Final Four

Mayo's Going Abroad

2006-05-08T04:15:00.000-07:00

NBA rules say high school junior O.J. Mayo, who would be the No. 1 overall pick if he were eligible for the 2006 draft, can't enter the draft until 2008. Fine. Rules are rules.

But Mayo has been pushing all kinds of envelopes since he was a seventh-grader in Ashland, Ky., averaging 23 ppg for his high school varsity and boasting his own website. It's time for him to push one more envelope, to cross a barrier as wide as the Atlantic Ocean.

Time to get paid, O.J. And if that means going overseas -- and it does -- fine. Do it. Drop out. Quit school.

O.J. Mayo's endorsement cash would make him a millionaire before he even gets to the NBA. (Provided to SportsLine)

It's time for all of us here in the United States to say goodbye to our best homegrown guard since Kobe Bryant. Time to wish Mayo well, and farewell. Arrivederci. Or bon voyage.

How do you say "hit the road" in German?

It's not goodbye forever. We'd see him again in two years. Mayo, a 6-foot-5 point guard now based out of North College Hill, Ohio, would return in 2008 to claim his rightful spot as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. Mayo is that good. On the court, anyway. Off the court? Not so much. Which is why he needs to quit high school -- quit the charade that he's a high school basketball player -- and turn pro. Immediately.

That means going to Europe. Or South America. Asia? I don't care. Just go.

Mayo is about as "amateur" an amateur basketball player as Amare Stoudemire in 2002, LeBron James in '03 and Sebastian Telfair in '04. Proof? The biggest buzz of the current spring recruiting circuit came when Mayo played in the Kingwood Classic in Houston with the Miami Tropics instead of his longtime team, the D-One Greyhounds -- wearing the Tropics' Nikes instead of the Greyhounds' Reeboks. O.J. with a new shoe company? That's news.

2006-04-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

Final Four new articles for Sunday, April 16, 2006ULEB Final Four Matches in Prague (Zaman Online)
The schedule for the Union of European Basketball Leagues (ULEB) Men's League Final Four tournament has been determined.

County gets 'biggest loser,' and four winners (The Sentinel-News)
Henry County Middle School Principal Steve Swank is the "Biggest Loser" or the biggest winner, however you want to look at it. The only male in a group of four took the title after final measurements and weigh-in at Clear Creek Park Monday night.

Falcons score three in the first, put 7-2 victory away with four in sixth (Cumberland Times-News)
SHORT GAP - Frankfort scored three runs in its first at-bats and for good measure added four more in its final set to pick up a 7-2 win over Westmar in Friday's high school baseball action.

Petrova outlasts Schnyder in final (CNN.com)
Nadia Petrova captured her second WTA title in as many weeks by outlasting Patty Schnyder 6-3 4-6 6-1 in the final of the Family Circle Cup WTA tournament in Charleston on Sunday.

Final winter Chatauqua set for Saturday in Virginia City (Bozeman Daily Chronicle)
On Saturday, April 15, the final of four winter Chautauquas will be hosted by Toni James at the Elling House in Virginia City.

Donegal progress to league final (BBC News)
Donegal will play Louth in the Division Two NFL final after beating Westmeath by two points.

Four to leave city payrolls (Macomb Journal)
MACOMB - On a night where the Macomb City Council makes final preparations for its new fiscal year, approving a budget and discussing city rate and fee hikes and employee raises, four employee retirements or resignations will be submitted Monday.

State final four (Community Press & Recorder)
The Rockets, a group of 11 and under boys from the Fort Thomas area, recently made it to the final four of the State AAU Division 2 Tournament. They were 3-0 in pool play with big wins over Georgetown, Hot Tees Indians and Bowling Green.

Petrova stays on a roll with Family Circle title (USA Today)
Nadia Petrova defeated Patty Schnyder 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 to win the Family Circle Cup on Sunday for her second straight tournament victory. Petrova, who won last week at Amelia Island, now has four tour victories, all in the last six months. By making the final at the Family Circle, Petrova will improve two spots to her highest ranking at No. 5 in the world.

