Favre Made the Right Decision

So it is now official. After my summer of anxiety and agony (where I had already mentally prepared myself to see someone not named John David Booty wear a purple #4 jersey), Brett came through for me and Packer fans alike one last time. He decided to stay retired!

Most of you know that I am a lifelong, die-hard Packer fan and grew up with Favre as my childhood hero. But I truly believe that this was the best football decision that Brett has ever made. His arm virtually fell off the last 5 games of last season and he just flat out did not play well. He was not going to make the Vikings immediate Super Bowl contenders. Two to three years ago, yes. This year, NO!

Regardless if the Vikings would have gotten Favre or not, they would have still started the year with the 3rd best starting QB in the division! Granted Favre probably would have been a step up from Tjack, or Rosenfels, adding him would have torn the locker room apart. I must say that the Vikings did not handle the situation very well at all, and now they need to pull themselves together as a team and move on from all this garbage.

It would have made for some great drama next season, but it is for the best. Thank you Brett for making the right decision. Now please try to enjoy your retirement like a normal player. Everybody knows what you are capable of. Everybody knows what you did 2 years ago in Green Bay. Everybody also knows what you did in New York last season.

Did you tarnish he tarnish his legacy? Yes he did. Should he have retired after the NFC Championship loss to the Giants? Probably. There is no denying that people will remember the whole retirement limbo that he's played at the end of his career. But for us true fans, we will look past it and remember the Brett pictured above.

Brett Favre is one of the greatest QBs of all-time and will go down like that. It's time that the old gunslinger realize that he has nothing to prove. Now let's hope we don't have to hear his name or see too much of him on ESPN until he steps up to the podium in Canton, OH!

Athletes deserve their paychecks

The average school teacher in North Dakota receives $35,000 per year, the average MLB player makes around $3,000,000.

But is that fair? I think so.

It's the law of supply and demand.

Salaries are set by the demand for workers in a particular job and the supply of workers able to do that job. The higher demand for a job the lower the supply, resulting in higher pay; jobs with a low demand and high supply will pay less.

Professional athletes are one of a kind. Matt Cassel recently signed a six year, $63 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. There are roughly a few dozen or so who can play quarterback as well as he can. Does he deserve this fat paycheck in my opinion? Rightfully so. That's how the market works.

The sports industry brings in billions of dollars yearly, if programs and teams can afford to give out that kind of money to players, that's their right and no one can tell them otherwise.

Jobs with low demand, such as teaching are full of people with the capabilities to do that work. There are plenty of teachers out there, but there's only one Matt Cassel. There's only one Albert Pujols and there's only one Roy Halladay.

That's why the Toronto Blue Jays can basically wait for a deal that they cannot resist. There's so much high demand for Halladay and they don't have to jump at just any deal. They're playing with house money. Halladay is worth as much as a team wants him for. Teams/Businesses want people who can make money for them. Remember, there is only one Roy Halladay.

Professional athletes make the millions of dollars that they do because they're good, they put butts in the seats, sell merchandise, and raise advertising rates.

Not many people can hit or throw a 94 MPH fastball or throw for a 50 yard TD against an NFL caliber defense. But many of us can teach someone simple math, the capitals of the U.S. states, or explain the difference between their, there and they're.

This is not to degrade the teaching profession, it's just the law of supply and demand.

Jason Whitlock missing the point once again

The Erin Andrews video scandal is now apparently being turned from a privacy issue to a race issue, well at least according to Foxsports.com Writer Jason Whitlock.

Whitlock is claiming that ESPN has been pretty quiet about the whole thing. I honestly haven't seen much coverage of the video scandal either on ESPN, but Whitlock said in his latest column that it's because she's white.

To quote John Stossel: "Give me a break!"

First he starts off with:

"This column will attempt to add context and reasonable perspective — two things generally lacking when a favored white woman is wronged in America — to the debate raging in the sports blogosphere about whether blogs contributed to the crime perpetrated against Ms. Andrews." (Blogs referring to Deadspin)

And secondly...

"How do you think the world-wide leader in hypocrisy would handle it if Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova or Candace Parker had been videotaped? I bet the network would throw together a two-hour documentary on how the video was made. And Leitch and Daulerio would drop the profoundly-disturbed-and-remorseful act."

Firstly, Williams, Kournikova, nor Parker are employed with ESPN and secondly, this has nothing to do with race and shouldn't have any thing to do with it. It's about the privacy of Andrews and how her rights were violated.

Whitlock then went on to compare the Pac Man Jones strip club video to the peephole video. ESPN did cover the Pac Man video, but there's a big difference between the two.

Unfortunately, the persons involved in the Pacman incident are potential witnesses to a crime. The people in the video happen to be black, so what? The people who were there are the people who were there. I don't care if the people were black, white, red, orange, whatever. It DOESN'T matter. If any athlete, celebrity, or famous person were involved in the dealings of a crime and actual criminal charges were filed, they would be getting the same treatment.

