Before I get back to talking about more college sports (which can still be a tad bit dry these days unless you like reading a police blotter and learning of all the foolish acts that 18-22 year-old student-athletes do on summer break) I’d just like to let you know that while some of you are sitting at home eating up this whole Brett Favre saga, I’m sweating bullets at my desk in the newsroom 10-12 hours a day, working into the wee hours of the morning and just praying that this mess finally gets resolved.
No, I'm not a Brett Favre hater, and I don't have anything against the Packers.
But for the sake of your teammates, fans and maybe even us (the media), Brett ... just give it up. End this soap opera that you've created and dragged out for far too long. End the pain that you're causing everyone around you and make up your mind about what you want to do.
I'm sorry, but we're sick of the whole act. You'd be better off starring in "Days of Your Lives" or "All My Children" out here in La La Land.
And then, last night we saw the shotty reporting by the Tampa Bay Tribune (I guess they're still figuring out how to create news on the internet with integrity and credibility), followed by the reaction from ESPN on their 1 a.m. ET/10 p.m. PT SportsCenter. And yet still, no one knows anything more than the next guy. It's really all a bunch of here-say for the moment until Mr. Favre chooses which route he'd like to take.
So please Brett, for the sake of all sports fans, let us go back to worrying about pennant races and a U.S. Open later this month while we let NFL training camps and preseason games get underway over the next few weeks.
Let us go back to worrying about the American athletes representing our country in Beijing this month for the 2008 Summer Olympic games.
And most of all, let us go back to worrying about Aaron Rodgers as your heir apparent this season — because that's really going to cause some Cheese head headaches up in Lambeau this season.
It doesn't matter whether you're headed to Tampa Bay or New York, we just want a decision as soon as possible.
And that's all we ask of you (rant over).
Onto college basketball news...
Anyone want to escape the cold in November, go to Maui and watch some top-notch college basketball?
Well, I do (I probably won't, though).
The Maui Invitational has a dynamite lineup this season, featuring North Carolina, the perennial favorite to be preseason ranked No. 1, NCAA Tournament regional finalist Texas, Notre Dame, Saint Joseph's, Oregon, Indiana (depleted), Alabama and host Chaminade.
The Tar Heels, with Naismith Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough, point guard Ty Lawson and wings Wayne Ellington and Danny Green returning, will of course be favored to win the tournament, which the program has accomplished on two occasions (1999 and 2004).
Meanwhile, out in Rock Chalk Jayhawk nation, Bill Self signed a 10-year, $30 million dollar extension to stay at Kansas.
The deal comes after Self was offered the job at his alma mater Oklahoma State before leading the Jayhawks to the national championship over Memphis. However, Self turned down the offer to go to Stillwater, Okla., and chose to work things out with Kansas Athletic Director Lew Perkins.
But there's no time for Self to get comfortable.
Darnell Jackson, Darrell Arthur, Sasha Kaun, Brandon Rush, Russell Robinson and Mario Chalmers are all gone.
That leaves you Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich. True, the Jayhawks have a top-rated recruiting class coming in, but it's going to take a little time for everyone to get acclimated.
And after the way last year's NCAA Tournament went, who knows, maybe you'll have another shot at the winner's circle in April.
