Welcome to Sunday Scorecard. We're a day late this week because one of the four cauldrons here at Scorecard Headquarters malfunctioned. On this Valentine's Day, it's fitting that we begin our discussion with matters of the Hart.

No hard feelings: The official press release from the Brewers was about as bare-bones as it could be:

"In the salary arbitration case between the Milwaukee Brewers and OF Corey Hart, the panel found in favor of the player."

In other words, the Brewers lost their hearing. They thought Hart was worth $4.15 million this year. Hart, and specifically his agent, Jeff Barry, thought the figure was $4.8 million. Both presented their cases before a panel of three arbitrators, who ruled in Hart's favor.

That raised the hackles of many fans. Hart, who is at an age (28) when many major-league players are reaching their production peak, hit .260 last season with 12 homers and 48 RBI. A year earlier, he appeared in 157 games, hit .268 with 20 homers and 91 RBI and was voted into the All-Star Game.

In an economy when many are struggling to make ends meet, it's easy to see why fans would be upset with Hart. His performance dipped. He got a raise of more than $1.5 million.

Hart knows that he's going to hear some boos during the foul line introductions at opening day. He knows that his strikeouts may be deemed more damaging than those of his teammates.

Do you think that will make him regret his decision to bypass the Brewers' below-midpoint settlement offer and roll the dice on a hearing? Would any of us done anything different?

Probably not.

Even if he had lost the showdown in St. Petersburg, Hart was going to get a $900,000 raise. The fact that he was going to make more than $4 million -- and out-earn his more popular/productive teammate Ryan Braun -- was going to make him a lightning rod for fan frustration. (Perhaps Jeff Suppan should send Hart a bouquet or buy him a steak, just to say "Thanks.")

Other than chasing breaking balls in the dirt, Hart hasn't done anything wrong. Salary arbitration is an inherently flawed process and was one of the dumber things that owners caved on during their long run of ineptitude.

Players wanted free agency after five years instead of six; when owners balked, players asked for arbitration between years three and six. Owners agreed and the collateral damage has been far worse than earlier free agency.

Just because the Mets spent $5 million on Jeff Francoeur (.280, 15 homers, 76 RBI) and the Nationals gave $4.6 million to Josh Willingham (.260, 24 homers, 61 RBI), Hart and his representative won their case. Other than a long round-trip flight between Arizona and Florida, the only cost for Hart was having to sit through a few hours of the Brewers listing flaws that he probably already knew.

Scott Ostler, longtime columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, summed up the situation perfectly when talking about right-hander Tim Lincecum, who avoided arbitration by signing a two-year, $23 million contract last week.

"Somewhere along the line, baseball arbitration became poetry judging," Ostler wrote. "With the greatest fear being that overly harsh criticism might shatter the psyche of a sensitive artiste.

"But it's not a poetry contest. It's grown men fighting over bales of money."

Hart's bale of money got bigger last week. Fans are going to be mad. If he doesn't play well, they're going to get madder still. But, Hart didn't do anything wrong.

Hanging it up: After winning a third slam dunk title at the NBA all-star weekend, Nate Robinson announced that he won't be participating any more.

Well, that makes it official. There is no reason to watch the slam dunk contest.

Big screen premiere: The premiere of Jim Cryns' film, "Bruce Froemming and Life on the Diamond" is slated for 7 p.m. Monday at Rivoli Theater in Cedarburg. Cryns, who lives in Saukville, wrote, produced, directed and edited the movie about Froemming, a Milwaukee native who worked 37 years as an umpire in the major leagues. Admission is $3 and proceeds will help the non-profit Rivoli stay in business and goes directly to the theater.

Larry King Lounge: If you don't like Lazar Hayward, you're not a basketball fan. The Marquette senior exemplifies everything good about his team, coaching staff and university.... Remember when Indiana was a guaranteed loss for the Badgers? It wasn't that long ago, was it? They almost drilled the Hoosiers by 30 yesterday.... For my money, the best words in the English language are "I love you," "You're hired" and "pitchers and catchers report."... I don't know about you, but watching people ski in the moguls competition makes my knees hurt... Continuing its tradition of getting production from older players, the Wave got a game-winning goal from 36-year-old Marcelo Fontana last night.... If there is a hotter team in the country than the UW men's hockey squad, I'd like to see it.... The National Hockey League isn't having its all-star game this year because of the Olympics. I knew there was a reason I enjoyed the Winter Classic so much this year.... If I was the NHL, I'd be mad that the US-Canada matchup is being shunted to MSNBC so that the big network can show pairs figure skating and giant slalom skiing.... You may notice something about the uniforms in the NBA All-Star Game tonight. For the first time, neither team will be wearing white. Maybe next year, the NBA will allow color-on-color games.... One of the amazing feats in sports, media -- any strata you can mention -- is Sports Illustrated's ability to keep the identity of its cover model a secret. How many companies/teams/political entities would love to be able to keep a secret like that?

Before we say adios, here is our video of the week: