The 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup began on Saturday February 8 and ended on Sunday November 16. Matt Kenseth with Roush Racing driving a Ford was crowned the Winston Cup champion, despite winning only one race all year. Chevrolet took home the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship after capturing 19 wins and 264 points over second place Dodge who had 9 wins and 203 points. Ford finished the year in third place with 7 wins and 200 points, and Pontiac finished in fourth place with 1 win and 125 points.^[1]
This was the last year in which Winston was the title sponsor of the Cup series. After it decided not to renew its sponsorship, NASCAR decided on the telecommunications firm Nextel to be the title sponsor of the new series.
In addition, NASCAR instituted a new points system after this season entitled the Chase for the Cup, in which after 26 races, all the points standings in the top ten as well as any position within 400 points of the lead, would be reset, so the drivers in those positions would be eligible for the championship. This was done primarily because of the huge lead Kenseth accumulated during 2003 despite winning one race.

Final stats:
 

Date	Site	Winner(s)	Car	Cau	Time of Race
2/16/2003	Daytona	Michael Waltrip	#15 NAPA   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) Chevrolet	5	2:02
2/23/2003	Rockingham	Dale Jarrett	#88 UPS   (Yates Racing) Ford	7	3:23
3/2/2003	Las Vegas	Matt Kenseth	#17 DeWalt Power Tools   (Jack Roush) Ford	6	3:00
3/9/2003	Atlanta	Bobby Labonte	#18 Interstate Batteries / Advair   (Joe Gibbs) Chevrolet	7	3:25
3/16/2003	Darlington	Ricky Craven	#32 Tide   (Cal Wells) Pontiac	7	3:10
3/23/2003	Bristol	Kurt Busch	#97   Metallic Silver Sharpie / Rubbermaid   (Jack Roush) Ford	17	3:29
3/30/2003	Fort Worth	Ryan Newman	#12 Alltel   (Roger Penske) Dodge	10	3:43
4/6/2003	Talladega	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	#8 Budweiser   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) Chevrolet	6	3:27
4/13/2003	Martinsville	Jeff Gordon	#24 DuPont   (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet	11	3:28
4/27/2003	Fontana	Kurt Busch	#97 Rubbermaid   (Jack Roush) Ford	8	3:34
5/3/2003	Richmond	Joe Nemechek	#25 UAW-Delphi   (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet	15	3:23
5/25/2003	Charlotte	Jimmie Johnson	#48 Lowe's / Power of Pride   (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet	8	3:16
6/1/2003	Dover	Ryan Newman	#12 Alltel   (Roger Penske) Dodge	9	3:44
6/8/2003	Pocono	Tony Stewart	#20 Home Depot   (Joe Gibbs) Chevrolet	5	3:42
6/15/2003	Michigan	Kurt Busch	#97 Rubbermaid / Sharpie   (Jack Roush) Ford	9	3:02
6/22/2003	Sonoma	Robby Gordon	#31   Cingular Wireless / Charlie's Angels   (Richard Childress) Chevrolet	6	2:57
7/5/2003	Daytona	Greg Biffle	#16   Grainger   (Jack Roush) Ford	2	2:24
7/13/2003	Chicago	Ryan Newman	#12 Mobil 1 / Alltel   (Roger Penske) Dodge	7	2:59
7/20/2003	Loudon	Jimmie Johnson	#48 Lowe's   (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet	12	3:16
7/27/2003	Pocono	Ryan Newman	#12 Mobil 1 / Alltel   (Roger Penske) Dodge	8	3:54
8/3/2003	Indianapolis	Kevin Harvick	#29 GM Goodwrench   (Richard Childress) Chevrolet	5	2:58
8/10/2003	Watkins Glen	Robby Gordon	#31 Cingular Wireless / FDNY   (Richard Childress) Chevrolet	6	2:26
8/17/2003	Michigan	Ryan Newman	#12 Alltel   (Roger Penske) Dodge	8	3:08
8/23/2003	Bristol	Kurt Busch	#97 Metallic Silver Sharpie / Rubbermaid   (Jack Roush) Ford	20	3:26
8/31/2003	Darlington	Terry Labonte	#5 Kellogg's / got milk?   (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet	10	4:09
9/6/2003	Richmond	Ryan Newman	#12 Alltel   (Roger Penske) Dodge	14	3:09
9/14/2003	Loudon	Jimmie Johnson	#48 Lowe's   (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet	6	2:58
9/21/2003	Dover	Ryan Newman	#12 Alltel   (Roger Penske) Dodge	7	3:40
9/28/2003	Talladega	Michael Waltrip	#15   NAPA   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) Chevrolet	5	3:12
10/5/2003	Kansas	Ryan Newman	#12 Alltel   (Roger Penske) Dodge	9	3:17
10/11/2003	Charlotte	Tony Stewart	#20 Home Depot   (Joe Gibbs) Chevrolet	5	3:30
10/19/2003	Martinsville	Jeff Gordon	#24 DuPont   (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet	15	3:53
10/27/2003	Atlanta	Jeff Gordon	#24 DuPont   (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet	10	3:55
11/2/2003	Phoenix	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	#8 Budweiser   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) Chevrolet	10	3:19
11/9/2003	Rockingham	Bill Elliott	#9 Dodge Dealers / UAW   (Ray Evernham) Dodge	10	3:34
11/16/2003	Homestead	Bobby Labonte	#18 Interstate Batteries   (Joe Gibbs) Chevrolet	10	3:25

