The 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season, play of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-A level, began in late summer 1997 and culminated with the major bowl games in early January 1998. The national championship was split for the third time in the 1990s. The Michigan Wolverines finished the season atop the AP Poll after completing a 12–0 campaign with a Big Ten Conference championship and a victory in the Rose Bowl over Washington State. The Nebraska Cornhuskers garnered the top ranking in the Coaches' Poll with a 13–0 record, a Big 12 Conference championship, and a win over Tennessee in the Orange Bowl. Michigan's Charles Woodson, who played primarily at cornerback, but also saw time on offense as a wide receiver and on special teams as a punt returner, won the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first primarily defensive player to win the award. The 1997 season was the third and final season in which the major bowl games were organized under the Bowl Alliance system. The Bowl Championship Series was instituted the following year.
In Tom Osborne's last season as head coach, Nebraska took over the #1 ranking in the nation after defeating Texas Tech midway through the season. Three weeks later, despite winning at Missouri in an overtime game, Nebraska slipped to a #2 ranking in the polls, as voters weren't impressed by the way the Cornhuskers won the game (a controversial kicked ball that was caught for the game-tying TD as time expired in regulation); Michigan moved ahead of Nebraska after its 34-8 victory over #3 ranked Penn State.
The consensus #1 team going into the bowl season was undefeated Michigan, led by coach of the year Lloyd Carr and Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson. Michigan went into the 1998 Rose Bowl against #8 Washington State ranked #1 in both the AP and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. Michigan defeated Washington State 21–16.
Undefeated #2 Nebraska squared off in the 1998 Orange Bowl versus the #3 ranked Tennessee Volunteers. Unusually for the low-key Osborne and his straight-ahead team, the Cornhuskers made a point of smacking down Tennessee as they defeated the Volunteers 42-17, and after the game campaigned openly for Nebraska to be named the consensus national champion (Grant Wistrom stated that if "they wanted to give it to Michigan because they haven't won one in 50 years, we don't want it anyway.").
After the bowl games, the AP poll awarded the national championship to Michigan, and the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll awarded the national championship to Nebraska, giving Tom Osborne his third national title in four seasons to cap his career. This also marked the last time that a Big 10 (or Pac-10) team would be bound to play in the Rose Bowl instead of heading to a #1-#2 title game, due to the 1998 BCS realignment.
The national title picture could have been even murkier as Florida State went into their final regular season game ranked #1. However, Fred Taylor of Florida would run for 162 yards and four touchdowns on the nation's top-ranked run defense, one of those touchdowns being the winning score with less than two minutes to play. This game is commonly referred to as "The Greatest Game Ever Played in the Swamp".
The Humanitarian Bowl, now known as the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, began play in Boise, Idaho to help publicise the dwindling Big West Conference and Boise State. The Broncos with their wacky blue turf had just made the jump to Division I-A a year earlier. The Big West champion had formerly gone to the Las Vegas Bowl, but the now only 6 team conference wasn't much of a seat filler.
The Motor City Bowl, now the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, began play in Detroit hosted by a MAC team.
The Copper Bowl gained corporate sponsorship and was now known as the Insight.com Bowl; it is now known as the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
The MAC also grew to a 12-team, two-division conference with a championship game after the return of two former MAC members—Northern Illinois, returning from the independent ranks, and Marshall, moving up from Division I-AA. Marshall's addition increased the number of teams in Division I-A to 112. In a scenario similar to the Big West in 1992, this up-and-comer from I-AA was able to win its division and the inaugural conference championship game in its first year. To be fair, the Thundering Herd had gone unbeaten and won the I-AA national title the previous season, and had future NFL stars Randy Moss and Chad Pennington.
East Carolina joined a conference for the first time since Division I split in 1978, becoming a member of Conference USA. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_NCAA_Division_I-A_football_season.

The 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season began on February 9 and ended on November 16. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was crowned champion at season's end. It was Gordon's second championship. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_NASCAR_Winston_Cup_Series.

