79–68 Asseco Prokom Sopot
      • Žalgiris stay alive in the Top 16 race, taking the tiebreaker from Prokom.
  • Group C:
    • ALBA Berlin 68–73 TAU Cerámica
      • TAU also punch their Top 16 ticket.
    • Lottomatica Roma 74–69 Union Olimpija Ljubljana (OT)
      • Roma advance to the Top 16, while Ljubljana are eliminated.
  • Group D:
    • Panionios 64–78 Efes Pilsen

Cricket

• South Africa in Australia:
  • 1st Test in Perth, day 2:
    •  Australia 375 (Simon Katich 83, Makhaya Ntini 4/72);  South Africa 243/8 (Jacques Kallis 63, AB de Villiers 63, Mitchell Johnson 7/42). South Africa trail by 132 runs with 2 wickets remaining in the first innings.

Football (soccer)

• FIFA Club World Cup in Japan:
  • Semifinal 2:
    • Gamba Osaka 3–5 Manchester United
  • Match for fifth place:
    • Al Ahly 0–1 Adelaide United
• UEFA Cup group stage, matchday 5:
  (teams in bold advance to the last-32 round; teams with strike are eliminated)
  • Group A:
    • Paris Saint-Germain 4–0 Twente
    • Racing Santander 3–1 Manchester City
    • Idle: Schalke 04
      • Final standings: Man City 7 points, Twente 6, PSG 5, Racing 5, Schalke 4
  • Group B:
    • Olympiacos 4–0 Hertha BSC
    • Benfica 0–1 Metalist Kharkiv
    • Idle: Galatasaray
      • Final standings: Metalist 10 points, Galatasaray 9, Olympiacos 6, Hertha 2, Benfica 1
  • Group C:
    • Sampdoria 1–0 Sevilla
    • Stuttgart 3–0 Standard Liège
    • Idle: Partizan Belgrade
      • Final standings: Standard 9 points, Stuttgart 7, Sampdoria 7, Sevilla 6, Partizan 0
  • Group D:
    • NEC 2–0 Udinese
    • Tottenham Hotspur 2–2 Spartak Moscow
    • Idle: Dinamo Zagreb
      • Final standings: Udinese 9 points, Spurs 7, NEC 6, Spartak 4, Dinamo 3

Winter sports

Basketball

• Euroleague, week 8:
  (teams in bold advance to the Top 16; teams with strike are eliminated)
  • Group A:
    • Olympiacos 93–64 Cibona Zagreb
  • Group B:
    • Regal FC Barcelona 87–61 Montepaschi Siena
      • Barcelona improve to a league-best 7–1 record.
    • Panathinaikos Athens 83–69 SLUC Nancy
      • Panathinaikos secure their place in the Top 16.
  • Group C:
    • Fenerbahçe Ülker 89–63 DKV Joventut
  • Group D:
    • CSKA Moscow 78–82 Real Madrid
    • AJ Milano 73–59 Partizan Belgrade

Cricket

• South Africa in Australia:
  • 1st Test in Perth, day 1:
    •  Australia 341/9 (Simon Katich 83)

Football (soccer)

• FIFA Club World Cup in Japan:
  • Semifinal 1:
    • Pachuca 0–2 LDU Quito
• UEFA Cup group stage, matchday 5:
  (teams in bold advance to the last-32 round; teams with strike are eliminated)
  • Group E:
    • Portsmouth 3–0 Heerenveen
    • Milan 2–2 Wolfsburg
    • Idle: Braga
      • Final standings: Wolfsburg 10 pts, Milan 8, Braga 6, Portsmouth 4, Heerenveen 0.
  • Group F:
    • Hamburg 3–1 Aston Villa
    • Ajax 2–2 Slavia Prague
    • Idle: Žilina
      • Final standings: Hamburg 9 pts, Ajax 7, Aston Villa 6, Žilina 4, Slavia Prague 2.
  • Group G:
    • Club Brugge 0–1 Copenhagen
    • Saint-Étienne 2–2 Valencia
    • Idle: Rosenborg
      • Final standings: St. Étienne 8 pts, Valencia 6, Copenhagen 5, Brugge 3, Rosenborg 2.
  • Group H:
    • Deportivo 1–0 Nancy
    • Feyenoord 0–1 Lech Poznań
    • Idle: CSKA Moscow
      • Final standings: CSKA 12 pts, Deportivo 7, Poznań 5, Nancy 4, Feyenoord 0.
• ASEAN Championship:
  • Semifinals, first leg:
    • Vietnam  0–0  Singapore
• Argentine league:
  • Apertura play off:
    • San Lorenzo 2–1 Tigre

Football (soccer)

• ASEAN Championship:
  • Semifinals, first leg:
    • Indonesia  0–1  Thailand

American football

• National Football League Week 15 Monday Night Football:
  • Philadelphia Eagles 30, Cleveland Browns 10
• The Arena Football League votes to suspend operations, cancelling its 2009 season.

Basketball

• NBA:
  • With their 100–91 win over the Utah Jazz, the Boston Celtics become the third team in NBA history to win 23 of its first 25 games.
  • The Sacramento Kings fire Reggie Theus, making him the sixth head coach to be fired this season. Assistant Kenny Natt is named his interim replacement.

Cricket

• England in India:
  • 1st Test in Chennai, day 5:
    •  England 316 and 311/9 dec;  India 241 and 387/4 (Sachin Tendulkar 103*). India win by 6 wickets.
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 1st Test in Dunedin, day 5:
    • Play abandoned due to rain.  New Zealand 365 and 44/2;  West Indies 340. Match drawn.

American football

• National Football League Week 15:
  (teams in bold clinched a playoff berth; teams in italics are eliminated)
  • New York Jets 31, Buffalo Bills 27
    • The Bills are eliminated from playoff contention.
  • Indianapolis Colts 31, Detroit Lions 21
    • The Lions drop to 0–14, the third team ever to lose the first 14 games of a season (1976 Buccaneers, 1980 Saints).
  • Jacksonville Jaguars 20, Green Bay Packers 16
    • The Packers are eliminated with the loss.
  • San Diego Chargers 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21
  • Miami Dolphins 14, San Francisco 49ers 9
  • Seattle Seahawks 23, St. Louis Rams 20
  • Atlanta Falcons 13, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 (OT)
    • Atlanta's win eliminated the New Orleans Saints from playoff contention.
  • Houston Texans 13, Tennessee Titans 12
    • The Texans' win prevents Tennessee from getting home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs for this week.
  • Cincinnati Bengals 20, Washington Redskins 13
  • Minnesota Vikings 35, Arizona Cardinals 14
  • Carolina Panthers 30, Denver Broncos 10
  • New England Patriots 49, Oakland Raiders 26
  • Pittsburgh Steelers 13, Baltimore Ravens 9
    • The win gives the Steelers the AFC North title and a first-round playoff bye, and sets up a showdown with the Titans for AFC playoff home field advantage next Sunday.
  • Dallas Cowboys 20, New York Giants 8
    • The Giants loss now sets up a showdown with Carolina for home field advantage in the NFC playoffs next week.

Cricket

• England in India:
  • 1st Test in Chennai, day 4:
    •  England 316 and 311/9 dec (Andrew Strauss 108, Paul Collingwood 108, Zaheer Khan 3/40);  India 241 and 131/1 (Virender Sehwag 83). India need 256 runs to win with nine wickets in hand.
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 1st Test in Dunedin, day 4:
    •  New Zealand 365 and 44/2 (Tim McIntosh 24*, Daren Powell 2/17);  West Indies 340 (Jerome Taylor 106, Daniel Vettori 6/56). New Zealand lead by 69 runs with 8 second innings wickets remaining.

Football (soccer)

• FIFA Club World Cup in Japan:
  • Quarterfinal 2:
    • Adelaide United 0–1 Gamba Osaka
      • Gamba Osaka will play Manchester United in the semifinals.
• Caribbean Championship in Jamaica:
  • Third Place Playoff:
    • Cuba  0–0  Guadeloupe
      • Guadeloupe wins 5–4 in penalty shootout.
  • Final:
    • Grenada  0–2  Jamaica
      • Luton Shelton scores twice from the penalty spot for The Reggae Boyz.
• Argentine league:
  • The Apertura ends with 3-way tie between San Lorenzo, Tigre and Boca Juniors, that requires a triangular play-off series, beginning on Wednesday.