The 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with an abundance of controversy, resulting in a split national championship. This was the first split title since the inception of the BCS, something the BCS intended to eliminate.
At season's end, three major conference teams finished the regular season with one loss, with only two spots available in the BCS National Championship Game. Three non-BCS teams also finished with one loss, TCU, Boise State and Miami (OH), stirring the debate of the BCS being unfair to mid-major teams.
USC had lost a triple overtime thriller at California on September 27, LSU lost at home to Florida on October 11, and Oklahoma, which had been #1 in every BCS rating,^[1] AP and Coaches' Poll^[2] of the season, lost to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game, 35-7 on December 6. Although USC, then 11-1, finished ranked #1 in both the AP and Coaches' Polls, with LSU (12-1) ranked #2 and Oklahoma (12-1) #3, Oklahoma surpassed both USC and LSU on several BCS computer factors. Oklahoma's schedule strength was ranked 11th to LSU's 29th and USC's 37th. Oklahoma's schedule rank was 0.44 to LSU's 1.16 and USC's 1.48. As such, despite the timing of Oklahoma's loss affecting the human voters, the computers kept Oklahoma at #1 in the BCS poll. LSU was ranked #2 by the BCS based on its #2 ranking in the AP Poll, Coaches Poll, 6 of 7 computer rankings (with the remaining one ranking them #1), and strength of schedule calculations. USC's #3 BCS ranking resulted from it being ranked #1 the AP and Coaches Poll, but #3 in 5 of 7 computer rankings (with the 2 remaining computer rankings at #1 and #4) and schedule strength, though separated by only 0.16 points.
LSU defeated Oklahoma in the 2004 Sugar Bowl, securing the BCS National Championship, as the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll is contractually obligated to vote the winner of the BCS National Championship Game #1. Meanwhile, when AP #1 USC beat Michigan in the 2004 Rose Bowl, the AP voters kept USC in the top spot, and USC secured the AP title.
On January 9, 2004, Ted Waitt, CEO of Gateway Computers offered the NCAA $31 million for a national championship game between USC and Louisiana State. The NCAA did not consider the offer, leaving the year without an unarguable national champion.
Army became the first team in Division I-A NCAA football modern history to finish the season 0-13.
The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award sponsored by ESPN chose USC coach Pete Carroll as their award recipient, while the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award, voted on by an association of sportswriters, chose LSU Coach Nick Saban.
The Orange Bowl game was noteworthy in that Miami and Florida State previously had scheduled to play each other on Labor Day in 2004. Playing in the Orange Bowl ensured that their next meeting would be each of their very next games and their first of the 2004 season.
Texas was also affected by the BCS controversy. Oklahoma's late loss kept Texas from appearing in one of the BCS games. Had Oklahoma won the Big 12 championship, the two at-large teams would have been Ohio State and Texas. But with the loss, Kansas State received the Big 12 bid and Oklahoma one of the at-large bids, leaving #5 Texas on the outside looking in. Texas lost to Washington State in the Holiday Bowl.
Two Independent schools joined conferences in 2003. South Florida left to join Conference USA as its 11th member, while Utah State left the Independent ranks to join the Sun Belt Conference as its 8th member. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_NCAA_Division_I-A_football_season.

