Favre Soap Opera is Over

The back and forth nonsense between Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers is finally over as yesterday Favre was traded to the New York Jets for a conditional draft pick. The pick is conditional on the amount of games Favre plays and how well the team does overall. For instance if the team makes it to the AFC Championship game then the pick becomes a 1st rounder but if they miss the playoffs its a 4th rounder. It was believed that Favre would be going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but that deal fell through at the last minute when the Jets came in with a better offer.

So what does this mean for the teams involved?

Green Bay Packers - Now the Packers can get down to business without the distraction of Brett Favre's massive ego hanging around camp. Unfortunately the franchise had to trade away by far its best player ever and a future 1st ballot Hall of Famer. The Pack got their wish and traded him out of the division and out of the conference. The only issue now is whether Aaron Rodgers can produce on the field. If the Packers have a terrible season then fans will surely be blaming the lack of Favre. The only good that came out of this whole mess was that now the Packers know the 100% wrong way to deal with this sort of situation and they are no longer forced to cater to the needs of Favre. I think that the Pack will be ok and that Rodgers will do a great job but can anyone ever really replace #4?

New York Jets - The Jets now have their most famous player ever since Joe Namath was on the team and are getting a true veteran who should bring stability to the weakest part of the Jets game. I am a huge Jets fan and could not be happier that Brett Favre is coming to the Meadowlands because now Chad Pennington is gone for good. Favre should also be able to teach young quarterback Kellen Clemens a few things as well which should help the team for the future. The best part of the deal though was that the Jets didn't have to give up very much to get Favre as the pick is conditional on the teams success. If the team makes it to the AFC Championship I'm fine with giving up a 4th round pick.

Minnesota Vikings - The Vikings are the team who did the worst out of this whole ordeal. They were accused of tampering which is a blemish on the team and they also showed 0 confidence in young quarterback Tarvaris Jackson. Jackson was apparently having a tremendous off season and was showing great signs of progression and yet the Vikes tried everything to get Favre which has to make the young QB feel unwanted. If the Vikes had only stepped up and said we think Jackson is better than Favre for this team then they would have no issues. The Vikings got nothing out of the deals and are left with only problems now.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - The Bucs should consider themselves lucky that they didn't get Favre as I think that Jeff Garcia is a much better quarterback for that particular team. The Bucs, who already have like 20 quarterbacks, didn't really need Favre as last year Garcia guided the team to an NFC South title and made the Pro Bowl. Garcia is a good QB and the Bucs are lucky that they have him. Favre would not have fit in very well and would probably not be used to playing in all of that hot weather they have there in Tampa Bay.

Brett Favre handled this situation extremely poorly and has lost quite a few fans because of it as he is normally viewed as a team first guy who just loves football. After this whole debacle however he looks like very other athlete out there who is only out for #1. I just hope now that I can go back to hearing about other sports stories on ESPN rather than just the latest chapter in the Favre saga.

Jays In Serious Trouble

With their walk off win last night the Toronto Blue Jays have moved 1 game over .500 and currently posses a record of 57-56. While the Jays have won 2 in a row it is not nearly enough to get them back into the post-season race as they are currently 10.5 games back of the division leading Tamba Bay Rays and 7.5 games back of the wildcard. This season has been another disappointment in a streak of mediocrity in which the Jays have failed the make the post-season and have failed to make their team any better.

Conversations have turned from trying to make a playoff push this year to retooling for next year and trying to make the team better. Many fans think that this process can occur over night but when you really look at this team its going to be much harder than anyone really understands.

First let's look at who the Jays should keep on the team and then we will move to who should leave.

The most important player to keep is obviously Roy Halladay. Halladay is the ace of the staff and is by far the most consistent player on the team. Everyone tries harder when he is on the mound and he is a true workhorse as he already has 7 complete games this season.

Jesse Carlson and Scott Downs are two young arms that the Jays have to hold on to. Carlson has been lights out this season and appears to be the closer of the future. Downs is a solid lefty that can be a long reliever or a set up man so his versatility is useful.

As far as the bats go only Alex Rios, Adam Lind, and Joe Inglett are worth keeping around. Rios is having an off year but he is still the most consistent Jay and has shown flashes of brilliance both at the plate and in the field. Both Lind and Inglett are young guys who have shown an ability to hit at the major league level and both play decent defense as well. I would also keep John McDonald for his defensive abilities and how cheap his contract is.

Everybody else can get out of town and as soon as possible please. BJ Ryan is a terrible closer who is losing velocity and has fallen in love with a less than average slider instead of throwing the heat. Vernon Wells can't stay healthy and has a massive contract that he does not even come close to deserving. Kevin Mench, Brad Wilkerson, David Eckstien, Scott Rolen, Marco Scutaro, Gregg Zaun, Rod Barajas, Lyle Overbay, and Matt Stairs are all second rate players and most would not start for half the teams in the league.