Golf

• European Tour:
  • Alfred Dunhill Championship in Mpumalanga, South Africa
    • Winner: Richard Sterne 271 (−17)
• Men's unofficial events:
  • Merrill Lynch Shootout in Naples, Florida:
    • Winners: Kenny Perry & Scott Hoch

Gymnastics

• Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Final in Madrid, Spain:
  • Men:
    • Vault: (1) Thomas Bouhail 16.225 (2) Jeffrey Wammes 16.150 (3) Anton Golotsutskov 16.075 (3) Isaak Botella Perez 16.075
    • Parallel bars: (1) Yann Cucherat 15.775 (1) Feng Zhe 15.775 (3) Valeriy Goncharov 15.675
    • Horizontal bars: (1) Epke Zonderland 16.175 (2) Philippe Rizzo 15.825 (3) Hiroyuki Tomita 15.325
  • Women:
    • Beam: (1) Lauren Mitchell 15.250 (2) Yulia Lozhechko 15.200 (3) Li Shanshan 15.150
    • Floor: (1) Cheng Fei 15.375 (2) Jiang Yuyan 15.225 (3) Sandra Izbaşa 15.000

Handball

• European Women's Championship in Macedonia:
  • Bronze match:
    •  Germany 21–24  Russia
  • Final:
    •  Spain 21–34  Norway
      • Norway wins the European title for the third successive time.

Rugby union

• Heineken Cup Pool stage, week 4:
  • Pool 2:
    • London Wasps 19–11 Edinburgh Rugby
  • Pool 3:
    • Perpignan 26–20 Leicester Tigers
      • Dan Carter, on his half-season "sabbatical" from the All Blacks, makes a successful Northern Hemisphere club debut, scoring 16 points to lead Perpignan to the win.
  • Pool 5:
    • Glasgow Warriors 19–25 Bath

Swimming

• European Short Course Championships in Rijeka, Croatia:
  • Women:
    • 400 m individual medley: (1) Mireia Belmonte García 4:25.06 (WR) (2) Alessia Filippi 4:26.06 (3) Francesca Segat 4:27.12
    • 200 m freestyle: (1) Federica Pellegrini 1:51.85 (WR) (2) Femke Heemskerk 1:53.79 (3) Daria Belyakina 1:53.85
    • 100 m breaststroke: (1) Valentina Artemyeva 1:05.02 (2) Sophie de Ronchi 1:05.43 (3) Mirna Jukić 1:05.64
    • 100 m butterfly: (1) Jeanette Ottesen 56.70 CR (2) Diane Bui Duyet 56.83 (3) Eszter Dara 56.88
    • 200 m backstroke: (1) Alexandra Putra 2:02.48 (2) Alexianne Castel 2:03.10 (3) Elizabeth Simmonds 2:03.12
    • 50 m freestyle: (1) Marleen Veldhuis 23.55 CR (2) Hinkelien Schreuder 23.72 (3) Jeanette Ottesen 24.05
  • Men:
    • 200 m breaststroke: (1) Hugues Duboscq 2:04.59 (European Record) (2) Edoardo Giorgetti 2:04.98 (3) Igor Borysik 2:05.47
    • 100 m individual medley: (1) Peter Mankoč 51.97 (European Record) (2) Christian Galenda 52.29 (3) James Goddard 52.36
    • 200 m freestyle: (1) Danila Izotov 1:43.09 (2) Dominik Meichtry 1:43.11 (3) Massimiliano Rosolino 1:43.52
    • 100 m backstroke: (1) Stanislav Donets 49.32 (WR) (2) Aschwin Wildeboer 49.61 (3) Helge Meeuw 50.89
    • 50 m butterfly: (1) Amaury Leveaux 22.23 (2) Milorad Čavić 22.36 (3) Rafael Muñoz 22.46
    • 4 × 50 m freestyle: (1)  France (Alain Bernard, Fabien Gilot, Amaury Leveaux, Frédérick Bousquet) 1:20.77 (WR) (2)  Italy (Alessandro Calvi, Marco Orsi, Mattia Nalesso, Filippo Magnini) 1:23.37 (3)  Croatia (Duje Draganja, Alexei Puninski, Bruno Barbic, Mario Todorović) 1:23.68