Here are the final stats:

Final Rank	Team	Head Coach	Top NFL Player Drafted in 2004
1	Southern California	Pete Carroll	DE Kenechi Udeze
2	Louisiana State	Nick Saban	WR Devery Henderson
3	Oklahoma	Bob Stoops	DT Tommie Harris
4	Ohio State	Jim Tressel	DE Will Smith
5	Miami (FL)	Larry Coker	NT Vince Wilfork
6	Michigan	Lloyd Carr	RB Chris Perry
7	Georgia	Mark Richt	DE Robert Geathers
8	Iowa	Kirk Ferentz	T Robert Gallery
9	Washington State	Bill Doba	DB Erik Coleman
10	Miami (OH)	Terry Hoeppner	QB Ben Roethlisberger
11	Florida State	Bobby Bowden	DT Darnell Dockett
12	Texas	Mack Brown	WR Roy Williams
13	Mississippi	David Cutcliffe	QB Eli Manning
14	Kansas State	Bill Snyder	C Nick Leckey
15	Tennessee	Phillip Fulmer	G Scott Wells
16	Boise State	Dan Hawkins
17	Maryland	Ralph Friedgen	DT Randy Starks
18	Purdue	Joe Tiller	C Nick Hardwick
19	Nebraska	Frank Solich	LB Demorrio Williams
20	Minnesota	Glen Mason	FB Thomas Tapeh
21	Utah	Urban Meyer
22	Clemson	Tommy Bowden	WR Derrick Hamilton
23	Bowling Green State	Gregg Brandon
24	Florida	Ron Zook	T Max Starks
25	Texas Christian	Gary Patterson	DE Bo Schobel

Here are the final 2008 Indycar Standings:

	Driver	Races	Win	Podium	Pole	Laps	Led	Points	Diff
1	Scott Dixon	17	6	12	7	2851	899	646
2	Helio Castroneves	17	2	11	4	2857	561	629	-17
3	Tony Kanaan	17	1	7	2	2724	415	513	-133
4	Dan Wheldon	17	2	4	0	2795	164	492	-154
5	Ryan Briscoe	17	2	5	3	2419	202	447	-199
6	Danica Patrick	17	1	1	0	2779	4	379	-267
7	Marco Andretti	17	0	4	1	2387	330	363	-283
8	Ryan Hunter-Reay	17	1	1	0	2589	13	360	-286
9	Oriol Servia	17	0	0	0	2523	6	358	-288
10	Hideki Mutoh	17	0	1	0	2478	0	346	-300
11	Justin Wilson	17	1	2	1	2216	49	340	-306
12	Will Power	17	1	1	0	1875	84	331	-315
13	Vitor Meira	17	0	1	0	2267	81	324	-322
14	Darren Manning	17	0	1	0	2243	11	323	-323
15	Ed Carpenter	17	0	0	0	2408	3	320	-326
16	Buddy Rice	17	0	0	0	2305	8	306	-340
17	Graham Rahal	16	1	1	0	1875	19	288	-358
18	E.J. Viso	16	0	0	0	2359	22	286	-360
19	A.J. Foyt IV	17	0	0	0	2259	3	280	-366
20	Bruno Junqueira	16	0	0	0	2027	12	256	-390
21	Mario Moraes	17	0	0	0	2355	4	244	-402
22	Enrique Bernoldi	15	0	0	0	1660	3	220	-426
23	Jaime Camara	14	0	0	0	1739	44	174	-472
24	Marty Roth	12	0	0	0	1240	0	166	-480
25	Milka Duno	11	0	0	0	1421	5	140	-506

The 2008 IndyCar Series season was the 13th season of the IndyCar Series.^[1] Its premier event was the 92nd Indianapolis 500 on May 25. The first race was held March 29, at Homestead. It was the 97th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing.
All races were televised on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPN Classic. All IndyCar Series broadcasts continued to utilize the popular Side-By-Side format in their first year of HD broadcasts. Races were also broadcast on the IMS Radio Network and XM.
On February 26, 2008, the managements of IRL and Champ Car came to an agreement to become one entity. The move effectively ended a twelve-year split and reunited American open wheel racing. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_IndyCar_Series_season.

