February 2007 in sports

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2007 in sports : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - →

28 February 2007 (Wednesday)

*Auto racing:
**At a test for NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow in Bristol, Tennessee, the sanctioning body announces they will consider making the unibody template mandatory starting a year earlier than planned.

*US men's college basketball:
** (15) Texas 98, (7) Texas A&M 96 (2 OT)
** (24) Maryland 85, (14) Duke 77

*Cricket:
**Tri-Nations series in St. John's, Antigua:
***cr|BAN 278/5 (50 ov) beat cr|CAN 265/7 (50.0 ov) by 13 runs and wins the tournament.

27 February 2007 (Tuesday)

*Baseball:
**For the third consecutive election cycle, the Veterans Committee of the U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame fails to elect any nominees.

*US men's college basketball:
** Tennessee 86, (5) Florida 76.
Almost as notable as Tennessee's upset win was a special appearance by Lady Vols head coach Pat Summitt. After Tennessee men's head coach Bruce Pearl painted his chest orange for a key Lady Vols game earlier in the season against #1 Duke, Summitt returns the favor by dressing in a cheerleader outfit and helping the Tennessee cheerleaders lead cheers during the first media timeout.
** BYU 62, (25) Air Force 58

26 February 2007 (Monday)

*US men's college basketball:
** (3) Kansas 67, Oklahoma 65.
** Syracuse 72, (9) Georgetown 58.

*Indoor football:
**Javon Camon, a defensive back for the Daytona Beach Thunder of the World Indoor Football League, dies after sustaining an injury during a head-to-head hit with Juval Winston of the Columbus Lions. He was 25.

*Cricket:
**Tri-Nations series in St. John's, Antigua:
***cr|CAN 207/7 (44 ov) beat cr|BER 206/8 (50 ov) by 3 wickets (with 36 balls remaining).

25 February 2007 (Sunday)

*Cricket:
**Tri-Nations series in St. John's, Antigua:
***cr|BAN 206/2 (37.3 ov) def cr|BER 205/8 (50 ov) by 8 wickets(with 75 balls remaining).

*Football (soccer): Carling Cup Final:
**Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal.

*Auto racing:
**NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Auto Club 500 at Fontana, California:
(1) Matt Kenseth (2) Jeff Gordon (3) Jimmie Johnson
Kenseth sweeps two of the three races at California, having won the Busch Series race one day earlier.

*Tennis:
**2007 ATP Tour:
***World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands:
Final: flagicon|RUS Mikhail Youzhny def flagicon|CRO (3) Ivan Ljubičić 6-2 6-4.
***M.K. Championships in Memphis, USA:
Final: flagicon|GER (2) Tommy Haas def flagicon|USA (1) Andy Roddick 6-3 6-2.
***Copa Telmex in Buenos Aires, Argentina:
Final: flagicon|ARG Juan Monaco def flagicon|ITA Alessio di Mauro 6-1 6-2.
**2007 WTA Tour:
***Copa Colsanitas in Bogotá, Colombia:
Final: flagicon|ITA (6) Roberta Vinci def flagicon|ITA (1) Tathiana Garbin 6-7(4) 6-4 0-3 (Garbin retired due to ankle injury).

*Rugby union:
**"The Sunday Times" [http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/rugby/article1434537.ece reports] that the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board, has been brokering a deal that could see nrut|Argentina admitted to the Southern Hemisphere Tri Nations competition as early as 2008.

*US college basketball:
**Men's
*** (1 Coaches Poll) Ohio State 49, (1 AP) Wisconsin 48
*** Maryland 89, (5) North Carolina 87
*** (7) Memphis 77, Houston 64
**Women's
*** (1) Duke 67, (4) North Carolina 62. The Blue Devils complete the first unbeaten regular season by a women's team in ACC history in front of their home fans.

24 February 2007 (Saturday)

*Rugby union:
**Six Nations:
***ru|SCO 17 – 37 ru|ITA
****Italy win their first-ever away match since joining the Six Nations in 2000, starting with three converted tries in the first six minutes.
***ru|IRE 43 – 13 ru|ENG
****England's worst-ever defeat by Ireland, in the first match they have ever played at Croke Park.
***ru|FRA 32 – 21 ru|WAL
****France came from behind to beat the Welsh Dragons to top the Pool and be the only team without a loss and strengthning their chances of winning the Six Nations

*US men's college basketball:
** LSU 66, (3) Florida 56
** (4) UCLA 75, Stanford 61
** (6) Kansas 89, Iowa State 52
** (8) Texas A&M 97, Baylor 87
** (9) Washington State 58, Oregon State 54
** (12) Georgetown 61, (10) Pittsburgh 53
** TCU 71, (14) Air Force 66
** Notre Dame 85, (16) Marquette 73
** San Diego State 86, (21) BYU 74
** Auburn 86, (25) Alabama 77

*Tennis:
**2007 WTA Tour:
***Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai, UAE:
Final: flagicon|BEL (1) Justine Henin def flagicon|FRA (2) Amélie Mauresmo 6-4 7-5.
***M.K. Championships in Memphis, Tennessee, United States:
Final: flagicon|USA (7) Venus Williams def flagicon|ISR (1) Shahar Pe'er 6-1 6-1.

*Lacrosse:
**In their first game since the heavily publicized rape allegations that scuttled their 2006 season, Duke win 17-11 at home over Dartmouth. [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2778218 (ESPN)]

23 February 2007 (Friday)

*2007 Canada Games in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada.
** Opening Ceremonies.

*Basketball: 2006-07 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Finals Game 6 - Barangay Ginebra Kings 96, San Miguel Beermen 94. Kings win series 4-2 with Finals MVP Jayjay Helterbrand converting clutch freethrows with 2 seconds remaining. Ginebra wins 7th league championship. Game was held at the Araneta Coliseum.