Fish in final as Hass pulls out (CNN.com)
HOUSTON, Texas (Reuters) -- American wild card Mardy Fish advanced to the final of the U.S. Clay Court Championships on Saturday after fifth seed Tommy Haas was forced to retire from their semi-final with an injured wrist.

2006-04-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

Final Four new articles for Tuesday, April 11, 2006Final Four action: ESPN interviews 5-foot-3 Reed (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette)
Suellen Reed agrees the interview was unusual. The Indiana superintendent of public instruction may not be the person who comes to mind to be interviewed by the all-encompassing sports juggernaut, ESPN, but that’s what happened during the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis.

Panthers still tied for final playoff spot (The Charlotte Observer)
Juraj Kolnik and Olli Jokinen each scored two goals to help the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 on Sunday. The Panthers remain tied with Montreal at 89 points for the final two playoff berths in the East. Tampa has lost four straight at Florida and seven of its last eight there.

Mickelson four ahead with three to play (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Phil Mickelson stayed on track for his second U.S. Masters title by taking a four-stroke lead with three holes to play in Sunday's final round.

Drama surrounds Canucks as they try for playoff spot in season's final week (Canadian Press via Yahoo! News)
VANCOUVER (CP) - They used a Hollywood finish to keep their playoff hopes alive during the weekend, and more drama awaits the Vancouver Canucks in their final four games of the NHL schedule.

Playoff race extends to final weekend (OurSports Central)
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, four of the eight playoff berths are still up for grabs.

Roddick wins as US book Davis Cup semi-final berth (Nine O'Clock)
RANCHO MIRAGE - Andy Roddick’s four-set victory over Fernando Gonzalez put the United States into the Davis Cup semi-finals on Sunday as the Americans downed Chile 3-2. The United States booked a semi-final clash with Russia, who beat France in their quarter-final tie.

Albany To Conclude 13th AHL Schedule With Four-Games-In-Five-Days (SportzDomain.Net)
Albany To Conclude 13th AHL Schedule With Four-Games-In-Five-Days RIVER RATS FACE THE END OF THE ROAD The Week Ahead: The River Rats begin the final week of the 2005-06 campaign against the Hartford Wolf*Pack in a 7:00pm face-off at Pepsi Arena The Wolf*Pack (45-43-2-6, 2nd Atlantic) posted a 3-2 overtime win at home against the Lowell Lock Monsters on Sunday.

4/9/06 - George Rodecker - Portsmouth Invitational, Day Four (Hoopville)
Portsmouth Invitational Tournament - Day Four by George Rodecker The final day of the 2006 PIT began with a record-setting performance from Jose Juan Barea, whose 18 assists set the single-game record as Beach Barton Ford toppled Norfolk Sports Club 117-100. Eric Hicks, playing for the injured Kenny A...

Price signs four-year deal to return to Bills (Sports Illustrated)
Peerless Price signed a four-year contract with the Buffalo Bills on Monday, rejoining the team with which he's enjoyed the most success.

Inter seeks second straight appearance in Italian Cup final (Sports Illustrated)
Inter Milan is trying to reach the Italian Cup final for the second straight year, and the team hopes advancement will help cool the fury of its fans.

2006-04-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Final Four new articles for Sunday, April 02, 2006I Can't Believe I'm At The Final Four
I can remember where I was, who I was with and what I ate during almost every Final Four of the last 10 years. Last year I had a buffalo chicken calzone with my friend Max and my fiancé as North Carolina won the national title. ...

Final Four Update:
Sadly, George Mason lost in the Final Four. Some dreams are just not meant to be . . . at least not this year!...

Final Four wrapup
Both Final Four games were fairly forgettable to me. George Mason just didn't look like the same team that upset UNC, UConn and Michigan State, while I think somebody forgot to tell the LSU players that they were in the Final Four. ...

Final four, or the preschooler and the man, part 2
One advantage of being at my parents' house is that it allows us to watch a little Final Four basketball. Back in the days, we used to spend March Madness glued to the TV set. Even after LG came along, we watched basketball. ...

