Brett Favre's career as a Green Bay Packer is over. He will never play another game for the team that owes him everything.  Favre realizes that it is time to move to another team and so does Packers management. The question is, why is this taking so long? It is obvious Favre wants to be traded to the Vikings. Packers management knows this, which is why they have shot down each request Favre has had for them to discuss a trade with their hated NFC North rivals. The Packers even offered Favre $20 million over 10 years to stay retired. That may be able to work for other players, but Brett Favre was never it in for the money, he just wants to play the game that has been his everything. If the Packers truly cannot stand having Favre in camp and then on the sidelines during the regular season their only hope is to trade him to the Vikings. Recent information has both sides stating that it would be a huge distraction having Favre at practice and participating. The time to trade Favre is now. If his presence at practice is huge distraction to the team imagine the media blitz when Favre is on the sidelines for a regular season game. I say trade Favre to the Vikings and move on as planned. If not, Brett Favre has to be the starting quarterback. McCarthy knows it, Thompson knows it, Rodgers knows it. End of story.

Everything started with a single trade.  This one trade changed the landscape of the Western Conference for the rest of the season.  When Pau Gasol was traded to the Lakers every other team in the West that believed they were a title contender knew they had to counter to the heist that was the Gasol acqusition.  Gasol's arrival in Los Angeles brought Jason Kidd to Dallas, Shaq to Phoenix, the Spurs picked up Stoudamire and Kurt Thomas, the Rockets traded for Bobby Jackson, and the Hornets got proven veterans for their bench in Mike James and Bonzi Wells.  The second half finish in the Western Conference is guaranteed to be one of the best in recent memory.  

It would be kind of stupid to pick a team as a favorite this early in the second half considering all of the big deals that occurred.  It has only been three games for Shaq in Phoenix but he has looked just as slow as he did this year in Miami.  Don't get me wrong I'm pulling for Shaq and the Suns to win the West but unless Shaq and the rest of the players on Phoenix can get comfortable with each other they won't even make it to the conference finals.  Kidd had a rough opening game but the last two games he has dished out 15 and 17 assists.  Everyone knows what the Gasol trade has done for the Lakers so far.   Kurt Thomas and Stoudamire provide the Spurs with even more experience and depth for the stretch run.  Bobby Jackson also gives the Rockets more experience and depth.  Mike James and Bonzi Wells bolster an unproven Hornets team and most importantly makes them deeper.

Only 5 1/2 games separate the number 1 seed (Lakers) and the number 8 seed (Golden State).  In the Eastern Conference the difference between the number 1 seed (Celtics) and the number 8 seed (76er's).  Who knows what is going to happen in the Western Conference the last couple of months?  No team figures to be able to outrun the rest and 1-7 are legit title contenders who are built for this time of the season.  This much parody in the Western Conference will be a great thing for the NBA.  While the big NBA fans watch throughout the season, most of the regular fans watch occasionally but really start paying attention when the playoffs begin.  The state that the Western Conference is in now will cause more fans to watch these last couple of months closer than in the past .  This will be one of the best finishes in NBA history and I for one can't wait to see the end result.

Here's a congratulations to the New England Patriots for being the best team of the regular season. It got you nothing in return.  This season has to seem like a complete failure to New England and their fans even with the myriad of records they collected.  Brady's 50 TD passes and Moss' 23 TD receptions are great accomplishments, but they would trade those in, in a split second if it meant a Super Bowl title.  All season long the Patriots had a quiet arrogance about them and they had good reason to, they were kicking the shit out teams.  For those of you out there who believe the Patriots are a humble,modest team, you are all sadly mistaken.  So the Patriots ended the season 18-1, the only team to go 18-1 and not win the Super Bowl.  The Patriots did not beat themselves, the Giants gave them all they could handle and in the end it proved to be too much for even the masterful Bill Belichick. And for those people out there who believe that Belichick didn't know the game was over and that he was confused, don't kid yourselves he showed bad sportsmanship by taking off into the locker room.  Finally here is a congratulations to the New York Giants for beating an overwhelming favorite according to most, if not all analysts around the country.  They were really given no shot to actually win this game and a lot of people laughed at Burress' prediction, even Brady laughed at the notion they would only score 17 points, yeah how'd that turn out Tom.  

Al Jefferson, the 6'10", 256 lbs. power forward for the Minnesota Timberwolves, is quietly putting together a great season.  He is averaging 21 ppg and 12 rebound per contest (one of only two players in the NBA this season, the other is arguably the best center in the game today, Orlando's Dwight Howard).  So how come Jefferson is not getting the same publicity and fanfare as Howard? I'm going with the fact the Minnesota Timberwolves are the worst team in the NBA outside of South Beach.  Jefferson came into the league as the 15th pick of the Boston Celtics in the 1st round of the '04 draft.  He came straight out of high school averaging 42 ppg, 16 boards, and 9 blocks.  After 2 mediocre seasons in Boston, Jefferson finally showed why he was drafted so high out of high school in his third season.  He put up career highs in points (16.0 ppg) and rebounds (11.0).  The following summer Jefferson was packaged with just about the entire Celtic's roster, minus Paul Pierce, to Minnesota for one of the current greats of the game, Kevin Garnett.  Jefferson goes from a bad, mediocre team to an abysmal,lucky to get 15 wins team.  Playing on one of the worst teams in the league has not stopped Jefferson from trying to prove he belongs at the top of analyst's discussions of the great young players in the NBA today.  Sure, Dwight Howard is jumping out the gym and swallowing players alive with his continuous dunks and rejections, but Al Jefferson is a player who is just as talented, and should be just as feared for all the NBA teams.  I for one am rooting for Jefferson to turn around the Timberwolves and bring them back to respectability (Jefferson really can't do that himself.  Something really needs to be done with Kevin McHale, great player but he may be as bad a GM as Matt Millen, but that topic is for a completely different time).