Before last night's game between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers, the seventh and last in the N.B.A. Eastern Conference Finals, Charles Barkley, TNT's most colorful basketball analyst, made a particularly salient point: "Fool me once, shame on you.
And for most of these decisions, her word is both first and last in the process.
"First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League," as the vaudeville joke put it.
In Crean's first three seasons, Indiana finished last, second to last and last in the Big Ten.
On Thursday night, she placed eighth and last in the 200-meter freestyle final in 2 minutes 3.01 seconds.
The Bruins are 12th over all in the 15-team Eastern Conference and last in the Northeast Division.
Kyle Busch, the regular-season points winner, finished 43rd, dropping to 12th and last in the Chase standings.
His previous goal – his third and last in the Premier League – was against Everton on 5 October, three months before.
"Unbelievable," Zito said after the star of his stable, A. P. Valentine, ran 14th and last in the Juvenile.
The one British gold medal winner in action on day two, Andy Turner, finished eighth and last in the 110m hurdles.
And at the Paris Open in June, Phelps finished third in the 200-meter freestyle and last in the 100-meter free final.
