Makes me smile

This story here about the choas and fighting within the Viking locker room makes me smile. Not because I have anything against Favre, it's just funny to see yet another horrific thing happen to the state of Minnesota.

I actually couldn't care less about Favre coming back. I appreciate everything he did for Green Bay sports. Keep in mind that if he was never on the Packers, the Packers would still be a joke of a franchise and would not be able to get any free agents, think 1980s and early 1990s. So we can not judge him now. He is too sad to just retire and go into the booth as John Madden's replacement (it will happen) and someday be an assistant coach, or even head coach. Let him play and prove to himself that he is done.

I just find it funny that Minnesota thought they were the clear favorites to win the division and even the Super Bowl. The quarterback was not holding them back last year. You could find any 90 year old grandmother to hand off to Adrian Peterson 50 times a game. I just want to know who in that locker room pointed them out as Sage Rosenfels fans. That's embarrasing.

Earlier this week I blogged about that incredible story about a "reality show star" who killed his stripper wife, and I commented that the story could not get any more incredible. I was wrong.

This seems familiar

Last week I blogged about how similar the movie Gamer is to The Running Man from 20 years ago. Well it seems like Hollywood is at it again.

Here is a trailer for a new movie (yes it looks horrible, but that is not my point)



Hmmmm, seems familiar. Maybe because it is this same movie:


Wow! Let's look at the similarities:

• A group of kids think they accidentally kill someone (while drinking), then when trying to hide the body, they really kill them.
• They dump the body in water (or in a well)
• They agree to keep this secret the rest of their lives.
• They begin to start to be terrorized and killed one by one.
• The killer is some large man in a rain jacket with his face covered (literally looks the same in both movies).
• The killer uses some kind of hook to do the killing

Sad Hollywood this is the same movie with an updated cast of horrible actors. Fail


Editors note: I am choosing not to blog about this at this time.

Sports Time

It's been a while since I have done a Sports Rant, so here we go:

• If you didn't hate the NBA enough, the 3 trades that have occured the last two days will show you why it is horrible. All three trades featured an All-Star player being traded for bench0-warmers who are either going to be cut in the next week or are going to retire. All 3 trades only took place for money. Teams can't rebuild any more, they have to trade players so they can save money.
  
• The Bucks sucked next year, and will be worse next year without Jefferson or Villeneuva, and possibly without Sessions. Keep in mind I watched 2 games all year, so I actually have no idea who those players are. And they just selected some point guard from Italy. Fail.
• The Brewers are fu**ed big time. They have 3 starting pitchers, and one of those is Suppan. They are luckily still in second because everyone else in our division is losing too, but they have now lost the wild card to the Giants. (The same Giants who probably have the best starting pitching in the league, coincidence.....). I honestly don't know what they should do. They have no pitching in their farm system and there aren't any teams willing to part with any starters. The Brewers also don't want to trade away their future again this year. My personal choice to move Hardy and bring up Escobar or even trade Cameron now instead of losing him at the end of the season for nothing.
• Gamel and MCgehee should start everyday, no mater the pitching situations or matchup bull-s**t.
• I was watching Sports Center this moring and ended up watching it for an hour. The sad thing was that they covered 2 baseball games that entire hour; the Yankees game and the Mets game. The BRewers won a thirller, and there was nothing about it for the entire hour. They spend probably 20 minutes do some sh**ty mock draft for the NBA, spent 20 minutes on the Shaw trade (they actually had a piece on who was a bigger joker in the locker room, Shaq or LeBron), and then they spent 15 minutes on the USA beating Spain in soccer.............who gives a shit. 5 minutes of baseball..... this is America right?

Here is a funny bit from the COlbert Report, he has a funny joke about soccer and another one about Brett Favre.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sport Report - Soccer, Tennis & Brett Favre
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Mark Sanford

Sports Time

I feel obligated to report on the "2nd Retiring" of Brett Favre. It is what it is, it is a year too late, but it is time. I would have to think that the New York Jets organization is kicking themselves for ever even acquiring him. They traded away their would be starter (I have no idea who will be their starter next year), they wasted a season in which they could have won the division (for crying out loud, the Dolphins won it), and they lost one of the better young coaches out there. Oh well, hopefully his last season as a Jet doesn't tarnish his legend in the record books.