Final stats:

Date	Site	Winner	Car	Time of race	Cautions
3/29/2008	Homestead	Scott Dixon	#9   Target   (Chip Ganassi) D/H/F	1:44	3
4/6/2008	St. Petersburg	Graham Rahal	#06 Hole in the Wall Camps   (Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing) D/H/F	2:00	6
4/20/2008	Motegi	Danica Patrick	#7 Motorola   (Andretti Green Racing) D/H/F	1:51	4
4/20/2008	Long Beach	Will Power	#8 Aussie Vinyards / Team Australia   (KV Racing Technology) P/C/B	1:45	3
4/27/2008	Kansas	Dan Wheldon	#10 Target   (Chip Ganassi) D/H/F	1:52	4
5/25/2008	Indianapolis	Scott Dixon	#9 Target   (Chip Ganassi) D/H/F	3:28	8
6/1/2008	Milwaukee	Ryan Briscoe	#6 Team Penske   (Roger Penske) D/H/F	1:42	4
6/7/2008	Fort Worth	Scott Dixon	#9 Target   (Chip Ganassi) D/H/F	2:04	8
6/22/2008	Iowa	Dan Wheldon	#10 Target   (Chip Ganassi) D/H/F	1:38	6
6/28/2008	Richmond	Tony Kanaan	#11 Team 7-Eleven   (Andretti Green Racing) D/H/F	2:04	9
7/6/2008	Watkins Glen	Ryan Hunter-Reay	#17 Team Ethanol   (Bobby Rahal / David Letterman) D/H/F	1:54	6
7/12/2008	Nashville	Scott Dixon	#9 Energizer / Target   (Chip Ganassi) D/H/F	1:30	4
7/20/2008	Mid-Ohio	Ryan Briscoe	#6 Team Penske   (Roger Penske) D/H/F	2:01	5
7/26/2008	Edmonton	Scott Dixon	#9 Target   (Chip Ganassi) D/H/F	1:51	4
8/9/2008	Kentucky	Scott Dixon	#9   Target   (Chip Ganassi) D/H/F	1:36	3
8/24/2008	Sonoma	Helio Castroneves	#3 Team Penske   (Roger Penske) D/H/F	1:50	1
8/31/2008	Belle Isle	Justin Wilson	#02 McDonald's Racing Team   (Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing) D/H/F	2:00	4
9/7/2008	Chicago	Helio Castroneves	#3   Team Penske   (Roger Penske) D/H/F	2:01	7

The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan “Believe in Now.”
Super Bowl XLIII, the league’s championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009,^[2] with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out victorious over the Arizona Cardinals 27–23 and winning their NFL-record sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Conversely, the Detroit Lions became the first NFL team with a winless season since the strike-shortened 1982 NFL season, finishing their season 0–16. For the first time since the NFL expanded to the sixteen game season in 1978, three teams won two or fewer games: the Lions, the Kansas City Chiefs and the St. Louis Rams. Previously two teams won two or fewer games in 1979, 1981, 1985, 1992 and 2001.
The regular season began on September 4 with the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants defeating the Washington Redskins 16–7, and concluded with the 2009 Pro Bowl on February 8, 2009 in Honolulu. taken from wikipedia.org.

