Super Sunday

I'm not super psyched for the Super Bowl today. All of the teams I would have been excited to watch and cheered for were knocked out -- the Packers, Peyton Manning's Broncos, the Patriots. ...

Nontheless, I'll be rooting tonight for the 49ers. I like their storyline, and I have a soft spot for them, having grown up watching the great 49ers teams of the 1980s.

So there's that. And seeing what kind of show Beyonce puts on after Inaugura-gate. ... I'm looking forward to a rousing performance of "Single Ladies."

Here's some good reads that caught my interest during the Super Bowl run-up ...
a Brett Favre says during his NFL Network visit 'there is no ill feelings' regarding Aaron Rodgers
a Donald Driver, retiring after 14 seasons, didn't want to play for anyone but Packers
a A 49ers Lineman Really Does Feel All the Weight of His Position
a Whatever the route, 49ers coach charts course for victory, just as he did as a quarterback
a Joe Flacco doesn’t provide flash, just wins
a 49ers’ Randy Moss calls himself best receiver ever
a The Harbaugh Who Did Not Last in Baltimore
a Harbaughs Set to Meet Biggest Fan: Each Other
a Pressure? Niners Were 5-0 in Super Bowls With Montana and Young

Majik memories

There's not many things better than watching the Packers win a thriller over the Bears to finish the regular season and propel themselves into the playoffs.

My love for the Packers started, of course, with Sunday afternoons spent watching the games at my grandparents house as a child. I have so many good memories of eating popcorn and watching those Packers of the late 1980s, featuring Don Majkowski and Sterling Sharpe ...

So I was intrigued when I spotted the link to this video about Majkowski in a Tweet this afternoon. One of my best memories of those days is, hands down, the play at the 2:59 mark of the video against the Bears, which clinched the Packers' first win over Chicago in years.

He's no Wally Pipp.

Brett Favre

I've maintained this season that the fact the Vikings had to send players to Mississippi to convince Brett Favre to return for another season was the ultimate indicator of how things would play out in Minnesota.

Tim Dahlberg said it all about Favre, Brad Childress and the Minnesota Vikings in his column this week: Desperate coaches like Childress don't last. ... Dan Shaughnessy had a good one about Favre a few weeks ago as well.

I'm finished discussing Brett Favre.

World Series fun

I'm having a little trouble accepting the fact that the baseball season is over.

I never would have imagined the San Francisco Giants would be crowned World Series Champions. But their pitching was so dominant the Rangers’ fate was sealed after Game 1. It was sudden.

And Edgar Renteria. World Series hero. Again. ... Beyond this dramatic home run, this was the stat that really got me when it was mentioned after the game last night: He joins Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra as the only players with two World Series-winning hits.

And whaddaya know -- I turned on the TV tonight and discovered the ESPN Classic was airing Game 7 of the 1997 World Series between Renteria’s Florida Marlins and the Cleveland Indians.

I’m watching it now. And I’m as captivated as I was when I watched it in my college dorm room on that Sunday night in October 1997.

I’ll never forget furiously e-mailing my dad after every dramatic turn of that game, and then having him ask me the next morning, after he'd logged onto the computer and seen all of the e-mails, if I was feeling lonely the night before with no one to talk baseball. See, the simple phone call was already losing ground in those days, and Skype, Facebook or Twitter were still 10 years away.

And I'll never forget burying my head in my hands when Renteria hit his first game-winner to score Craig Counsell -- because I had been rooting desperately for the Indians.

Game 7 of the '97 series is arguably my favorite world series game of my lifetime. In one of my favorite world series of my lifetime -- 2001 and 2002 being two others. Featuring one of my favorite teams of my lifetime, the 1997 Cleveland Indians.

Sheesh, both teams in that world series were stacked. And it blows my mind to watch the game now, to see guys like Jim Thome, Matt Williams, Craig Counsell, Moises Alou and Jim Leyland. And to think about how I’ve enjoyed tracking their careers.

Final note: The NBC broadcast, led by Bob Costas, just showed the longest world series title droughts -- as of 1997, mind you. The list, starting with the longest, looked like this: Cubs, White Sox, Red Sox, Indians, Giants. ... Very interesting. The White Sox, Red Sox and Giants have since won, and the Indians, at the least, made the World Series in '97. The Cubs ... yeah, still waiting.

