Do You Believe This Man?

So, he's really done this time. That's at least what Brett Favre said today. Apparently, he's not kidding though. Listening to Mad Dog Radio at work tonight, I heard that Favre supposedly has already submitted his retirement papers. Sounds pretty real this time.

Now, it's your turn, we want to hear from you. Answer any of the following you like (or none, that is obviously completely up to you. Though, we all know what that makes you...)

1. Do you believe him, is he really done?
2. Where does he rank amongst QBs of his era? Of all-time?
3. Why are you still reading this and not commenting?

Hump Day Headlines

In this week's Hump Day Headlines, we discuss the 44th President, the joke that is the Pro Bowl, more from the never ending Roger Clemens saga, and why Cardinals fans should take it easy...

• In case you were in a hole yesterday, you should know by now that Barack Obama is officially the 44th United States' President after his inauguration yesterday. Certainly, as Scott mentioned in his post yesterday, it was a historic day. He's the first African-American president in the history of this country, and it was certainly a day to celebrate. In the sports world, however, it was the best bail out topic for media trying to cover their various sports teams for the last few days. I think I heard ten TV journalists Tuesday ask an athlete, "What are your thoughts about Barack Obama as our next president today?" Chalk this question into the 'cliche questions that the media asks athletes' category. Now, I'm not saying that some of the athletes asked this question didn't have interesting answers, but do we need literally every single athlete and analyst weighing in on this? If I'm tuning into sports, I want to hear about sports. If I want news, I'll watch CNN, or the networks (which I did for about six hours yesterday.)
• Scott and I mentioned this a bit in the most recent BERNing on Sports Podcast, but this weekend next year (that is, the weekend between the NFC and AFC Championships and the Super Bowl), the NFL will play the Pro Bowl, it's miserable joke of an all-star game in an effort to increase interest in it. Adding to its reputation for being a miserable joke is the fact that this year's game, which will still be played in Honolulu after the season, will be missing two of the biggest stars selected play. Brett Favre and Phillip Rivers will no longer be suiting up for the AFC due to various injuries, and Kerry Collins will be taking over in their stead. As if it couldn't get any worse. Instead of watching the future hall of famer Brett Favre light it up at Aloha Stadium, we'll be subjected to watching the much less exciting Kerry Collins. Now, whether Collins deserves to be there over Favre in the first place is a different argument. I'd agree with those that would want to argue that point. But in terms of the game, which already has zero intrigue on a national stage, the fact that the NFL's prima donna and Rivers won't be in the game figure to make this one of the least watched programs on television the weekend after football season ends.
• Known steroid deal Kirk Radomski revealed this earth-shattering fact in his tell-all interview with ESPN's Jeremy Schaap on the network's investigative program "Outside The Lines": he believes his friend Brian McNamee's story and not the one being told by Roger Clemens. Well that's just fine and dandy, isn't it? This is the story Radomski told a federal grand jury recently as Clemens is being tried for perjury. Clemens vehemently denied under oath all the accounts found by former Senator George Mitchell in the famous "Mitchell Report" examining the steroid problem in our national past time. Radomski's story seems to check out with what the court of public opinion already believes: that Clemens is guilty. He claims his old 'roid-dealing pal McNamee initially only told Mitchell part of the story to protect Clemens from further investigation. Apparently when McNamee realized this would put himself in the proverbial legal hot water, he let the rest of the truth come out. It's interesting stuff and I encourage all of you to read some of Radomski's quotes. And, if I were Clemens, I'd look up at the sky to see what little public dignity I have left rocketing down to the ground.
• Cardinals fans should be thrilled at their team's recent success. After all, the perennially  pitiful Arizona squad is representing the NFC in the Super Bowl for the first time in team history. But this kind of action is absolutely moronic. Cardinals fans had been taunting Eagles QB Donovan McNabb all week at his home in Chandler, AZ, leaving a Cardinals flag in his tree and a cardboard box in his driveway that read "Go Cards" and "Beat Philly" on two of the sides. McNabb laughed it off for the week, but not when he found this: fans after Sunday's victory over McNabb's eagles burned Cardinal cheers in diesel fuel into the QB's lawn, costing him $2,000 in damages. Granted, that's chump change for the star quarterback, but what the heck are these 'Zona fans thinking? Maybe more stupid than the fact that these fans could have burned down McNabb's house with the childish prank, was that the cardboard box left in the lawn had the address and name of the man that committed them. Chandler resident Rex Perkins, a 37-going on 15-year-old dope, was charged with misdemeanor criminal damage. His co-dope, Ryan Hanlon also admitted to the pranks. "When they decided to get diesel fuel out and start damaging the yard, they crossed the line," Chandler Police Sergeant Joe Favazzo said yesterday about the incident. Think so, Joe?

Hump Day Headlines: New Years Eve Edition

In this week's Hump Day Headlines, we discuss fired NFL coaches, coaches who don't want to be hired, prima-donna Brett, and a look back at a crazy 2008.

