2000s in sports

Notable events and themes

*The World Series (in 2000, 2002, 2005, and 2006), NBA Finals (in 2003 and 2005), BCS (in 2004) and Men's NCAA Basketball Championship Game (in 2004) all hit record lows in Nielsen ratings and/or total viewers in America.
*Basketball decreases in popularity in the U.S. with the loss of Michael Jordan, the Kobe Bryant controversy and the Pacers-Pistons brawl; a new television deal signed in 2002 relegates most NBA games to cable. Despite this, the emergence of stars such as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (as well as a new collective bargaining agreement signed in 2005) helps the league maintain much of its status.
*Baseball in the United States undergoes controversy and Congressional scrutiny due to steroids; stars such as Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, ranked #1 and #2 in single-season home runs, are suspected to have used steroids, while others such as Jason Giambi and Rafael Palmeiro are confirmed to have been using the drugs. Thanks to two consecutive years of Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees American League Championship Series, however, ratings and popularity for the sport (while lower than previous years) still remain high.
*The National Hockey League virtually disappears from the American sports landscape thanks to a year-long lockout that wiped out an entire season, as well as general apathy towards the sport and a television deal with OLN that prevented many fans from being able to see games (several NHL telecasts on OLN were outdrawn by WNBA games on ESPN2 [http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2006/columns/story?columnist=rovell_darren&id=2453853] ). In Canada, the National Hockey League remains extremely popular, helped by the Calgary Flames' run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004, the Edmonton Oilers playoff run in 2006, and the Ottawa Senators playoff run in 2007.

*NASCAR Racing becomes more mainstream as TV ratings for the sport grows in the U.S.. NASCAR races regularly outdraw NBA, MLB and NHL telecasts by over 200 percent (in fact, NASCAR's average rating in 2005 outdid the combined regular season averages for the NBA and Major League Baseball during that same year). TV networks such as FOX, NBC, ABC, and TNT air races on a regular basis on Sundays and sometimes Saturday nights. Popular drivers during this period include Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr.,Jeff Gordon, and Kasey Kahne.
*American Football continues to become more popular; Super Bowl XLI, in which the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 becomes the third most watched television event in the US market ever. The NFL also draws criticism, especially following the Super Bowl XXXVIII fiasco, the Terrell Owens controversy in 2004 and 2005, and the Michael Vick dogfighting fallout in 2007.
*The Boston Red Sox break the 86 year "curse" by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series (they also won in 2007). The following year the Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros to win the 2005 World Series, winning their first since 1917.
*Horse racing in the United States enjoys a surge in ratings, thanks to three straight years of Triple Crown hopefuls (War Emblem, Funny Cide and Smarty Jones in 2002, 2003 and 2004). However, all three horses fail to win the Triple Crown, and the next hopeful (Barbaro in 2006) is severely injured during the Preakness.
*Beach volleyball becomes an increasingly popular sport worldwide, establishing its first generation of superstars and branching out into large inland cities.
*Football begins to gain popularity amongst North Americans and Australians, fuelled by World Cup successess for the USA in 2002 and Australia in 2006. Previously, North America and Australia had been considered the only continents to not have pertinent followers of World Football.
* Many British football clubs are being bought by Eastern European millionaires such as Chelsea by Roman Abramovich, Hearts by Vladimir Romanov and Portsmouth F.C. by Milan Mandarić and Alexandre Gaydamak.
*The IRB Rugby World Cup increases in size and audience to become The third most watched sporting event in the world after the FIFA World Cup and The Summer Olympics respectively.
*WADA, The World Anti-doping Agency, introduces a standardised anti-doping code for all sports.
*P.R. China's sportsmen make continuous improvements in several sports, in preparation for the Beijing (北京) Olympic Games.
*Professional wrestling, which had separate golden ages in the 1980s and 1990s, begins to decline in popularity in North America. Many attribute this decline to the monopoly on the industry held by World Wrestling Entertainment after the collapse of both World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2001, with WWE acquiring the remains of both companies. However, WWE would revive ECW as a third brand alongside its RAW and SmackDown! brands in 2006 due to increased nostalgia. During this period Total Nonstop Action Wrestling attempts to create an alternative to the WWE product with little success. The death of WWE stars Eddie Guerrero in 2005 and Chris Benoit in 2007, give the WWE mainstream publicity. WWE continues to be popular overseas during this period, which prompts them to increase the number of televised foreign shows.
*In light of the waning popularity of professional wrestling and boxing, mixed martial arts competitions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships gain popularity in the United States,.Top stars such as Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz become household names and the UFC is featured on the May cover of Sports Illustrated. However boxing stil retains a healthy following, with exciting and popular fighters including Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Diego Corrales, Manny Pacquiao, and many others. Many exciting fights have also taken place.
*"Sporno" becomes immensely popular, mainly with gay men. 'Sporno' Is described by its coiner Mark Simpson, to be a cross between sports and pornography, which is advertised by soccer star David Beckham and by the popular French Rugby union calendar series Dieux du Stade. Sporno is very common with professional wrestling.
* Rugby league in Australia enjoys increasing popularity amongst the Eastern states, with record crowd figures almost yearly from 2003 onwards. The national competition, the National Rugby League, has 6 different winners in the space of 6 seasons.
*The New England Patriots of the NFL win three championships in four years and are considered a dynasty, something many thought was impossible in the modern NFL. Key men of the Patriots dynasty include coach Bill Belichick, quarterback Tom Brady, linebacker Teddy Bruschi, and clutch place kicker Adam Vinatieri.