Speaking of interesting, how 'bout those Minnesota Vikings? The Brett Favre/Randy Moss/Brad Childress drama just keeps getting better and better. That the Vikings released Randy Moss within a month of acquring him is laughable, and it's only going to get worse until Childress finds the guts to bench Favre, who clearly isn't helping the team with his broken down body.

That's my rant and I'm sticking to it.

Packers rejoice

Holy Cheesehead, that was a great Packers game last night!

Once we got Phoebe to bed. And I cleaned the kitchen. And I finished the laundry. And got my belongings ready for work this morning ... I was planted and riding the edge of our coffee table for the second half.

I was pumping my fists with every Brett Favre interception the Packers turned into a score ...

I breathed a gargantuan sigh of relief when the referees rightfully reversed Favre's touchdown pass to Percy Harvin, who was clearly out of bounds when he caught the pass ... 

And I rejoiced with all of Wisconsin when those final seconds ticked away with the Packers on top. You could almost see the weight being lifted off Aaron Rogers' shoulders. From SI's Don Banks ...

Rodgers was going to be judged harshly if he didn't own at least one head-to-head win over the Favre-led Vikings. Not that you're going to get Rodgers to ever admit beating No. 4 was on his bucket list.

And Favre just looked awful limping off the field. As though he was having some serious regrets about returning to play this season.

Bed time converstion

Scene: Kates is in the bathroom brushing her teeth last night and getting ready for bed. I'm outside the door, in our bedroom and watching "Sportscenter." The talking heads on ESPN are discussing the Minnesota Vikings' 0-2 start and speculating whether Brett Favre could be benched ...

Me: If the Vikings bench Favre, he'll be done. He'll retire. There's no way he'll stick around if he's not starting.

Kates: (groans) Favre. He needs to be done.

Me: The only reason he's still playing is that stupid streak. Well - I shouldn't call it stupid. It's actually a very honorable streak.

Kates: What streak?

Me: His consecutive games streak. He hasn't missed a game since he started with the Packers in 1992.

Kates: Really? He's never been injured?

Me: Well, he's been injured before --

Kates: But he's still started every game.

Me: Yeah. The earliest he's ever been forced out of a game -- remember that game against the Cowboys a few years ago when he was injured in like the second quarter and Aaron Rodgers had to come into the game? And it was the first time anybody had ever really seen him play, and then the next morning everybody was like, "Wow, this kid can really play."

Kates: Yeah, I guess I do.

Me: And then it was see ya later Brett.

Kates: Buh-bye.

Me: Moving on. Aaron Rodgers is our quarterback now. Packers will be in the Super Bowl this year. You watch.

Kates: You think so, huh?

Me: Yep.

Good reads (Updated: 9.26.10)
a No patience with starting NFL QBs this year
a Favre Plays On, but Vikings Are Out of Tune in an 0-2 Start
a Vikings' and Cowboys' 0-2 starts among the early surprises in the 2010 NFL season

Brett Favre is back in Minnesota

So now Brett Favre is back in Minnesota ... Thanks to his teammates' recruiting.

Big whoop. Once again, I'll believe it when I see him on the field, suited up and under center on the opening Sunday.

Is Brett done yet?

So Brett Favre's at it again.

Would I like to see him continue playing? Sure.

Do I believe he'll retire? When reports surfaced this week that he planned to retire, I immediately made the same statement as Drew Brees ...

"Haven't we all seen it before? I'm not going to believe it until he doesn't walk out of the tunnel on Sept. 9."

Forecasting Favre

Well, I’ll say this: My prediction came true. Brett Favre won’t be winning a Super Bowl with the Minnesota Vikings. At least, this year.

Sheesh. What a game.

When today’s games started, I was still having trouble deciding who I’d root for. All four teams had admirable storylines.

In the AFC Championship, you had the New York Jets and their improbable chase to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since Namath called his upset in '69. Or the classy Indianapolis Colts with their star Peyton Manning, arguably my favorite player in the NFL right now. Dan Shaughnessy had a great column about the matchup this morning.

Then, in the NFC Championship, you had the New Orleans Saints trying to reignite a deflated city and get to their first-ever Super Bowl. And the Minnesota Vikings, with the ageless and relentless Brett Favre, trying to reach their Minnesota's first Super Bowl since 1976.

Ok, so I was kind of rooting for a Colts-Vikings Super Bowl.

After all of my Brett bitterness, I had begun warming up to the idea of seeing the ol’ gunslinger taking a team back to the Super Bowl, especially a team that was so starved for a championship.

