GarageGabs

Well, I haven’t posted in quite some time, but I had a very dear friend request my opinion on the whole Brett Favre situation.  I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’ve followed this all too closely.  Quite frankly, I grew tired of the whole thing….several years ago.

See, as most people know, this isn’t Favre’s first time pulling this sort of stunt.  More than once he’s left the Packers in limbo as to whether he would return or not.  He’d mull around for half the summer and finally make a decision at the last moment.  I always had a problem with that.  Never really rung as a “team” player to me.  I mean, let’s be real….running an NFL franchise takes an immense amount of planning.  Probably one of the more important places to start is with your quarterback.  If you aren’t solid on him returning for an upcoming season, well, life is in limbo.

Also, Favre is the same guy that criticized Javon Walker for holding out a couple years back. Favre publically stated that Walker was hurting the team and needed to report to camp.  Something along the lines of “take whatever they’ll give you and just play”.  Commenting on a teammates contract situation (especially when you come out against the player) is a BIG NO NO.  Yeah, these guys get paid millions to play a game but the NFL presents one of the more unstable job atmospheres possible.  I don’t even know why they’re called contracts, because players can get cut anytime.  Also, how often to you hear ownership speaking out against ownership?  Never.  Players should stick together, or at worst, keep their mouths shut in regard to such situations.  Obviously, the idea of “if you can’t say nothing nice, don’t say nothing at all” was beyond Favre.  Brett was the LAST PERSON that should have commented on Walker’s situation.  JERK.

Anyway, back to the present.  I got wind of this deal when it all started.  ESPN big-timers started reporting that Favre was having “second thoughts” about his retirement.  Of course, Brett sat back and said nothing.  Packers brass said the rumors were untrue.  I could be wrong, but seems like Favre even came out and said it wasn’t true.  Next thing ya know, it was true.  Favre definitely had the itch to return to the football field.  Why did he take so long to confirm the rumors?

Problem was, the Packers had already planned to move on without Favre.  They’ve been grooming 1st round pick Aaron Rodgers to take over the team in 2008.  Remember, it was Favre who cried at a press conference while announcing his retirement.  Favre got dirty and said that the Packers somehow had him retire.  Rodgers played it perfectly, not saying a word.

One thing led to another.  Packers brass said, sure you can come back, but most likely in a backup role.  Favre stated that he didn’t want to be a backup.  He wanted the Packers to move him or release him.  Apparently the Packers offered him 30 million dollars to just quit.  They then agreed to move him to another team, which hasn’t happened.  Now, he’s been reinstated by the NFL and is gonna show up to Packers camp.  Honestly, I believe the Packers are dragging their feet to keep Favre out of an NFL camp, thus, keeping him from getting any sort of head start on the upcoming season.

What a HUGE mess.

My opinion?  Favre is the biggest cry-baby on the planet.  I get it that he wants to play.  But dude, seriously, make up your mind.  Imagine if year after year you threatened your boss that you were gonna quit.  Then, finally, one year they had a big going away party for you, complete with cake & ice cream, all your co-workers wished you off, and your replacement (an up and coming college graduate) stepped in to take over your duties.  After a couple months, you call up the office and say…”Hi, can I have my job back?”

Brett Favre Retires

How is your boss supposed to take that?  Brett Favre being Brett Favre obviously makes things somewhat difficult.  I mean, he is one of the more storied (and overrated) quarterbacks in NFL history.  Favre owns tons of NFL passing records, (including most interceptions) and is a shoe in for the Hall of Fame….whenever his time comes up.  Green Bay is scared to let the guy go.  Be it fear of ruining his legacy or fear that he’ll come back to beat them in 2008….they’re scared.