Olympic Games

There have been five Olympic Games held so far this decade:

2000 XXVII Summer Olympics - flagicon|Australia Sydney, Australia (most gold medal wins flagicon|USA USA)

2002 XIX Winter Olympics - flagicon|USA Salt Lake City, USA (most gold medal wins flagicon|Norway Norway)

2004 XXVIII Summer Olympics - flagicon|Greece Athens, Greece (most gold medal wins flagicon|USA USA)

2006 XX Winter Olympics - flagicon|Italy Turin, Italy (most gold medal wins flagicon|Germany Germany)

2008 XXIX Summer Olympics - flagicon|China Beijing, China (most gold medal wins flagicon|China China)

Athletics

Baseball

There have been 7 world series:

2000- New York Yankees defeated the New York Mets
2001- Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the New York Yankees
2002- Anaheim Angels defeated the San Francisco Giants
2003- Florida Marlins defeated the New York Yankees
2004- Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals
2005- Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros
2006- St Louis Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers
2007- Boston Red Sox defeated the Colorado Rockies

Basketball

There have been 8 NBA Finals held so far this decade:

2000 NBA Finals - Los Angeles Lakers def. Indiana Pacers

Cricket

There have been two ICC Cricket World Cups this decade:

2003 Cricket World Cup - flag|South Africa (winner cr|Australia)

2007 Cricket World Cup - flag|West Indies (winner cr|Australia)

Cycling

There have been eight Tour de France races held so far this decade:

2000 Tour de France - started in flagicon|France Futuroscope, France (winner flagicon|USA Lance Armstrong)

2001 Tour de France - started in flagicon|France Dunkerque, France (winner flagicon|USA Lance Armstrong)

2002 Tour de France - started in flagicon|Luxembourg Luxembourg, Luxembourg (winner flagicon|USA Lance Armstrong)

2003 Tour de France - started in flagicon|France Paris, France (winner flagicon|USA Lance Armstrong)

2004 Tour de France - started in flagicon|Belgium Liège, Belgium (winner flagicon|USA Lance Armstrong)

2005 Tour de France - started in flagicon|France Vendée, France (winner flagicon|USA Lance Armstrong)

2006 Tour de France - started in flagicon|France Strasbourg, France (winner flagicon|Spain Oscar Pereiro)

Figure Skating

Football (Australian)

2000 - Essendon 19.21 (135) def. Melbourne 11.9 (75)

2001 - Brisbane 15.18 (108) def. Essendon 12.10 (82)

2002 - Brisbane 10.15 (75) def. Collingwood 9.12 (66)

2003 - Brisbane 20.14 (134) def. Collingwood 12.12 (84)

2004 - Port Adelaide 17.11 (113) def. Brisbane 10.13 (73)

2005 - Sydney 8.10 (58) def. West Coast 7.12 (54)

2006 - West Coast 12.13 (85) def. Sydney 12.12 (84)

2007 - Geelong 24.19 (163) def. Port Adelaide 6.8 (44)

Football (American)

2000- St Louis Rams def Tennessee Titans

2001- Baltimore Ravens def New York Giants

2002- NE Patriots def St Louis Rams

2003- TB Buccaneers def Oakland Raiders

2004- NE Patriots def Carolina Panthers

2005- NE Patriots def Philadelphia Eagles

2006- Pittsburgh Steelers def Seattle Seahawks

2007- Indianapolis Colts def Chicago Bears

2008- New York Giants def NE Patriots

Football (Association, Soccer)

There have been two FIFA World Cups this decade:

2002 FIFA World Cup - flagicon|South Korea South Korea & flagicon|Japan Japan (winner flagicon|Brazil Brazil)

2006 FIFA World Cup - flagicon|Germany Germany (winner flagicon|Italy Italy)

Golf

Ice Hockey

Stanley Cup Champions:
2000 - New Jersey Devils def Dallas Stars 4 Games to 2
2001 - Colorado Avalanche def New Jersey Devils 4-3
2002 - Detroit Red Wings def Carolina Hurricanes 4-1
2003 - New Jersey Devils def Might Ducks of Anaheim 4-3
2004 - Tampa Bay Lightning def Calgary Flames 4-3
2004-2005 - Lockout no champion
2006 - Carolina Hurricanes def Edmonton Oilers 4-3
2007 - Anaheim Ducks def Ottawa Senators 4-1
2008 - Detroit Red Wings def Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2
Notable Draft Picks:
2005 - Sidney Croby is first draft pick into the NHL by Pittsburgh Penguins

Motorsports

F1-Michael Schumacher wins World Championship for the third time at Suzuka, Japan 2000 in a Ferrari F1-2000, Ferraris first drivers championship for 21 years

Michael Schumacher wins World Championship for the fourth time at Hungaroring, Hungary 2001 in a Ferrari F2001

Michael Schumacher wins fifth at Magny-Cours, France 2002 in a Ferrari F2002

Michael Schumacher wins sixth at Suzuka, Japan 2003 in a Ferrari F2003-GA

Michael Schumacher wins seventh and last at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium 2004 in a Ferrari F2004

Fernando Alonso become youngest champion when winning his first at Interlagos, Brazil 2005 in a Renault R25

Fernando Alonso wins second at Interlagos, Brazil in a Renault R26

Kimi Räikkönen wins first World Championship at Interlagos, Brazil, in a Ferrari F2007, winning by 1 point over Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso (Both Vodafone McLaren Mercedes)

Rugby Union

There has been two Rugby World Cups this decade:

2003 Rugby World Cup - flagicon|Australia Australia (winner flagicon|England England)

2007 hosted in France- Final - flagicon|England (winner flagicon|South Africa World champions 2007 South Africa)

Swimming and Diving

Tennis

There have been superstars such as Federer and Nadal.The breakthrough of Andy Murray has been of note in particular.

Volleyball