The Brewers announced their bobble head lineup for games this season. Worst lineup yet.

• Braun- had him last year, hopefully this year he is in All Star jersey
• Trevor Hoffman- okay, he is a legend, let's just hope he doesn't implode by that time and is irrelevant. Also if it played Hell's Bells, that would be bad a@@.
• Jason Kendall- okay, I like the guy, but I don't need a bobble of another catcher, they are all the same, plus he is old and fragile... he could be irrelevant by this time.
• Brat- okay, helps to finish the racing sausage collection
• Jeff Suppan- WTF? Suppan over Gallardo or Parr. If you make one of Suppan, you might as well make one for that guy who helps you park by directing you with those glowing sticks. Both positions are useless and could be done by a one-armed, dyslexic monkey.
• Doug Melvin- WTF? I like the guy, but don't want a bobble of him. How about Macha? Or as Snow.Man suggested, the guy from the Miller HIgh LIfe Commercials.
• Other suggestions- an action bobble of Fielder pushing Parra, CC in a Yankees uniform, Fielder in a Yankees uniform, Yost bagging groceries at Pick 'n Save, Sheets on the operating table, Cameron with a needle of steroids in his ass, or Anastasio rolling in money.
• 
  

Finally, I was perusing the paper today and for some reason read the questions to Mark Stewart in the sports section. Today's theme was the Wisconsin Badgers, who are having an off-year but have won 3 in row. One question reads: ""We have too many slow white guys and I think Bo Ryan needs to recruit more athletic black players." Wow. I would be embarrassed to write that question.

I'm Open

I got this picture e-mailed me and I thought it was humorous. Even more humorous because in was from a New York newspaper about a week ago. Don't forget the Jets probably hemoraged their future quiet a bit by getting Favre. They had to trade away their starting QB in Pennington who was Comeback Player of the Year in leading the Dolphins to the division title. THey also lost a young and promising coach in Mangini.

Favre really does need to hang it up now. I am not like some bloggers out there who think he should have retired years ago. Remember he did lead the Packers within an overtime of the Super Bowl in a year they greatly out-performed themselves. (I still blame my wife for the loss). He shouldn't have come back this year, and we saw why. He started out magical, like the Favre of old, but was absolutely horrible in the second half of the year.

Also, they did officially move back the date of the digital TV switch. DOesn't congress have something more important to work on passing? The new president inherited a country in s**t and a world in a state of f**king s**t. Come On.

Sports Rantings

This was a big weekend here in Wisconsin for our beloved sports franchises. Here are my rants:

• Yes! It's raining, the drought is over. The Brewers made the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. Most of their players were not even alive then. Bring on Philly.
• I say on the first day of Free Agency the Brewers have to offer CC $20 million a year for 4-6 years. No bullsh**ing, just do it. He is definitely worth it, he literally carried the Brewers into the playoffs when their offense looked like s**t.
• The Badgers embarrassed the entire state with their pathetic second half performance and loss against a terrible Michigan team. Next week they play Ohio State. If they lose they could be out of the Top 25 for the first time in many years.
• The Packers looked awful this week. Why are they not throwing it to Driver and Jennings on every play. Those are the only two worth anything on that offense. Every time they throw to them something good happens, keep doing it. Aaron Rogers threw 5 interceptions (even only 3 counted). Ryan Grant looks like a joke of a running back, yet the Packers keep running the ball, even on 3rd and long.
• Do we start taking death threats for Ted Thompson yet? Favre looked great for the Jets throwing 6 TDs, yes 6. Imagine if he still had talent around him like in Green Bay. Why Thompson, why? I hope you and Aaron Rogers have a nice life together.
  

