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This list shows notable sports-related deaths, events, and notable outcomes that occurred in April of 2006. Deaths
28: Steve Howe 26: Russ Swan 24: Brian Labone 18: John Lyall 9: Jimmy Outlaw 9: Billy Hitchcock 6: Maggie Dixon
Sporting seasons
Auto racing 2006: Formula One; GP2; BTCC Indy Racing League NASCAR; Busch; Craftsman Truck World Rally Championship
Cricket 2005–06: West Indies
Football (soccer) 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, Guinness Premiership
U.S. and Canadian sports 2005–06: 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs; 2006 NBA Playoffs
Events in sports
30 April 2006 (Sunday) Golf PGA Tour: Chris Couch nabs his first-ever PGA Tour win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans despite bogeying the 17th hole, and experiencing a weird 18th. On the last hole, Couch hit his drive into a cut of rough, then flew his second shot over the green into the back of the sand bunker behind it. With a funny stance, his third shot only left the bunker onto the rough in front of it. Couch then proceeded to hole his fourth shot to make par and win with an overall score of 19-under, defeating co-runners-up Charles Howell III and Fred Funk by one shot. It was a great ending to an odd week for Couch in the Big Easy. A week earlier, Couch had gotten lost in a bad part of New Orleans, then hitched a ride with strangers who took him into an even worse part of town, where he had to go to a tattoo parlor just to call police so they could help him find his car. (SI.com) NHL 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs Colorado Avalanche 3, Dallas Stars 2 (OT): The plucky Avs pulled off an upset, eliminating the Pacific Division champions. San Jose Sharks 2, Nashville Predators 1: The Sharks hang on to stifle the Tomas Vokoun-less Predators in five games. Auto racing: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup: The Aaron's 499 was postponed due to rain and will be run tomorrow (May 1). Basketball: EuroLeague Final Four Championship: Maccabi Tel Aviv 69–73 CSKA Moscow Third place: FC Barcelona 82–87 TAU Cerámica
29 April 2006 (Saturday) American football 2006 NFL draft top 11 selections: Houston Texans — Mario Williams, Delaware, NC State New Orleans Saints — Reggie Bush, RB, USC Tennessee Titans — Vince Young, QB, Texas New York Jets — D'Brickashaw Ferguson, OT, Virginia Green Bay Packers — A. J. Hawk, LB, Ohio State San Francisco 49ers — Vernon Davis, TE, Maryland Oakland Raiders — Michael Huff, S, Texas Buffalo Bills — Donte Whitner, S, Ohio State Detroit Lions — Ernie Sims, LB, Florida State Arizona Cardinals — Matt Leinart, QB, USC Denver Broncos — Jay Cutler, QB, Vanderbilt Twelve ACC players are selected in the first round, a record for a conference. Five Ohio State players are chosen in the first round. Besides Hawk and Whitner, the Dallas Cowboys pick LB Bobby Carpenter, the Pittsburgh Steelers WR Santonio Holmes and the New York Jets C Nick Mangold. The biggest losers of the day are USC players. The Texans choose Williams over Bush, the 2006 Heisman Trophy winner, while Leinart, the 2005 Heisman winner, is not chosen until the tenth pick and RB LenDale White winds up going to Tennessee with the 13th pick of the second round (45th overall). The Packers trade WR Javon Walker to the Broncos for a second-round draft pick. Football (soccer) FA Premier League Chelsea 3–0 Manchester United Chelsea clinches back-to-back Premier League Championships for the first time in the club's 100 year history. However, England's hopes for the 2006 World Cup may have suffered a blow when Man U's Wayne Rooney was injured in the 80th minute and will be out for six weeks with a metatarsal fracture in his right foot. (Premierleague.com) Wigan Athletic 1—2 Portsmouth Birmingham City 0—0 Newcastle United Portsmouth's win at JJB Stadium officially sends West Bromwich Albion to relegation while the Blues' scoreless draw at home also relegates them to the Football League Championship. Major League Baseball Albert Pujols sets a new MLB record for home runs in April with 14. His solo shot in the bottom of the eighth inning gives the St. Louis Cardinals a 2–1 win over the Washington Nationals. (MLB.com) NHL 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs New Jersey Devils 4, New York Rangers 2: The Devils swept the Rangers out of the playoffs with a convincing win at Madison Square Garden. Ottawa Senators 3, Tampa Bay Lightning 2: The longest sports championship defense in modern history ended when the Senators knocked out the Lightning in five games. Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup in 2004, and the 2004–05 season was cancelled due to the lockout between the owners and the players. The Toronto Blue Jays had held the previous record of over one and a half seasons due to the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.