Then the game started. I was charmed by the Saints' heart and annoyed by the Vikings' swagger. Seeing Brett in that ugly purple uniform once more brought all of the bitterness back. As the Vikings started faltering, the emotions of the Packers-Vikings rivalry kicked in and I was slyly rooting for Brett to fail.

By the time the game moved into overtime, I was having as much fun watching my Facebook and Twitter feeds as I was watching the game. The chatter online about the game was equally amusing to watch. Here are some (clean) excerpts …

OK, Vegas: What's the over-under on stories about Archie Manning's Saints days between now and the Super Bowl?

Joe Buck wondered if Bourbon St. had ever been so deserted...uh, Katrina?

If my husband lives through this game it'll be a miracle!

Loves favre picks even more than Viking fumbles!!!

Good reads ...
a Retirement Discussion Begins Anew for Favre
a Favre is too good to retire now

Ascend, descend

... And now I’m flying back to Kansas City … Somewhere over Illinois I suppose, on a plane with the most entertaining flight staff I’ve ever encountered. Every time one of them gives a set of instructions on the intercom, they speak in rhyme or song -- it’s snappy and it’s funny! … If only I had a tape recorder to play it all back and transcribe it for this post. The best line might have been when one of the flight attendants was describing how to use the breathing masks and gave the instruction to put your mask on before helping a family member. Then she says, “If you’re traveling today with more than one child -- uh-oh, it’s time to pick your favorite!”

The sun is bright and starting to descend below the clouds, which look like the floor of an Arctic shelf tonight. Slight ripples and peaceful. … I wish I could take a picture, but I left my camera with Kates, and the only picture-taking device I have on me now is my Blackberry -- which we’re not allowed to use during the flight.

It’s been a good, fulfilling weekend. I did a lot of work around the house -- cleaned up our den from the disarray we left it in on moving day, paid and organized our bills, did the laundry, took down the Christmas decorations, packed a few more boxes and caught up on some TV-watching with Kates ... We cheered on Brett and the Vikings ( ... I know, I'm totally falling away from my anti-Brett sentiment, but he's still the same ol' Brett we adored in Packerland), and we cut through the highlights of SNL (How cool were the Ting Tings!? See here and here ... It still blows my mind that the first time I heard of them was the night I saw them live.)

I also played with Phoebe a lot. We stacked blocks. We dumped her play food all over the living room floor. We watched her videos -- which, based on their themes, she affectionately calls "Moo" (for cow), "Hose" (or horse) and "Happy Birfday" (you get the idea). ... Best moments of the weekend: When she asked me to lay on the floor -- for no particular reason -- and we just stared at the ceiling -- for no particular reason. And then there was Saturday morning when I started up the "Glee" soundtrack and we started bouncing to "Don't Stop Believin.'" Phoebe couldn't barely stop giggling long enough to shout "Dance!"

It was wonderful to be together again as a family, and all the proof you needed was the twinkle in Phoebe‘s eyes … She was delighted by my presence the moment she saw me appear in the airport terminal Friday night. Though I would’ve preferred the classic daughter-runs-to-Daddy-who-sweeps-her-up-in-a-great-hug greeting, Phoebe started jumping around the seating area and shouting “Daddy! Daddy! -- which was pleasant just the same. … As we retrieved my bags and walked to our car, she was positively loopy, hopping and skipping and giggling all the way.

It’s easy to say Phoebe’s too young to fully comprehend what’s happening. She still sees me nearly every night on Skype and in pictures around the house. But she seemed more cuddly than usual this weekend. … Throughout the weekend, she hugged my pant leg and uttered that adorable, “Up, peas.” Upon every request, I stopped what I was doing and raised her into my arms. She would hold on for just a little while longer before saying, “Down, peas,” and galloping away to her next desire.

But the time passed far too quickly … And though I’m looking forward to returning home -- there’s that ambiguous word again -- I’m not so eager to do it without Kates and Phoebe. My new job is great, I’m surrounded by awesome people -- but it won’t be perfect until I have them to come home to every night. I yearn to be with them.

As our car pulled up to the terminal in Milwaukee this afternoon, I got out of the car, ducked into the back seat and softly kissed Phoebe on the cheek. She was soundly asleep, and barely lifted her eyes to say good-bye. She was at peace and so adorable; it was probably best that way … Then, I pulled my bags from the trunk, and I shared one more embrace with Kates. The tears filled her eyes once more as we said good-bye …

I said to her, “This’ll get easier, right?” Let's hope.

