Beckham's transfer to Real Madrid was a perfect example of the high cost needed to acquire talent.

Soccer: is a sport that doesn't really have trades, at least when you're talking about the three major professional leagues: English, Italian and Spanish. In order to move a player to another team a transaction fee must be paid to the team losing the player. For instance when David Beckham moved from Manchester United last month, Real Madrid paid Man U a transaction fee of $55 million CDN for the right to acquire him. That's just the transfer fee! So when you hear about big money being thrown around for soccer stars to change teams, remember that that is essentially just the compensation paid to the teams losing the player. The team acquiring the player still needs to pay the player a contract.

Hockey: shares the same basic structure as baseball when it comes to player transactions in that both have minor league systems, fairly equal player roster numbers, waivers and free agency. The interesting thing with hockey is the setup for Group II free agent signings. A Group II free agent is a restricted free agent meaning that the team that holds the player has the right to match any offer made by another team. The problem with trying to sign a restricted free agent is the compensation that you must give the original team if they choose not to match the offer. The compensation for signing a Group II free agent valued over 5 million dollars is five first round draft picks. Five! For that reason there has only been about two restricted free agent signings in the past 10 years. Signing a Group II free agent is like trying to date one of your friend's hot sisters. The opportunity is tempting but the penalty is far too great, meaning she is off limits.

	Foolish Clippers.

Basketball: is unique in it's structure because no minor league system exists for the NBA and teams only carry 12 players per roster which is about half of what hockey teams carry. There never seems to be a one-for-one trade in the NBA; every trade always needs to involve at least two or three players from each side. It seems like the same bench players are involved in a deal every year or so. It's like a doorknob; everyone needs to have a turn. (I'm sorry about that last joke, too many Fresh Prince reruns). Also there's not many draft picks that teams can include in trades because there are only two rounds of drafting. I'm sure a few teams have been able to slip one over on the Clippers where they included some third and fourth round draft picks in a trade. The NBA also has an instant cash-in session for all young players after 3 years when their first contract expires and the restricted free agency money train comes rolling into town.

	For the last time guys, it's Raef. R-A-E-F.

Football: is a very interesting and unique sport when it comes to transactions. One thing you'll notice about the NFL is that there are very few trades, hardly any at all. I'm not sure the reason behind this, but basically the only way for a player to change teams is through free agency. The only rule against trading in the NFL is that kickers and punters can't be dealt. There must be some sort of secret coalition or union that represents the kickers. Kickers and punters can't be dealt? Why? Does this make sense to anyone? This makes about as much sense as Ralph Fiennes having his name pronounced as Raef Fiennes. If you want to be referred to as Raef just change the spelling of your name to reflect it. I'm sure before his name change, Mavericks center Raef Lafrentz got sick and tired of being called Ralph so he did something about it. The NFL also has practice squad players. These players aren't eligible to play in actual games until a roster spot is made available. Can you imagine another league where all the players live for is practice? Don't tell Allen Iverson about this. One interesting trade occurred between the Dolphins and Saints last NFL off-season. The Saints traded Ricky Williams to the Dolphins for a draft pick to be determined. The draft pick would be determined based on how well Ricky played. Ricky had a great season and by running over the 1500yd mark he insured that the Dolphins must give the Saints a first round draft pick. Just imagine what would have happened if the Saints and Dolphins had played against each other this year. If the Saints had the game proverbially locked up would they have let Ricky run wild against them. Would Jim Haslett given his players this advice: "Come on guys, you played with him last year. Go easy on him. He was a friend to us, so let's treat him that way. We don't need to tackle him so hard or run so fast to catch him. Let him have this moment. I'm sure his family is watching and he wants to impress them. I don't want his mom to leave here disappointed."