"Final four fever" or "More crazy Ron adventures"...
Yea, I went to the Final Four games today. How, you ask? ... The town was in Final Four frenzy unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. ... George Mason lost but the mere fact that they made it to the Final Four and I GOT TO SEE THEM was ...

Final four.
Every year for as long as I can remember, we went to Holly & Jon's to see the Final Four games. Here's the backstory.... Jon lived next door to my junior high school beau - Mitchell. Holly was "dating" Joe and Allison was "dating" Jon. ...

"The Final Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
You should take the NCAA Final Four very seriously, as is shown by this April 1 message, signed "Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins," on the Sojourners ... It's all in our new book, Left Behind: The Final Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. ...

Liveblog: Final Four post-game
LSU is now 0-4 in Final Four games. Florida hit six of 10 three-pointers in the second half against George Mason. For the game, Lee Humphrey was six-of-12 behind the arc. LSU managed just four assists on 16 field goals, and the Tigers ...

NCAA Tournament: The Final Four
It was tough to imagine in a tournament where all the games had been so close that the final four games would be blowouts, but they were. Neither game had much excitement or suspense in them, as UCLA and Florida went out there and ...

The Final Four
In honor of the Final Four being held in Indianapolis this weekend, ... The other night I was watching the evening news and they were doing a short story on the Florida team making into to the Final Four, but the footage they were ...

A Final Four tornado -- how fun
Who said this hasn't been an eventful Final Four? Just arrived back up to my hotel room after spending about 20 minutes in the basement of the Courtyard by Marriott because of a tornado warning. Tornadic activity is all around the ...

final four
I have to share about my final four experience. I'm so excited to cross one off my "To Do by 30" list! I scored a couple tickets this week for my mom and I to attend the Final Four. We headed to Indy for the Big Dance and had such a ...

NCAA FINAL FOUR 2006: UCLA versus FLORIDA
UCLA is a California team, so it would be nice to see them win. But I have been a Gators fan--albiet their football program rather than basketball--for several years now. Final Four: Who will Win? George Mason, 40%, 4. LSU, 30%, 3 ...

Liveblog: Final Four Day 3
Notes and leftovers from press conference day at the Final Four:. Kentucky is still the all-time leader in NCAA Tournament victories with 99, but UCLA has now moved Uclalogo into second with 90. North Carolina is third with 89. ...

Regional winners square off in Final Four
The results are in from the WUWM Grassroots 8, with wins for Northern California, Florida, New York, and Illinois. Check out the scores here. Round 5 ends on April 3, setting the stage for the championship match-up. ...

We Made It to the Final Four...
In fact, Twin Cities qualified for the final four as a wild card even though we beat them. I'm more nervous than I have ever been. BUT, only two wins away from a ring... wow, I can only leave it in God's hands...

George Mason Florida UCLA LSU
The Gators convincingly beat LSU, one of the remaining Final Four, twice within the last two months, winning 71-62 at home on February 11 and then trouncing the Tigers 81-65 on the road on March 11. However, in spite of what are now a ...

[Popp] Screw the Final Four
Instead of watching UCLA demolish LSU, I'm watching Al Franken ABSOLUTELY %$@&ING CRUSH every one of Tim Russert's questions on CNBC. In what must be the first serious news interview I have seen Franken give, Minnesota's future Senator ...

Final Four Fest Fotos
Me and 100000 of my closest friends, including Jerry, were downtown this evening for a free concert--Carrie Underwood and John Mellencamp. As soon as the concert was over, Mother Nature cut loose and it poured rain and spawned tornados, ...

Best of the West, Southeast Play for the Marbles
Man, those Final Four games (Florida 73-58 and UCLA 59-45) were terrible. If it weren't for the hot wings and cold beer, they'd've been unbearable. But as Sportz Assassin so eloquently stated, at least this championship features the two ...

Final Four

2006-02-11T00:26:00.000-08:00

Final Four is a sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament. The oldest, and most common, use of the term is in reference to the final four teams in the annual NCAA basketball tournament. These are the champions of the tournament's four regional brackets, and the only teams remaining on the tournament's final weekend. (The term has been applied retroactively to include the last four teams in tournaments from earlier years, when only two brackets existed.)