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This list shows notable sports-related deaths, events, and notable outcomes that occurred in March of 2006. Deaths
30: Red Hickey 26: Paul Dana 17: Ray Meyer 15: Red Storey 13: Roy Clarke 13: Jimmy Johnstone 11: Bernie Geoffrion 6: Kirby Puckett 1: Peter Osgood
Sporting seasons
Auto racing 2006: Formula One; GP2; BTCC Indy Racing League NASCAR; Busch; Craftsman Truck World Rally Championship
Cricket 2005–06: Australia; West Indies
Association football 2006: England: Premier League; England (general) Scotland Denmark: Superliga France: Ligue 1; UEFA Champions League;UEFA Cup Argentina Rugby union 2005–06: Heineken Cup, Super 14
U.S. and Canadian sports 2005–06: NHL; NBA
March 30, 2006 (Thursday) Cricket: Pakistani cricket team in Sri Lanka in 2005–06 First Test at Colombo SSC: Sri Lanka 185 (Dilshan 69) and 448/5 dec. (Sangakkara 185, Jayawardene 85, Tharanga 72) drew with Pakistan 176 (Imran Farhat 69) and 337/4 (Shoaib Malik 148). Two-Test series tied 0–0; the Second Test begins Monday in Kandy. First Test scorecard Football: 2005–06 UEFA Cup – Quarter finals, first leg. Sevilla 4–1 Zenit St. Petersburg Levski Sofia 1–3 Schalke 04 Schalke score 3 in the second half to recover against 10-man Levski. Rapid Bucharest 1–1 Steaua Bucharest The first half of the Romanian capital's Derby ends in a draw. FC Basel 2–0 Middlesbrough (UEFA.com)
March 29, 2006 (Wednesday) Cricket – West Indian cricket team in New Zealand in 2005–06: Third Test: The Third and final Test between New Zealand and West Indies at Napier ends in a draw. Only 79 overs were possible on the first two days before rain washed out the match. New Zealand won the three-Test series 2–0. 3rd Test scorecard Football: 2005–06 UEFA Champions League – Quarter finals, first leg. Internazionale 2–1 Villarreal Lyon 0–0 A.C. Milan (UEFA.com)
March 28, 2006 (Tuesday) Cricket: Australian cricket team in South Africa in 2005–06 Second Test: Australia defeats South Africa in Durban to win the three-Test series after its victory the week before in Cape Town. The Third Test commences in Johannesburg on Friday. Score: Australia 369 (Ponting 103, Hussey 75) and 307/4 dec. (Ponting 116, Hayden 102) defeated South Africa 267 (Kallis 114, Lee 5/69) and 297 (Warne 6/86) by 112 runs. Australia leads three-Test series 2–0. Scorecard 2005–06 Australian cricket season Queensland defeats Victoria by an innings and 354 runs to secure the Pura Cup. Queensland scored 6/900 declared – the eleventh highest score in first-class cricket – to win Australia's domestic four-day cricket competition. Queensland's innings included two double centuries (Maher 223, Watson 201 retired) and two centuries (Perren 173, Love 169). Complete scorecard. Football: 2005–06 UEFA Champions League – Quarter finals, first leg. Benfica 0–0 Barcelona Arsenal 2–0 Juventus (UEFA.com) 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Regional Finals Cleveland Region: (1) North Carolina 75, (2) Tennessee 63 Bridgeport Region: (1) Duke 63, (2) UConn 61 (OT)
March 27, 2006 (Monday) 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Regional Finals Albuquerque Region: (2) Maryland 75, (5) Utah 65 (OT) San Antonio Region: (1) LSU 62, (3) Stanford 59
March 26, 2006 (Sunday) Auto racing Paul Dana, 30, is killed in an accident with fellow driver Ed Carpenter during the practice session for the Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Team owner Bobby Rahal pulled the other two cars he had entered – driven by Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice — after learning of Dana's death. The race went off as scheduled, with defending series champion Dan Wheldon narrowly defeating Hélio Castroneves to win the race. NASCAR NEXTEL Cup: Kurt Busch drives the Miller Lite No. 2 Dodge Charger to his first win with Penske Motorsports in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Regional semi-finals Cleveland Region (2) Tennessee 76, (3) Rutgers 69 (1) North Carolina 70, (4) Purdue 68 Bridgeport Region (1) Duke 86, (4) Michigan State61 (2) UConn 77, (3) Georgia 75 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Regional finals Washington, D.C. Region: (11) George Mason 86, (1) UConn 84 (OT). The Patriots become the first mid-major school to make the Final Four since 1979, when both Penn and a Larry Bird-led Indiana State made it. Minneapolis Region: (3) Florida 75, (1) Villanova 62. For the first time since the 1980 Final Four, and the second time since the tournament was seeded beginning in 1979, no No. 1 seeded teams made the Final Four. Cricket: Brett Lee becomes the 12th Australian to take 200 wickets in Test cricket. ABC Sport (Australia) Golf: Canadian Stephen Ames takes the 2006 Players Championship with a score of 14 under par, six strokes ahead of second-place Retief Goosen of South Africa. Ames will receive $1.44 million, 10 years' exemption for PGA Tour events and an invitation to the four major championships as a reward. In 2007, the event will move to May (May 10 – 13) in the month between The Masters and the U.S. Open. (ESPN) Ice hockey The Alberta Golden Bears win their record 12th University Cup 3–2 over the Lakehead Thunderwolves. (TSN) Wisconsin defeats Minnesota 3–0 to win the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship on the Gophers' home ice.