22 February 2007 (Thursday)

*FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 in Sapporo, Japan
**Men's individual sprint:
goca - Jens Arne Svartedal flagicon|NOR, sica - Mats Larsson flagicon|SWE, brca - Eldar Rønning flagicon|NOR.
**Women's individual sprint:
goca - Astrid Jacobsen flagicon|NOR, sica - Petra Majdič flagicon|SVN, brca - Virpi Kuitunen flagicon|FIN.

*Football (soccer): UEFA Cup 2006-07 Round of 32, second leg, progressing teams shown in bold.
**Newcastle United 1–0 Zulte-Waregem (4-1 aggregate)
**Parma 0–1 Sporting Braga (0-2 aggregate)
**Panathinaikos 0–0 Lens (1-3 aggregate)
**Blackburn Rovers 0–0 Bayer Leverkusen (2-3 aggregate)
**Rangers 4–0 Hapoel Tel-Aviv (5-2 aggregate)
**Espanyol 2–0 Livorno (4-2 aggregate)
**AZ Alkmaar 2–2 Fenerbahçe (5-5 aggregate; AZ moves to the Round of 16 on away goals)
**Ajax 3–1 Werder Bremen (3-4 aggregate)
**Celta Vigo 2–1 Spartak Moscow (3-2 aggregate)
**Maccabi Haifa 1–0 CSKA Moscow (1-0 aggregate)
**Paris Saint-Germain 2–0 AEK Athens (4-0 aggregate)
**Dinamo Bucharest 1–2 Benfica (3-1 aggregate)
**Sevilla 1–0 Steaua Bucharest (3-0 aggregate)
**Nancy 0–1 Shakhtar Donetsk (1-2 aggregate)
**Osasuna 1–0 (aet) Bordeaux (1-0 aggregate)
**"NOTE: Tottenham Hotspur received a bye due to Feyenoord's expulsion from the competition due to crowd misbehavior in the last group stage match."

*US college basketball:
**Men's:
***(4) UCLA 85, California 75
***(7) Memphis 99, Rice 63
***(23) Oregon 64, (9) Washington State 59
***Loyola (Chicago) 75, (15) Butler 71
**Women's:
***In the longest game in NCAA women's basketball history, Drexel defeats Northeastern 98-90 in five overtimes. [http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaw/news;_ylt=AosbM.TpQ.7k2R7qRB9fNypMvrYF?slug=ap-ncaaslongestgame&prov=ap&type=lgns (AP/Yahoo!)]

*Ice hockey (NHL):
**A late hit on Buffalo Sabres co-captain Chris Drury leads to a huge fight between them and the Ottawa Senators. At some point or another, all twelve players on the ice were fighting. A total of 100 penalty minutes were dispensed against eight different players, including five game misconducts. Three Sabres and two Senators were ejected, including both teams' goalies. The Sabres ultimately won the game, 6-5 in a shootout. [http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=270222002 (ESPN)]
**That shootout was one of an NHL single-night record eight overtime games, and one of four shootouts.

21 February 2007 (Wednesday)

*Football (soccer):
**UEFA Champions League, Last-16 stage, first leg: [http://www.uefa.com/ (UEFA.com)]
***Porto 1 – 1 Chelsea
***Roma 0 – 0 Lyon
***Barcelona 1 – 2 Liverpool
***Inter Milan 2 – 2 Valencia

*Basketball:
**International basketball: The International Basketball Federation lifts the Philippines national basketball team's suspension as it recognizes the new basketball federation. ( [http://www.fiba.com/pages/en/news/press_article.asp?r_act_news=17971&r_cat=68&page_news=1&mySearch=&nMonth=&nYear= FIBA.com] )
**US men's college basketball:
***(2) Ohio State 68, Penn State 60
***(3) Florida 63, South Carolina 49
***(5) North Carolina 83, NC State 64
***(8) Texas A&M 66, Oklahoma State 46
***Mississippi State 83, (17) Vanderbilt 70
***Miami (FL) 68, (24) Virginia 60
***Tennessee 69, (25) Alabama 66 (OT)
**2006-07 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Finals Game 5: Barangay Ginebra Kings 94, San Miguel Beermen 82. Kings lead series 3-2. Game was held at the Araneta Coliseum.

20 February 2007 (Tuesday)

*Boxing:
**Tommy Morrison, who was banned from the sport in 1996 for a positive HIV test, is cleared to return to the ring by the West Virginia Athletic Commission after several HIV tests over the past two months come back negative. He claims the test in 1996 was a false positive, and he never had HIV. He defeated John Castle in Indianapolis, Indiana via a second round technical knockout on February 22.

*Football (soccer):
**UEFA Champions League, Last-16 stage, first leg ( [http://www.uefa.com/ UEFA.com] ):
***Celtic 0 – 0 AC Milan
***PSV Eindhoven 1 – 0 Arsenal
***Lille 0 – 1 Manchester United
***Real Madrid 3 – 2 Bayern Munich

*US men's college basketball:
**Michigan State 64, (1) Wisconsin 55. The Badgers lose their first game after assuming the top spot in the AP poll.
**UNLV 60, (14) Air Force 50
**Providence 64, (22) West Virginia 61

*Cricket:
**Chappell-Hadlee Trophy 2006-07, 3rd ODI in Hamilton:
***cr|NZL 350/9 (49.3 overs) beat cr|AUS 346/5 (50 overs) by 1 wicket (with 3 balls remaining). New Zealand win the series 3-0.

19 February 2007 (Monday)

*American football:
**The NFL's San Diego Chargers name former San Francisco 49ers offensive cooordinator Norv Turner as their new head coach. This is Turner's third head coaching job, having previously coached the Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins.