The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games (French: Les Jeux olympiques d'été de 2000) or the Millennium Olympic Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was the second time that the Summer Olympics were held in the Southern Hemisphere, the first one being in Melbourne, Victoria in 1956.
Sydney was selected as the host city for the 2000 games in 1993. Teams from 199 countries participated. The United States won the most medals with 93, while Australia came in 4th with 58. The games cost was estimated to be A$6.6 billion. Many venues were constructed in the Sydney Olympic Park, which failed in the years immediately following the Olympics to meet the expected bookings to meet upkeep expenses.^[2] In the years leading up to the games, funds were shifted from education and health programs to cover Olympic expenses.^[3]
The Games received near-universal acclaim, with the organisation, volunteers, sportsmanship and Australian public being lauded in the international media. Bill Bryson from The Times called the Sydney Games "one of the most successful events on the world stage", saying that they "couldn't be better".^{[citation needed]} James Mossop of the Electronic Telegraph called the Games in an article "such a success that any city considering bidding for future Olympics must be wondering how it can reach the standards set by Sydney",^[4] while Jack Todd in the Montreal Gazette suggested that the "IOC should quit while it's ahead. Admit there can never be a better Olympic Games, and be done with it", as "Sydney was both exceptional and the best".^{[citation needed]} In preparing for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Lord Sebastian Coe declared the Sydney games the "benchmark for the spirit of the Games, unquestionably" and admitting that the London organising committee "attempted in a number of ways to emulate what [the Sydney organising committee] did." ^[5]
These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch. These were also the second Olympic Games to be held in spring. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Summer_Olympics.

The 2000 Grand American Road Racing Championship season was the inaugural season of the Rolex Sports Car Series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The season involved five classes: Sports Racing Prototypes I and II (SR-I and SR-II) and three Grand Touring classes referred to at GTO, GTU, and AGT. 9 races were run from February 5, 2000 to August 17, 2000.
The Grand American Road Racing Championship officially replaced the brief United States Road Racing Championship which had folded during their 1999 season. The Grand American series used similar rules, although the class names were all changed. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Grand_American_Road_Racing_Championship_season.


The 2000 American Le Mans Series season was the second season for the IMSA American Le Mans Series. It was a series for Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) and Grand Touring (GT) race cars divided into 3 classes: LMP, GTS, and GT. It began March 18, 2000 and ended December 31, 2000 after 12 races.
This season was the only time that the ALMS held races outside of North America, with two events held in Europe and one in Australia. These events helped with the creation of the 2001 European Le Mans Series season, although it was short lived. An Asian Le Mans Series was also discussed but not developed. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_American_Le_Mans_Series_season.


The 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 68th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 17 and 18 June 2000. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans.

The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games (French: Les XXes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) (Italian: XX Giochi olimpici invernali), was a winter multi-sport event which was held in Turin, Italy, from February 10 to 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956. Italy also hosted the Games of the XVII Olympiad in Rome in 1960. Turin was selected as the host city for the 2006 games in 1999.
The official logo displayed the name "Torino", the Italian name of the city; the city is known as "Turin" in both English and the local traditional language, Piedmontese.^[4] The Olympic mascots of Torino 2006 were Neve ("snow" in Italian), a female snowball, and Gliz, a male ice cube.^[5] The official motto of the XX Olympic Winter Games was "Passion lives here." Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Winter_Olympics.

The 2006 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the seventh season of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve. The 15-race championship was competed with Daytona Prototype (DP) and Grand Touring (GT) class cars. It began January 28, 2006 and ended September 2, 2006. Infineon Raceway was added, breaking the record for most races. Mont Tremblant was dropped for Miller Motorsports Park, leaving Hermanos Rodríguez as the only race outside the US. Long Beach Street Circuit was added. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Rolex_Sports_Car_Series_season.


The 2006 American Le Mans Series season was the eighth season for the IMSA American Le Mans Series. It was a series for Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) and Grand Touring (GT) race cars divided into 4 classes: LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2. It began March 18, 2006, and ended October 21, 2006 after 10 races. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_American_Le_Mans_Series_season.


The 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 74th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place over 17–18 June 2006. It saw for the first time in Le Mans history the victory of a diesel-powered car (the Audi R10 TDI). Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans.

The 2007–08 NHL season was the 91st season of operation (90th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). It began on September 29, 2007, with the regular season ending April 6, 2008. The Stanley Cup playoffs ended on June 4, with the Detroit Red Wings taking the championship .The 56th NHL All-Star Game was held in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the event at Philips Arena on January 27, 2008. The hosting by Atlanta was rescheduled from 2005, when a lockout cancelled the entire 2004–05 season. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007%E2%80%9308_NHL_season.

The 2007 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Season was the first NHRA season to include the Countdown to the Championship. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_NHRA_Powerade_Drag_Racing_Series_season.