March 25, 2006 (Saturday) Figure skating: American teenager Kimmie Meissner outskates the favorites (including fellow American Sasha Cohen) and wins the ISU World Figure Skating Ladies' Championship in Calgary, Alberta. Association football English Football League Championship – Reading F.C. earn promotion to the English Premier League 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Regional semi-finals San Antonio Region (1) LSU 66, (4) DePaul 56 (3) Stanford 88, (2) Oklahoma 74 Albuquerque Region (2) Maryland 82, (3) Baylor 63 (5) Utah 57, (8) Boston College 54 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Regional finals Atlanta Region: (4) LSU 70, (2) Texas 60 (OT) Oakland Region: (2) UCLA 50, (1) Memphis 45
March 24, 2006 (Friday) 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Regional semi-finals Minneapolis Region (1) Villanova 60, (4) Boston College 59 (OT) (3) Florida 57, (7) Georgetown 53 Washington, D.C. Regional (11) George Mason 63, (7) Wichita State 55 (1) UConn 98, (5) Washington 92 (OT)
March 23, 2006 (Thursday) 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Regional semi-finals Atlanta Region (4) LSU 62, (1) Duke 54 (2) Texas 74, (6) West Virginia 71 Oakland Region (1) Memphis 80, (13) Bradley 64 (2) UCLA 73, (3) Gonzaga 71
March 22, 2006 (Wednesday) Cricket: England in India 2006: Third Test at Mumbai:England 400 (Andrew Strauss 128, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth 4/70) and 191 (Andrew Flintoff 50, Anil Kumble 4/49) beat India 279 (Mahendra Singh Dhoni 64, James Anderson 4/40) and 100 (Shaun Udal 4/14) by 212 runs. The three match series is drawn 1–1. Flintoff, England's stand-in captain, is named Man of the Match and Man of the Series.
