Brett, Shark, and other things summery

Whoever said July is a slow month for sports needs to have their heads examined...

ITEM ONE: Green Bay's "Favre-ite" QB
So is anybody surprised by the fact that Brett Favre wants to play football again? No. Is anybody surprised at how poorly this is being handled by both him and the Packers? Absolutely.

Consider both sides for a moment... Favre basically said he didn't want to the Monday through Saturday stuff that comes with playing quarterback in the NFL, and just wants to play on Sundays. Of course, so would the rest of the population. Still, I found a couple of things odd: (1) The interview he does to discuss this was with... Greta Van Susteren? Really? Good choice Brett, I mean was Katie Couric not available? Is Campbell Brown a Bears fan? Hell, why not going completely off the grid and have Tabitha Soren do the interview? There's avoiding someone who could ask actual questions, like why you insisted you were done just 3 months ago, and how you have completely underminded Aaron Rodgers before he even takes his first snap. But can we get someone to do the interview that actually has more association to football than being a person who gained fame covering a former football star's double-murder trial? (2) The Packers can't trade you because you still have 3 years left on your deal, which you knew. They aren't just going to release you so the Vikings or Bears can scoop you up - come on dude, you are smarter than that. (3) If Ted Thompson lied to you, why didn't you go public with this in March? Don't you think fans and media would be even more willing to back your play if you were considering retirement because of this? And (4), with all the meida saying you've still got it because your 2nd half numbers were better than your 1st half numbers, they all seem to overlook one thing: you are the one who threw an INT in OT at home with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. Still amazes me that no one made more out of that.

Then again, it's not like the Packers are blameless here. They should have obviously handled things in-house a lot better before Favre retired. They had to know this was going to happen. I know I did.


ITEM TWO: A damn good consolation prize
Now I remember one of the major reasons why Tiger Woods coming onto the scene in 1997 was such a great thing for golf and for golf fans: we wouldn't have to endure anymore Greg Norman meltdowns at major tournaments.

Like Charlie Brown spotting Lucy holding the football, I was once again suckered into watching the British Open this past weekend hoping that "The Shark" would win another major. He would have become the oldest ever to win a major. And in the absence of Tiger, it made the first three days of the tournament watchable.

Then on Sunday, he didn't just lose, he lost in an agonizing way that felt like watching a car wreck on a highway; you feel helpless and sorrowful for the victim, and yet you cannot turn away from the carnage.

It may me remember what golf was like back in Norman's prime. At the 1996 Masters, or as I like to refer to it: The Masters in the Year 1 B.T. (Before Tiger), he had a huge and seemingly unbreakable lead, only to collapse in a way that has only since been rivaled by the 2007 Mets and Britney Spears.

And yet, considering that Norman is very successful in other businesses and is married to Chris Evert, it's hard to feel sorry for him.


OTHER QUICKIES:
No one breathed a bigger sigh of relief that the All-Star Game didn't end up in another tie than Bud Selig. And yes, part of me was hoping it would just so he could be lambasted again... BTW, a simple solution to that problem: allow for 2 players to be selected before gametime to be eligble for re-entry into the game after the 10th inning, and any pitcher selected for the team that pitches on the Sunday before the game is allowed to attend the game but is automatically replaced by a another relief pitcher, so that the Kazmir/Webb situation never happens again... I forget exactly which day it was, but there was a day earlier this month when, on the ESPN networks, I was able to watch Maria Sharapova play tennis, Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer play golf, and Jennie Finch play an Olympic warm-up softball game. The only things missing were Erin Andrews calling the action and Amanda Beard swimming in an Olympic trial to make it a full day... Speaking of ESPN, can we please stop trying to manufacture feature segments and show more highlights? Last summer, it was the Who's Next Tournament. In February, it was the Greatest Highlight. Now, I can't get away from this stupid Titletown USA nonsense. Please stop the madness... Thank god NFL training camps start this week, and thank you to the Giants for trading away Tara Reid to the Saints. I think the Jaguars will come to regret not pulling the trigger for Jason Taylor... I wasn't going to watch the HR Derby last week, but when Josh Hamilton started hitting all those bombs, how do you not keep watching. He reminded me, in terms of his swing mechanics and body type, like Barry Bonds before the steroids.

Later...