It was interesting to note that many of these Juniors were showing dogs in various other classes at the show prior to the Finals of the Junior Class.

After the Juniors were welcomed and congratulated for qualifying for the Finals of the Junior Class, Mrs. William H. Long, Jr. was introduced as the first speaker.

Most Juniors who were entered in the Finals are seasoned campaigners and not only show and win in Junior Classes but score in the Breed Classes as well.

Lindsay's 33 goals propelled the Wings to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they were swept by the Maple Leafs.

Finals appearances were rare for the side, which was often in contention for the wooden spoon.

The San Antonio Spurs won their first championship, and first by a former ABA team, by beating the New York Knicks, who were the first, and to this date, the only, eighth seed to ever make the NBA Finals.

The Rangers were defeated in the Conference Finals in five games by the Philadelphia Flyers, despite Gretzky leading the Rangers in the playoffs with 10 goals and 10 assists.

Head coach Laimbeer knew how difficult it was to get to the Finals a second time and the Shock were up for the challenge.

The club also took part in the Football League Trophy for the first-ever time and, after defeating Carlisle United and Blackpool in the early rounds, were knocked out by Doncaster Rovers in the Area Quarter Finals.

In the 1950 Stanley Cup Finals, the Rangers were forced to play all of their games on the road ( home games in Toronto ) while the circus was at the Garden.

The Rangers made the Finals twice in the 1970s, but lost both times to two ' 70s powerhouses ; in six games to the Boston Bruins in, who were led by such stars as Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, Johnny Bucyk, and Wayne Cashman ; and in five games to the Canadiens in, who had Bob Gainey, Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Ken Dryden, Guy Lapointe, and Serge Savard.

After dispatching Buffalo in five and sweeping the defending Stanley Cup champion Rangers, the Flyers were upset in the Eastern Conference Finals to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils in six games.

In recent years, important science competitions and World events were held in Mérida – FITA Archery World Cup Finals, the International Cosmic Ray Conference, a Physics Olympiad, etc.

In the Stanley Cup Finals, the Avalanche met the Florida Panthers, who were also in their first Finals.

They were seeded first in the playoffs, and swept through the first two rounds against New Jersey and Washington, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals against defending Champion Detroit.

The Pistons then won Game 5 in The Palace of Auburn Hills, but the Heat answered by winning Game 6 and advanced to their first NBA Finals in franchise history against Dirk Nowitzki's Dallas Mavericks, who were also in their first NBA Finals.

The new starting lineup of Paxson, Jordan, Pippen, Grant, and Cartwright took some time to mesh, winning fewer games than the previous season, but made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were subdued in six games by the eventual NBA champion Pistons.

The team's first trip to the NBA Finals was a short one, as they were outmatched and outplayed by the very strong San Antonio Spurs, who swept the Cavs 4 – 0.

The Pistons ' first trip to the Finals saw them face the Los Angeles Lakers, who were led by Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The Pistons ' championship run came to an end in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, as the Pistons were swept by the eventual NBA champion Chicago Bulls, 4 games to 0.

The Conference Finals were best remembered for the Pistons walking off court in the last game just before it ended, unwilling to shake hands with the Bulls.

Injuries resulted in an early 1973 playoff exit, but the Bucks were back in the 1974 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.

With the hiring of Portuguese national team player Ticha Penicheiro, popular player Ruthie Bolton and prolific scorer Yolanda Griffith, all of whom have been WNBA All-Stars, the Monarchs have been able to make the playoffs almost every year so far, but were normally eliminated before reaching the WNBA Finals.

Helped by an inspired Robinson, Duncan almost recorded a quadruple double in the final game, and was named the NBA Finals MVP.

The very next season, on a now fabled team known as " The Miracle of Richfield ", and led by team captain Carr, scoring small forward Campy Russell, shooting guard Bobby " Bingo " Smith, and a supporting cast of largely unknown players such as starting center Jim Chones, and an aging Nate Thurmond, Fitch coached the overachieving Cavs to its first winning season, an almost unexpected playoff berth and the Central Division title with a record of 49 – 33, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals against a heavily favored Boston Celtics team led by future Hall of Famers Dave Cowens, shooting guard John Havlicek, and All-Star point guard Jo Jo White.

* May 15, 1990: After hardly playing in overtime, Petr Klima came off the bench late in triple overtime and scored almost immediately to end the longest overtime in NHL Finals history.