Feeling Minnesota

I was sprawled out on the floor and once again on the verge of a heart attack last night.

Thanks, Detroit Tigers.

Although, after what I've officially dubbed "The Lost Season," it's nice to finally have some gut-wrenching baseball to watch ... All summer long, I've whined about my early mornings and early bedtimes, which kept me from watching a lot of baseball the way I used to. And of what I did read and watch, the Brewers were dissappointing and the Cubs just plain stunk. Beyond that, I couldn't find a single compelling story, and there certainly weren't any compelling pennant races ...

Well, except for the Tigers and the Twins -- which led us to last night's wild one-game playoff.

That 4:05 first pitch at the Metrodome couldn't come fast enough for me. (I will say this, our visit to the Metrodome last summer and having seen the quirky stadium firsthand has made it a lot more interesting to watch Twins games on TV.)

I, of course, was pumping my fists with every run the Tigers scored. And burying my head with every run the Twins scored.

In the bottom or the 10th inning when Ryan Raburn dove and missed that fly ball, giving up the no-out triple to Michael Cuddyer, I ended up with a dish towel over my head. Then there was the one-out double-play ball that slipped under Placido Polanco's glove, allowed Cuddyer to score the tying run and sent me collapsing on the floor in agony. And my whooping and hollering when Raburn gunned down the potential winning run to end the bottom of the 10th was enough to get Phoebe -- who should have been asleep -- shouting "Daddy!"

The drama continued for two more innings. The Tigers had their chances to win ...

But they broke fans' hearts again. The Twins won it on a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th, almost five hours after the game started.

Sigh.

A month ago, the Tigers had the A.L. Central in the bag. They were going to be my top team this fall ... Then, the Sports Illustrated cover jinx struck again.

At least now I don’t have to worry about them getting trounced by the Yankees in the playoffs.

In my dreamworld, I'd love a Dodgers-Angels World Series ... In my real world, I predict Phillies-Yankees. Blah.

Here's some good baseball-related reads ...
a A Cloudy Crystal Ball
a A Pitcher Comes In, and a City Holds Its Breath
a Angels thinking forwardly
a Best time to play memory games
a Baseball’s Postseason Field Is Rich With Recent Playoff Experience

* * *

Monday night's Packers-Vikings game was almost as compelling as the Tigers-Twins game -- for the first half, at least.

Then, in the second half, Brett Favre started playing like Brett Favre, and the Packers offensive line couldn't protect Aaron Rodgers ... As much as I hate to admit it, it was fun to watch Brett up his legendary status some more. Maybe he's going to get the Vikings to a Super Bowl after all -- maybe.

Here’s a good read about Brett. And here's a good read about the game's (huge) impact on TV ratings.

Favre: Purple people feeder

... So Brett Favre signed with the Minnesota Vikings yesterday. He's coming back ... again.

I watched the wires and tweets with great interest yesterday morning as the news trickled in ... And then last night got a kick as the local TV stations -- as usual -- parked themselves on camera shots of an empty podium and babbled about the latest comeback ...

Finally, at about 5:45, Favre stepped up to mic and spoke; we ate our dinner and watched the history unfold ...

A few lingering thoughts ...

I still love Brett Favre and I probably always will. His 16 years with the Packers were thrilling and memorable ... Sure, there were times he drove us nuts with his interceptions, but those ups and downs are part of sports.

I really admire his guts and has passion to keep playing, and I believe him when he says his decision to sign with the Vikings isn't about getting revenge on the Packers. It's about wanting to play football.

Though, I did love the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's headline: "The Ego Has Landed."

I can't see him doing well in the Metrodome. He's notorious for his poor performances in domed stadiums.

And his arm? C'mon. He's 39 and coming off surgery, and now it's been revealed he has a torn rotator cuff. We saw how he crumbled down the stretch with the Jets last year; I think he'll be lucky if he makes it through this season.

Judging the comments showed from Vikings players on "Sportscenter" this morning, it doesn't appear his teammates are exactly thrilled he's joined the team.

Mark Schlereth said on "Sportscenter" this morning what I was already thinking: "No team is one player away from going to the Super Bowl." There are too many factors that go into a 16-game NFL season and the playoffs for anyone to be pegging the Vikings as a Super Bowl team just because they've signed Favre.