The 1969 Major League Baseball season was celebrated as the 100th anniversary of professional baseball, honoring the first professional touring baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

It was the first season of what is now called the "Divisional Era," where each league of 12 teams was divided into two divisions of six teams each. The winners of each division would compete against each other in a League Championship Series, then best-of-five, to determine the pennant winners that would face each other in the World Series.

In a year marked by the second expansion of the decade, the New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles faced each other in the 1969 World Series. Having won the N.L. East Division with a league-best 100–62 record, and sweeping the N.L. West Division Champion Atlanta Braves in three games in the first National League Championship Series, the "Miracle Mets" became the first expansion team to win a pennant. They faced the A.L. East Division Champion Orioles, holders of the best record in baseball (109–53), who swept the A.L. West Division Champion Minnesota Twins in three games in the first American League Championship Series. The upstart Mets would upset the heavily favored Orioles and win the World Series title in five games. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Major_League_Baseball_season.

The 1969 Formula One season included the 20th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on 1 March 1969, and ended on 19 October after eleven races. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Formula_One_season.

The 2010–11 NBA season was the 65th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 2011 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 20, 2011 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.^[1] The season concluded with the Dallas Mavericks defeating the Miami Heat in six games, 4 games to 2, to win their first NBA title, and Dirk Nowitzki was named Finals MVP.^[2] Chicago's Derrick Rose was named the 2010–11 NBA MVP. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_NBA_season.

The 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series season was the twenty-ninth season of semi-professional stock car racing in the United States. Beginning at Daytona International Speedway, the season included thirty-five races, which ended with the Ford 300 at Homestead Miami Speedway. During the 2009 off season, NASCAR announced few calendar changes, including moving the Memphis Motorsports Park race to Road America because a closure of Memphis. Joe Gibbs won the Owners' Championship, while Brad Keselowski won the Drivers' Championship during the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway, two races before the final. Toyota won the Manufacturers' Championship with 240 points. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_NASCAR_Nationwide_Series.

The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the least amount of controversy surrounding the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title game in many years.
To an extent it was a return to classic football. All eight BCS teams were traditional powerhouses, many of the schools having worn the same uniforms for half a century, and Penn State and Florida State having the same coaches for nearly half a century. Alabama was back in the mix for the SEC title, shaking off the residual effects of NCAA sanctions, and though Penn State is a relative newcomer to the Big Ten, Ohio State and Michigan were still in the running for the conference title until the last game.
The BCS saw good fortune as two teams, the USC Trojans and the Texas Longhorns, went wire to wire as #1 and #2, respectively—the second year in a row that had happened—and finished as Division I-A's only undefeated teams after the regular season. As a result, there was no dispute over the choice of teams selected for the BCS title game (there were five undefeated teams in the 2004 regular season: Oklahoma, USC, Auburn, Utah, and Boise State). The game was played at the Rose Bowl, where Texas edged the favored, defending champion Trojans in large part due to a historic performance by Texas quarterback Vince Young, who gained 467 yards of total offense and ran for three touchdowns. The victory earned the Longhorns their first consensus national championship since 1969. (Texas won a split title in 1970.)
There was also an unlikely comeback team in the season. The UCF Golden Knights came from a helpless 0–11 record in 2004, to a respectable 8–5 record and an appearance in the Conference USA Championship game and a Hawaii Bowl berth. Although their season apparently got off to a poor start with a loss to South Carolina on opening day and a pasting by their intrastate rival, South Florida, they pulled off 8 wins over a 9 game span (only loss was a 31–52 rout by Southern Miss) including getting a win over eventual conference champions, Tulsa. Tulsa ended up beating UCF 44–27. In the Hawaii Bowl, the Golden Knights were a failed PAT away from sending Nevada to double overtime. Also, Penn State, who went 4-7 in 2004, managed an 11-1* record and #3 ranking in 2005, but not being ranked until after the 44-14 pasting of then #19 Minnesota, where Penn State took control of the Governor's Victory Bell for the first time since 1998.
Quite a few conference changes took place in 2005. Temple became an independent football program after expulsion from the Big East Conference and Army ended its brief affiliation with Conference USA and also returned to football independence. Boston College left the Big East to become the ACC's 12th member, allowing that league to split into divisions and start a conference championship game.
Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida left Conference USA to join the Big East, to bring the membership in that league back up to eight. TCU also left Conference USA to join the Mountain West Conference as its ninth member.
Conference USA responded to the mass defections by adding Central Florida and Marshall from the Mid-American Conference, knocking the MAC's membership down from 14 to 12, and Rice, Southern Methodist, UTEP, and Tulsa from the WAC to get up to 12 members. Like the ACC, C-USA split into two divisions and started a conference championship game.
In response to their losses, the WAC added Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State from the Sun Belt Conference while the Sun Belt picked up independent Florida Atlantic and Florida International, who had just transitioned from Division I-AA. Division I-A membership is now at 119 schools. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_NCAA_Division_I-A_football_season.