*US men's college basketball:
**(6) Kansas 71, Kansas State 62
**(10) Pittsburgh 71, Seton Hall 68

18 February 2007 (Sunday)

*Auto racing:
**NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida. :(1) Kevin Harvick, (2) Mark Martin, (3) Jeff Burton, (4) Mike Wallace, (5) David Ragan.::Harvick edges Martin by .020 seconds in the closest finish since Lee Petty won the inaugural event in 1959 as a crash in back of the two leaders scarmbles the top ten. [http://www.ajc.com/services/content/sports/stories/2007/02/18/0219nascar.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=21]

*Basketball:
**2007 NBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas, Nevada.
***West All-Stars 153, East All-Stars 132. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers scores 32 points and earns the game's Most Valuable Player Award in the first NBA-sanctioned All-Star Game played in a city without an NBA franchise.
**US men's college basketball:
***(3) Ohio State 85, Minnesota 67
***Arizona State 68, (22) USC 58

*Football (soccer):
**UNCAF Nations Cup 2007 in El Salvador:
***Final: fb|CRC 1 fb|PAN 1 (4:1 in Penalty shootout).
***Third place: fb|GUA 1 fb|SLV 0.

*Tennis:
**2007 ATP Tour:
***Open 13 in Marseille, France:
Final: Gilles Simon flagicon|FRA def (7) Marcos Baghdatis flagicon|CYP 6-4 7-6(3).
***Brasil Open in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil:
Final: Guillermo Cañas flagicon|ARG def (1) Juan Carlos Ferrero flagicon|ESP 7-6(4) 6-2.
***SAP Open in San Jose, California, USA:
Final: (3) Andy Murray flagicon|GBR def Ivo Karlovic flagicon|CRO 6-7(3) 6-4 7-6(2).
**2007 WTA Tour:
***Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, Belgium:
Final: (1) Amélie Mauresmo flagicon|FRA def (2) Kim Clijsters flagicon|BEL 6-4 7-6(4).
***Sony Ericsson International in Bangalore, India:
Final: Yaroslava Shvedova flagicon|RUS def (1) Mara Santangelo flagicon|ITA 6-4 6-4.

*Cricket:
**Chappell-Hadlee Trophy 2006-07, 2nd ODI in Auckland:
***cr|NZL 337/5 (48.4 ov) beat cr|AUS 336/4 (50 ov) by 5 wickets (with 8 balls remaining). New Zealand lead the 3-match series 2-0.

17 February 2007 (Saturday)

*Basketball:
**2007 NBA All-Star Saturday Night: [http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AhiUz6w33zlQVmVsNBj7eIu8vLYF?slug=ys-saturday021707&prov=yhoo&type=lgns Yahoo! Sports]
*** Shooting Stars: Team Detroit (Chauncey Billups, Swin Cash, Bill Laimbeer) def. Team Chicago (Ben Gordon, Candice Dupree, Scottie Pippen) via disqualification when Gordon shoots out of turn.
*** Skills Challenge: Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat, 26.4 seconds) def. Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers, 45.8 seconds)
*** Race for Charity: Charles Barkley def. Dick Bavetta with a time of 25.7 seconds.
*** Three-Point Shootout: Jason Kapono (Miami Heat, 24 pts.) def. Gilbert Arenas (Washington Wizards, 17 pts.) and Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks, 9 pts.).
*** Slam Dunk Competition: Gerald Green (Boston Celtics, 91 points) def. Nate Robinson (New York Knicks, 80 pts.).
**US men's college basketball:
***Vanderbilt 83, (1) Florida 70. The Commodores upset the Gators in Nashville, ending Florida's 17-game winning streak.
***(3) Wisconsin 75, Penn State 49
***(4) North Carolina 77, (21) Boston College 72
***(5) UCLA 81, (19) Arizona 66
***(6) Texas A&M 56, Oklahoma 49
***(7) Pittsburgh 65, Washington 61
***(8) Memphis 78, Gonzaga 77 (OT)
***(9) Kansas 92, Nebraska 39
***Louisville 61, (12) Marquette 59
***(16) Southern Illinois 68, (13) Butler 64 (First meeting of two ranked teams in a "Bracket Busters" matchup.)
***Missouri 75, (18) Oklahoma State 64
***Michigan 58, (24) Indiana 55
***(25) Alabama 72, (20) Kentucky 61

*Cricket:
**Sri Lanka in India, 4th ODI in Visakhapatnam:
***cr|IND 263/3 (41/47 ov) beat cr|SRI 259/7 (47/47 ov) by 7 wickets (with 36 balls remaining). India win the series 2-1.

16 February 2007 (Friday)

*Cricket:
**Chappell-Hadlee Trophy 2006-07, 1st ODI in Wellington:
***cr|NZL 149/0 (27 ov) beat cr|AUS 148 (49.3 ov) by 10 wickets (with 138 balls remaining).

*Basketball:
**2007 NBA Rookie Challenge: Sophomores 155, Rookies 114. David Lee (Sophomores/New York Knicks) win MVP honors.
**2006-07 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Finals:
For the second consecutive game, the Barangay Ginebra Kings blow out the San Miguel Beermen, 146-111 to tie the best of seven series 2-2 at the Araneta Coliseum.

*Football (soccer):
**UNCAF Nations Cup 2007 in El Salvador, semifinals:
***fb|PAN 2 fb|GUA 0.
***fb|CRC 2 fb|SLV 0.

15 February 2007 (Thursday)

*BALCO drugs scandal:
**Colorado attorney Troy Ellerman pleads guilty in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to illegally leaking grand jury testimony relating to the BALCO investigation to "San Francisco Chronicle" reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams. Federal prosecutors have dropped charges against the reporters, authors of the steroids exposé "Game of Shadows". [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/02/15/sports/s162501S11.DTL (AP via "San Francisco Chronicle")]

*Football (soccer):
**UEFA Cup 2006-07 - Round of 32, first leg
***Zulte Waregem 1 – 3 Newcastle United
***Sporting Braga 1 – 0 Parma
***Lens 3 – 1 Panathinaikos
***Spartak Moscow 1 – 1 Celta Vigo
***Steaua Bucharest 0 – 2 Sevilla
***"Tottenham Hotspur received a bye into the next round following Feyenoord's expulsion from the competition after crowd misbehaviour in their last group stage match." [http://www.uefa.com (UEFA.com)]
**UNCAF Nations Cup 2007 in El Salvador:
***Fifth place: fb|HON 9 fb|NCA 1. Honduras qualify to 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

*Auto racing:
**NASCAR NEXTEL Cup:
***Gatorade Duel twin qualifying race winners: Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. Gordon however, will have to start from the rear of the field due to failure of the post-race inspection of a pair of bolts misaligning a shock absober making the car one inch lowewr than NASACR rules, but was allowed to keep the victory.