Winter sports

American college football

• 2008 Heisman Trophy:
  • With three underclassman quarterbacks as the finalists, Oklahoma's Sam Bradford becomes the second sophomore to win the prestigious award. Last year's winner, Tim Tebow of Florida, had the most first place votes, but lost four of the six regions to Bradford and finished third in total votes behind runnerup Colt McCoy of Texas.
• NCAA Division I FCS semifinal at Cedar Falls, Iowa:
  • Richmond 21, Northern Iowa 20
    • Trailing 20–7 in the fourth quarter, the Spiders come back to score the winning touchdown and extra point with 14 seconds remaining.
• NCAA Division II Championship at Florence, Alabama:
  • Minnesota-Duluth 21, Northwest Missouri State 14
    • The Bulldogs win their first national title in football, while the Bearcats lose in the title game for the fourth straight year, with each loss being by a touchdown or less.

Basketball

• National Basketball Association news: The Philadelphia 76ers become the league's fifth team to fire their head coach this season, axing Maurice Cheeks after a 9–14 start, even though the Sixers had extended his contract twice in the past year. Assistant general manager Tony DiLeo will be Cheeks' interim replacement.

Cricket

• England in India:
  • 1st Test in Chennai, day 3:
    •  England 316 and 172/3 (Andrew Strauss 73*);  India 241 (MS Dhoni 53). England lead by 247 runs with 7 wickets remaining.
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 1st Test in Dunedin, day 3:
    •  New Zealand 365 (Daniel Flynn 95, Chris Gayle 3/42);  West Indies 39/0 (Chris Gayle 29*). West Indies trail by 326 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the 1st innings.

Football (soccer)

• FIFA Club World Cup in Japan:
  • Quarterfinal 1:
    • Al Ahly 2–4(AET) Pachuca
      • Pachuca comes back from 0–2 down to win in extra-time, and will meet LDU Quito in the semifinals.

Gymnastics

• Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Final in Madrid, Spain:
  • Men:
    • Floor: (1) Diego Hypólito 16.125 (2) Kōhei Uchimura 15.900 (3) Alexander Shatilov 15.500
    • Pommel horse: (1) Zhang Hongtao 16.375 (2) Krisztián Berki 16.100 (3) Prashanth Sellathurai 16.025
    • Rings: (1) Olexander Vorobyov 16.275 (2) Yordan Yovchev 16.150 (3) Yuri van Gelder 16.075
  • Women:
    • Vault: (1) Cheng Fei 15.050 (2) Ariella Kaeslin 14.912 (3) Aagje Vanwalleghem 14.425
    • Uneven bars: (1) He Kexin 16.250 (2) Jiang Yuyan 15.700 (3) Koko Tsurumi 15.250

Handball

• European Women's Championship in Macedonia
  • 5th/6th placement match:
    • Romania  36–33(OT)  Croatia
  • Semifinals:
    • Spain  32–29  Germany
    • Norway  24–18  Russia

Rugby union

• Heineken Cup Pool stage, week 4:
  • Pool 1:
    • Munster (Ireland) 23–13 Clermont
    • Montauban 16–12 Sale Sharks
  • Pool 3:
    • Benetton Treviso 16–36 Ospreys
  • Pool 4:
    • Harlequins 19–17 Stade Français
  • Pool 5:
    • Newport Gwent Dragons 13–26 Toulouse
  • Pool 6:
    • Biarritz 6–10 Cardiff Blues 13:35
    • Gloucester 48–5 Calvisano