As far as the young pitchers on the staff go the Jays have had somereal bad luck this season. Dustin McGowan was pitching very well but then had to undergo season ending surgery and won't be back until mid-season next year. He may not come back as his former self and this injury may well end his career. Shaun Marcum spent some time on the DL this season and since coming back can't get anybody out. He has given up 16 runs in just 14.1 innings since coming back and has seen his ERA go from 2.65 to 3.57. Jesse Litsch was obviously a fluke to start off the year and has shown his true colors of late and was sent back down to the minors.

Now that we have addressed the issue of who needs to go and who needs to stay the real problem presents itself. What would you get in return for all of these players? If you were to trade any of these three young pitchers you wouldn't get anything for them. Their stock has plummeted of late as compared to earlier in the season where they could have been traded for multiple prospects. So really the Jays are forced to hold on to them and just hope that they can turn it around and return to their form of earlier in the season.

As for the bats I can't think of any of those players that would fetch a good return from any team in MLB except for Vernon Wells. The rest of the team is either too old or not good enough to garner much interest from around the league as shown by the lack of movement on trade deadline day. If the Jays had only traded Wells two years ago instead of dumping money on him then they could have avoided some of this mess.

Now after I have gone through all of this gloom there is a small ray of hope for the Jays. They have got some quality prospects coming up like Travis Snyder and David Cooper and their pitching is still better than most teams. However they need to address the serious issue of lack of power and overall hitting production. The Jays have tonnes of money and have shown a willingness to spend so hopefully a couple quality free agents, not Lyle Overbay and Bengie Molina, can help give the team a quick makeover.

Lastly I think that signing Barry Bonds would be a smart move. Bonds would bring fans to the ballpark, whether they are there to cheer him or boo him is irrelevant, and would provide other incentives as well. Bonds is the all time home run king and whether that is on steroids or not he still knows how to hit the ball a mile. He would be a valuable resource in teaching some of the other guys on the team a bit more about hitting. He would be able to DH so would not be a liability in the outfield and has offered to work for the league minimum and donate it all to charity. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

So while the Jays clearly have got some serious issues to address all hope is not lost. What I really want to see changed the most however is the attitude of the team and the fans. Every year the Jays don't do well people always start saying, "it's because were in the same division as the Red Sox and the Yankees." Just remember that during the early and mid 90's the Yankees and Red Sox used to say, "damn were in the same division as the Blue Jays." A more positive attitude can go a long way and help return this great franchise back to its glory days.

The Legend of Roger Federer

On Friday Rafael Nadal beat Nicolas Lapentti 7-6 (3), 6-1 for his 32nd straight win. This win will now make Rafael Nadal the #1 men's tennis player in the world and will end the 235 consecutive week streak of Roger Federer. With the end of the streak comes an end to the Federer dominance of men's tennis and the passing of the torch to the 22 year old Spaniard. Nadal is having one of the best seasons in tennis history having won Wimbledon and the French Open already and looking like a lock to win the US Open. With the end of the streak I feel it merits a look back at the Legend that was Roger Federer

Federer's streak began on January 26th 2004 after Federer won the Australian Open and passed Andy Roddick as the new #1. Federer would go on to win 10 more Grand Slams through the duration of the streak and would put himself in the record books multiple times. He would also enter the discussion of who is the best tennis player of all time.

To truly understand how impressive this streak is here are some facts about just how long 235 weeks truly is. The last time someone other than Roger Federer was #1:

- The #1 movie at the box office was Shrek 2
- The #1 album in the world was Confessions by Usher
- Martha Stewart was found guilty of stock tampering
- The Boston Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years
- Survivor was in its 8th season (It is now in its 19th season)
- There was a lockout in the NHL
- Shows such as LOST, The Apprentice, and CSI: New York were making their premiers
- Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3 were not for sale
- Pluto was still a planet

By looking at these facts you can start to understand how truly impressive the streak truly was. To put it into perspective the old record was 160 weeks held by Jimmy Connor for men and 186 weeks held by Steffi Graf for women. Federer was the most dominant athlete of his time in a sport where one mistake can cost you everything.

So much has happened in the world since January 26th 2004. Things change everyday but there was one thing that never changed, Roger Federer being #1. It is an end that came seemingly out of nowhere but one that eventually had to happen.

Team USA Drops the Ball

The 2008 Summer Olympics are already marked with controversy as ever since Beijing received the news that they would be hosting the Olympics there has been public outrage on a global scale. The outrage is over China’s recent track record when it comes to human rights. Not only has China been heavily criticized for its role in Tibet but also for aiding the Sudanese government with weapons and financial aid in its military actions in Darfur.