*US men's college basketball
**(5) UCLA 67, Arizona State 61
**California 63, (15) Oregon 61
**(22) Southern California 80, (19) Arizona 75
**Purdue 81, (24) Indiana 68

14 February 2007 (Wednesday)

*Football (soccer): UEFA Cup 2006-07 - Round of 32, first leg
**Bayer Leverkusen 3 – 2 Blackburn Rovers
**Hapoel Tel-Aviv 2 – 1 Rangers
**Livorno 1 – 2 Espanyol
**Fenerbahçe 3 – 3 AZ Alkmaar
**Werder Bremen 3 – 0 Ajax
**CSKA Moscow 0 – 0 Maccabi Haifa
**AEK Athens 0 – 2 Paris Saint-Germain
**Benfica 1 – 0 Dinamo Bucharest
**Shakhtar Donetsk 1 – 1 Nancy
**Bordeaux 0 – 0 Osasuna [http://www.uefa.com (UEFA.com)]

*Auto racing:
**NASCAR punished Michael Waltrip Racing's #55 Toyota Camry driven by the owner with both their crew chief indefinitely suspended along with their vice president of competition, a fine of $100,000 (US) and a loss of both 100 owner and driver points. Additionally, his time from Sunday's pole position qualifying was disqualified, and he will start in the back of Thursday's first Duel 150-mile races. [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2007-02-14-waltrip_x.htm?POE=SPOISVA (USA Today)]

*Cricket
**Sri Lanka in India , 3rd ODI in Margao:
***cr|IND 233-5 (46.3 ov) beat cr|SRI 230-8 (50 ov) by 5 wickets (21 balls remaining) to level the 4-match series 1-1.
**Pakistan in South Africa, 5th ODI in Johannesburg:
***cr|RSA 156-1 (28.2 ov) beat cr|PAK 153 (40.5 ov) by 9 wickets (130 balls remaining) and win the series 3-1.

*Basketball:
**NBA:
***The Boston Celtics ended their club-record 18-game losing streak by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks, 117-97.
**US men's college basketball
***(1) Florida 76, (25) Alabama 67
***(2) Ohio State 64, Penn State 62
***(3) Wisconsin 75, Minnesota 62
***(8) Memphis 69, Tulsa 52
***(9) Kansas 75, Colorado 46
***(10) Washington State 65, Washington 61
***DePaul 72, (12) Marquette 67
***Duke 78, (21) Boston College 70
***Two Big Ten games — (24) Indiana at Purdue and Northwestern at Iowa — were postponed due to the midwestern blizzard.
**2006-07 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Finals: Barangay Ginebra Kings 131, San Miguel Beermen 101; Beermen lead best-of-7 series 2-1.

13 February 2007 (Tuesday)

*US men's college basketball:
**Virginia Tech 81, (4) North Carolina 80 (OT)
**Texas Tech 77, (6) Texas A&M 75
**Tennessee 89, (20) Kentucky 85

*Football (soccer):
**UNCAF Nations Cup 2007 in El Salvador:
***fb|PAN 1 fb|CRC 0.

12 February 2007 (Monday)

*Ice hockey:
**ESPN.com reports that the NHL will stage two regular season games in October of 2007 at The O₂ Millennium Dome in London, England. One of the participating teams will be the Los Angeles Kings, with the other to be announced later this year.

*Cricket:
**Intercontinental Cup:
***cr|IRE 531-5 dec (111.2 ov.) beat cr|UAE 243 & 118. Ireland win by an innings and 170 runs, and advance to the final against cr|CAN.

*American football:
**Even after posting the best record in the NFL with a 14-2 record, the San Diego Chargers fire head coach Marty Schottenheimer as he was deemed by team management as being in a "dysfunctional situation". [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/02/12/schott.fired.ap/index.html?section=si_latest (Sports Illustrated)]

*US men's college basketball:
**Louisville 66, (7) Pittsburgh 53
**Texas 83, (17) Oklahoma State 54
**After four straight losses, Duke drops out of the AP poll for the first time since the end of the 1995-96 season. The Blue Devils' 200 consecutive weeks in the AP poll was the second-longest run in history, behind UCLA's 221 weeks from 1966 to 1980. [http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news?slug=ap-t25-collegebkbpoll&prov=ap&type=lgns (AP/Yahoo!)]
**Gonzaga lose at home for the first time in nearly four years. Their 84-73 loss to Santa Clara, in their second game without suspended star Josh Heytvelt, ends a 50-game streak, including the first 38 games they played in their current home, McCarthey Athletic Center.

*Football (soccer):
**UNCAF Nations Cup 2007 in El Salvador:
***fb|NCA 4 fb|BLZ 2.
***fb|SLV 0 fb|GUA 0.

11 February 2007 (Sunday)

*Auto racing:
**David Gilliland and Ricky Rudd are set for the front row of the 49th running of the Daytona 500 as the Robert Yates Racing teammates sweep the front row. However, two contenders for the title, Matt Kenseth (Roush Racing #17) and Kasey Kahne (Evernham Motorsports #9) had their times wiped out after failing post-qualifying inspection and two-time race winner Michael Waltrip's car was impounded due to an abnormal odor found in the carburator. On Tuesday, the crew chiefs for Kenseth and Kahne were suspended for four races, fined $50,000 (US) and both teams and their drivers will start the season fifty points in the red. Additionally, two other Evernham teams, those driven by Elliot Sadler (#19) and Scott Wimmer (#10) had their crew chiefs suspended for two races, were fined $25,000 and begin the year 25 points in the hole.