The 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series began on Saturday, February 12. The ten race Chase for the Nextel Cup started with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 18, and ended on Sunday, November 20, with the Ford 400.
Tony Stewart was the dominant driver going into the ten race "playoff" with five wins. Going into the final race before the Chase for the Cup, Stewart had amassed a 209 point lead over his nearest competitor, Greg Biffle. Points are reset going into the Chase for the cup, and Stewart’s lead was dropped to a 5 point margin. Leading into the final race before the Chase, ten racers were still mathematically contending for the final four spots in the Chase and only one point separated Jamie McMurray in 10th from Ryan Newman in 11th. In the end, the ten racers who qualified for the Chase for the Cup were:

1. Tony Stewart (3716)
2. Greg Biffle (−185)
3. Rusty Wallace (−304)
4. Jimmie Johnson (−316)
5. Kurt Busch (−412)
6. Mark Martin (−443)
7. Jeremy Mayfield (−488)
8. Carl Edwards (−602)
9. Matt Kenseth (−602)
10. Ryan Newman (−661)

Overall, Roush Racing was the dominant team going into the Chase for the Cup with five of the ten final racers from their organization (Biffle, Busch, Martin, Edwards and Kenseth).
This was the first season since his rookie season that Jeff Gordon did not finish in the top 10 in points.
The 2005 season was the first year of competition for the Dodge Charger, which replaced the Dodge Intrepid, a model that Dodge dropped from its consumer lineup for the 2005 model year. The change did little to improve Dodge's fortunes as a distant third manufacturer in NASCAR Nextel Cup behind Ford and Chevrolet. In 2004, Dodge won 4 of 36 cup races with the Intrepid. In 2005, the Charger won three races. The Charger was, however, much more of a success in the Busch Series, winning 10 of 32.
The 2005 season was the final year for the Ford Taurus, which was replaced by the Ford Fusion in the 2006 season. In addition, two prominent drivers announced that this would be their final season in NASCAR: Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace. However, Martin returned for 2006 and ran a limited schedule in 2007 and, as of 2010, plans to continue driving for Hendrick Motorsports through 2011. Also Ricky Rudd took a break after the 2005 season but returned by the 2007 Season.
One of the biggest controversies prior to the start of the season involved the elimination of two races – Darlington and North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham. The eliminated Rockingham race ends NASCAR's 38-year association with Rockingham. The races were replaced by new races at Texas and Phoenix. NASCAR also began moving start times later in the day starting this season; by 2007 the Daytona 500 finished in primetime.
Also, NASCAR announced in January 2005 that the owners of the teams in the top 35 of the previous year's standings would be guaranteed a starting spot in each of the first five races of the season. This further complicated the unique qualifying procedure for the Daytona 500, and severely affected the chances of some teams to make races after having a poor 2004. After the fifth race, the guaranteed starters were based on the current season's points, with changes possible from race to race depending on results.
The number of cars entered for each race was up slightly from the previous year. The Daytona 500 saw a dramatic increase in its car count from 45 to 56. The increase was in part attributable to a new NASCAR rule that allowed hard liquor brands to become sponsors on its race cars. Roush Racing (Crown Royal), Richard Childress Racing (Jack Daniels), and Robby Gordon Motorsports (Jim Beam) were the first to sign such deals.
At the end of the 2005 season, Chevrolet won the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship after winning 17 events and garnering 259 points over second place Ford who captured 16 victories and 146 points. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_NASCAR_Nextel_Cup_Series.

The 1930 NFL season was the 11th regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, Brooklyn businessmen William B. Dwyer and John C. Depler bought the Dayton Triangles, moved it, and renamed it the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Orange Tornadoes relocated to Newark and the Buffalo Bisons and the Boston Bulldogs dropped out. The Portsmouth Spartans entered as a new team.
Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers were named the NFL champions for the second straight year after they finished the season with the best record. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930_NFL_season.