With all of this political controversy the games have so far had a very negative shadow cast over them as people have taken it upon themselves to try and shed light on the political situation. Numerous times during the running of the Olympic torch protestors attempted to try and stop the torch and several times riots were close to breaking out. Some athletes have claimed that they will not be attending the Olympics in a show of support for Tibet and the people of Darfur.

However many of these athletes are unknown and do not possess the star power to make a real difference in the awareness level of the average viewer. This is where Team USA Basketball comes into the picture.

In both the Summer and Winter Olympics there is no team or group if people who get more publicity and are more well known on a global scale than the US Men’s Basketball team. People everywhere in the world known who Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are and the basketball tournament regularly gets more ratings than any other event during the duration of the Olympics. These players have the best chance out of anyone to speak up about any issue and more people will listen. But what do they do with their opportunity to make a difference in this world? Nothing.

In March of this year Kobe Bryant took part in a PSA (Public Service Announcement) that made clear what his feelings about Darfur were. Bryant, like many other celebrities, condemned what was happening in the Sudan and urged everyone to do everything that they could to try and help the cause. In an interview just months before the Olympics LeBron James spoke on how the injustices in Tibet and Darfur should not be allowed to continue and this was all after he refused to sign an open letter written by Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Ira Newble condemning China for its actions.

Team USA have decided that their stance on the Tibet and Darfur issues is that they’re their simply to play sports and not to be politicians. I personally feel that this is a cowardly stance and that these players have a responsibility to speak out on these pressing issues. The only reason that they don’t is for fear of losing fans and losing endorsement deals. I’m pretty sure that even if LeBron spoke out against Darfur Nike would give him his money. I don’t want to come off as saying that every player should speak out but if you are doing PSA commercials like Kobe than here is a golden opportunity to do more.

Dwayne Wade is another player who is keeping his mouth shut when it comes to the whole political aspect of the Olympics. Wade told reporters that, "We are going into uncharted waters. It's not our home. We are going to go over there and respect China. This is a business trip for us. We'll let the politics take care of itself. That's not for us to worry about. There might be some people that get into it, but that's not my focus. I'm focusing on basketball."

Wade could not be more wrong. When you go to another country and take part in a global competition it’s not a “business trip.” You are there to represent your country and not simply to be a gracious guest. However in times such as these you are not simply representing the USA but representing the human race. These athletes have a chance to change the course of history if they would only stand up for what they claim to believe in. These basketball players need to stop thinking of their money and themselves and need to start thinking about how they can help others.

Favorite Team Part 5

Today's installment of the Favorite Team series will cover one of the less popular sports in North America but one of my personal favorites, soccer/football. When the World Cup was in the United Sates in 1994 I went to a few of the games with my cousins and uncle and had an amazing time. From then on I became a soccer fan. It was not until recently however that I really began to follow soccer at the club level.

Upon starting to follow soccer I realised that I needed to pick a favorite team. This was an awesome experience because rarely ever do you get to sit down and just pick a favorite. Usually a scenario comes along and the team sort of picks you or you can be a sheep and simply follow the team closest to you geographically. Either way I needed to pick a team and I feel that I chose the best team around, West Ham United.

West Ham is a team in the EPL or English Premiership League, which is the best league in soccer in my opinion, that was established in 1895. What first brought my attention to West Ham was the movie Green Street Hooligans which documents the life of soccer hooligans who cheer for West Ham. The movie was amazing and made we want to know more about the club.

What I quickly learned was that this club was perfect for me. They are not the best team in the league but they are always competitive. I didn't want to simply choose Arsenal or Manchester United because what's the fun in that? West Ham also has the greatest cheer in sports which is called 'Forever Blowing Bubbles'. When chanted by all of the fans at the games it is truly amazing and is well recognized by fans of all English teams to be the best cheer in the sport.

I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air.
They fly so high,
nearly reach the sky,
And like my dreams they fade and die.
Fortune's always hiding,
I've looked everywhere...
I'm forever blowing bubbles,
pretty bubbles in the air.

This year was not a particularly good year for West Ham even though they finished 10th out of 20 teams which is an improvement from last year. They got a new manager named Alan Curbishley who prefers a defensive style of soccer and makes terrible decisions behind the bench. The team however usually has to play from behind which makes it exciting to cheer for them. Also in the past two years they have beaten Manchester United 3 out of 4 times which has just been great.

For all of these reasons and more West Ham United is my favorite soccer club and I look forward to seeing one of their games when I go to Europe in the summer and can hopefully join in some singing of Bubbles.

Runner Up: No one