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All Mackey Sasser Team: Catcher - Mike LaValliere posted on 02/16/2008
http://thesportspoint.blogspot.com/2008/02/all-mackey-sasser-team-catcher-mike.html

For an explanation on what it takes to be a member of the All Mackey Sasser Team please go here. The first position we have selected to start filling out our squad will be the position of the legend himself, catcher.

All Mackey Sasser Team Catcher: Mike LaValliere

Mike "Spanky" LaValliere was a catcher in the major leagues from 1984-95. He was most notably a member of those early 1990's Pittsburgh Pirates teams who could not quite get over the hump. Ironically this fate followed Mike into the world of baseball card trading. He was even a throw in player in a real life MLB blockbuster trade, you know one of those times where real life imitates the art card trading. He and Andy Van Slyke (who became a Pirates legend) were traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Pirates for another catcher you might have heard of, Tony Pena.

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MLB Needs Season to Begin posted on 02/16/2008

http://thesportspoint.blogspot.com/2008/02/mlb-needs-season-to-begin.html

Things continue to get uglier with Major League Baseball as the latest Congressional hearing is being called a waste of time. California Democrat Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said that the session probably did not need to take place.

A number of committee members felt that the affidavits and depositions leading up to the proceeding provided enough information to move forward. However, they allowed the hearing to take place because Roger Clemens wanted to give his side of the story and make sure the report was fair. While it's true that he has the right to defend his name, it's time for baseball to take control of the issue for good.

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Another Big Western Conference Trade posted on 02/13/2008

http://thesportspoint.blogspot.com/2008/02/another-big-western-conference-trade.html

For the third time this month, a Western Conference title contender in the NBA has made a move to strengthen its team. This time, the Dallas Mavericks have agreed in principle to acquire point guard Jason Kidd, returning him to the team that he began his career.

Both the Mavericks and Jason Kidd publicly said they didn't feel the deal would happen, but the Mavericks and Nets reached an agreement Wednesday. New Jersey will get Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagna Diop, Maurice Ager, a first round pick in 2008 and 2010, and $3 million in return. The Nets are also giving up veteran Malik Allen along with Kidd.

This trade looks good for the Mavs in the short term, and the Nets have invested well in their future. It's not surprising that Dallas Owner Mark Cuban could not remain complacent while multiple teams around him made changes to their rosters. Hopefully all of these teams from the West don't forget about the two favorites to win it all: Eastern Conference powers Detroit and Boston.

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Kelvin Sampson Loves Three Way.....Phone Calls posted on 02/13/2008

http://thesportspoint.blogspot.com/2008/02/sampson-loves-three-wayphone-calls.html

Indiana's head basketball coach, Kelvin Sampson, appears to have put the Hoosiers in a pretty ugly situation with the NCAA. Sampson practically disregarded the sanctions placed on him and his coaching staff for violations made while at Oklahoma.

During his time as the Sooners' head coach, Sampson made 577 impermissible phone calls from 2000-2004. In 2006, he was given further restrictions on phone calls to recruits as punishment for his actions. Indiana was aware of the violations when it hired him, but the restrictions weren't handed down until two months after he took the job in Bloomington.

We're amazed that Sampson blatantly ignored the rules for contacting recruits. Part of the coach's job in recruiting is to find loopholes to circumvent the NCAA. We've seen it with Urban Meyer calling a player's girlfriend and having his wife make phone calls. So it begs the question, is Sampson just lazy, or does he just straight up not care? We truly appreciate any coach that takes a stand against the NCAA, but no one can defend what Sampson is doing.

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The All Mackey Sasser Team posted on 02/12/2008

http://thesportspoint.blogspot.com/2008/02/all-mackey-sasser-team.html

When I was growing up Mackey Sasser, a catcher for the Mets from 1987-95 and later for the Giants, was one of those baseball cards no one wanted. So of course when you rushed to open your new pack of baseball cards inevitably you would end up with at least one Mackey Sasser card for every two packs you opened. As a result Mackey was used as a throw in for some of the most legendary baseball card trades ever transacted in my neighborhood.

He was not the only baseball card that was constantly on the trading block, in fact there were enough of these guys around to construct an entire expansion franchise. In honor of our second rate childhood idles we have come up with the All-Mackey Sasser Team, comprised of guys who might not be good enough for Cooperstown, but are legends in the minds of TSP. The team will be announced position by position over the course of the next couple weeks.

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