The 1930 AAA Championship Car season consisted of eight races, beginning in Langhorne, Pennsylvania on May 3 and concluding in Syracuse, New York on September 6. The AAA National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Billy Arnold. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930_AAA_Championship_Car_season.

The 1964 NFL season was the 45th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season started, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle reinstated Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung and Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras, who had been suspended for the 1963 season due to gambling.
This season is noteworthy for a change in uniform rules – while the league had dictated since 1957 that the home team must wear a colored jersey and the visitors a white one, teams were now given the option of wearing their white jerseys at home. As a result, the Browns, Cardinals, Colts, Cowboys, Rams, Redskins, Steelers (for one game) and Vikings (except for most of one game in which the Lions forgot to bring their blue jerseys) [1] did so; while the rest reverted to home colors the following year, the Cardinals would not wear red at home until 1966, the Rams would not do so again until 1972, the Browns only once until 1975, and the Cowboys, aside from an unwilling use of their blue tops as the "home" team in Super Bowls, have since continuously worn white at home.
The season ended when the Cleveland Browns defeated the Baltimore Colts in the NFL Championship Game – the last championship for the Browns. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_NFL_season.

The 1964 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 13 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on March 22 and concluding at the same location on November 22. There was also one non-championship event at Pikes Peak, Colorado. The USAC National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was A. J. Foyt. At Indianapolis in the 500 miles race Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald were killed during lap 2 of the race; Sachs was 37 years old, and MacDonald was 27. In the Tony Bettenhausen Memorial at Springfield, Bill Horstmeyer died during the race; he was 34 years old. In November, five days after the season ended, Bobby Marshman died in a testing accident at Phoenix; he was 28 years old. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_USAC_Championship_Car_season.

The 1969–70 NHL season was the 53rd season of the National Hockey League. For the third straight season, the St. Louis Blues reached the Stanley Cup finals, and for the third straight year, the winners of the expansion Western Division were swept four games to none. This time, however, it was at the hands of the Boston Bruins, as the defending champions Montreal Canadiens narrowly missed the playoffs, something that would not happen again for the next quarter century. With the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens out, this meant that all participating teams in the 1970 playoffs were from the United States, the only time this has occurred in league history as of 2014. It was also the final season that teams wore their colored jerseys at home until the 2003–04 season. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969%E2%80%9370_NHL_season.

The 2001–02 NHL season was the 85th regular season of the National Hockey League. Thirty teams each played 82 games. The Stanley Cup winners were the Detroit Red Wings, who won the best of seven series 4–1 against the Carolina Hurricanes. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001%E2%80%9302_NHL_season.

The 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup season began on February 11, 2001, at the Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 23, 2001, at the New Hampshire International Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was crowned series champion for the fourth time in seven years. The season was marked by tragedy with the death of seven-time Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt in the season-opening Daytona 500, which would result in safety upgrades being instituted. It also was the first year of a unified television contract that had FOX/FX and NBC Sports/TNT broadcasting the season's races; previous seasons saw each racetrack negotiate their own TV coverage, creating a patchwork of broadcast companies covering races throughout the season. Dodge returned to the sport for the first time since 1985. Chevrolet captured the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship with 16 wins and 248 points. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_NASCAR_Winston_Cup_Series.

The 1991 NFL season was the 72nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_NFL_season.

The 1991 IndyCar season, the thirteenth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 18 races, beginning in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia on March 17 and concluding in Monterey, California on October 20. There was one non-championship event, the Marlboro Challenge. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Michael Andretti, the Indianapolis 500 & Marlboro 500 winner was Rick Mears. Rookie of the Year was Jeff Andretti. The 75th Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by the USAC, but counted in the CART points standings. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_IndyCar_season.

The 2002 NFL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Football League.
The league went back to an even number of teams, expanding to 32 teams with the addition of the Houston Texans. The clubs were then realigned into eight divisions, four teams in each. Also, the Chicago Bears played the 2002 season in Champaign, Illinois at Memorial Stadium because of the reconstruction of their home stadium Soldier Field.
The NFL title was eventually won by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they defeated the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California on January 26th, 2003. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_NFL_season.