My advice?  Let the dude hit the road.  Send him to Kansas City or the Jets where he can have a mediocre season and more than likely miss the playoffs.  Keep in mind that last season was an abnormality on the radar for Favre.  His 28 TD’s and 15 Interceptions were well above the pace he was setting his previous two seasons (38 TD, 47 INT).  Favre isn’t gonna join some other team and blow up.  He’s going to struggle.  He’s going to get sacked.  Hell, he’ll probably get hurt.

Anyway, now, when you think of Brett Favre, you’ll think of this.  Gone will be his all or nothing playing style.  People will just remember him crying and then un-retiring, and then making a big deal out of it.  Maybe he’ll be remembered for leading the Chiefs (or some other run of the mill team) to a 6-10 record in his final season.  Maybe he’ll start for Green Bay?  Who knows.  Either way, it’s a big mess, he created it, and his team is paying for it.  For all the flack guys like Terrell Owens catch for being “distractions” Brett Favre tops them ALL.  Favre has thrown any idea of team player out the door in favor for selfishness and “I’m Brett Favre, let me play” attitude.  I’ve never been a big fan of the guy, always felt he was overrated, (1 Super Bowl Ring with all those great Packer teams) and at times, I’ve thought his gunslinger mentality hurt the team more than helping it.

Brett Favre wants to come back.  WHO CARES.  The guy was hyped too much when he played, and now we continually hear about him when he’s not.

Looks like Tony Romo listened to Hitler. The NYDaily News is reporting that Romo has informed Simpson that they’d be better off as friends. Good riddance! I’ve had kind of an odd stance on this issue since it began. I mean, the man’s private life is his private life. If he wants to date celebrities, then more power to him. However, I had a feeling that this would become an issue…rather a distraction, and sure enough, it did. Do I think Simpson is the reason Romo had some bad moments? Nah. I do think she’s a distraction to the team though. All this really goes to show you that looks aren’t everything. This is just the case of another smoking hot girl & a guy that wants to get rid of her. Oh well.

Tony Romo Punts Jessica Simpson

*UPDATE*

Seems this story is false, Jessica says the two are still together.

74 year old Bernard Hopkins is coming out of his shoe to fight Winky Wright in July.  God spare us.  Seriously, why do I want to see a 42 year old Bernard Hopkins (who was boring to watch anyway) fight again?  I won’t be paying for this fight, so if you want to watch it, get it at your house.

Hopkins, Wright to fight at 170 pounds in July (ESPN)

I know I didn’t.  If you didn’t, it appears you missed a fairly good game as the NFC rallied from 28-14 with 3 minutes remaining, only to have victory snatched from them as time expired.

Trailing 28-14, Steven Jackson scored from 4 yards out for the NFC who then failed on a 2 point conversion, leaving the score at 28-20.  Then, Ronde Barber recovered an onside kick, Tony Romo found Anquan Boldin for a 47 yard TD pass, and finally hit Steve Smith for a 2 point conversion, knotting things up at 28.

Carson Palmer got the AFC over midfield and then was aided as Adrian Wilson interfered with Chad Johnson at the goal line.  Wilson thought the ball had been tipped.  Nate Kaeding came in and kicked a 21 yard game winning field goal, giving the AFC a 31-28 win.

In the “go figure” moment of the game, Drew Brees played just 2 series before leaving the game with a dislocated elbow.  Sweet huh?

Anyway, I wish I would have at least DVR’d the game, I’ve heard that Tony Romo had to do some holding on kicks, I wonder how that went.  Also, this was Tiki Barber’s last pro effort,  he ran for 4 yards on 7 carries, caught an 8 yard pass, and did score the games 1st TD, a 5 yarder.

Yahoo! has run yet another story on Reggie Bush and his family accepting cash gifts. This time, the “ongoing Yahoo! Sports investigation” has uncovered actual audio tapes that confirm Bush and his family accepted some $280,000 in gifts.

