Tips for a noob!

[ryan s]

Oh and you probably cant shoot RAW in sports mode.

everyone should use raw...all the time...no excuse for jpeg unless its raw+jpeg

I would set the camera to aperture priority, and then set it to wide open (lowest f-number). The camera will pick the fastest available shutter speed.

for now try putting your camera into A-mode (aperature priority) jacking up the iso a bit to reduce some of the handshake your going to get in low light and shooting with a wide open aperature, see what happens..the camera will do everything else

in this case, you would want to use shutter priority...or if the d90 has it...hyper shutter priority in which you set the speed, the camera sets the aperture and iso.

freezing motion is over 1/250s (could be as high as 1/500+ depending on subject) so the shutter would have to be set in that area.

the sports mode likely gives a higher shutter speed as it is...im not aware if the d90 does TAV...again, if they came out dark...chances are it only changed the aperture.

advice for next time...prefocus, raw, and pan if necessary.