If there was a Ben Roethlisberger video of him actually sexually assaulting that woman you bet there would be coverage of it on Outside the Lines or something.

ESPN is not shoving this under the bed because she happens to be white. They're a company protecting the privacy of their own employer and there's nothing wrong with that.

Once again we have people pulling the race card. I think it's irresponsible when a journalist tries to throw the race card at any issue, especially when it's to get a few "clicks or ratings".

A lot of the "race" people need to stop pointing fingers because by pulling the race card for every single issue they're only fixing a problem by making it worse.

My Quick on Vick

Former NFL star Mike Vick was released from federal custody Monday morning at his home in Virginia. Now starts the real comeback trail. Vick has a few different options, some maybe not exactly what he had in mind, but options nonetheless.

Now, he's made it fairly clear that he wants to once again prove himself on the football field. Obviously getting reinstated to the NFL would be choice number one. The only problem is that he's going to have to go through Mr. Roger Goodell first. This actually could be tricky. Many experts feel that Goodell may try to stick Vick with some sort of conditional reinstatement; where if a team picks him up he can go to camp, but after all the practices, time, and effort spent Goodell would have the ultimate ruling and could still decide not to reinstate Vick before the season begins.

Rather he is given complete reinstatement or this "conditional" option there is a distinct possibility that nobody would want him right now. Notice that I say "right now". In my eyes there is not a team that would fill an imminent and immediate need by adding Vick to their roster. Most teams will shy away from him from the publicity standpoint. Not to mention that nobody really knows where his game is at right now.

That's why I believe Vick should take a little gander at the UFL. He can play through their season, get his mechanics back figure out what he's doing out on the field and by the time their season would be over (November) there would most likely be teams who need him at a skill position or even at QB if he plays well in the UFL. It would be a good chance for him to make decent money while he proves what he can do and I would be willing to bet that someone would be willing to add him for a playoff push.

Expand MLB Instant Replay? No way

Once again we have the tiresome instant replay argument being brought up again in the MLB. We had ONE bad call recently and it shouldn't even have happened in the first place, and now we have a bunch of people screaming for it again...

What a load of crap.

The Twins got called out on a game-ending play at the plate. The A's were ahead 14-13 and Michael Cuddyer tried to score the tying run on a passed ball. Cuddyer was easily safe but called out to end the game.

But the Twins shouldn't have been in this position in the first place. They had a 12-2 lead in the 3rd inning; last time I checked in baseball rarely any lead is comfortable early in the game. It's a sport where you need to keep putting pressure on the opposing team.

The Twins didn't do their job after the 3rd inning. The pitchers struggled and hitters went quiet. The A's slowly crept their way back into it and then blew up with a 7 run 7th to take the lead. The Twins only have themselves to blame. They gave up a big lead then tried to blame it on the ump on one call to end the game.

I know it was a bad call but the umps can't see them all. That's why you can't put yourselves in a possible position where an umps call can "decide" the game. The umps are payed to be accurate and make sure the game goes along smoothly. But they're not payed to get every call right.

Now to replay. The human element is what makes baseball such a great game. There's just something about it that I like. Baseball is a game of judgment calls and was made that way for a reason. I would not like to see instant replay expanded to calls on the field.

Once you expand to 'on the field' plays you run the risk of delaying the game and ruining the tradition of the game. If we do this then what's to stop them from expanding to balls and strikes? You rarely see bad calls like this, but remember it's part of the game. It was a rather unfortunate ending to a game where the Twins unfortunately had it coming.

Erin Andrews set up

There's a video going around the Internet of ESPN Reporter Erin Andrews walking around nude in the privacy of her hotel room. Some pervert/creep decided to somehow video tape her through the peep hole of one of her rooms.

The guy (or even girl for that matter) posted it on the Internet for all to see. This is according to ESPN:

"While alone in the privacy of her hotel room, Erin Andrews was surreptitiously videotaped without her knowledge or consent. She was the victim of a crime and is taking action to protect herself and help ensure that others are not similarly violated in the future."

I know we all love Erin Andrews but this guy obviously is a creep and needs to be prosecuted. Erin was a victim of a crime, her freedom and rights were violated.

I feel this should be a felony. I know there are "Peeping Tom" laws, but because this person put the video on the Internet for all to see, he/she should be charged with a felony and rightfully so.

2009-2010 College Basketball Preseason Rankings 2.0

Okay here's my updated version of my preseason top 25.


1. Michigan St.- Sure they lose Suton and Walton, but Kalin Lucas, Chris Allen, and Raymar Morgan are back. Look for the in-coming 6-10 recruits to make an impact.

2. Kansas- All five starters will return, add-in recruit Xavier Henry and this team looks like a national title threat.

3. Purdue- Will Purdue be 2009's Spartans? The 2010 Final Four is in home state Indianapolis and return 7 of their top 8 scorers.