I'm calling it now -- The Vikings won't be in the Super Bowl this season with Brett Favre.

Favre-a-lous

So Brett Favre's at it again ...

Not surprised ... LeRoy Butler told me this was going to happen.

I say let him come back and sign with the Vikings. I don't think he's got anything left and the Packers will come out ahead either way.

Sunday reading

Ugh.

... Did the taxes yesterday. Happy Valentine's Day to us.

... Got my ice skating fix for the winter. And this year I did it with clear vision.

... And we had the family over to celebrates Kates's dad's birthday tonight.

We're exhausted.

Here's some of the reads that caught my eyes this week and were worth sharing ...

Sports ...
a Francona is having the time of his life
a Griffey wants to return to Seattle ... Sweet!
a Confronting A-rod
a A-Rod Dead At 33 ... From The Onion.
a Measuring A-Rod
a A-Rod proves apologies are not easy
a One Name Is Not Enough In This Case
a Steroid stench grows even stronger
a This soap opera is beyond sordid, yet we still watch
a Baseball's Tainted Month
a Hall of Fame needs to get rid of ridiculous character clause ... This is a really tough one for me. I still think the character clause is a valuable factor in determining Hall-worthiness. But I also think guys like Pete Rose, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens put up deserving numbers in their prime, rule-abiding years.
a Juice has sucked fun out of voting ... Another good read about the Hall voting.
a Attendance figures and revenue could decrease as teams are feeling the pressure
a Sox-Yankees: Tranquillity vs. trauma
a Favre: Top 10 All-Time? ... His knack for throwing interceptions and coming undone when games were on the line certainly doesn't help his cause.
a Coach K Never Forgets an 'L'

Music ...
a Scenes from Grammy weekend ... You go Death Cab.
a Grammys on key, but also a bit offbeat
a Wild Thing ... Good stuff about Neko Case.
a Vinyl Takes Another Spin With Music Lovers ... Love it! Except for the stores that charge like 30 bucks for a good vinyl. That's just robbery.

TV ...
a Joaquin Phoenix and late night: What's old is new again ... Phoenix's Letterman appearance is one of the craziest things I've ever seen on television.
a Joaquin Phoenix mystifies David Letterman
a Flight 1549 crew gets laughs on 'Letterman'
a As Conan heads west, where will his humor go? ... I was one of those guys who loved watching Conan in college. Some time after that I realized he's not that funny. I think he's going to have to make some changes to survive Leno's spot.

Politics ...
a Stalled Switch to Digital TV A Classic Tale of Breakdown ... Pretty much. If you're not ready, it's your own fault, I say.
a Even Tiniest Lincoln Relics Command Reverence

Internet & Media ...
a What Newspapers Do, Have Done and Will Do
a Newsweek Plans Makeover to Fit a Smaller Audience
a Boy Photoshops girl: A Flickr love story ... This is my friend Raechel's submission for the week. I found this story both very cool, and kind of creepy.
a TV's Mark Suppelsa connects to 5,000 friends on Facebook
a How Google Decides to Pull the Plug
a Do We Need a New Internet?
a How fast can you add Facebook friends? Faster than Facebook will allow
a How Social Networking Sites Have Changed The Breakup Game
a Twitter? It’s What You Make It

Life & other stuff ...
a Snuggie Pub Crawl coming
a 40 years' worth of thanks ... Great story. If you can, watch the video, too.
a Queens Driver Unknowingly Drags a Body Nearly 20 Miles ... Awful.
a From tech bubble to tech bobbleheads ... I so want one.

Sunday reading

A collection of reads that caught my attention during the last week or two ...

Have fun.

Sports ...
a Taking another look at instant replay
a Baseball salaries should outrage, but don’t
a Unconventional wisdom: How to improve Hall of Fame voting
a Baseball Hall of Fame Needs to Change 5 Percent Rule ... I think I agree more with this philosophy then the one floated in the story above.
a It's the offseason of hope
a From the Phillie Phanatic, a Family of Mascots
a Chris Ballard reads athletes blogs
a Watching Favre From Baghdad Evokes Memories

Music ...
a Carly Smithson's post-'Idol' blues
a Hootie And a Hollerin':Rucker Finds Unlikely Success In Country Music

TV ...
a Role is a Joy for Jaime Pressly
a Denny Ghost Story Twist Revealed
a Leno decision shows retreat from 10 p.m. dramas
a Jay Leno to prime time: Why NBC is doing it