For almost 30 years MSU hosted the College National Finals Rodeo.

He almost reached the NBA Finals with the Bucks in 2001, falling just short when they lost in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers.

They were particularly dominating in the 2002 NBA Finals, as they kept the lead almost the entire time in each game ; only for a short while after the beginning of Game 4 did the New Jersey Nets gain any significant lead in a game.

After eliminating the Los Angeles Lakers, the defending champion Portland Trail Blazers and the Denver Nuggets, they almost defeated the Washington Bullets by taking a 3 – 2 lead in the 1978 NBA Finals.

Meanwhile, Bill Simmons said during the 2005 Finals that Michaels “ shows up for these games, does his job, then drives home thinking, "‘ Only five weeks to the Hall of Fame Game, I ’ m almost there !’" Another criticism that Michaels received was that he too often found himself in tediously long-winded explanations.

As the year progressed, and as Dennis Anderson struggled in Grave Digger, Meents became almost unstoppable and capped the year by winning the very first Monster Jam World Finals Racing Championship.

Stan Flashman ( 1930 in East London – December 1999 in Ilford ) was known for many years as a ticket tout who claimed he could obtain tickets for almost anything, from Cup Finals to the Queen's Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace.

In 1934 the Wings made the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time, with John Sorrell scoring 21 goals over 47 games and Larry Aurie leading the team in scoring.

The Wings won the Stanley Cup again in 1950, with Pete Babando scoring the game winner in double overtime of Game 7 to beat the Rangers in the Finals.

The 2008 Finals saw a rematch of the league's highest profile rivalry, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, with the Celtics prevailing, for their league leading 17th championship, thanks to their new big three of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett.

In 2009, the Lakers with Kobe Bryant returned to the Finals, this time defeating the Dwight Howard-led Orlando Magic.

Following the shortened season, the Miami Heat made a return to the Finals with the trio of Dwayne Wade, Lebron James and Chris Bosh against Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

The Boston Celtics have won the most championships with 17 NBA Finals wins.

His trade to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988, had an immediate impact on the team's performance, eventually leading them to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, and he is credited with popularizing hockey in California.

Gretzky ended his professional playing career with the New York Rangers, where he played his final three seasons and helped the team reach the Eastern Conference Finals in 1997.

At the Finals, England lost to Hungary, beat Argentina and drew with Bulgaria in the first round, progressing over Argentina because of superior goal average.

League play started in 1997 ; the regular season is currently played from June to September with the Finals in October.

Along with Smith, the Shock still had six remaining members from their 2003 Finals run ( Cash, Ford, Holland-Corn, Nolan, Powell, and Riley ).

After falling behind 3 games to 1 in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit on the road in Game 5 to extend the series, then won Game 6 at home with another late-game comeback.

Primeau led the Flyers past the defending Stanley Cup Champion Devils in five, and Toronto in six on their way to the Eastern Conference Finals and a match-up with Tampa Bay.

After the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals, the Penguins met with President George H. W. Bush, the first NHL team to ever visit the White House.

Adams had fallen in love with hockey while watching the 1924 Stanley Cup Finals between the NHL champion Montreal Canadiens and the WCHL champion Calgary Tigers.

In Game 6 in Toronto, the Leafs ' Mats Sundin tied the game with 22 seconds remaining to send it to overtime, where Carolina's Martin Gélinas would score to send the franchise to their first Stanley Cup Finals.

The teams met again in the Western Conference Finals that season, with the Red Wings emerging victorious and going on to win the Stanley Cup.

Although they finished January with 10 wins and 5 losses, they had already lost to the defending Champions San Antonio Spurs twice, twice to the Phoenix Suns, and in a nationally televised broadcast lost by 36 points to their eventual opponent in the 2006 NBA Finals the Dallas Mavericks.

During their time in that state, the Nets saw periods of losing and misfortune intermittent with several periods of success, which culminated in two consecutive NBA Finals appearances in the 2001 – 02 and 2002 – 03 seasons.

" Bill Walton said at the time that Nets-Celtics was the " beginning of the next great NBA rivalry " during the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002 with the Nets advancing to the NBA Finals, though New Jersey would go on to sweep Boston in the 2003 playoffs.

Julius Erving played 11 seasons with the 76ers ( 1976 – 87 ), and played in four NBA Finals, ultimately winning in 1983.

Although they lost in the NBA Finals, the 76ers began the 1982 – 83 season with great momentum.