28 April 2006 (Friday) American football 2006 NFL draft: The Houston Texans sign DE Mario Williams of NC State, and will take him with their #1 draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. (NFL.com) He received a six-year deal worth $54 million, including a $26.5 million signing bonus. (ESPN.com) Major League Baseball In a 7–6 loss to the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers outfielder Kevin Mench hits a solo home run in the eighth inning, making him the first right-handed batter in MLB history to homer in seven consecutive games. Mench is one game shy of the record held by Dale Long, Don Mattingly, and Ken Griffey Jr. (MLB.com) St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols hits his 13th homer of the season, a solo shot in the eighth inning of an 8–3 loss to the Washington Nationals. Pujols ties a major-league record for homers in April, previously set by Griffey in 1997 and Luis Gonzalez in 2001. (MLB.com) Basketball EuroLeague Final Four from Sazka Arena, Prague: Semifinals Maccabi Tel Aviv 85–70 TAU Cerámica The two-time defending champions win a rematch of the 2005 Euroleague final. (Euroleague.net) FC Barcelona 75–84 CSKA Moscow The Russians come back from a 12-point deficit in the third quarter to advance to the final, ending a string of three consecutive losses in the Euroleague semis. (Euroleague.net) Rugby union Sale Sharks defeat Bath 38–12 at Edgeley Park, Stockport, ensuring that they will finish on top of the table when the 2005–06 Guinness Premiership regular season finishes. (Guinnesspremiership.com)
27 April 2006 (Thursday) Football (soccer): 2005–06 UEFA Cup, Semi-final, Second leg, teams progressing to the Final in bold. Sevilla 1–0 Schalke 04 (aet) (Sevilla wins on aggregate 1–0.) Middlesbrough 4–2 Steaua Bucharest (Middlesbrough wins on aggregate 4–3.) For the second successive round, Middlesbrough require to score four goals to win – and for the second successive round Massimo Maccarone scores the 4th goal in the 89th minute. (uefa.com) Major League Baseball MLB Chief Operating Officer Bob DuPuy announced that Major League Baseball is prepared to select an ownership group for the Washington Nationals at the May 17 – 18 owners' meeting in New York City. MLB is asking for $450 million, and there are eight active bids, including one led by former Seattle Mariners owner Jeff Smulyan. (ESPN.com)
26 April 2006 (Wednesday) Cricket: Brian Lara is appointed captain of the West Indian cricket team, his third stint as captain. This follows Shivnarine Chanderpaul's resignation earlier this month. (Cricinfo) Football (soccer): 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, Semi-final, Second leg, team progressing to the Final in bold. Barcelona 0–0 A.C. Milan (Barcelona win 1–0 on aggregate) (uefa.com)
25 April 2006 (Tuesday) Football (soccer): 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, Semi-final, Second leg, team progressing to the Final in bold. Villarreal 0–0 Arsenal (Arsenal win 1–0 on aggregate) Jens Lehmann saves a last-minute penalty to ensure Arsenal proceed from a nervy semi-final, Arsenal's 10th successive Champions League match without conceding a goal. (uefa.com) Baseball Former Major League star Brett Butler was admitted to a hospital after suffering chest pains following a Lancaster JetHawks Minor League game he was managing. The JetHawks are the High-A affiliate for the Arizona Diamondbacks in the California League.