Start to get worried

I have already gone on record as saying that last year was a fluke for the Packers, and I predicted they will probably be something like 10-6 this year. However, after watching the preseason game last night (at least the first 45-60 mins of it) I wonder if they can even go 10-6 (despite being in the NFC North).

Rogers did not look comfortable at all out there. He was 9 of 16 (not horrible, not great) but he had only 58 yards, touchdowns, and 2 sacks. Yes Donald Lee dropped a 10 yard TD pas, but that wasn't the problem. The offense had way too many 3 and outs, their defense did not look sharp, and for the second pre-season game their 2 best offensive weapons (Grant and Jennings) did not play. The real season starts in like 3 weeks here, lets get it together. I think next week the number one offense (Grant and Jennings included) and defense need to play 3 quarters together. What is the point of this pre-season if they never play together. Changing QB is a major deal and it looks like most people on offense are not on the same page as Rogers. If things don't improve I predict they will finish 7-9 at best.

Also, when do you think the real Ted Thompson bashing will begin? Favre looked good for the Jets after 10 days with the team, and Rogers looked flat after 4 years with the team. Uh-oh.

All right I'll go there

Since the Favre saga is over (for this year at least) I will have a blog entry about it.

First, I think the Packers come off as the bigger a**-holes in all this. As of three days ago Favre was willing to have a quarterback competition and was even okay to be released or traded anywhere. The Packers kept being wishy-washy about their commitment and eventually got there way. Here is probably the best article I have read about the whole situation after it is over.

That is ultimately the point in the whole thing, The Packers traded away their best QB. Period. Yes he is old and not the same he once was. But, Rogers sucks and can't even complete 40% of his passes in a pre-season scrimmage or in practice. I stick by what I said and that is that this had nothing to do with Aaron Rogers, it had everything with Ted Thompson being an a**-hole to proud to swallow his pride and say that Favre was the best QB on the team.

In football every year, every team has a chance to win it all. Therefore, each year you make decisions that make your team the best possible this year. You don't worry about upsetting Rogers, since Brohm is their QB of the future anyway. I don't expect Favre to have nearly as good of a year as he had last year, that was a fluke; however, the Packers would have been better with him in there. I predict 9-7, no wild card. Thompson fired in January, bagging groceries by March.

After it all Favre is still a gentleman. He has continually said all he wants to do is play, and his first choice is by far the Packers. Now after being traded to the Jets, at his press conference he said he is not a traitor and will always be a Packer. After he really retires he will forget he was ever a Jet and will be a part of the Packers franchise and history for the rest of his life. You would think a guy this committed to a franchise would have gotten a better deal from Ted Thompson, but then again Ted Thompson is the Ned Yost of Football managers.

Too bad the Jets suck, I mean look at this lineup. Yes outside of the Patriots, they are in the worst division and have an easy schedule when they play the NFC. However, they are still in the AFC where the Patriots, Colts, Jaguars, Steelers, Chargers make it every year. Leaving the Browns (who are good), the Bengals, Titans, Broncos, and Jets competing for 1 playoff spot. I predict 8-8, no playoffs, same drama next year.

Last time...........

This is the last time I am going to comment on the whole Favre saga until it is over, but a new story has leaked that makes this even more absurd.

Now the Packers are offering Favre $20 million to stay retired. What? So they would rather spend $20 than either have him compete as a starter or release him and see him as a Viking. This is stupid.

This no longer has anything to do with anything except that Ted Thompson can't admit he has changed his mind and swallow his pride. Yes Favre screwed over the Packers by retiring and un-retiring twice, but when he retired after the season every newspaper gave 4-1 odds that he would come back, so we all knew this was happening. Favre is still saying all he wants to do is play, and the Packers are his first choice but if he has to he will play elsewhere. Any sports team wants to put the best team out there on the field, period. Bring Favre in to compete for the starter role and if Ted Thompson's boy, Aaron Rogers, is that good he will beat out Favre and get the job.