4. Kentucky- The Cats are on the rise once again with John Calipari taking over. Patrick Patterson returns but the loss of Jodie Meeks will be a huge blow. Recruit's DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall will make this team the favorite in the SEC.

5. Texas- The Longhorns were a PG away from being an elite team, Florida transfer Jai Lucas should help fill that void.

6. Villanova- Nova will once again have a dominant backcourt lead by Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher.

7. North Carolina- This will be a totally different Heel team but there will still be plenty of talent.

8. Duke- It will be very tough to replace Gerald Henderson and Elliot Williams. But look for frosh Mason Plumlee to finally give them a valuable inside presence.

9. West Virginia- With Devin Ebanks returning they will be one of the best in the Big East. Da'Sean Butler, Darryl Bryant, Joel Mazzula, and Kevin Jones are back as well.

10. Connecticut- Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson, and Stanley Robinson will be back. A decent recruiting class is coming in as well to help fill some voids.

11. Butler- This past season was supposed to be a rebuilding year after losing a lot. All five starters are back.

12. Clemson- 3 of the top 4 scorers are back including ACC POY Trevor Booker. Plus star recruit Milton Jennings should help.

13. Louisville- They lose Terrence Williams and Earl Clark, but still have plenty in the stable. Samardo Samuels should have a breakout year.

14. Illinois- With another year of experience under sophomores Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis, and Mike Tisdales' belts, they'll improve.

15. Washington- Look for Isaiah Thomas and Quincy Pondexter to keep the Huskies atop the Pac 10.

16. Siena- A nice nucleus (5 of Top 6 scorers) returns for the Saints.

17. Ohio St.- The Buckeyes will be good and I mean that.

18. Dayton- The Flyers are flat-out athletic and talented.

19. Tennessee- the Vols had some problems last year, but there's still too much talent to go around.

20. Georgia Tech- The Jackets return a solid core. With Gani Lawal, Zach Peacock and frosh Derrick Flavors they could make some noise in the ACC. DeAndre Bell is also back from injury.

21. Minnesota- Keep an eye on the Gophers. Royce White is a top recruit who will make the Gophers a top contender in the Big Ten.

22. California- This will be a senior-laden team that has been scratching the surface waiting to break open. Next year will be that year.

23. Gonzaga- The Zags will reload with Demetri Goodson, Matt Bouldin and Stephen Gray all back.

24. Xavier- They drop after Derrick Brown stayed in the draft. But they'll reload with Dante Jackson, Terrence Holloway, Jason Love and IU transfer Jordan Crawford.

25. Michigan- The Wolverines were very inconsistent but looked good in March. The dynamic duo of Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims will keep them in the thick of things.

Just missed the cut:
Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas A&M, Oklahoma St., Wisconsin, Mississippi, Mississippi St., Florida, Georgetown, Syracuse, Creighton, UNLV, UCLA

R.I.P. Steve "Air" McNair

What a tragedy. One of the games toughest and most under-rated QBs of our time is gone. Gone at far too young of an age.

When I think of Steve McNair, I think of a guy who seemed to always be playing through a turf-toe or high ankle sprain. I think of a guy who brought a lot of excitement to the game and never quite got what he deserved. I think of the amazing drive that he helped engineer that ended just a yard short of forcing OT in the 2000 Super Bowl.

He is the pride of Alcorn State and the greatest player to ever play for the Titans franchise. Had the Oilers stayed in Houston, I believe he would have been a legend there. Nevertheless, Steve McNair, Rest In Peace.

What about Vick?

You will see me defend Michael Vick until he is a complete free man and playing in the NFL once again. He's over payed his dues, now let the man play.

Now to the main point of my post, Donte Stallworth was given 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to DUI Manslaughter. I'm not saying Stallworth deserves more then that, I mean the man is truly, truly regretful and knows he has made mistakes and is trying to do the right thing and move on. He immediately called authorities and gave himself up. But there's no way Vick's crime is any worse than Stallworth's.

What about Vick? It just goes to show how society works now days. First off, I'm one of the biggest dog lovers there is and grittysquirrels can vouch for me, but killing dogs is nowhere near the killing of a human being.

Obviously Vick deserved some punishment, but I think it was just another case of a professional athlete hanging out with the wrong crowd at the wrong time. But how does Stallworth get off that easy? Maybe he won't get to play in the NFL again, unlike Vick, but come on now. Vick had to serve about two years in jail and is now being highly monitored by federal officials and will be placed on house arrest for two months. Not to mention more punishment is coming for him from NFL commish Roger Goodell.

The same thing goes for Donte Stallworth. Sure, he pleaded guilty, so he got a reduced sentence because of it, but I also feel a little sympathetic for him. It was a spur of the moment thing, a rather unfortunate accident and now I doubt Goodell will let him back in the league either. Which I believe he should be allowed back in after his punishment.

Maybe Stallworth doesn't deserve the same amount of time Vick got, however, neither does Vick...