Couple questions. Why is Yahoo! the main entity chasing the story? Yeah, ESPN is reporting it, but they are crediting…..Yahoo, without the exclamation point. Secondly, who cares? This would be a story if Reggie Bush were still in college, but he’s not. Yeah, they can take away the National Championship, a Heisman, erase all that stuff from the books, but it isn’t going to change the fact that it happened. I admit, the Yahoo story got too confusing for me to read, I just sorta skimmed it….kinda like I do when the other Bush (George W.) is in the news. With that being said, forgive me if I get something wrong here.
I’d also like to know how a player, playing for USC could accept $280,000 and USC simply be stripped of their achievements, retroactive so to speak, yet a school like NCSU has players accept some free sneakers in the late 80’s and the program is placed on strict probation. What I’m saying is this: If it is determined that Bush (Reggie, not George) and his family accepted $280K and USC gets anything less than probation in the form of recruiting restrictions and a post-season ban, then the NCAA is a farce. GarageGabs! is outta here.

Yahoo! thinks they’ve got Bush!

Notre Dame continues to be the most over-hyped team in college football as they were clobbered by LSU tonight in the Who Cares Bowl, 41-14. Notre Dame has now lost 9 consecutive bowl games, not to mention 3 of 4 games they played vs. ranked teams this season. Over-hyped Brady Quinn gave us a good preview of how he’ll look in a Raiders uniform next year going 15 of 35 for just 148 yards, 2 TD’s and 2 picks.

How long until the Golden Domers are calling for Charlie Wies to be fired? During the now 9 game bowl streak, Notre Dame has had 5 coaches….They can’t let Wies have too long a leash. He won’t have Brady Quinn to pull him out of fires vs. patsy schedules next year. Honestly, I don’t have anything against Notre Dame I just get sick of hearing them discussed by the national media so much. Why were they even in a BCS bowl?

Anyway, something good did come out of the game; The world got another look at JaMarcus Russell. Russell, a junior, threw for 332 yards and 2 TD, and ran for a TD as well. He hasn’t decided on the NFL as of yet, here’s to hoping he stays at LSU.

Wow, this is a surprise huh? Nick Saban has finally arrived at the decision to coach Alabama next season….just two weeks after saying he wouldn’t. Of course there is no way to be certain what type of success he will have at Alabama, but I am entirely certain that Saban would make one hell of a politician in any state.

Here’s the rundown on Saban’s “flip flopping” in recent weeks per ESPN:

Nov. 27:
Saban: “When I was in college it was always about coming to the pros. This is the challenge I wanted. I had a good college job. Why would I have left that if I was going to be interested in other college jobs?
“I took this as a challenge. We certainly haven’t seen this through and gotten where we want to go and finished the job here, so why would I be interested in something else?”
Dec. 5:
Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga (after giving Saban a vote of confidence): “I am completely sold on Nick Saban. I would admit we made a mistake if we did make a mistake, but I firmly believe in Nick Saban.”
Dec. 7:
Saban: “I’m flattered that they may have been interested in me, but it never really progressed, because we just never let it progress.”
Dec. 21:
Saban: “I guess I have to say it. I’m not going to be the Alabama coach. … I don’t control what people say. I don’t control what people put on dot-com or anything else. So I’m just telling you there’s no significance, in my opinion, about this, about me, about any interest that I have in anything other than being the coach here.
Dec. 27:
Saban: “I’m just making a rule to never comment on something like that again because every time you comment on it, it just makes for another story. So I’m not going to comment on it five years from now, and I’m not going to comment on it next week.”

So, now that this surprising news story has been broken, ESPN asks all the “burning questions” (the questions that you were burning to ask) about Nick Saban in THIS POLL. I know you can’t wait to fill this out. I dunno, maybe ESPN feels this is a bigger story than it is, but I just don’t see it.