This however has nothing to do with Rogers and Favre. You can't tell me that if Tom Brady left the Patriots and said he wanted to play with the Packers, Ted Thompson would come out and say "No thanks, Aaron Rogers is our guy." Please , we would welcome him in with open arms and no one would care about Rogers. It's the same thing with Favre; if he is better than Rogers, he should play. If he is not then Rogers should play. But this cannot be solved over the phone.

The other argument is that Rogers is the future and he eventually needs to get in there for this team to move on, okay let's look at that. Isn't this exactly what we did with the Brewers this year. Trade away a large part of our future (Matt LaPorta) to put the best team possible on the field this year with Sabathia. It literally is the same thing. If Favre is the best bring him in, the rookie we drafted, Brohm probably has more of a chance of being our QB of the future anyway.

I bet now that Brohm gets more snaps this year that twinkle toes Rogers who has hurt himself in both NFL games he ever played in.

Bluff calling 101

Now we have this article that Favre is just going to show up to minicamp and call the Packers' "bluff." We'll see if this strategy works, it seems oddly familiar to the strategy taken by George Costanza on Seinfeld when he quits his job and then regrets it and decides to just show up for work on Monday.



At this point I am wondering if the Packers are the real bad guy. Favre just wants to play football (his first choice would be the Packers he has said), and the Packers have said they are not interested, but won't let him play for someone else. It's like you quit your job, then want to come back, but they also won't let you go work anywhere else either. I was always taught you can't have your cake and eat it too.

The morning after....

I decided to have an updated posting on the whole Favre situation after I had a little time to reflect on the postings from avid readers Snow.man (wow, that guy needs his own blog) and edgrimley.

• It is sad that we are talking football in the middle of a baseball season.
• It turns out this whole thing is my wife's fault, and I "talked" to her last night about it.
• Again I repeat that Rogers is not the answer, but neither is Favre.
• I am NOT "siding" against Favre. My solution is to keep Favre but start him as the backup.
  
• The Packers do not need that distraction, we have to move on at some point, why not now.
• This whole situation is Ted Thompson's fault, and he is still "On Notice."
• If the Packers do have to release Favre, that does free up a lot of money and next year they can make a run at an elite QB. You would think any QB would kill at the chance to be the next QB of the Packers after Favre.
• Jordan did tarnish his legacy when he came back with the Wizards. That team was god-awful. His career scoring average went down, his career shooting percentage went down, and his career win percentage went down.
• Look at Reggie White when he came back with the Panthers, ruined his legacy.
• I would welcom Favre back in a second, but this is a messy divorce. It would be like watching your wife sleep with your pool boy and your gardener and have your take all your money, and then let her back into her life. Oh wait.....

Mommy, where's daddy?

It looks the greatest divorce in Wisconsin history is going to take place shortly. Brett Favre has reportedly asked the Packers to release him so he can play again next year on some team because the Packers are showing no interest in his services.



I think Favre is about 6 years past his prime, and his success last year was a fluke. The Packers are probably better without him, not that Rogers is the answer. They are better with a quarterback who will allow them to run more and throw short passes, and not interceptions. I know he is already on a team, but the Packers need someone like David Garrard. He doesn't wow you but he is efficient and doesn't throw picks.

I however do think that both parties will regret this divorce. It is a public relations nightmare for the Packers. Favre's image will be forever tarnished in the history books. He can't go to any indoor team because he sucks on turf. He will probably end up playing for a bad team because all the good teams already have a QB. He will not win many games, will have a lot of interceptions and will probably get hurt.

What I think he should do if he really misses the game is come back as a backup for the Packers and a consultant. He can help Rogers and their rookie QB, and then come in if they all suck or a miracle comeback is needed in a game.

Random Rantings.........

Having the day off today I ran into a few things that got various levels of anger flowing in me....