The 2002 Indy Racing League (IRL) season was one of transition, with many CART teams participating in a partial IRL schedule while retaining "lame duck" status in their original series with their CART engine suppliers Toyota and Honda. On the IRL front, the Infiniti engine was in its "lame duck" year and the General Motors engine was now branded as a Chevrolet rather than an Oldsmobile as that marque was being phased out. Sam Hornish, Jr. won 5 races on his way to his second straight championship ahead of Penske Racing juggernaut Hélio Castroneves who won three races, including a second straight Indy 500, on his way to second in the championship. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Indy_Racing_League_season.


The 2002 CART season, the twenty-fourth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 19 races, beginning in Monterrey, Mexico on March 10 and concluding in Mexico City, Mexico on November 17. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Cristiano da Matta. Rookie of the Year was Mario Domínguez. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_CART_season.

The 2003–04 NBA season was the 58th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Detroit Pistons defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in the 2004 NBA Finals. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003%E2%80%9304_NBA_season.

The 2003 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Season began February 15 and ended November 15. Brian Vickers of Hendrick Motorsports won the championship. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_NASCAR_Busch_Series.

The 2000–01 NBA season was the 55th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their second straight championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 1 in the 2001 NBA Finals. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000%E2%80%9301_NBA_season.

The 2000 NASCAR Busch Series Season began February 19 and ended on November 11. Jeff Green of ppc Racing was crowned series champion. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_NASCAR_Busch_Series.

The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League.
Regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006. The regular season also saw the first ever regular season game played outside the United States, as well as the New Orleans Saints being forced to play elsewhere due to damage to the Superdome and the entire New Orleans area by Hurricane Katrina.
The playoffs began on January 7. New England's streak of 10 consecutive playoff wins was ended in the Divisional Playoff Round by the Denver Broncos, and eventually the NFL title was won by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who defeated the Seattle Seahawks 21–10 in Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan on February 5 for their fifth Super Bowl win. This also marked the first time that a Sixth-seeded team, who by the nature of their seeding would play every game on the road, would advance to and win the Super Bowl.
The season formally concluded with the Pro Bowl, the league's all-star game, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 12. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_NFL_season.

The 2005 IRL IndyCar Series season began on Sunday, March 6 and ended on Sunday, October 16. The season, which consisted of 17 races, was the 10th season of the IRL since it split from CART in 1995.
Dan Wheldon was the dominant driver in the series in 2005, winning six races, including the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500, setting the record for most victories in an IRL season. However, the big story of the season was that of Rahal Letterman Racing's Danica Patrick, the fourth woman to compete in the Indy 500 and the first to lead a lap. She would eventually wind up in fourth. Danica's presence was a boost to the IRL's television ratings. The Indy 500's ratings were up 40% from the year before and subsequent races also saw a boost in ratings.
The season was the first ever to introduce road courses and street circuits when the series held races at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International, where the series previously known to have held events exclusively on oval tracks.
The season was also the last for Chevrolet in the series, who confirmed in August that they would not return to the IRL. At the start of the season, only Panther Racing's Tomas Scheckter and Tomáš Enge raced Chevrolet powered cars (although A. J. Foyt IV also started racing for Chevy beginning with the AMBER Alert Portal Indy 300 at Kentucky). The manufacturer situation within the IRL was the hot issue during the second half of the season and continued into the off-season. Toyota announced that they would leave the series shortly after the 2005 season ended, leaving Honda as the only remaining manufacturer in the IRL. Honda extended their engine supply contract through 2009 despite expressly saying that they did not wish to be the IRL's only supplier. The IRL announced that they extended their chassis supply contract with Panoz and Dallara through 2006. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_IndyCar_Series_season.


The 2005 Champ Car season was the second season of the Champ Car World Series era of American open-wheel racing. It began on April 10, 2005 in Long Beach, California and ended on November 6 in Mexico City, Mexico after 13 races. The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford Drivers' Champion was Sébastien Bourdais, his second consecutive championship. The Rookie of the Year was Timo Glock. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Champ_Car_season.

The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League.
With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005. Hurricanes forced the rescheduling of two Miami Dolphins home games: the game against the Tennessee Titans was moved up one day to Saturday, September 11 to avoid oncoming Hurricane Ivan, while the game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, September 26 was moved back 7½ hours to miss the eye of Hurricane Jeanne.
The playoffs began on January 8, and eventually New England repeated as NFL champions when they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, the Super Bowl championship game, at ALLTEL Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on February 6. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_NFL_season.