*Rugby union:
**Six Nations:
***ru|IRE 17 ru|FRA 20
****In a thrilling first-ever Rugby international played at Dublin's Croke Park, France secured victory with a very last minute converted try, a minute after Ireland took the lead for the first time. Ronan O'Gara scored all Ireland's points.
**2007 USA Sevens:
***ru7|FIJ win their first Cup final of the 2006-07 season, avenging their defeat in the 2007 New Zealand Sevens final by Pacific rivals ru7|SAM with a 38-24 win in San Diego. With the win, Fiji draw level with ru7|NZL atop the season table.

*Marcus Grönholm wins the 57th Uddeholm Swedish Rally, the second rally of the 2007 World Rally Championship season.

*Tennis:
**2007 Davis Cup - World Group, first round, day 3:
(home teams listed first)
***Chile v Russia 2 - 3
***France v Romania 4 - 1
***Germany v Croatia 3 - 2
***Belgium v Australia 3 - 2
***Czech Republic v USA 1 - 4
***Switzerland v Spain 2 - 3
***Belarus v Sweden 2 - 3
***Austria v Argentina 1 - 4
**WTA Tour:
***2007 Open Gaz de France in Paris:
Final: (4) flagicon|RUS Nadia Petrova beat flagicon|CZE Lucie Šafářová 4-6 6-1 6-4.
***2007 Pattaya Women's Open:
Final: flagicon|AUT Sybille Bammer beat (6) flagicon|ARG Gisela Dulko 7-5 3-6 7-5.

*Cricket:
**Pakistan in South Africa, 4th ODI in Cape Town:
***cr|RSA 113/0 (14 ov) beat cr|PAK 107 (45.4 ov) by 10 wickets (with 216 balls remaining). South Africa lead 2-1 in the 5-match series.
**Sri Lanka in India, 2nd ODI in Rajkot:
***cr|SRI 257/8 (50 ov) beat cr|IND 252/9 (50 ov) by 5 runs. Sri Lanka lead 1-0 in the 4-match series.
**Commonwealth Bank Series 2006-07, 2nd final in Sydney:
***cr|ENG 246/8 (50 ov) beat cr|AUS 152/8 (27/27 ov) by 34 runs (D/L method) and won the final series 2-0.

*Basketball
**US men's college basketball:
***Maryland 72, (16) Duke 60. The Blue Devils slump to their first four-game losing streak since 1996.
***Washington 64, (25) Stanford 52
**2006-07 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Finals: The San Miguel Beermen take a 2-0 series lead after the Barangay Ginebra Kings failed to convert crucial freethrows at the endgame, winning 104-101 at the Araneta Coliseum. ( [http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/sports/view_article.php?article_id=48858 Philippine Daily Inquirer] )

*Football (soccer):
**UNCAF Nations Cup 2007 in El Salvador:
***fb|HON 1 fb|PAN 1.

10 February 2007 (Saturday)

*Auto racing:
**The 2007 NASCAR season opens with the annual race for pole position winners, the Budweiser Shootout, won by Tony Stewart for the third time.

*Cricket:
**Bangladesh in Zimbabwe, 4th ODI at Harare:
***cr|BAN 246/9 (47.2 ov) beat cr|ZIM 244/8 (50 ov) by 1 wicket with 16 balls remaining. Bangladesh wins four-match series 3–1.

*Rugby union: Six Nations:
**ru|ENG 20 ru|ITA 7 in London.
**ru|SCO 21 ru|WAL 9 in Edinburgh.

*Tennis:
**2007 Davis Cup - World Group, first round, day 2:
(home teams listed first)
***Chile v Russia 1 - 2
***France v Romania 2 - 1
***Germany v Croatia 2 - 1
***Belgium v Australia 2 - 1
***Czech Republic v USA 1 - 2
***Switzerland v Spain 1 - 2
***Belarus v Sweden 1 - 2
***Austria v Argentina 1 - 2
**2007 Open Gaz de France in Paris:
***flagicon|CZE Lucie Šafářová upset top seed flagicon|BEL Justin Henin in the semifinal, following previous wins over #3 flagicon|RUS Svetlana Kuznetsova and #5 flagicon|CZE Nicole Vaidišová. In the other semi, #4 flagicon|RUS Nadia Petrova put out #2 flagicon|FRA Amelie Mauresmo.

*American football: NFL 2007 Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaiokinai:
** AFC All-Stars 31, NFC All Stars 28. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer is the game's MVP with two touchdown passes. A fourth quarter comeback by the NFC, with two touchdowns to tie the game 28-28, was for naught as the AFC got a pass interference call at the two-yard line to set up the game-winning last-second field goal by San Diego Chargers PK Nate Kaeding. The game was marred by an injury to New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees, dislocating his non-throwing (left) elbow early in the exhibition contest that concluded the 2006 NFL season.

*Football (soccer):
**UNCAF Nations Cup 2007 in El Salvador:
***fb|GUA 1 fb|BLZ 0.
***fb|SLV 2 fb|NCA 1.
Both winners qualify to the semifinals and to 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

*US men's college basketball:
**(1) Florida 64, (20) Kentucky 61
**West Virginia 70, (2) UCLA 65
**(3) Ohio State 63, Purdue 56
**(4) Wisconsin 74, Iowa 62
**(5) North Carolina 104, Wake Forest 67
**(6) Texas A&M 66, Nebraska 55
**(7) Pittsburgh 74, Providence 68
**(8) Memphis 95, Tulane 51
**(9) Kansas 92, Missouri 74
**Wright State 77, (10) Butler 65
**(22) Georgetown 76, (11) Marquette 58
**(24) Arizona 77, (13) Oregon 74
**Ole Miss 75, (18) Alabama 69
**Tennessee 84, (23) Vanderbilt 57
**Two Gonzaga players, starter Josh Heytvelt and redshirt Theo Davis, are suspended from the team following their arrest on drug charges last night. Police in Cheney, Washington reported that they found psychedelic mushrooms and marijuana in the players' car during a routine traffic stop. [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2761201 (ESPN)]