Swimming

• European Short Course Championships in Rijeka, Croatia:
  • Men:
    • 1500 m freestyle: (1) Federico Colbertaldo 14:24.21 (2) Vitaly Romanovich 14:29.64 (3) Samuel Pizzetti 14:31.60
    • 200 m butterfly: (1) Nikolay Skvortsov 1:50.60 (WR) (2) Dinko Jukić 1:52.31 (3) Maxim Ganikhin 1:52.32
    • 100 m freestyle: (1) Amaury Leveaux 44.94 (WR) (2) Fabien Gilot 45.84 (3) Filippo Magnini 46.62
    • 50 m breaststroke: (1) Matjaž Markič 26.47 CR (2) Aleksander Hetland 26.64 (3) Emil Tahirovič 26.66
  • Women:
    • 400 m freestyle: (1) Coralie Balmy 3:56.39 (2) Camille Muffat 3:57.48 (3) Alessia Filippi 3:59.35
    • 100 m individual medley: (1) Hanna-Maria Seppälä 59.24 CR (2) Evelyn Verrasztó 59.49 (3) Francesca Segat 59.61
    • 50 m backstroke: (1) Sanja Jovanović 26.23 (WR) (2) Kateryna Zubkova 26.65 (3) Elena Gemo 26.77
    • 4 × 50 m medley relay: (1)  Netherlands (Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Moniek Nijhuis, Hinkelien Schreuder, Marleen Veldhuis) 1:45.73 (WR) (2)  Germany (Daniela Samulski, Janne Schaefer, Lena Kalla, Petra Dallmann) 1:46.84 (3)  Italy (Elena Gemo, Roberta Panara, Silvia di Pietro, Federica Pellegrini) 1:47.05

Winter sports

American college football

• NCAA Division I FCS semifinal at Harrisonburg, Virginia:
  • Montana 35, James Madison 27
    • The top-ranked FCS team is upset at home.

Cricket

• England in India:
  • 1st Test in Chennai, day 2:
    •  England 316;  India 155/6. India trail by 161 runs with 4 wickets remaining in the 1st innings.
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 1st Test in Dunedin, day 2:
    • No play due to rain.

Rugby union

• Heineken Cup Pool stage, week 4:
  • Pool 2:
    • Castres 18–15 (Ireland) Leinster
  • Pool 4:
    • Scarlets 16–16 (Ireland) Ulster

Swimming

• European Short Course Championships in Rijeka, Croatia:
  • Women:
    • 800 m freestyle: (1) Alessia Filippi 8:04.53 (WR) (2) Coralie Balmy 8:05.32 (3) Lotte Friis 8:09.91
    • 200 m breaststroke: (1) Alena Alekseeva 2:19.93 (2) Mirna Jukić 2:20.48 (3) Patrizia Humplik 2:21.68
    • 100 m freestyle: (1) Marleen Veldhuis 51.95 (2) Jeanette Ottesen 52.08 (3) Ranomi Kromowidjojo 52.22
    • 100 m backstroke: (1) Sanja Jovanovic 58.87 (2) Kateryna Zubkova 57.01 (3) Laure Manaudou 57.16
    • 50 m butterfly: (1) Hinkelien Schreuder 25.21 (2) Jeanette Ottesen 25.54 (3) Diane Bui Duyet 25.55
    • 4X50 m freestyle relay: (1)  Netherlands 1:33.80 (Hinkelien Schreuder, Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Marleen Veldhuis) (2)  Sweden 1:38.00 (Petra Granlund, Claire Hedenskog, Sarah Sjöström, Lovisa Ericsson) (3)  Germany 1:38.06 (Dorothea Brandt, Petra Dallmann, Lisa Vitting, Daniela Schreiber)
  • Men:
    • 400 m medley: (1) Dinko Jukić 4:03.01 (2) Gergő Kis 4:03.81 (3) Lukasz Wojt 4:05.13
    • 100 m breaststroke: (1) Igor Borysik 57.33 (2) Hugues Duboscq 57.64 (3) James Gibson 57.91
    • 100 m butterfly: (1) Milorad Čavić 49.19 (European record) (2) Rafael Muñoz Pérez 49.74 (3) Nikolay Skvortsov 49.98
    • 50 m backstroke: (1) Stanislas Donets 23.22 (2) Aschwin Wildeboer 23.28 (3) Ľuboš Križko 23.47

Winter sports

American football

• National Football League Week 15 Thursday Night Football:
  • Chicago Bears 27, New Orleans Saints 24 (OT)
    • The Bears (8–6) stay in contention for a play-off berth; the Saints were eliminated from contention with the loss.