Final stats

	Team	Head Coach	Top QB	Top RB	Top WR	Top Defensive Player
Champion	Pittsburgh Steelers	Mike Tomlin	Ben Roethlisberger	Willie Parker	Hines Ward	James Farrior
Runner-Up	Arizona Cardinals	Ken Whisenhunt	Kurt Warner	Edgerrin James	Larry Fitzgerald	Karlos Dansby
ConfChamp	Philadelphia Eagles	Andy Reid	Donovan McNabb	Brian Westbrook	DeSean Jackson	Stewart Bradley
ConfChamp	Baltimore Ravens	John Harbaugh	Joe Flacco	Le'Ron McClain	Derrick Mason	Ray Lewis
Division	San Diego Chargers	Norv Turner	Philip Rivers	LaDainian Tomlinson	Vincent Jackson	Eric Weddle
Division	Carolina Panthers	John Fox	Jake Delhomme	DeAngelo Williams	Steve Smith	Jon Beason
Division	New York Giants	Tom Coughlin	Eli Manning	Brandon Jacobs	Domenik Hixon	Antonio Pierce
Division	Tennessee Titans	Jeff Fisher	Kerry Collins	Chris Johnson	Justin Gage	Keith Bulluck
WildCard	Atlanta Falcons	Mike Smith	Matt Ryan	Michael Turner	Roddy White	Erik Coleman
WildCard	Indianapolis Colts	Tony Dungy	Peyton Manning	Joseph Addai	Reggie Wayne	Freddy Keiaho
WildCard	Minnesota Vikings	Brad Childress	Gus Frerotte	Adrian Peterson	Bernard Berrian	Chad Greenway
WildCard	Miami Dolphins	Tony Sparano	Chad Pennington	Ronnie Brown	Ted Ginn	Yeremiah Bell
11 5	New England Patriots	Bill Belichick	Matt Cassel	Sammy Morris	Wes Welker	Jerod Mayo
9 7	New York Jets	Eric Mangini	Brett Favre	Thomas Jones	Jerricho Cotchery	Eric Barton
9 7	Chicago Bears	Lovie Smith	Kyle Orton	Matt Forte	Devin Hester	Lance Briggs
9 7	Dallas Cowboys	Wade Phillips	Tony Romo	Marion Barber	Terrell Owens	Bradie James
9 7	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Jon Gruden	Jeff Garcia	Warrick Dunn	Antonio Bryant	Barrett Ruud
8 8	New Orleans Saints	Sean Payton	Drew Brees	Pierre Thomas	Lance Moore	Jonathan Vilma
8 8	Denver Broncos	Mike Shanahan	Jay Cutler	Peyton Hillis	Brandon Marshall	Jamie Winborn
8 8	Houston Texans	Gary Kubiak	Matt Schaub	Steve Slaton	Andre Johnson	DeMeco Ryans
8 8	Washington Redskins	Jim Zorn	Jason Campbell	Clinton Portis	Santana Moss	London Fletcher
7 9	San Francisco 49ers	Mike Singletary	Shaun Hill	Frank Gore	Isaac Bruce	Patrick Willis
7 9	Buffalo Bills	Dick Jauron	Trent Edwards	Marshawn Lynch	Lee Evans	Paul Posluszny
6 10	Green Bay Packers	Mike McCarthy	Aaron Rodgers	Ryan Grant	Greg Jennings	A.J. Hawk
5 11	Jacksonville Jaguars	Jack Del Rio	David Garrard	Maurice Jones-Drew	Matt Jones	Brian Williams
5 11	Oakland Raiders	Tom Cable	JaMarcus Russell	Justin Fargas	Zach Miller	Kirk Morrison
4 11 1	Cincinnati Bengals	Marvin Lewis	Ryan Fitzpatrick	Cedric Benson	T.J. Houshmandzadeh	Dhani Jones
4 12	Seattle Seahawks	Mike Holmgren	Seneca Wallace	Julius Jones	John Carlson	Lofa Tatupu
4 12	Cleveland Browns	Romeo Crennel	Derek Anderson	Jamal Lewis	Braylon Edwards	D'Qwell Jackson
2 14	Kansas City Chiefs	Herman Edwards	Tyler Thigpen	Larry Johnson	Tony Gonzalez	Bernard Pollard
2 14	St. Louis Rams	Jim Haslett	Marc Bulger	Steven Jackson	Torry Holt	Pisa Tinoisamoa
0 16	Detriot Lions	Rod Marinelli	Dan Orlovsky	Kevin Smith	Calvin Johnson	Paris Lenon

Today's featured sporting event, a Dec. 18th 2008 NFL game featuring the Indianapolis Colts at the Jacksonville Jaguars. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200812180jax.htm.