Be that as it may, I will answer a few burning questions for you as well:
Will Saban win at Alabama: Yes. He’ll have them in a Bowl next year, although I doubt a BCS Bowl…..wait, that happened this year? Huh, you can go .500 and make a Bowl? How long will he stay at Alabama? Until he starts losing, or a more secure situation comes along. For example, I think Saban would jump back to the pros if he had a chance to coach a proven winner. I can’t say that I blame him for bolting from the Dolphins and all their question marks. Who will the Dolphins hire to replace Saban? I’ve heard Dennis Green is available. I’m telling you, they need to make a pitch for Randy Moss and re-unite the Vikings in sunny Florida! Hey, I bet they could more easily rent a boat in Florida!! Ok, I’m going off track here. I have no idea who they’ll replace Saban with. Long story short, Saban left Miami and their eccentric owner for a college team. End of story.

As you might have noticed, I haven’t had much to say about this years batch of bowl games…..other than the Fiesta, and who could withstand talking about that?  There is a reason I haven’t mentioned them…..I haven’t watched and I really don’t care.  Honestly, these games really don’t have a shred of meaning.  Yeah, some of them are good football, and everyone loves good football, but does the winner or loser really matter?  Are these games any more meaningful than Sunday’s Browns/Texans game?

So, Boise State won, and finishes undefeated.  Will that elevate them a few spots in the polls?  USC?  Did they “prove” something by pounding Michigan yesterday?  Blah, blah blah.  It’s all pointless to discuss until Florida and Ohio State square off.  That is what we have been given…a one game playoff.

Anyway, with all that being said, here’s my take on what I’ve heard about this years bowl games.  I heard West Virginia came back on Georgia Tech and beat them.  I heard USC stomped a mud hole in Michigan.  I heard Rutgers won, that’s cool.  I know Florida State (who SUCKS) beat UCLA, who also beat USC…..that tells me a lot.  With all these “great” bowl games on tv everyday I haven’t watched a single one.  Sad huh?  I probably will watch Ohio State and Florida…I wish I had watched the Fiesta, just for the drama.  As for all the others….I REALLY, HONESTLY, don’t care.  Also, believe it or not, I really do enjoy and like college football.  It’s just gotten to a point with me….where the bowl season is just very insignificant.  Maybe next year huh?
For those that do care (if you do care, I’m sure you don’t need this information) here is the full scoreboard with all 28 of the great bowl games that have already been played.

If you are from another planet you don’t know that suspensions were handed out today to the players involved in the Nuggets/Knicks brawl, as well as a hefty fine for Terrell Owens.

