You all know by now that Amare leads Andrew Bynum by about a gazillion votes, and surely the viral campaign had something to do with it (getting listed as the Suns’ “center” probably had more to do with it, though).

To Amare, at least, it has been a success.

“Fans have stopped me in the street, sent notes on my Twitter and Facebook pages and have checked out Vote4Amare.com,” Stoudemire said in a release. ”I truly appreciate their support. I had a great time working with David Spade and I am glad the fans have enjoyed the videos as well.”

I do find it interesting how two stars in Phoenix’s locker room differ so much in terms of their approaches toward gaining All-Star votes from the fans, who can continue voting online for Nash and Amare until Monday (hint, hint, Two Time could use your vote).

Amare went all out with a high-budget campaign to try to win a race that he didn’t really need much viral support to win. Nash honestly and truly could not care less if he gets voted in, going so far as to create a video that playfully mocks players like Amare who put so much time and effort into their viral efforts.

Efforts such as the video below, the finale of Amare and Spade:

Oh yeah, and Thunder Dan is en fuego

A little bit of Charles Barkley on Saturday Night Live before we get back to talking about the Suns blowing leads again.

I bet KJ's mayoral opposition couldn't do this.

KJ, Kevin Johnson will always have a special place in my heart for his killer crossover, dunking on Hakeem and for that 25-9-7 while playing 62 minutes in Game 3 of the 1993 NBA Finals.

But who would have ever thought he would become Mayor KJ?

“Today the country elected the first African-American president, Barack Obama. Sacramento also made history today by electing the first African-American mayor,” Johnson told the Sacramento Bee after being elected mayor of Sacramento. “Obama and myself, we ran on the promise and the theme of change. No more business as usual.”

If Johnson brings the city of Sacramento the kind of change he brought the Suns franchise, he will live up to his campaign promise.

The Suns finished 1987-88 – the season in which KJ was acquired in a midseason deal – with a 28-54 record to cap off four straight seasons in which the Suns averaged a 33-49.

Phoenix immediately became a perennial contender starting with a 55-27 season in 1988-89 and won at least 53 games each of the next seven years. KJ’s Suns failed to clear the 50-win benchmark just three times, one being the strike-shortened 1998-99 season.

The driving thrust of all those clubs was a point guard who could blow by defenders at will, nail midrange jumpers and dish out assists with the best of them.

If I had to pick a politician out of the bunch of those mid-90s Suns I would have said Charles Barkley without hesitation.

The Chuckster has spoken for years about running for governor of Alabama, and with his popularity and outspoken nature, well, let’s just say I’d vote for him.

And you never know with Barkley, maybe he still will become a future governor of Alabama and help those ’93 Suns continue to make as big an impact in the political world as they did for the Suns franchise.

If I had to pick a current Phoenix Sun as most likely to follow in KJ’s footsteps, I’d tab his heir apparent of the Phoenix point guard throne, Steve Nash.

Nash has never been afraid to take a stand on issues he believes in, wearing a T-shirt to the 2003 All-Star Game that read “Shoot baskets not people,” and anyone who’s ever seen him direct an offense knows his leadership abilities are off the charts.

Grant Hill, an ardent supporter of Obama, wouldn’t be a bad choice, either.

Speaking of Obama, a noted basketball player, I’d think twice before inviting the new mayor of Sacramento over to the White House for a friendly game of one-on-one.

It was the day I became a Phoenix Suns fan.

On that sunny Sunday afternoon, every man, woman and child in the Valley of the Sun was glued to their TV sets to see if the Suns could complete a comeback from two games down in the “Westphal Guarantee” series against the Lakers. It took them overtime, about the time I started watching, but history of course tells us they prevailed.

Then the Suns knocked out the Spurs in six games on Barkley’s face-up jumper on David Robinson in the clincher and the Sonics in seven when Sir Charles exploded for 44 and 24 in Game 7.

By this point 7-year-old me had become a full-fledged member of the purple and orange bandwagon.

Paxson breaks my heart.

In the 1993 Finals, the Suns ran into the Chicago Bulls dynasty and gave Michael Jordan and Co. the best test of any of their three-peats. Phoenix won a triple-overtime thriller in Game 3 and kept the champagne on ice in Chicago in Game 5, but when John Paxson sunk that fateful game-winning 3 in Game 6, I felt the biting sting of a championship season derailed.

As my Lakers fan friends like to often remind me (yes I regrettably admit it, I have some friends who cheer for the Lakers), this would not be the last time I felt such pain, from the Barkley Era to Nash. The Suns have come oh so close enough times to make my head spin in the ensuing 15 seasons, but as we all know they have never won the franchise’s elusive first championship.

As the Suns embark on their 41st NBA season aiming to bring home that first title, ValleyoftheSuns.com will be there every step of the way, providing commentary, analysis and news updates on anything and everything Suns basketball, delving into realms beyond the scope of the daily newspapers.

And when they finally do bring home the hardware?

May 9, 1993, won’t be the first date I think of when discussing my Suns fanhood.