Every once in a while, someone does something that they regret.  I know I’ve taken a job or two in my life that I often thought, after about the second day, “what in the world did I get myself into?”  Granted, the following situation is a little different, as not everyone gets to retire, at least not at a time where they are more than capable of doing their current job and being the best in the business at it.  If we did, I’m sure people would cry foul, simply because they didn’t want to leave something they are good at, even four months later.  And if the market will have them, they would immediately find their way back into the mainstream work force, probably going to the highest bidder that they could find.

 I find myself wondering about Brett Favre and what he is thinking about now.  Is he wondering how he got to this point?  Is he wondering why Green Bay Packers General Manager Ted Thompson and Head Coach Mike McCarthy could be so cold and distant from him, basically pushing him out the door?  I get the distinct feeling at this point, it is a “don’t let the door hit ya on the behind on the way out,” type of situation.  Maybe Favre is wondering how long this deadlock will go on.  I myself would be asking, “What else can these morons want?”

Then what I really wonder about is why the Packers are so adamant that they have the final say in when and where Favre is going.  I understand the logic that you don’t want to give up something for nothing.  If Favre is worth a player or two in return, or draft picks, you certainly don’t want to let him get away.  That would be poor management at its finest, if they didn’t earn a return on investment.  The thing is, if they are content with letting him make his own decisions, then don’t waste all of this time playing the media game, and trying to make Packers management and coaches into some kind of martyr because Favre wants to play and you don’t want him anymore.

 Ted Thompson has certainly held this stance up until this point, and it seems as if Mike McCarthy is in lock-step right behind him.  The question is, why?  Are they that worried that Favre would head to go to the Bears or Vikings and make it his personal vendetta to make sure that he beats the Packers twice?  If they are that concerned that he has that type of potential then it’s a no-brainer, you bring him back, no matter what misgivings Aaron Rodgers may have about it.  Rodgers hasn’t done anything for the organization that remotely resembles what Favre has put into it.  Not only that, but Favre was within striking distance of beating the Super Bowl Champion Giants, just last season.  Has he slipped that far already?  If that is what the Packers brass thinks, then let him go and take your chances with Rodgers.  Eventually if you think he is the future, you sure as heck need to take a chance that head to head, you can compete with any team Favre is on, no matter the circumstances, because you are ready to move on, and you think this young and talented team is prepared to win with Rodgers.

 Look, I’m not a Favre fan. Fact is I think that for someone whose career is very similar to Dan Marino’s, the fans and media put him into a stratosphere that should be reserved for the most elite of the QB fraternity.  I think Favre is a Hall of Fame QB, no doubt about that.    The thing is, his one Super Bowl victory came with a team that was loaded, and he also didn’t bear the burden of being the leader of the entire team at the time, as the late Reggie White certainly took on the role of the required veteran leader.  Of course, there also were many roadblocks in his career, when great teams or great seasons (by other teams) kept Favre from playing in and winning more Super Bowls.  All of this however, is not going to have an effect on his legacy (neither would switching teams late in his career, if that’s what the media is concerned about.)  Believe me, as a Bears fan, I was more than excited to see him hang up the cleats, moving the Favre legend into history forever.

 What I don’t get from all of this, is where the Packers think they are going with this “he said” “he said” debacle that they are currently working though.  Release him, trade him or let him play.  Quit playing games.  I think the man has at the very least earned that.  What have Thompson and McCarthy earned?  Not the respect of the people who are watching this play out from afar.  Probably not the respect of the Packer faithful, or at least they shouldn’t.  (Although, I don’t think they are as faithful as they may let on, at least according to local media polls that are split down the middle about whether Favre should come back.) 

 As an outsider that doesn’t have much of a horse in this race at this point, I don’t know whether my contempt is more for the Packers or the media firestorm that this has created.  I don’t blame Favre.  It has been proven over time, if you don’t look out for yourself, non one will.  I’m reminded of an old saying “you ride her ‘til she bucks ya, or ya don’t ride her at all.”  At this point in the process, just turn him out. 

A friend of mine recently sent me an e-mail that got me a little fired up.  This is the meat of what he asked...

"when has a college superstar come out and really lit things on fire at the next level when compared to those that came before them?  How many of them can you name?  Are they household names today because of what they did their rookie year?  I can only think of one of these stars recently and his name is LeBron.  He didn't even go to college, so maybe that's not a decent comparison to what's came out of college."

