The playoffs, postseason, or finals of a sports league are a game or series of games played after the regular season by the top competitors, usually but not always with a single-elimination system, to determine the league champion or a similar accolade.

In the U.S. and Canada, the vast distances and consequent burdens on cross-country travel have led to regional groupings of teams, usually called divisions. Generally, during the regular season, teams play more games against opponents that are within their own grouping than those outside it. Since every team has not necessarily had a chance to prove itself against every other team, a playoff is necessary every season. Any team that wins its grouping is eligible to participate in the playoffs. As playoffs became more popular, they were expanded to allow teams that finished second or even lower in the grouping to participate. The term wild card refers to these teams. While they technically can refer to any team that does not finish first in its grouping, the term is most often used when the teams that qualify without finishing first in their group is quite low, such as in the NFL and MLB where only four teams out of 32 in the former and 30 in the latter qualify in this manner. In fact the term was first used when the number of teams qualifying as wild cards was even lower, when the wildcard was first invented by the NFL in 1970 and only two teams qualified as non first place finishers. MLB also had only two wildcards teams from its first year of having wildcards in 1995 until expanding to a four wildcard format beginning with the 2012 season.

John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, War Horse, Home Alone and the first three Harry Potter films. He has had a long association with director Steven Spielberg, composing the music for all but two (Duel and The Color Purple) of Spielberg's major feature films.

Other notable works by Williams include theme music for four Olympic Games, NBC Sunday Night Football, the NBC Nightly News, the rededication of the Statue of Liberty, and the television series Lost in Space. Williams has also composed numerous classical concerti, and he served as the principal conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1980 to 1993; he is now the orchestra's conductor laureate.

Williams has won five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, seven BAFTA Awards, and 21 Grammy Awards. With 47 Academy Award nominations, Williams is the second most nominated person, after Walt Disney. John Williams was honored with the prestigious Richard Kirk award at the 1999 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music. Williams was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2000, and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004.

Richard "Ricky" Manning, Jr. (born November 18, 1980 in Fresno, California) is High School Football Coach in Fresno California, and a former American football cornerback for the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at UCLA.

Manning has also been a member of the Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders.

Manning played high school football at Edison High School in Fresno.

Manning started 45 consecutive games for UCLA, which ranks as the second longest streak in school history. His 13 interceptions tie him for seventh all-time among Bruin players. In addition, he made first-team All-Pac-10 for his last three years.

Manning was taken in the third round (82nd overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft by Carolina. His first pick came in only his second game, as he intercepted Atlanta Falcons quarterback Doug Johnson. With injuries to the secondary, Manning eventually took over a starting role. His first interception to be returned for a touchdown came against the New York Giants. But he will be forever remembered by Panther fans for his performance during the 2003-04 NFL playoffs. In the NFC Divisional game against the St. Louis Rams, Manning's timely interception of Marc Bulger set up the game-winning touchdown to propel the Panthers into the NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles. There, Manning made a permanent mark on Panther history by intercepting Donovan McNabb three times en route to the Panthers' victory. Manning became the first rookie to win Defensive Player of the Week honors twice in the same postseason.

Russell Westbrook (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player currently playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA. Westbrook played high school basketball for Leuzinger High School, before heading to play for UCLA. Westbrook played two years at UCLA before declaring for the 2008 NBA Draft. He was drafted by the Thunder's former incarnation, the Seattle SuperSonics, which relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City six days after the draft. Westbrook was also a member of the 2010 United States national team. Over his career, Westbrook has been a two-time All-Star, a two-time member of the All-NBA Second Team, and a member of the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Westbrook represented the United States in the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey where he won a gold medal.

Westbrook was born in Long Beach, California to parents Russell and Shannon Horton. He has one younger brother, Raynard, and has said that he admires former Los Angeles Lakers great Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Westbrook was a childhood friend of Khelcey Barrs, a talented young small forward who had been attracting interest from major college basketball schools as a 6-foot-6, 200 pound high school sophomore. However, Barrs collapsed and died after playing a series of late night basketball games in 2004.