The 2004 IRL IndyCar Series season was dominated by two teams, Andretti Green Racing and Rahal Letterman Racing. While there was great parity in 2003 between Honda and Toyota powered teams, in 2004 Honda began to outshine Toyota bringing their teams Penske Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing down with it, leaving Scott Dixon winless and in 10th place in his attempt to defend his 2003 championship.
Season champion Tony Kanaan set a record by completing all 3,305 possible laps, the first IndyCar driver in modern history to do so. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_IndyCar_Series_season.


The 2004 Champ Car season was the inaugural season for the Champ Car World Series. It began on April 18, 2004 and ended on November 7 after 14 races. The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford Drivers' Champion was Sébastien Bourdais. The Rookie of the Year was A. J. Allmendinger.
The open-wheel racing organization CART, Inc. had operated until 2003. After that year's season, the series declared bankruptcy and was liquidated in an Indianapolis courtroom in January 2004. Three team owners who had participated in the CART series, Gerald Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven, and Paul Gentilozzi, purchased the series' liquidated assets and resurrected it as the Champ Car World Series for the 2004 season. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Champ_Car_season.

The 2007–08 NHL season was the 91st season of operation (90th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). It began on September 29, 2007, with the regular season ending April 6, 2008. The Stanley Cup playoffs ended on June 4, with the Detroit Red Wings taking the championship .The 56th NHL All-Star Game was held in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the event at Philips Arena on January 27, 2008. The hosting by Atlanta was rescheduled from 2005, when a lockout cancelled the entire 2004–05 season. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007%E2%80%9308_NHL_season.

The 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season began on February 10, 2007 at Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout and ended on November 18 of that same year at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford 400. The Chase for the NEXTEL Cup began with the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. 2007 was the final year that the NASCAR Cup Series was known as the NEXTEL Cup Series. As a result of the 2005 merger of NEXTEL Communications with Sprint Corporation, and the subsequent decision by the newly named Sprint Nextel Corporation, the name of the series was changed to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for 2008 Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports won his second straight Nextel Cup title, with teammate Jeff Gordon finishing second. Chevrolet captured the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship with 26 wins, and 290 points over second place Ford who had 7 wins and 208 points. Dodge finished third with 3 wins and 178 points and Toyota finished out with no wins, but 116 points. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_NASCAR_Nextel_Cup_Series.

The 2001 CART PPG/Dayton Indy Lights Championship Powered By Buick consisted of 12 races. It was dominated by Townsend Bell who captured six victories on his way to the championship. It was the last Indy Lights season, as the series organizer, CART, decided to drop the Indy Lights series and concentrate its efforts on the Toyota Atlantic Championship.^[2] Most former Indy Lights teams that wished to stay in business went either to the Atlantic series, which replaced Indy Lights as the support race at most CART events, or the new Infiniti Pro Series, which ran in support of Indy Racing League events. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Indy_Lights_season.

The 1989 NFL season was the 70th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle announced his retirement. Paul Tagliabue was eventually chosen to succeed him.
Due to damage caused by the Loma Prieta earthquake to Candlestick Park, the New England Patriots – San Francisco 49ers game on October 22 was played at Stanford Stadium in Stanford.
The season ended with Super Bowl XXIV where the 49ers defeated the Denver Broncos. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_NFL_season.

The 1989 IndyCar season, the eleventh in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 16 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on April 9 and concluding in Monterey, California on October 15. There was one non-championship event, the Marlboro Challenge. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Emerson Fittipaldi. Rookie of the Year was Bernard Jourdain. The 73rd Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by the USAC, but counted in the CART points standings. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_IndyCar_season.

The 1988 NFL season was the 69th regular season of the National Football League. The Cardinals relocated from St. Louis, Missouri to the Phoenix, Arizona area becoming the Phoenix Cardinals but remained in the NFC East division. Playoff races came down to the season's final day, with the Seattle Seahawks winning the AFC West by one game, and the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers winning their respective divisions in a five-way tie, with the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants losing the NFC Wild Card berth to the Los Angeles Rams on tiebreakers.
This season marked the final coaching season for the legendary Tom Landry.
The season ended with Super Bowl XXIII when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_NFL_season.

The 1988 IndyCar season, the tenth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 16 races, beginning in Avondale, Arizona on April 10 and concluding in Miami, Florida on November 6. There was one non-championship event, the Marlboro Challenge. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Danny Sullivan and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Rick Mears. Rookie of the Year was John Jones. The 72nd Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by the USAC, but counted in the CART points standings. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_IndyCar_season.