Basketball

• Euroleague, week 7:
  (teams in bold advance to the Top-16 round)
  • Group A:
    • Air Avellino 72–86 Maccabi Tel Aviv
      • Maccabi (4–3) need one more win or Avellino (2–5) loss to qualify to the Top-16. As a result of Maccabi's win, Olympiacos (5–2) qualifies to the Top-16 and Le Mans (0–7) is eliminated.
  • Group B:
    • SLUC Nancy 78–70 Asseco Prokom Sopot
      • Nancy gets level with Sopot in 4th place on 2–5, but the Polish team hold the advantage in a tie-break due to their 29-points victory in week 2.
    • Panathinaikos Athens 76–87 Regal FC Barcelona
      • Panathinaikos (5–2) need one more win or either Sopot or Nancy loss to qualify to the Top-16.
  • Group C:
    • DKV Joventut 97–93 Lottomatica Roma
      • Joventut (4–3) denies Roma (5–2) a chance to clinch a berth in Top-16.
  • Group D:
    • Real Madrid 68–67 Partizan Belgrade

Cricket

• England in India:
  • 1st Test in Chennai, day 1:
    •  England 229/5 (Andrew Strauss 123)
• West Indies in New Zealand:
  • 1st Test in Dunedin, day 1:
    •  New Zealand 226/4 (Daniel Flynn 95, Chris Gayle 3/42)

Football (soccer)

• FIFA Club World Cup in Japan:
  • Play-off:
    • Adelaide United 2–1 Waitakere United
      • Adelaide United will play Gamba Osaka in the quarterfinal
• Caribbean Championship in Jamaica:
  (local time, UTC−5)
  • Semi-finals:
    • Cuba  2–2 (AET)  Grenada
      • Grenada win 6–5 in penalty shootout.
    • Jamaica  2–0  Guadeloupe

Handball

• European Women's Championship in Macedonia
  (teams in bold advance to the semifinals)
  • Group I in Ohrid:
    • Hungary  21–23  Spain
    • Denmark  25–30  Ukraine
    • Romania  31–37  Norway
      • Final standings: Norway 9 pts, Spain, Romania 6, Hungary, Ukraine, Denmark 3.
  • Group II in Skopje:
    • Sweden  24–29  Croatia
    • Russia  22–27  Germany
    • Belarus  24–29  Macedonia
      • Final standings: Germany 9 pts, Russia 7, Croatia, Macedonia, Sweden 4, Belarus 2.

Swimming

• European Short Course Championships in Rijeka, Croatia:
  • Men:
    • 400 m freestyle: (1) Paul Biedermann 3:37.73 (2) Massimiliano Rosolino 3:39.33 (3) Mads Glæsner 3:39.77
    • 200 m backstroke: (1) Stanislav Donets & Aschwin Wildeboer 1:49.22 (3) Pierre Roger 1:52.26
    • 200 m individual medley: (1) James Goddard 1:53.46, (2) Vytautas Janušaitis 1:54.51, (3) Alan Cabello Forns 1:55.70
    • 50 m freestyle: (1) Amaury Leveaux 20.63 sec, (2) Frédérick Bousquet 20.69, (3) Duje Draganja & Evgeny Lagunov 21.15
      • Leveaux sets a world record of 20.48 sec in semi-final.
    • 4 × 50 m medley relay: (1)  Italy (Mirco Di Tora, Alessandro Terrin, Marco Belotti, Filippo Magnini) 1:32.91 (world record), (2)  Germany (Thomas Rupprath, Marco Koch, Johannes Dietrich, Steffen Deibler) &  Russia (Stanislav Donets, Sergei Geybel, Evgeny Korotyshkin, Evgeny Lagunov) 1:33.31
      • Russia set a world record of 1:33.77 in a heat earlier on Thursday.
  • Women:
    • 200 m individual medley: (1) Francesca Segat 2 min 7.03 sec (European record), (2) Evelyn Verrasztó 2:07.93, (3) Sophie de Ronchi 2:08.10
    • 200 m butterfly: (1) Petra Granlund 2 min 4.27 sec, (2) Aurore Mongel 2:04.73, (3) Jemma Lowe 2:04.78
    • 50 m breaststroke: (1) Valentina Artemyeva 29.96 sec, (2) Janne Schaefer 30.37, (3) Moniek Nijhuis 30.45

Winter sports

Baseball

• According to reports from ESPN.com, CC Sabathia has signed a seven-year, US $160 million deal with the New York Yankees. The deal, averaging out to nearly $23 million/year, will make Sabathia the highest paid pitcher in baseball history.

