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.

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

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.