22 April 2006 (Saturday) Auto racing Indy Racing League: Hélio Castroneves wins the 300-mile race at Twin Ring Motegi, Japan. NASCAR: Kevin Harvick completes a weekend sweep of the spring races at Phoenix International Raceway by winning the NEXTEL Cup Subway Fresh 500 after taking the Busch Series Bashas' Supermarkets 200 the night before. Boxing: Wladimir Klitschko beats Chris Byrd in the seventh round to win the IBF world heavyweight champion. Major League Baseball The Milwaukee Brewers hit a record-tying five home runs in the fourth inning, scoring seven runs, as they defeat the Cincinnati Reds, 11–0. Bill Hall, Damian Miller, Brady Clark and J. J. Hardy all hit their home runs off Brandon Claussen before the first out was recorded in the inning. Prince Fielder hit the fifth homer off Chris Hammond with two outs. Miller and Clark hit two-run homers, while the rest were solo. (MLB.com) Barry Bonds hit his first home run of the season off Aaron Cook in the San Francisco Giants' 6–4 victory over the Colorado Rockies. With 709 career home runs, he is now within five of Babe Ruth's 714 for second on the all-time list. (MLB.com)
20 April 2006 (Thursday) Cricket: Australian cricket team in Bangladesh in 2005–06 Australia defeats Bangladesh to win two-Test series 2–0. Second Test at Chittagong: Bangladesh 197 (Rajin Saleh 71) and 304 (Shahriar Nafees 79, Mohammad Rafique 65, Warne 5/113) lose to Australia 581/4 declared (Gillespie 201 not out, Hussey 182) by an innings and 80 runs. (ABC Sport) This match will be remembered for Jason Gillespie's remarkable double century, the only instance in Test cricket in which a nightwatchman passed 200. Gillespie later admitted it was "ridiculous ... I was just lucky that the shots came off and I had a bit of a laugh all the way." Football (soccer): 2005–06 UEFA Cup, Semi-final, first leg. Schalke 04 0–0 Sevilla Steaua Bucharest 1–0 Middlesbrough (UEFA.com) The Toronto Maple Leafs fire head coach Pat Quinn after the team fails to make the playoffs.
19 April 2006 (Wednesday) Cricket: New Zealand in South Africa First Test at Centurion: South Africa 276 and 299 (de Villiers 97) defeated New Zealand 327 (Oram 133, Vettori 81, Ntini 5/94) and 120 (Steyn 5/47, Ntini 5/51) by 128 runs. South Africa leads three-Test series 1–0. (Scorecard) Football (soccer): 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, Semi-final, first leg. Arsenal 1–0 Villarreal In the last European match at Highbury, Arsenal take their Champions League record of clean sheets to 9. Villarreal suffer their first-ever loss against an English team. Kolo Touré scored the only goal of the match, to send Arsenal to Spain next Tuesday with an advantage. (uefa.com) Rugby union: Super 14 SA Rugby, the commercial arm of the South African Rugby Union, announces that the Southern Spears franchise will not be admitted to the Super 14 in 2007. The franchise had been controversially guaranteed a spot in the 2007 and 2008 competitions. (Planet-Rugby.com)
18 April 2006 (Tuesday) Football (soccer): 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, Semi-final, first leg. A.C. Milan 0–1 Barcelona Ludovic Giuly gives Barcelona the all-important away goal in this tie. (uefa.com)
17 April 2006 (Monday) Football (soccer) With a 1–0 win at Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon become the first team in French history to win five consecutive top division titles.
15 April 2006 (Saturday) Football (soccer) Liverpool mark the 17th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 that killed 96 fans. Originally scheduled to play Blackburn today, the match was put back by a day to allow for the Liverpool players to attend the memorial ceremony at Anfield.
14 April 2006 (Friday) Football (soccer)