9 February 2007 (Friday)

*Cricket:
**Commonwealth Bank Series 2006-07, first final in Melbourne:
***cr|ENG 253/6 (49.3 ov) beat cr|AUS 252 (48.3 ov) by 4 wickets with 3 balls remaining, and take 1-0 lead in the best-of-3 series.
**Bangladesh in Zimbabwe, 3rd ODI in Harare:
***cr|BAN 228/9 (50.0 ov) beat cr|ZIM 214 (49.4 ov) by 14 runs to lead four-match series 2–1.
**Pakistan in South Africa, 3rd ODI in Port Elizabeth:
***cr|PAK 245/8 (49.5 ov). cr|RSA did not bat. Rain forces abandonment of match.

*Football (soccer):
**UNCAF Nations Cup 2007 in El Salvador:
***fb|CRC 3 fb|HON 1.

*Tennis - 2007 Davis Cup:
**World Group, first round, day 1:
(home teams listed first)
***Chile v Russia 0 - 2
***France v Romania 2 - 0
***Germany v Croatia 1 - 1
***Belgium v Australia 2 - 0
***Czech Republic v USA 1 - 1
***Switzerland v Spain 1 - 1
***Belarus v Sweden 0 - 2
***Austria v Argentina 0 - 2

*Basketball: 2006-07 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Championship Round: ( [http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/sports/view_article.php?article_id=48624 Philippine Daily Inquirer] )
**Finals: The San Miguel Beermen built had huge lead at the first half to prevent a Barangay Ginebra Kings comeback to win Game 1 of their best of seven series, 118-94.
**Third-place playoff: The Talk 'N Text Phone Pals built their own huge lead in which Red Bull Barako wasn't able to catch up with to clinch the third place trophy.

8 February 2007 (Thursday)

*Basketball:
**US men's college basketball:
***(8) Memphis 70, UAB 56
***(10) Butler 92, Cleveland State 50
***(14) Washington State 58, (25) Stanford 45
**US women's college basketball:
***(1) Duke 64, (2) North Carolina 53. The Blue Devils remain the only unbeaten team in NCAA Division I, taking down the previously unbeaten Tar Heels in Chapel Hill.
**Israel state cup final:
***Hapoel Jerusalem 103, Bney Hasharon 85.

*Football (soccer):
**UNCAF Nations Cup 2007 in El Salvador:
***fb|GUA 1 fb|NCA 0.
***fb|SLV 2 fb|BLZ 1.

*Cricket:
**Sri Lanka in India, 1st ODI in Kolkata:
***cr|SRI 102 for 3 (18.2 overs) v cr|IND - Match abandoned due to rain.

7 February 2007 (Wednesday)

*Football (soccer):
**In the aftermath of the Catania riots that postponed or canceled all football matches in Italy since February 2, the Italian government approved recommendations of a fact-finding panel. The panel found that only four of the thirty-one Italian football stadiums in Serie A and Serie B are capable to host soccer matches. San Siro in Milan is among those ruled out, which means that AC Milan and Inter Milan's upcoming Champions League fixtures would probably be moved to neutral sites, as would Parma and Livorno's UEFA Cup fixtures, as their stadia were also declared unsafe by the government. Additionally, no nighttime matches will be held for the rest of February and many matches will be held "behind closed doors" in empty stadiums. In response, several clubs along with the Italian soccer players' union said they would go on strike against these draconian motions.
**Euro 2008 Qualifying:
***fb|SMR 1 - 2 fb|IRL
**Friendly international matches:
***fb|CHN 2 - 1 fb|KAZ
***fb|IRN 2 - 2 fb|BLR
***fb|UZB 0 - 0 fb|AZE
***fb|ALB 0 - 1 fb|MKD
***fb|HUN 2 - 0 fb|LVA
***fb|ROU 2 - 0 fb|MDA
***fb|ISR 1 - 1 fb|UKR. 17-years-old Ben Sahar of Chelsea makes his debut and becomes the youngest-ever player in Israel national football team history.
***fb|BOT 1 - 0 fb|NAM
***fb|CYP 0 - 3 fb|BUL
***fb|GEO 1 - 0 fb|TUR
***fb|MLT 1 - 1 fb|AUT
***fb|ALG 2 - 1 fb|LBY
***fb|EGY 2 - 0 fb|SWE
***fb|LUX 2 - 1 fb|GAM
***fb|TOG 2 - 2 fb|CMR
***fb|GER 3 - 1 fb|SUI
***fb|CRO 2 - 1 fb|NOR
***fb|SVN 1 - 0 fb|EST
***fb|AND 0 - 0 fb|ARM
***fb|NED 4 - 1 fb|RUS
***fb|POL 2 - 2 fb|SVK
***fb|MAR 1 - 1 fb|TUN
***fb|BEL 0 - 2 fb|CZE
***fb|ENG 0 - 1 fb|ESP
***fb|FRA 0 - 1 fb|ARG
***fb|USA 2 - 0 fb|MEX
***fb|VEN 0 - 1 fb|CHI
***fb|COL 1 - 3 fb|URU

*Cricket:
**ICC World Cricket League Division One in Nairobi:
***Final: cr|KEN 158/2 (37.5 ov) beat cr|SCO 155 (47 ov) by 8 wickets (with 73 balls remaining).
**Pakistan in South Africa, 2nd ODI in Durban:
***cr|PAK 351/4 (50 ov) beat cr|RSA 210 (40 ov) by 141 runs, and levels the 5-match series 1-1.