Basketball

• Euroleague, week 7:
  (teams in bold advance to the Top-16 round)
  • Group A:
    • Cibona Zagreb 89–70 Le Mans
      • Le Mans' losing streak stretches to 7 games. They will be eliminated from Top-16 if Maccabi wins on Thursday.
    • Unicaja Málaga 60–56 Olympiacos
      • Cibona and Unicaja get level with Olympiacos on 5–2.
  • Group B:
    • Montepaschi Siena 100–93 Žalgiris Kaunas
      • Siena improve to 6–1; Žalgiris remain winless, and will be eliminated if they lose to Sopot next week.
  • Group C:
    • TAU Cerámica 101–69 Union Olimpija Ljubljana
  • Group D:
    • CSKA Moscow 93–61 Panionios
      • CSKA (6–1) secures a berth in the Top-16.
    • Efes Pilsen 74–67 AJ Milano

Football (soccer)

• UEFA Champions League group stage, matchday 6:
  (teams in bold advance to the last-16 round; teams in italics go to UEFA Cup last-32 round; teams with strike are eliminated from all European Cups)
  • Group E:
    • Manchester United 2–2 Aalborg BK
    • Celtic 2–0 Villarreal
  • Group F:
    • Steaua 0–1 Fiorentina
    • Lyon 2–3 Bayern
  • Group G:
    • Porto 2–0 Arsenal
    • Dynamo Kyiv 1–0 Fenerbahçe
  • Group H:
    • Juventus 0–0 BATE Borisov
    • Real Madrid 3–0 Zenit St. Petersburg

Handball

• European Women's Championship in Macedonia
  (teams in bold advance to the semifinals; teams with strike are eliminated)
  • Group I in Ohrid:
    • Romania  40–32  Ukraine
    • Hungary  20–34  Norway
    • Denmark  26–23  Spain
      • Norway secures a semifinal berth as a result of Spain's loss.
  • Group II in Skopje:
    • Russia  24–21  Croatia
      • Russia secures a semifinal berth.
    • Sweden  24–23  Macedonia
    • Belarus  28–28  Germany

Ice hockey

• Champions Hockey League Semifinals, first leg:
  • Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1–2 Salavat Yulaev Ufa
  • ZSC Lions 6–3 Espoo Blues

Winter sports

Baseball

• Francisco Rodríguez, who earned a record 62 saves for the Los Angeles Angels in 2008, signs a three-year, US$37 million deal to join the New York Mets.

Basketball

• Euroleague, week 7:
  • Group C:
    • ALBA Berlin 72–63 Fenerbahçe Ülker
      • Both teams are level in 4th place on 3–4, with identical head-to-heat record since Fenerbahçe won their first encounter 82–73.

Football (soccer)

• UEFA Champions League group stage, matchday 6:
  (teams in bold advance to the last-16 round; teams in italics go to UEFA Cup last-32 round; teams with strike are eliminated from all European Cups)
  • Group A:
    • Chelsea 2–1 CFR Cluj
    • Roma 2–0 Bordeaux
  • Group B:
    • Panathinaikos 1–0 Anorthosis
    • Werder Bremen 2–1 Internazionale
  • Group C:
    • Basel 0–1 Sporting CP
    • Barcelona 2–3 Shakhtar Donetsk
  • Group D:
    • PSV Eindhoven 1–3 Liverpool
    • Marseille 0–0 Atlético Madrid
• News: Bernd Schuster resigns as coach of Real Madrid. Juande Ramos is appointed as new coach, four days before the El Clásico against arch rival Barcelona.

Handball

• European Women's Championship in Macedonia
  • Group I in Ohrid:
    • Hungary  26–24  Ukraine
    • Romania  18–26  Spain
    • Denmark  19–31  Norway
      • Standings after 3 matches: Norway 5 points, Spain & Romania 4.

Winter sports