Politics ...
a On weekend before Jan. 20 inauguration, Obama to arrive in Washington by train ... Very cool.
a Games by Gov. Blago ... Yes, Rod duped Illinois. But if I remember correctly Judy Baar Topinka wasn't exactly a solid public official either.
a The Rules, Washington Edition
a Chicago's Karma
a Friends Say Kennedy Has Long Wanted Public Role
a The Young Know Caroline’s a Kennedy, but Which One? ... A good read about the different perspective people have of the Kennedys.
a Between Obama and the Press
a For Obama, Job First
a The Obama Speechwriter: Helping to Write History

Media & the Internet ...
a 20 years in the making ... I sent a resume to The Onion a few years ago. Never got the call.
a CNN Ticker, 2001-2008 -- R.I.P.
a ESPN Strives to Eject Clutter From Its Site ... 'Bout time.
a News About News, in 140 Characters ... I've been slow to get on board with the whole Twitter thing (I don't have that much time on my hands ...) but the site described here is really great ...
a Mr. Obama’s Internet Agenda
a Life on Blago's enemies list
a Advertisers Face Hurdles on Social Networking Sites
a MediaNews Sees Bad Timing on Newspapers, Not Bad Bets

Life & other stuff ...
a To Teach, They Reach For Obama
a Plane hits cow on emergency landing ... From my friend Raechel, with accompanying video.
a Sometimes, Fists Fly at Chuck E. Cheese's ... Also from my friend Raechel.
a Dad afraid his daughter will be Drew's next wife ... From the 'You've got to be kidding me!' file ...
a Wait a second: 2008 gets extended by timekeepers
a When Mommy takes the hit

Sunday reading

... I visited a local ski mountain for a story this afternoon. I sooo want to go skiing now ...

Tonight, I arrived home in time to catch a bit of the American Music Awards -- that Beyonce can dance! -- before I got sucked into the "JFK: Breaking the News" documentary on PBS. Even though I saw it last year, once I started watching tonight I absolutely could not pull myself away ...

Oh, and this just in, I think Oklahoma scored a few more touchdowns on Texas Tech ... Holy cow, that was a thrashing last night ...

Here's some of the reads that caught my attention during the last week ...

Sports ...
a Favre won't talk about next year
a Tie Games? Who Knew? Not All of the Redskins ... I find this hard to believe. How can these guys even be playing professional football?!
a It's hard to believe - but Sox always did
a Ryan Dempster admits Cubs were not prepared for playoffs ... Interesting. Lou Piniella disagrees.
a Free Agent Market Is Well Stocked

Entertainment ...
a Totally Over: Last Squeals for ‘TRL’

Politics ...
a Intense security a force Loop reckons with
a Lincoln and the myth of 'Team of Rivals' ... I'm still reading 'Team of Rivals.'
a Time for Him to Go
a Obamas enjoy fine food, wine, but hold the beets
a Game on: Pros and big-league politics
a Madam Secretary?
a Two for the Price of Two
a Let Detroit Go Bankrupt ... Good arguments here. I've sort of been thinking the same thing.
a When the President-Elect Talks, The BCS Should Listen ... Thanks, Wilbon. I couldn't have said it better. ... And by the way, that '60 Minutes' interview last weekend was fascinating to watch.

Life & other stuff ...
a Detective handcuffed to Oswald can't escape photo
a Cellphones in Yellowstone?
a The Moon View

Frank Caliendo on Mike'd Up

Ah, the comedy of Frank Caliendo ...

Here, he breaks out the John Madden around the 2-minute mark, and adds a funny twist on what the NFL should do with Brett Favre's No. 4 ...

Sunday reading

Some of the reads that caught my eyes during the last week ...

Baseball ...
a Don Zimmer the ultimate common denominator
a Upstart Rays aim to keep surprises coming in playoffs
a Francona sets standard for managers
a Cardinal O'Malley is no Fenway regular. But he keeps tabs on Boston's secular faith
a Architect of Phillies, Gillick Will Listen to Anyone’s Plans
a When Philadelphia Was a Winner
a Series of changes in last 40 years
a Manny In La La Land
a Financial crisis will slow Cubs sale
a A look back on a Chicago baseball season gone bad

Football ...
a The Brett Favre Backup Club

Media & the internet ...
a Tina Brown jumps off page and onto the Web
a Couric Rebounds With Web and Palin ... I'm not yet a fan of her newscast, but her YouTube stuff has been catching my eyes.
a Katie Couric In The News For All The Right Reasons: Her Work
a Turn and Face the Change -- With Newspaper Industry in Crisis, 'Everything's on the Table'
a Social networking sites help companies boost productivity
a Seeking Broader Reach for Social Web Sites
a Check out my Twitter ... I'm telling you, forget newsprint -- it's all in social networking, blogs and newsfeeds, people.
a Newspapers’ Web Revenue Is Stalling ... Ugh.