• It must be a slow news day because I just saw a preview for the 10 o'clock news and there is going to be a story on Oprah's niece. The tagline is "Wonder what it would be like to have Oprah as your aunt, watch our exclusive interview on a local woman who knows what its like." Who gives a s**t. Shouldn't the news educate the ignorant out there about the upcoming election, the economy being in a recession, or our pending war in Iran. Something important, not about some fluffy piece for all the soccer moms out there. I can see why this interview is "exclusive," no one else would want to report on this subject. Next week they talk to Ellen's dog-walker.
• How the f**k did the Brewers lose that game. I was watching every pitch and I still don't believe the Diamondbacks got 6 runs in the 9 with 0 outs. The only reason they are in 1st is that they are in a terrible division and because of their pitching. Their batting average on the team are terrible, actually worse than the Brewers. There 6,7, and 7 hitters in the lineup today had a batting average below .200. Inexcusable. Since the Cubs are playing bad, the Brewers actually have a chance to take the division, but they must win these types of games. After todays loss, it proves that they are still posers in the race for the postseason. Something has to change. (hmmmmm maybe the manager?)
• I for one don't care about all this new Favre talk. The Packers will not finish 13-3 again this year no matter who is QB, Favre is well past his prime, their offense is better when they run and do short passes, and the NFC is winnable but they need as few distractions (and interceptions) as possible. I am and always will be a Favre fan, and he is probably the greatest ever, but it is time to stay away. I do not think Rogers is the long-term answer however, but you'll never know if you don't try.
• I just saw a preview for what NBC is going to be playing tomorrow on TV....... Olympic swimming time trials. WTF? That's the best you got? Nothing says freedom like some people swimming against their own best times (not even against competition). They have nothing better to show. Show some old dude on his porch shining his gun talking about the 'good old days' for 8 hours, that would be more American at least.

Thats it......for now.

Emotional Rollercoaster

Today I had an emotional roller coaster as a sports fan, and blamed it all on my wife of course. First there was a report that Favre was considering coming back and play f0r another team if the Packers would trade him. So I immediately went home and blamed my wife for this in my usual way, because it was her vault after all. Then came out another report that these initial reports were false and in fact Favre was definitely not coming back. After hearing this, it re-awoke my initial anger of Favre retiring and I had to once again take it out on my wife, since it was her fault that he retired in the first place.

The world didn't end...

As we are all aware out in the blog-o-sphere, Brett Favre retired. Oddly enough my life, and the world beyound, goes on.

• Was Favre one of the best ever? Yes
• Was he one of the most entertaining athletes to watch ever? Yes
• Would the Packers still be a laughing stock of a franchise like they were in the early 90s without him? Yes
• Was he still productive the last 3 years, even at his age? Yes
• Did his heroics prevent many wives from being beaten? Yes
• Did his many interceptions cause wives to be beaten? Yes
  
• Did the Packers over-achieve last year? Yes
• Did the Packers choke and lose to the terrible Giants? Yes
• Could the Packers have one it all last year? Yes
• Will the Packers be just as good next year without Favre? Yes
• Was Favre their team MVP this year? Yes
• Would he have been next year? No (My bet is Ryan Grant or Greg Jennings)
• Is it fitting that his last pass was an interception? Yes
• Are the Packers less exciting without him? Yes
• Will they win their division next year? Yes (the Vikings will give them a run for the money)
• Will they make it to the NFC Championship game? No
• Should they consider signing a veteran QB? Yes
• Will Aaron Rogers be their starting QB next year? Yes
• Will every sports fan, even Bears fans miss him? Yes

The fact of the matter is that Favre had to retire sometime, probably within the next 2 years. So why not now, when the NFC is not very strong, and especially the NFC North? Why not now when the Packers have a pretty good team, some of the best wide receivers, a above average running back, and a top ten defense?
I bet they make no move at any free agent QB's, even though there are some available. I bet Aaron Rogers is our QB, and that may not be a bad thing. He looked very good against Dallas, even if it was for just a half of the game. I bet the Pack wins the division, finished 10-6. They host a first round game against the Giants. They win 24-13. In the second round they lose at Dallas 12-20. Everyone begins to wonder, "What if?" Dallas eventually beats Jacksonville in the Super Bowl. Then all 0ff season next year people wonder if Favre comes back for one year. (He doesn't, wives get beaten)

PS: EdGrimley owes me a $5 spot.