The New York Giants defeat the Minnesota Vikings, 34-13. Vikings' wide receiver Randy Moss left the game early with continued tightness in his right hamstring. The Vikings were nearly shutout at home for the first time in over 40 years before scoring two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter. (ESPN)
NASCAR: Just a week after a plane crash killed ten people including members of Hendrick Motorsports and team owner Rick Hendrick's family, team driver Jimmie Johnson wins his seventh race of the season (and third straight) at the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 . (ESPN)
Rugby leagueTri-Nations: Australia defeat Great Britain 12-8 at the City of Manchester Stadium and qualify for the Tri-Nations Final, where they will play either New Zealand or Great Britain, depending on results over the next three weeks.
Cross-country skiing: World Cup 2005 season opening in Düsseldorf, Germany: The Ladies' 6×0.8 km Team Sprint relay race is won by the Norwegian No.1 team (Marit Bjřrgen , Hilde G. Pedersen ), with Germany's No.2 team (Manuela Henkel , Evi Sachenbacher ) and Italy's No.1 team (Arianna Follis , Gabriella Paruzzi ) taking the 2nd and 3rd place. (FIS-Ski Results) In the Mens' 6×1.5 km race, Norway's No.1 team wins (Hĺvard Bjerkeli , Tor Arne Hetland ), while Germany's No.1 team (Tobias Angerer , Axel Teichmann ) and No.3 team (Toni Lang , Andreas Stitzl ) finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively. (FIS-Ski Results)
The New England Patriots set another NFL record with their 18th consecutive regular-season victory, 13-7 over the New York Jets. The loss is the first of the year for the Jets, while the Patriots remain undefeated. Jets running back Curtis Martin moves into seventh place on the all-time career rushing yards list. (Yahoo!)
NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson's sixth win of the 2004 NASCAR season, at the Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway near Martinsville, Virginia, is overshadowed by the crash of a private plane today belonging to his racing team, Hendrick Motorsports . (ESPN) All 10 people on board the plane were killed, including four relatives of team owner Rick Hendrick. (ESPN)
Ice skating: During an ABCtelevised competition, skater Tatiana Totmianina suffers a fall after her partner slipped off his right foot. She remains unsconscious for some minutes, and is hospitalized with damage to her head, neck and eyes.
Baseball: 2004 World Series, Game 1: Hosting the St. Louis Cardinals on a cold night at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox won the highest scoring Game One of Series history, 11-9. The Red Sox took a 7-2 lead in the third inning, but the Cardinals tied it by the 7th. Mark Bellhorn's two-run home run in the bottom of the 8th provided the winning margin. (ESPN)
Cross-country skiing: World Cup 2005 season opening in Düsseldorf, Germany: The 0.8 km Ladies' Sprint race is won by Marit Bjřrgen (NOR), with Anna Dahlberg (SWE) and Gabriella Paruzzi coming in second and third. (FIS-Ski Results). The 1.5 km Men's Sprint race is won by Peter Larsson (SWE), with Tor Arne Hetland (NOR) and Cristian Zorzi (ITA) coming in second and third. (FIS-Ski Results)
Motorcycle racing: Valentino Rossi wins the World MotoGP title for the third successive year, the first year for Yamaha since 1992, when he wins the Australian MotoGP, one race before the end of the series. He is only the second rider to win successive titles for different teams. (BBC), (BBC).
Snooker: During the second round of qualifying for the UK Championship, Jamie Burnett achieves a break of 148 against Leo Fernandez , the first time a player has made a break higher than the nominal maximum of 147 in a professional match. (BBC)
WNBA Finals: The Seattle Storm defeat the Connecticut Sun 74-60 behind 23 points from Betty Lennox. The Storm won the best-of-three series 2-1, and Lennox was named Finals Most Valuable Player. Storm coach Anne Donovan becomes the first woman to coach a WNBA champion. (ESPN)
The Atlanta Braves even their series with the Houston Astros at two games apiece, ending the Astros' 19-game home winning streak with a 6-5 win. Rafael Furcal scores the winning run in the ninth on a single from J.D. Drew . (ESPN)
The Seattle Seahawks take their first loss of the season, against the St. Louis Rams. St. Louis scores 17 points in the final six minutes of regulation to tie the Seahawks, and go on to beat the Seahawks 33-27 in overtime.