• What do Mike Shanahan, Romeo Crennell, Eric Mangini, and Rod Marinelli all have in common?  You guessed it!  All were fired by their respective NFL teams in the last three days.  So on our fired coaches in the last couple months of 2008 ticker, that makes 10 head coaches who have been pink slipped, if you include the NBA head men as well.  2008, to say the least, has not been a good year for coaches.  That is, unless your name is Tom Coughlin, Doc Rivers, Charlie Manuel, or Mike Babcock.  You can also throw the names Les Miles and Bill Self onto that list.  Other than those six men, coaches had a tumultuous year, with countless firings in every sport (i.e. Denis Savard, Barry Melrose, Phillip Fulmer, Greg Robinson, etc.).  Adding to the list of coaches that should have been fired in 2008, look no further than Bills coach Dick Jauron, who was retained by owner Ralph Wilson on Tuesday after completing his third consecutive 7-9 campaign with the Bills on Sunday.
• Since there are obviously many vacancies now in the NFL head coaching fraternity, the most logical choice for any team that's looking for a new head man would be former Steelers coach and current NFL Today analyst Bill Cowher, who was pegged as the next coach of the New York Jets.  Problem is, Cowher apparently doesn't want the job, according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen.  Cowher has apparently also turned down other NFL coaching vacancies, but he would be the best option of any coach currently unemployed.  If someone could woo him away from the CBS Studios, Cowher is the one man out there that could bring stability and success to an NFL team in the near future.  
• Brett Favre's excuse for his abysmal performance over the last five weeks for a Jets team that failed to make the playoffs after starting the year 8-3, (Favre threw two touchdowns and nine interceptions over that stretch) is that he had pain in his throwing shoulder.  Turns out the reason for this, according to doctors, is he has a torn biceps tendon in that right shoulder.  Doctors say Favre's injury can be corrected by avoiding arthroscopic surgery, but it is suggested.  Now, in addition to Favre's retirement watch, the national media has a new topic to cover...Brett Favre's Injury Watch!  WOO I'm psyched.
• 2008 was a wild year in sports.  Here are just some of the crazy things that happened:  Ohio State, a college football powerhouse that seems to reach the BCS title game yearly, was walloped once again by an SEC team in the championship game, losing in January 38-24 to LSU.  Two consecutive years, the same team crushed in the title game.  The Patriots nearly completed the first perfect season since the '72 Dolphins.  Instead, the Giants upset them in the Super Bowl, with a miraculous catch by David Tyree.  Bill Self won his first national championship as an NCAA coach, and the first for one of the winningest programs in college hoops history in twenty years.  The Boston Celtics, a 24 win team in 2006-2007, added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.  Along with Paul Pierce the Celts ripped off a league high 66 wins and won the NBA title for the seventeenth time in team history.  Michael Phelps won EIGHT gold medals at the Olympics.  Eight.  And he's my age.  (Edit: Thank you, B.Stein) The Tampa Bay Rays won the AL East.  They reached their first world series in franchise history.  The Chicago Cubs had the best record in the National League.  Then they promptly lost three straight in the playoffs to the Dodgers.  The White Sox and Cubs made the playoffs at the same time for the first time since 1906.  The Philadelphia Phillies ended a twenty five year drought for the city of brotherly love, winning the first championship for Philadelphia since the '83 Sixers.  The Mets blew another playoff berth.  The Brewers made the playoffs for the first time in twenty five years.  The New England Patriots missed the playoffs.  The Broncos had a three game lead with three games left and missed the playoffs.  Tampa Bay lost four straight to miss the playoffs.  The man Brett Favre replaced, Chad Pennington, made the playoffs.  Brett did not.  And, Chad beat Brett to get there.    The Blackhawks lead the NHL in attendance.  The same Blackhawks who didn't have their home games televised until this year.  
• What a crazy 2008.  Here's to hoping for a great 2009.

The Monday Morning Longsnapper

Cancel Your Playoff Plans Edition

If you live in New York (and wear green and white), Denver, Dallas, or Tampa, you've got to be extremely disappointed with your football teams' efforts.  There's no true way to describe how awful these teams played, not just this past week, but over the last quarter of the season.

It's honestly even hard to pin one down as the worst choke job of them all.  

Tampa has to be up there, losing four in a row to close the season, allowing more than 30 points  per game in that stretch (which just included a home loss to Oakland and Walter Payton...sorry, Michael Bush).

The Jets would have to get serious consideration, too.  They join the Bucs as the only two teams to start out at least 8-3 and not make the playoffs since 2002, and the advent of the current four division set up.  Road losses to the dregs of the league in Seattle and San Fran obviously don't help anyone's cause.  Neither does Brett Favre saving his absolute worst stretch of the season for the end (2 TDs to 9 INTs in the final 5 weeks).

Denver is just bad, plain and simple.  Good teams don't give up 52 points.  Good teams don't lose home games to Oakland and Buffalo in the same calendar year.  Good teams don't lost to Kansas City, anywhere.