He goes on to ask...

"Are Beasley and Rose really like the guys we've compared them to, or will they just be a face in the crowd after a few years? "

Finally, in what was bound to get my goat,

"Maybe the fact they are coming out so young is skewing what I'm thinking and it just takes longer to make the kind of impact I'm talking about that others have made that came before these guys.  They are still 19-20 yr olds playing against seasoned vetrans.  Bird and Magic weren't 19 when they came out.

  Who really will be the next Rice, Favre, Sanders, Smith, or Montana in the NFL?  Who will be the next Jordan, Magic, Bird, or Alcindor in the NBA?  What % of the players in the NBA are run of the mill NBA players?  Half?"

As you can tell, these questions are related to the Bull's recent run of luck in aquiring the first pick in the NBA draft...so it got me to thinking...and so I replied...

Well, Magic was 19 when he was drafted.  I think some players like Edgerrin James really separated themselves from the pack.  LaDanian Tomlinson also had a pretty sizable impact as a rookie.  In the NFL though, RB and interior positions are really the only spots that you can have a "dynamic" impact and as we know those aren't the positions that get you noticed like a QB would, and it's next to impossible to star as a rookie in the NFL as a QB.  That being said, Montana, Elway, even Marino to some extent had to be in the league for a while before they found sustainable success.  

The NBA is a different animal.  I think it's taken about 15 years to recover from expansion, and to some extent it may never happen.  When you had 5 less teams in the league, that dropped about 65 players back in the pool, that meant that the days of someone like Piatkowski roaming the sidelins for the Suns never would have happened, because they would have had to stash young good players on the bench instead of carrying veteran insurance.  The talent level just doesn't allow for that anymore.  If you can play, because of the salary cap and because of the dearth of talent, you play today.  The problem this creates is that players don't have to work as hard to earn a job, therefore driving the desire level down, in turn lowering the level of competition and play.  

The reason I bring that last paragraph up was to illustrate this point.  Young players get on crappy teams that are bad because of whatever reason, (poor management, terrible coaching, bad drafts, injuries) and they are asked to carry a load on a nightly basis that even a veteran All-Star would struggle with.  Case in point, Dwyane Wade.  When the Heat had some players on their team, he was able to play at another level, because other teams couldn't double him every time he touched the ball and he wasn't expected to be the playmaker each and every time down the court.  Since the team basically disbanded after the championship run, and no suitable replacements were found, Wade has had to carry the load, so to speak, and he and the Heat have been downright dreadful.  Kevin Durant falls into that same category.  Who on the Sonics roster would start for a playoff contender?  Nick Collison?  Earl Watson??  How should we expect Durant to make any more of a "Star" impact?  The way the talent in the league is distributed makes it almost impossible for a player to lead a team that was horrible before he got there.  

One last thing to consider is, who are the "Stars" in either league?  Favre, Jordan, Rice and Montana really were once in a lifetime players, so to put anyone in their category really isn't realistic.  It takes time to develop players like that, but I think that there are players on their way to that type of status.  Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are certainly moving into that territory.  LaDanian Tomlinson maybe as well.  Randy Moss may be the most talented player to ever play the game.  In the NBA, you could argue that Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant are moving into the "Greatest at their position" status and certainly are Hall of Fame bound.  LeBron will probably be in that group in a year or two, especially if he ever takes Cleveland to the Finals again.   

And for good measure, the NBA was probably in it's peak at the end of the 80's, and it climaxed with the Dream Team.  You probably won't ever see a group of stars as dynamic as those again, because of personality, professionalism, athleticism and locality.  You have Hall of Famers for whatever reason, (Jordan, mostly) that never even won a championship. (Barkley, Ewing, Malone, Stockton)  If it weren't for Jordan's brief retirement, you may have had to add Olajuwon and Drexler to that list.  That was a golden era for the league that they will try to replicate, but never be able to duplicate.  The timing will probably just never allow for it again, and you aren't going to see someone with any more athletic ability than Jordan with that type of skill level.  Kobe is close, but because of the non-originality, "we've seen this before" nature of what he does, it will never be as special.   There is a learning curve in sports, and I don't know if a "Star" comes about more than once or twice a generation, and LeBron is already out there.  I don't know if that is anyone or anything's fault.  That's just the way it works.  

If none of that makes sense, you could always blame soccer...