Marathon: Eurasia Marathon: David Kiptanui , (26) from Kenya wins in 2:18:19 before Konstantin Permitin (Константин Пермитин), (36) of Russia (2:18:25) and Yuriy Hychun, (27) from Ukraine (2:18:35). In the womens' category, Russian Svetlana Demidenko (Светлана Демиденко), (28) wins in 2:36:44 before her compatriots Zhanna Malkova (Жанна Малкова), (36) in 2:39:36 and Olga Glok (Ольга Глок), (21) in 2:42:45. (Istanbul Marathon)
WNBA: The Seattle Storm even their best-of-three championship series with the Connecticut Sun at one game apiece, winning 67-65. The Sun's Nykesha Sales sets a WNBA Finals record with 32 points, but misses a three-pointer at the buzzer that would have won the game. Betty Lennox leads the Storm with 27 points; Lauren Jackson racks up a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. (ESPN)
The New York Yankees win their series against the Minnesota Twins, 3 games to 1, with a 6-5 win in 10 innings. The Yankees come back from a 5-1 deficit with four runs in the eighth inning, capped by a three-run home run from Rubén Sierra. In the top of the 10th inning, Alex Rodriguez scores the winning run on a wild pitch. (ESPN)
The Los Angeles Dodgers stay alive in their series against the St. Louis Cardinals, winning 4-0 behind a complete-game shutout by Jose Lima . The Dodgers, who now trail 2 games to 1 in the series, get their runs via a two-run double from Steve Finley and two solo homers from Shawn Green. (ESPN)
The Houston Astros win their 19th consecutive home game to take a 2 games to 1 series lead over the Atlanta Braves, winning 8-5. The Astros' offense is sparked by Carlos Beltrán, who goes 2-for-5 with a two-run homer. (ESPN)
The New York Yankees take a 2-1 lead in their series against the Minnesota Twins with an 8-4 win. The Yankees erase an early 1-0 Twins lead with three runs on four consecutive two-out singles in the second inning, and later add home runs from Bernie Williams and Hideki Matsui. Kevin Brown pitches six innings for the win. (ESPN)
NFL: The league announces that Jamal Lewis, who pleaded guilty yesterday to trying to set up a cocaine deal in 2000, will be suspended for two games without pay, and in addition will be fined two weeks' salary. This action will cost Lewis approximately $760,000. (ESPN)
NFL: Baltimore Ravens star running back Jamal Lewis, who was scheduled to go on trial on federal charges of conspiracy to deal cocaine, pleads guilty to a lesser charge of using a cellular phone to set up a drug deal. Under the plea agreement, Lewis will serve four months in a federal prison and two months in a halfway house after the end of the 2004 NFL season. (ESPN)
NASCAR: Dale Earnhardt Jr. is fined $10,000 and penalized 25 championship points for cursing during a television interview after his Sunday win at Talladega Superspeedway. The points penalty knocks him out of the lead in the race for the series championship. (ESPN)
Football: FC Zurich striker Cleonicio dos Santos Silva, better known as Renato , is killed by gunmen attempting to steal his car in Rio de Janeiro. His girlfriend is also injured. (ESPN)
Former WBO world Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko also recovers from a knockdown, to defeat DaVarrill Williamson by a fifth round technical decision.
Basketball: DeMya Walker of the Sacramento Monarchs sinks a shot as time run out in overtime, to lift the Monarchs to a 74-72 win and a 1-0 lead over the Seattle Storm, in their WNBA western conference finals series. Walker's shot seemed to have gotten stuck on the back of the rim, then the ball moved slightly and went into the basket as time had expired.(WNBA)