First, I’d like to deal with Terrell Owens getting fined $35,000 by the NFL.  Once again, I’ll say I don’t agree with spitting on a player.  However, no official saw him do it, and it isn’t on tape, so we really don’t know the severity of the spit….what I mean is, did he really hock one at Hall, did some spit just fly out of his mouth….just how bad was it?  We don’t know.  Owens said today that it wasn’t entirely intentional and that Hall was making a bigger deal out of it than it really was.  No one saw it, Owens said it was just a result of talking in another players face….and spit flying out…Sounds a pretty fishy, but  Owens has always been a truth-teller so who knows.  I just don’t get the amount of the fine.  Sean Taylor was fined $17,000 last year for doing the same thing and they SAW HIM DO IT.  I have to believe that Owens received a higher fine because he is Owens.  Does this mean fines are going to start growing for every on-field incident?  Of course, I could care less how much money they charge Owens, all I care is that he plays.
Now, do yourself a favor and click the link I provided above….First, read the nonsense that Joe  Theisman is babbling…I’ll print it here:  Theisman’s take:  Joe Theisman thinks T.O. should have been suspended for a minimum of two games for spitting in the face of DeAngelo Hall. He also believes T.O. will do something at some time to hurt the Cowboys during their playoff run. My god man, are you serious?  Yo Joe, no one has EVER been suspended for spitting on another player!  Why should Owens be the first?  I’ve always thought Joe Theisman was a first class idiot but this takes the cake.  This is the same guy that changed the pronunciation of this name so it would rhyme with heisman….from THEEZ-man to THIZE-man.  Joe, a lot of people probably agree with you about Owens, but you are a bumbling fool, no one respects you.  I wonder if it occurs to anyone that Joe was a Redskin, and naturally despises Dallas….Gee, I don’t guess a 2 game suspension during a tight playoff race would bother the Cowboys would it Joe?  Nothing Theesman says can get the Redskins in the playoffs….or Bret Favre, Joe’s lovechild.  I dare anyone reading this post to tell me they actually enjoy Joe Theiman as an NFL analyst.  Check out this post on Deadspin for some other Monday Night Football Rants.
Now, click the ESPN video and sit through  Merril Hodge and Sean Salisbury go on about the situation.  The bias of these guys is so obvious…..“when you have 25 million reasons not to commit suicide, 35,000 is nothing”.…Did Hodge seriously say that?  The way he says it is almost like he has a bone to pick…..I think Hodge is seriously upset about this….also, who in gods name cuts this mans hair??  Hell, who dresses him for that matter, he’s wearing a purple table cloth!   Salisbury went as far to say “the NFL would be a better place without Owens”…man, seriously, get a life.  Hey Sean…..the NFL is a better place without YOU and your 19 career passing Touchdowns! (and 19 picks)  Also, why is Salisbury trying to grow a goatee, it makes him look sick.  Salisbury says he would rather be sucker punched than spit on…..ha ha, I’d like to be the one to sucker punch him.  He always tries to be so “out there” with his picks and predictions that he comes off looking like a moron.  It’s no wonder the only person he can ever out debate is John Clayton.   The NFL is full of arrogant jerks, Owens just happens to be an attention wanting, dynamic wide receiver of a big jerk…and oh yeah, he leads the NFL with 11 receiving TD’s….funny, they mention all his drops, but I haven’t heard one analyst mention his 11 TD’s?? Big deal, he spit on a prima-donna corner back.  Hall should have waited for Owens after the game and settled the score on his own rather than whining to the media.

In case you were wondering, I used a debate technique that I learned in an English class a year or so ago…it is called “attack your opponent”….when your case is in need of help you can always attack the character of the person who disagrees with you to make their point of view seem weaker.  Politicians do it all the time, I’d like to officially welcome the tactic to my blog.

In conclusion, I liked Mike Ditka’s comments on the situation from today’s USA Today:  “If I was DeAngelo Hall, I would have gotten dressed real quick and would have gotten right in front of that locker room.  When he came out, I would have hit him as hard as I could”.   

Now, on to the NBA suspensions.    Man, I really don’t know what else to say about this.  I think the entire thing is getting blown WAY out of proportion.  People are suggesting that Isiah Thomas should have gotten suspended for urging his team to foul Denver hard.  Well, I don’t see anything wrong with a hard foul, and although I think Thomas is a moron for complaining about the situation after the fact, the idea that his team fouled the other team while they tried to dunk is not that big of a deal to me.  I felt the suspensions were suitable but not equal.  A punch thrown is a punch thrown…everyone throwing punches should have gotten the same suspension.  Why didn’t every player that threw punches get the same amount of games as Anthony?  Yeah, his was a sucker punch, but fighting is fighting in my eyes.

I think that Carmelo Anthony, Nate Robinson, JR Smith, Mardy Collins, and Jared Jeffries  should have each been suspended 15 games for fighting.  Everyone else that came off the bench should have gotten a game  (which was the case).  Anyway, I believe our Denver correspondent Ruben Romero is going to have more on this story later, so I’m gonna end my rant here.

Tom…I mean really.  Tom Brady is suing Yahoo! for using his likeness in fantasy adds.  Normally, I’d side with the player, but after my youtube experience I’m gonna have to call Brady a big whiny baby in this one.  Also, it appears he might not legally have a leg to stand on because it appears yahoo had permission from the NFLPA to run the adds.

Check out the story in The SmokingGun, it includes a copy of the court document.  Ridiculous reading.

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