71.   Simply put, both allow teams each year to insure that certain players will remain with their clubs regardless of free agency.

72.   So now it is one more game, one more challenge for a Maryland team that has been gobbling up teams all year and is still hungry.

73.   Still, the selection committee snuffs out the dreams of deserving teams every year, so nothing is guaranteed if the Waves severely falter this weekend.

74.   Southwestern DeKalb High in Decatur, Ga., must have had some kind of special teams a few years back.

75.   That team this year was the Mets, and Cox was quick to dismiss the notion Valentine had proffered that the Braves somehow did not respect them.

76.   The Braves become the first team this year the Marlins have beaten three times in succession.

77.   The Blues have been a streaky team all year.

78.   The court unanimously upheld an injunction issued in November by a Hennepin County judge, who ruled that the Twins had to field a team this year.

79.   The championship last year, his success and the success of the team this year, has taken that to another level.

80.   The East will not have the wild-card team this year.