71.  For testing purposes, the closest thing I could come to a real dog was our pug, Buster.

72.  For many years the closest thing to the promised land for a House Republican was a seat in the Senate.

73.  Gao Ma, the closest thing the book has to a hero, escapes.

74.  Good guys by default, they are the closest things to heroes offered by either league.

75.  Fullback Charles Way is the closest thing.

76.  Great American Musicals in Concert at City Center, may be the closest thing to show-tune chic that the New York theater world has ever produced.

77.  Green gave Clark, the closest thing the Mets have to a stopper, one last chance to get out of it.

78.  Goldstein was the closest thing to a sure bet in Maryland politics.

79.  Haris Silajdzic is the closest thing to an optimist in Sarajevo.

80.  Grown-ups are slouching around in sweatsuits that are the closest thing to infant rompers, flocking to movies full of juvenile potty humor and listening to kiddie-pop.