And last, Dallas.  If you're really surprised by this latest Dallas collapse, then you've mysteriously either missed out on the last few seasons of awful Decembers for the Boys, or, you refuse to believe it could happen again.  Can Tony Romo have a full good season before people anoint him as anything other than an average QB?  As far as I see it, he's a guy that gets injured too often and has a real hard time winning games either in December or January or any other time labelled as "big".

• You think Pittsburgh's rethinking playing Ben Roethlisberger after watching him take a beating that lead to his leaving the game with a concussion?  Maybe, but, that sort of thing happens sometimes.  If it had happened in the third quarter, there's beef.  As it is now, that bye week should be enough.
• Stat of the Day:  the Browns haven't scored an offensive TD since Nov. 17th.  That's a string of 6 games to close the year, without one.  So long, Romeo.
• Whether or not you're from the New York area (in fact, unless you root for the Jets), you've got to be happy for Chad Pennington.  After being let loose for the golden goose, he latched on with a one win team, and most people in the NY area figured never to hear from him again, at least not with anything serious on the line.  To have him come into the final game of the season in the Meadowlands, and not only beat his former team, but kick them out of the playoffs...Mmmm, revenge is sweet.
• Who says the one-running back systems are dead?  Don't tell that to Michael Turner.  First full season in the books, pretty darn good.  Nearly 17-hundred yards, 17 TDs and two 200+ yard games.  And, oh yeah, he lead the league in carries.
• Of course, this wouldn't be complete without a reference to the now infamous Detroit Lions.  At one point during the broadcast, the Detroit announcers referred to the roster as the worst roster in the NFL.  The final call went something to the effect of "16 times the Lions thought this Sunday was theirs, 16 times, they were wrong".  Obviously, this isn't just a one year problem.  Those of you thinking this year's Lions will be next year's Miami--not so fast.  Detroit's lost 97 games over the past 8 seasons.  Getting rid of that clown Millen is a great start, but, from there, it's truly anyone's guess.  I don't root for Detroit, nor do I truly care how they do.  But, for their own sake, could they at least work at not being the biggest joke in the league?  Until that point, get them off the Thanksgiving Day game.  If 0-16 doesn't kick you off that game, nothing will.
• Houston is on the brink of something big.  Maybe it'll just take Matt Schaub to be healthy for the whole season.  Maybe another year of dominance from Mario Williams.  Who knows?  But, they're going to be good, and real quick.

Special season wrap up edition of the Longsnapper coming mid-week.

Hump Day Headlines

On today's Hump Day Headlines we discuss winning streaks, big dollars, Plaxico's guns and a match up for the ages...

• The Celtics won their nineteenth straight game last night, walloping the 76ers 110-91.  The win gives Boston, the winningest basketball franchise in history, a new club record with the streak.  The last Celts loss came back on November 14th in a 94-85 loss to Denver at home, and ironically the Nuggets went without Allen Iverson in the lineup.  Thirty-nine days later, Boston heads into a Christmas Day match up with the Lakers still without another loss.   And since you're probably wondering, Boston is now ahead of the pace of the 95-96 Bulls team that went 72-10.  That Chicago club, led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, was 26-3 through its first twenty-nine games.  Boston is 27-2.  We might be watching the greatest team ever this season.  Also, check out my previous post that explores this topic here.  
• Four-hundred thirty-one million dollars.  That number is the amount of cash the Yankees have doled out to four players over the last couple of weeks to overtake the Red Sox and Rays next year in the AL East.  With the acquisitions of C.C. Sabathia ($161 million) and  A.J. Burnett ($85 million), avoiding arbitration with Chien-Ming Wang ($5 million), and inking Mark Teixiera today for $180 million over eight years, the rich are certainly getting richer.  I guess we can throw that whole recession crap out the window, and the notion that the Yankees would try to cut payroll after dumping nearly $80 million off the books this off-season prior to these moves.   What will the Yankees do next year if they don't win it all?  Probably blame A-Rod.  (For more on this, check out Scott's earlier post here.)
• Two guns were found in Plaxico Burress's house yesterday.  Whoops.  I guess whatever story Plax tries to tell to get himself out of this mess is moot at this point.  Then again, he is a professional athlete, so constitutional law only partially applies to him.  And, he'll have a big money lawyer likely representing him in court March 31st.  But while he did bail himself out of jail on $100,000 bond, that money may only buy him three months of freedom...just enough to watch the Giants playoff run while he sits on the non-football injury list.
• Speaking of New York football, what a sweet match up we'll be treated to on Sunday when Miami visits Giants Stadium to take on the Jets.  Yes, it is a match up that will help decide who wins the AFC East.  But what makes this far more intriguing is that former Jet QB Chad Pennington will get to face off with the man that replaced him, in Brett Favre.  Imagine, for the already snake-bit Jets fans, to have to watch ol' Chadwick come back to knock them out of the playoffs on their home turf with a team that was 1-15 a year ago! And consider this, the Jets were 8-3 just five weeks ago, coming off victories over New England and Tennessee on the road.  Now, 1-3 over the last month, New York will need some help to get into the playoffs.  Guess Broadway Brett wasn't the savior after all.