*Basketball:
**Former NBA player John Amaechi becomes the first NBA player, active or retired, to come out as gay. He will reveal this in his autobiography to be released later this month, and will also appear on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" on February 11. [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2757105 (ESPN)]
**US men's college basketball:
***(1) Florida 71, Georgia 61
***(2) UCLA 70, (19) Southern California 65
***(4) Wisconsin 71, Penn State 58
***(5) North Carolina 79, (16) Duke 73
***(7) Pittsburgh 60, West Virginia 47
***(9) Kansas 97, Kansas State 70
***Oklahoma 67, (17) Oklahoma State 60
**2006-07 PBA Philippine Cup Semifinals: The San Miguel Beermen book the last Finals berth against sister team Barangay Ginebra Kings after a Game 7 119-115 victory against Red Bull Barako at the Araneta Coliseum. ( [http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/sports/view_article.php?article_id=48141 Philippine Daily Inquirer] )

6 February 2007 (Tuesday)

*Football (soccer) Friendly games:
** In London, England:
*** fb|GHA 4-1 fb|NIG
*** fb|POR 2-0 fb|BRA
*** fb|KOR 1-0 fb|GRE
*** fb|DEN 3-1 fb|AUS
** In Belfast, Northern Ireland:
*** fb|NIR 0-0 fb|WAL
** In La Courneuve, France:
*** fb|MLI 3-1 fb|LTU
** In Rouen, France:
*** fb|CIV 1-0 fb|GUI
** Cyprus International Tournament 2007:
*** In Limassol, Cyprus:
****fb|CYP 2-1 fb|HUN
*** In Larnaca, Cyprus:
****fb|BUL 2-0 fb|LVA

*Cricket:
**Commonwealth Bank Series 2006-07 in Brisbane:
***cr|ENG 270/7 (50 ov) beat cr|NZL 256/8 (50 ov) by 14 runs. England qualify to the final vs cr|AUS.
**Bangladesh in Zimbabwe, 2nd ODI in Harare:
***cr|ZIM 156/2 (35.2 ov) beat cr|BAN 153 (46 ov) by 8 wickets (with 88 balls remaining), and levels the 4-match series 1:1.

*US men's college basketball:
**(3) Ohio State 76, Michigan 63
**San Diego State 62, (15) Air Force 41

5 February 2007 (Monday)

*Tennis:
**2007 ATP Tour - International Tennis Championships in Delray Beach, Florida, USA:
***Final: Xavier Malisse flagicon|BEL beat James Blake flagicon|USA 5-7 6-4 6-4. The match was postponed due to rain on Sunday. Malisse becomes the first player to win two titles this year.

*Cricket:
**2007 ICC World Cricket League Division One in Nairobi:
***cr|BER 269/5 (49 ov) beat cr|SCO 268/9 (50 ov) by 5 wickets (with 6 balls remaining).
***cr|KEN 250/9 (50 ov) beat cr|CAN 92 (14.5 ov) by 158 runs.
***cr|NED 260/7 (46/46 ov) beat cr|IRE 254/8 (46/46 ov) by 6 runs.
Kenya and Scotland qualify to the final and to 2007 Twenty20 World Championship.

*US men's college basketball:
**(6) Texas A&M 100, Texas 82

4 February 2007 (Sunday)

*American football:
**NFL Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida:
***Indianapolis Colts 29, Chicago Bears 17. The Colts win their first Super Bowl since moving to Indianapolis from Baltimore, namely Super Bowl V, also held in Miami. The Bears' Devin Hester returns the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, a first for the championship game. After a 53-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne closes the gap to one point, Thomas Jones sets up another Bears TD with a 52-yard run. But Indy's defense largely shuts down Chicago after that. Dominic Rhodes' 1-yard touchdown run puts the Colts ahead 16-14 at halftime. The Bears hang in until early in the fourth quarter, when Kelvin Hayden returns a Rex Grossman interception 56 yards for a touchdown. Manning, who goes 25 of 38 for 247 yards with one touchdown and one interception, is named MVP.

*Bandy: World Championships:
**Final: bandy|RUS defeat bandy|SWE, 3-1, to win the world championship.

*Team handball - Men's World Championship in Germany:
**Final: flagicon|GER Germany 29 flagicon|POL Poland 24.
**3rd/4th place: flagicon|DEN Denmark 34 flagicon|FRA France 27.

*Football (soccer):
**2007 ASEAN Football Championship, Final second Leg:
fb|THA 1 fb|SIN 1 (Singapore win 3-2 on aggregate).

*Rugby union: Six Nations:
**ru|WAL 9 ru|IRE 19

*Cricket:
**Pakistan in South Africa, 1st ODI in Centurion:
***cr|RSA 392/6 (50 ov) beat cr|PAK 228 (46.4 ov) by 164 runs.
**Bangladesh in Zimbabwe, 1st ODI in Harare:
***cr|BAN 260/9 (50 ov) beat cr|ZIM 215 (48 ov) by 45 runs.
**Commonwealth Bank Series 2006-07 in Melbourne:
***cr|AUS 291/5 (48.2 ov) beat cr|NZL 290/7 (50 ov) by 5 wickets (with 10 balls remaining).
**2007 ICC World Cricket League Division One in Nairobi, Kenya:
***cr|NED 198/2 (43.1 ov) beat cr|BER 194 (46.3 ov) by 8 wickets (with 41 balls remaining).
***cr|CAN 312/4 (49.4 ov) beat cr|IRE 308/7 (50 ov) by 6 wickets (with 2 balls remaining).
***cr|SCO 254/8 (50 ov) beat cr|KEN 177 (46 ov) by 77 runs.
Scotland qualify to the final. Their opponent will be decided on Monday from Kenya, Canada or Netherlands.

