February 29th - Leap Year Day!

As I'm sure you can imagine, February 29th--leap year day--is a pretty scarce when it comes to sports history. A few quasi-significant moments in history still managed to sneak through the cracks though.

February 29, 1972 - Hank Aaron becomes the highest paid athlete in baseball with a 3-year $600,000 contract. While his $200,000 annual salary was luxurious, it only intensified many bigot's prejudices and jealousies towards him. "As hard as it is for some fans to accept the fact that a ballplayer can make more money than they will earn in a lifetime, they find it repulsive that a black player who maybe never even went to college can be so rich," said Aaron. "The Atlanta fans weren't shy about letting me know what they thought of a $200,000 nigger striking out with men on base."

When the San Francisco Giants announced they were letting Barry Bonds go in 2007, there was precedence in the form of Hank Aaron. Both were cut the same year that they broke the home run record, showing how much little loyalty means when the cash flow dries up. You'd think that Aaron, the infinitely more beloved figure, would've gotten a better farewell. Not so. Only 11,081 people showed up to watch the final home Braves game in 1974, which everyone knew was Aaron's final game with the team. A month later he was dealt to the Brewers.

February 29, 1982 - Gordie Howe is the first NHL player to score 800 career goals. Howe had spent the previous nine years playing in the fairly successful WHA (World Hockey Association) with his two sons. His New England Whalers joined the NHL when the WHA folded and became the Hartford Whalers, thrusting Howe back into the professional scene. Combining his NHL and WHA totals, Howe amassed over 1000 goals in his exceptionally long career.

Howe's goal would be the second-to-last of his career. By the time Howe retired with 801 goals, Howe was an ancient 51 years old and had played 32 seasons. As a testament to the greatness of Wayne Gretzky, "The Great One" achieved his 802nd goal in his 12th season at age 29.

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Time to hit the Suns panic button

I was critical of Cleveland's recent trade because they didn't get enough offense for what they were giving up. But I concede that they could still go somewhere if LeBron averaged a triple-double in the playoffs. There isn't as much hope in Phoenix in though. Unless the Suns get a big free agent in the offseason, the Nash-Amare hit parade comes to an end this year.

Shawn Marion was one of, if the not most complete player in the entire league. He gave Phoenix 20 points, 10 boards, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and played pretty good defense. Shaquille O'Neal doesn't equal any of Marion's numbers, is older, and has appeared to be burden on the Suns' "seven seconds or less" offense. I kept hearing how Shaq was going to make things better by playing defense, yet the Suns have given up 113 or more points in four of the five games since they traded for him.

Had Shawn Marion not made it clear that he was leaving when his contract ran out, Steve Kerr wouldn't have pulled the trigger. Phoenix's title chances now look remarkably thin. They only play seven people, and one of them is 36 yr-old Shaquille O'Neal. They don't have the durability to make through the insanely deep Western Conference, and their defense actually looks worse. You can be optimistic all you want, but right now Kerr's trade is leaning towards the "idiot" side.

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Durant has two years to make things right

"It's apparent to all who are watching that the Sonics are heading out of Seattle," commisioner David Stern said recently. "I accept that inevitability at this point. There is no miracle here."

The Seattle Supersonics have had relocation rumors since the turn of the century. Ex-owner Howard Schultz was constantly shopping the Sonics, who have been losing money for a while despite high attendances for a bad team. Then the New Orleans Hornets temporarilly moved to Oklahoma City and aberaged nineteen to tewnty thousand a night. A year later, Schultz sold the team to a group of Oklahoma businessmen headed by Clay Bennett. And the rest is history.

Seattle faces the same outlook as the '83 Baltimore Colts and '95 Cleveland Browns: build a new stadium or else. But the city of Seattle has refused, having already funded a remodelling of Key Arena in 1995.

Now the question isn't if, but when. The Sonics' lease with Key Arena ends in 2010, though they could leave this year if they manage to buy out their lease with the city. In all likeliness, the Sonics have two years to play in Seattle.

Kevin Durant has two years to give Seattle something to cheer about, two years to possibly get to the playoffs or become a contender. Bennett hasn't made it easy though. He allowed both Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis to leave, and the Sonics are one of the worst teams in basketball. Hopefully Durant can evolve into the player he's supposed to be, because it's doubtful Seattle will ever get an NBA team back.

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Why this Cavs trade is absolutely terrible

LeBron James is going to rue the day he went to management and demanded a trade, because what he got in return does not push Cleveland into title consideration.

First off -- and hopefully this is inarguable -- this trade is a failure simply because they didn't get an All-Star scorer. When you give up seven people like the Cavs did, you should get Ray Allen, or Pau Gasol, or Kevin Garnett, or even Ron Artest. I'm sure that when LeBron James went to management for a trade, he wasn't asking for Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith, and Delonte West.

What LeBron really wanted was another scorer, a Jason Kidd or a Mike Bibby who could take some of the pressure off of him. Now that Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden are gone, LeBron has to do even more scoring. People are making Wally Szczerbiak out to be the next Vinny Johnson, that he takes the scoring load away. Aren't we forgetting what Szczerbiak accomplished when he was in Minnesota with Kevin Garnett? I don't remember people referring to the T'Wolves as "the dinamic duo of Garnett and Szczerbiak," I remember them being called "a one-man team."

Some people are saying that this deal might "re-energize" LeBron. Really? The guy just had back-to-back triple-doubles, I don't think a lack of motivation is the problem.

And then there's Ben Wallace, the most overpaid, under-performing player in the entire league. He's going to help LeBron? If Wallace was such a dynamic player, why is it that the Pistons haven't collapsed without him? Why did the Bulls decide that they'd rather have rookie and chemistry problem Joakim Noah at Center instead of Ben Wallace? Cleveland already has Anderson Varejao, they didn't need another hustle guy on the floor. At least Donyell Marshall could hit an outside shot.

If you think the Cleveland Cavaliers can challenge the Detroit Pistons or Boston Celtics, look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself why you think Wally Szczerbiak is a prolific scorer. They will still make the playoffs, and they might even win an early round, but they are still the LeBron James 5. They can only go as far as LeBron can carry them.

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Your state's Senator might be a schmo

If you thought Roger Clemens and Chuck Knoblauch going before Congress to testify about steroid use wasn't ludicrous enough, then you'll be happy to know that the NFL is next in line. Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has requested a Senate judiciary committee on Spygate, and why the tapes the Pats recorded were destroyed by Roger Goodell.

This is the sort of Bridge to Nowhere nonsense that emphasizes why Americans hate their politicians. How can Specter reasonably say that he is representing the issues of America when he's tackling a football controversy, one that was resolved five months ago.

It's incredibly asinine to put so much importance into the destruction of football tapes when there are issues over discarded footage of waterboarding and CIA interrogation. Hell, the original Moonlanding tapes are missing, can't he complain about that? What's next, an investigation into why footage of Steve Irwin's on-screen death was destroyed?

But this is just one misconceived plan that most politicians make every day, they just don't choose as high-profile a subject as the NFL. That's why the latest amendment in the Constitution dictates how much money a Congressman should earn, yet there are still homes in New Orleans without power.

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