TV ...
a Brea Grant gets off and running as latest 'Heroes' villain

Politics ...
a The destructive policies of President Bush
a In Wisconsin, a tilt toward Obama
a Historians ponder Lincoln's legacy, lessons we can learn
a He Told Us to Go Shopping. Now the Bill Is Due.
a Postponing the election: It's a joke, or is it?
a A frustrated Esquire endorses Obama
a Obama vs. McCain: Scripted and improv
a Worst of times
a When the gloves and lipstick are on

Life & other stuff ...
a What makes Boston in a league of its own

Random happenings

... Kates had an obligation at school tonight, which meant I got to pick Phoebe up from the daycare and spend the night with her ...

I had to pick up my daughter from daycare today. My daughter ... It still sounds crazy to say that.

* * *

... Here's a clever one from The Onion today ...

I almost overlooked it at first, as I typically do with most Onion stories not having to do with baseball or politics ... But I did a double-take at the headline and after thinking about the irony of it decided to click on the story ...

By the end -- with tha image of it "resting comfortably on a large rock" -- I was laughing out loud ... poor mountain lion.

Brave Mountain Lion Fends Off Group Of Hikers

* * *

This news alert came from one of my cohorts this week ...

Jets decide against keeping Brett Favre; Green Bay takes him back and trades him to Chicago. In return, Chicago is giving us back Door County , Eagle River , Minocqua, Crivitz, Rhinelander, Wisconsin Dells, and the left lane of Interstates 90, 43 and 94.

Pennant race? What pennant race?

Aside from the house cleaning Kates and I had to do this afternoon it was a dream sports day … I had the picture-in-picture going to watch the Brewers and Cubs games, and oh, look at that, the Jets were on CBS too, meaning I also got to watch Brett Favre make his somewhat impressive Big Apple debut -- Remember he was playing against a team that had just one win a year ago ...

Thanks to the regional interest, we're still going to see a lot of Brett Favre this season ... I'll take it, though it's not near as exciting as watching him dressed in green and gold ...


Of course, I started playing a lot closer attention to the Brewers-Padres game as Chris Young took his bid for a perfect game deeper, and a Cubs win seemed imminent …

Then the notion of both those outcomes was blown apart within minutes of each other when Gabe Kapler hit the homerun off Young and Kerry Wood blew the save for the Cubs. …

Consider what the Cubs and Brewers have done in the last week -- or should I say, not done.

If the Cubs had won in their last eight games the way they’ve been winning all season, they’d be running away with the NL Central. Had the Brewers won their last seven games, they’d have caught the Cubs, broken hearts would be littering Chicago’s north side and we‘d have a completely different race in the NL Central. If things keep up, with both teams losing, the Cardinals are going to sneak in there when we’re not looking …

As for CC Sabathia’s controversial no-hitter last weekend: I’m standing on the side that’s content with Major League Baseball’s decision not to overturn the official scorer’s decision. Should the play have been ruled an error? Probably. But the official scorer also has the rest of the game and several hours afterward to change his mind -- which he didn’t. And correctly, that’s where it ended … It would have been an awful precedent for Major League Baseball to set had they decided to overrule the official scorer. And besides, after all that, how could Sabathia enjoy the no-hitter.

Here’s a collection of good reads I’ve come across the last couple weeks about the Cubs and Brewers going down the wire …

a Cubs fans have reason to worry ... "... these are the Cubs, the historical Cubs, and things happen to them. Things happen to other teams too. Injuries happen to other teams. But when they happen to this team, they're put into a larger, 100-year context. A raindrop to another club is a possible Category 5 hurricane for the Cubs."

a Don't worry, Cubs fans: Playoffs are secure ... "Yes, these are the Cubs we're talking about. Even first-graders know their history. But when you have scored the most runs in your league while allowing the fewest, and when you have done that over more than five months, you have earned the benefit of the doubt."

a Without Zambrano, it's not gonna happen