March 21, 2006 (Tuesday) NFL In a three-way trade, the New York Jets traded DE John Abraham to the Atlanta Falcons for the 29th overall pick in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft, which was acquired from the Denver Broncos for the 15th overall pick that same round. Adam Vinatieri signed with the Indianapolis Colts. The former New England Patriots kicker, who won Super Bowl XXXVI and XXXVIII with last-second field goals will replace Mike Vanderjagt. 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Second round Bridgeport Region At Trenton, New Jersey: (3) Georgia 73, (11) Hartford 54 At Norfolk, Virginia: (1) Duke 85, (8) Southern California 51 At University Park, Pennsylvania: (2) UConn 79, (7) Virginia Tech 56 Cleveland Region At Norfolk: (2) Tennessee 66, (7) George Washington 53 At Trenton: (3) Rutgers 82, (11) TCU 48 At West Lafayette, Indiana: (4) Purdue 61, (5) UCLA 54 Albuquerque Region At West Lafayette: (8) Boston College 79, (1) Ohio State 69 At University Park: (2) Maryland 81, (7) St. John's 74
March 20, 2006 (Monday) World Baseball Classic: Japan beats Cuba 10–6, to win the first World Baseball Classic at Petco Park in San Diego. Pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka was named Most Valuable Player. Cricket: West Indian cricket team in New Zealand in 2005–06: Second Test at Wellington: West Indies 192 (Morton 63, Franklin 5/53) and 215 (Gayle 68) lose to New Zealand 372 (Fleming 97, Fulton 75, Astle 65, Edwards 5/65) and 36/0 by ten wickets. New Zealand leads three-Test series 2–0. Cricinfo scorecard American football: Paul Tagliabue, who has served as the commissioner of the NFL since 1987, will retire in July. Auto racing: Pole sitter Kasey Kahne won the rain-delayed NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Golden Corral 500. Bill Lester, the first African-American to qualify for a top level NASCAR race since Willy T. Ribbs two decades earlier, finished in 38th place, three laps behind. 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Second round Bridgeport Region At Rosemont, Illinois: (4) Michigan State 67, (5) Kentucky 63 Cleveland Region At Nashville: (1) North Carolina 89, (8) Vanderbilt 70 San Antonio Region At Denver: (2) Oklahoma 86, (7) BYU 70 (3) Stanford 86, (6) Florida State 70 At Nashville (1) LSU 72, (8) Washington 49 At Rosemont: (4) DePaul 71, (12) Tulsa 67 Albuquerque Region At Tucson, Arizona: (3) Baylor 87, (11) New Mexico 67 (5) Utah 86, (4) Arizona State 65
March 19, 2006 (Sunday) The 2006 Winter Paralympics in Turin, Italy, conclude with Russia leading all countries with 33 total medals. Auto racing NASCAR: The NEXTEL Cup Golden Corral 500 was postponed due to rain and will be raced Monday at 11 am US EST (1600 UTC). Formula One: Giancarlo Fisichella of Italy won the Malaysian Grand Prix. 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, First round Bridgeport Region At Trenton, New Jersey: (11) Hartford 64, (6) Temple 58 (3) Georgia 75, (14) Marist 60 At Norfolk, Virginia: (1) Duke 96, (16) Southern 27: The Jaguars set an all-time record low score for an NCAA Women's Tournament game. (8) Southern California 67, (9) South Florida 65 At University Park, Pennsylvania: (7) Virginia Tech 82, (10) Missouri 57 (2) UConn 77, (15) Coppin State 54 Cleveland Region At Norfolk: (2) Tennessee 102, (15) Army 54: The Lady Vols' Candace Parker dunked twice in this game, the first time in NCAA Women's Championship history that has happened. (7) George Washington 87, (10) Old Domintion 72 At West Lafayette, Indiana: (4) Purdue 73, (13) Missouri State 52 (5) UCLA 74, (12) Bowling Green 61 At Trenton: (3) Rutgers 63, (14) Dartmouth 58 (11) TCU 68, (6) Texas A&M 65 Albuquerque Region At University Park: (7) St. John's 78, (10) Cal 68 (2) Maryland 95, (15) Sacred Heart 54 At West Lafayette: (8) Boston College 78, (9) Notre Dame 61 (1) Ohio State 68, (16) Oakland (MI) 45 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Second round Oakland Region At Auburn Hills, Michigan: (13) Bradley 72, (5) Pitt 66 At Dallas: (1) Memphis 72, (9) Bucknell 56 Atlanta Region At Auburn Hills: (6) West Virginia 67, (14) Northwestern State 54 At Dallas: (2) Texas 75, (10) NC State 54 Washington, D.C. Region At Dayton, Ohio: (11) George Mason 65, (3) North Carolina 60 At Philadelphia: (1) UConn 87, (8) Kentucky 83 Minneapolis Region At Dayton: (7) Georgetown 70, (2) Ohio State 52 At Philadelphia: (1) Villanova 82, (8) Arizona 78.
March 18, 2006 (Saturday) Cricket: Australian cricket team in South Africa in 2005–06: First Test at Newlands, Cape Town – South Africa 205 (Clark 5/55) and 197 (Clark 4/34) loses to Australia 308 (Hayden 94, Ponting 74, Symonds 55) and 95/3 (Ntini 3/28) by seven wickets. Australia leads three-Test series 1–0. Scorecard World Baseball Classic Semi Finals Cuba 3, Dominican Republic 1 Japan 6, South Korea 0 Rugby union: 2006 Six Nations Championship Italy 10 – 13 Scotland Wales 16 – 21 France England 24 – 28 Ireland