*Tennis:
**2007 WTA Tour - Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan:
***Final: (2) Martina Hingis flagicon|SUI def. (5) Ana Ivanović flagicon|SRB 6-4 6-2
**2007 ATP Tour - Movistar Open in Vina del Mar, Chile:
***Final: (5) Luis Horna flagicon|PER def. (3) Nicolas Massu flagicon|CHI 7-5 6-3
**2007 ATP Tour - International Tennis Championships in Delray Beach, Florida, USA:
***Final: (1) James Blake flagicon|USA vs (3) Xavier Malisse flagicon|BEL 7-5 3-3 (postponed)
**2007 ATP Tour - PBZ Zagreb Indoors in Zagreb, Croatia:
***Final: (2) Marcos Baghdatis flagicon|CYP def. (1) Ivan Ljubičić flagicon|CRO 7-6(4) 4-6 6-4

*Basketball:
**US men's college basketball:
***Florida State 68, (8) Duke 67
**2006-07 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Semifinals: ( [http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/sports/view_article.php?article_id=47482 Philippine Daily Inquirer] )
***The Barangay Ginebra Kings defeated the Talk 'N Text Phone Pals, 98-89 to win their best of seven series 4-2, to advance to the Finals. The game saw one ejection and three flagrant fouls.
***On the other semifinal series, Red Bull Barako forced a deciding Game 7 with a 104-100 win against the San Miguel Beermen. The game saw four technical fouls and an ejection.

3 February 2007 (Saturday)

*American football: The Pro Football Hall of Fame formally announces that Gene Hickerson, Michael Irvin, Bruce Matthews, Charlie Sanders, Thurman Thomas and Roger Wehrli are selected for induction as the Class of 2007. [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2753109 (ESPN)]

*Rugby union:
**Six Nations:
***ru|ITA 3 ru|FRA 39
***ru|ENG 42 ru|SCO 20
**Super 14 - Round 1:
***ACTru 21 CHIEFru 15.
***QLDru 25 HURru 16.
***SHAru 17 BULLru 3.
***CHEru 27 STOru 9.

*US men's college basketball:
**(1) Florida 94, Tennessee 78
**(2) Wisconsin 69, Northwestern 52
**NC State 83, (3) North Carolina 79
**(4) Ohio State 63, Michigan State 54
**(5) UCLA 82, Oregon State 35
**(10) Texas A&M 69, (6) Kansas 66
**USC 71, (9) Oregon 68
**Colorado 89, (12) Oklahoma State 77
**Boston College 80, (16) Virginia Tech 59
**South Florida 69, (21) Notre Dame 63
**Kansas State 73, (22) Texas 72
**Georgia Tech 80, (25) Clemson 62

=2 February 2007 (Friday)=

*American college football: The 2006-07 college football post-season concluded with the inaugural Texas vs. The Nation Game in which The Nation team won 24-20.

*Cricket:
**Commonwealth Bank Series 2006-07 in Sydney:
***cr|ENG 292/7 (50 overs) beat cr|AUS 200 (38.5 overs) by 92 runs.
**2007 ICC World Cricket League Division One in Nairobi:
***cr|CAN 162/8 (21/21 overs) beat cr|BER 106 (15.5/21 overs) by 56 runs.
***cr|KEN 286/9 (49 overs) beat cr|IRE 284/4 (50 overs) by 1 wicket (with 6 balls remaining).
***cr|SCO 207/8 (37/37 overs) beat cr|NED 205 (36.5/37 overs) by 2 runs.
**Pakistan in South Africa:
***Twenty20 International in Johannesburg:
cr|RSA 132/0 (11.3/20 overs) beat cr|PAK 129/8 (20/20 overs) by 10 wickets (with 51 balls remaining).

*Cycling - 2007 Tour of Qatar:
**After winning stages 2, 3 and 4 already, Tom Boonen also wins the final stage. His teammate Wilfried Cretskens ends first in the General Classification to complete a successful week for Quick Step-Innergetic as they had also won the opening team time trial.

*Football (soccer): All football matches in Italy, including next Wednesday's friendly international between Italy and Romania, are indefinitely cancelled following the death of a policeman during rioting at the Catania vs Palermo local derby in Sicily. [http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldFootballNews&storyID=2007-02-02T230447Z_01_L02342433_RTRIDST_0_ITALY-SOCCER-SUSPENSION-UPDATE-2.XML&WTmodLoc=World+Football-C1-Headline-2 (Reuters)]

*Rugby union:
**Super 14 - Round 1:
***BLUru 34 CRUru 25.
***HIGru 8 FORru 7.
***NSWru 25 LIOru 16.

=1 February 2007 (Thursday)=

*Team handball - Men's World Championship in Germany:
**Semifinals:
***flagicon|GER Germany 32 flagicon|FRA France 31 (2OT).
***flagicon|POL Poland 36 flagicon|DEN Denmark 33 (2OT).
**Placement matches 5th-8th:
***flagicon|CRO Croatia 35 flagicon|ESP Spain 27.
***flagicon|RUS Russia 28 flagicon|ISL Iceland 25.

*Basketball:
**Euroleague, last round of regular season
(Bold teams advance to Top 16)
***Group A:
****flagicon|TUR Efes Pilsen 72 flagicon|RUS Dynamo Moscow 76.
****flagicon|GRC Olympiacos 77 flagicon|GER RheinEnergie Köln 73.
****flagicon|ESP TAU Cerámica 86 flagicon|FRA Le Mans 54.
****flagicon|POL Prokom Trefl Sopot 78 flagicon|ITA Climamio Bologna 84.
***Group B:
****flagicon|ITA Lottomatica Roma 81 flagicon|HRV Cibona 58.
****flagicon|ESP DKV Joventut 82 flagicon|SVN Union Olimpija 86.
****flagicon|ISR Maccabi Tel Aviv 76 flagicon|GRC Panathinaikos 73.
****flagicon|SRB Partizan 90 flagicon|ESP Unicaja Málaga 94 (OT).
**US men's college basketball:
***(5) UCLA 69, (9) Oregon 57
***Virginia 68, (8) Duke 66 (OT)
***(18) Washington State 72, (20) Arizona 66