March 2006 in Sports - March 9, 2006 (Thursday)

March 9, 2006 (Thursday)

• Dogsled racing: Musher Doug Swingley is the first to reach Cripple in Iditarod XXXIV, and wins the Dorothy Page Halfway Award. Cripple is the official halfway point of the race on even-numbered years, when the race takes the northern route.
• Football:
  • 2005–06 UEFA Cup – Round of 16, first leg.
    • Rapid Bucharest 2–0 Hamburg
    • FC Basel 2–0 Strasbourg
    • Middlesbrough 1–0 Roma
    • Steaua Bucharest 0–0 Real Betis
    • Palermo 1–0 Schalke 04
    • Marseille 0–1 Zenit St. Petersburg
    • Udinese 0–0 Levski Sofia
    • Lille 1–0 Sevilla (UEFA.com)
  • Major League Soccer: The Austrian beverage company Red Bull purchases the MetroStars franchise from Anschutz Entertainment Group, and renames the team New York Red Bulls.
• Baseball: World Baseball Classic
  • Pool B: Mexico defeats South Africa 10–4.
  • Pool C: Puerto Rico defeats Netherlands 8–3.
  • Pool D
    • Venezuela defeats Italy 6–0.
    • Dominican Republic defeats Italy, 8–3.