The "Withdrawl" Post

Feeling the urge to get one in...surprisingly, there's a bit to talk about.

College Football:

• Yea, college football...
• Have you noticed the starting QBs in the big 12? Gotta be the top conference in terms of QBs - Bradford, Daniel, Harrell, Reesing, McGee, McCoy, etc., etc. Pretty good names there.
• I was a bit surprised to see Fulmer's contract extension at Tennessee - I like Phil, but their national championship was a loooong time ago and other than last season when they had 9 or 10 wins, I don't think they've done that in a number of years and they sure haven't won a conference title in forever. On the flip side I guess, if he leaves, who are you going to get?
  
• I think it's the 2nd or 3rd game of the season, but when Texas travels 1000 miles west (to stay in the same damn state) to El Paso to take on UTEP, the kickoff is at 9:15pm CT. Chalk that up to a potential trap game...not likely, but I wouldn't put anything past these guys.
  
• One more on Texas - if the teams who many expecting to be good actually end up being good, Texas may have one of the top 5 toughest schedules this year: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tech, A&M, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. They have a five-game stretch that goes at Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State and at Tech. Yea, don't be surprised to see these beloved Horns drop a few games this year.
• Not sure I've hit on this, but SOOOO happy to see the Horns/Aggies game move back to Thanksgiving night.
  
• I like the confidence in Texas Tech this year and it's deserved, but I think a top 6 or 8 team may be a bit premature. No doubt Leach has his best chance to get over that hump this year with so many returning starters including the top receiver on the planet. BUT, we've (more importantly, Red Raider fans) have been burned by these guys before. Interesting stretch in their schedule late in the season: at Texas A&M, at Kansas and Texas at home - they then get Oklahoma State before going to Norman. I think they are good enough to beat all of those teams, but (yet again) those Cowboys represent a major trap game. If they get out of that long 3-game stretch (by the way, they play Nebraska before the aggies) unscathed, I'll keep a close on that game against Okie State.
  

NBA:

• Wow, lots going on in the NBA world - pretty interesting off season. Could the Clippers have the most cynical and calloused fans in the league? How could they not?
  
• Crazy how all that worked out - good thing Baron Davis loves LA because he's probably feeling a bit upset. I can't necessarily blame Elton Brand, but as usual with athletes, he went about it the wrong way. I didn't follow Maggette's situation as closely, but it's all weird. I know this though, with Maggette, Brand and Davis the Clippers would have had a pretty formidable team in a stacked west - they certainly would have been thrown in the mix of teams who could take the west. But, as we know, losing teams rarely know how to win when it really counts.
  
• Now on to Brand - all of the other "verbal agreement" stuff aside, this is a good move for him - and not just because of the buckets of money. Philly gave a Detroit a good run for their money and have some good talent in place and Brand definitely gives them another bump. Seems like a big coup for the Sixers and could challenge Boston immediately.
  
• I hit on this a few months back when an initial rumor surfaced, but looks like it's back on - rumor is Lakers may be looking to trade Odom for Ron Artest straight up. Not sure how "real" this opportunity is, but it's interesting. I was skeptical when I first alluded to it, but I think you gotta make this move if you can swing it. Lakers are already paying a luxury tax (which is not a big deal to that organization) and if they can make this deal happen without going more into the hole (or too much more into the hole), and maybe get an expiring contract in the next couple of years you have to pull the trigger. He can score 15 a night with that team and he brings a very physical style of game and automatically gives the Lakers two of the top 6 or 7 back court defenders in the league. Couple that with a healthy Bynum in the middle (I hope??!!!!) and that's a good combo and yet another upgrade....AND you've got a true small forward. Odom simply can't play the small forward position when Gasol moves down to 4. We'll see - may be just smoke and mirrors, but after these playoffs, I'd love to see it - Artest would play and behave for Jackson, I'm fairly certain of that.
  
• One more thing on the Elton Brand thing - the media has about one more day to milk this thing and then let's move on. Unfortunately I have a terrible feeling about the fact that we'll be hearing more about this next week.
  
• I know it doesn't mean much at all this time of year in summer league, but I say Beasley makes an immediate impact in the NBA - I mean immediate.
  

Favre:
Boy this has really become an unfortunate situation and it's sad to say that this is all on Favre. This has become ridiculous and he's put the Packers in a horrible situation - not that it should matter too much to him, he's got to do what he's got to do, but to go about it like this? That's pretty weak, especially considering how he's been doing this for the last couple of seasons. It seemed to me that this organization and this team had moved on, and happily so - this was a real wrench. I imagine some of the fans are split between wanting him back and not.

Peter King had a pretty good article earlier this week on it and he had a great point - if you bring him back, you're pretty much banking on winning it all next year because you have to think that Favre will "re-retire" in the next 2 years and Rogers is a free agent after next season. If they put him back on the bench next year, he will NEVER sign a contract with that team again and therefore the apprentice who's been learning from the best over the last few years is gone and you're 10 steps further back than when you started. If you take don't take him back (trade/release him), you run the risk of alienating your fans for quite a long time.

Now it seems he's officially asking for his release which is fine - it seems evident that the Packers are confident in Rogers and so they should see what they can get for him, if anything and if not you release him. Of course you have to be secretive about that, but I think you have to try and get something for him.

I like Favre and I always have, but this kind of sucks. I wonder, if he ends up somewhere else will they still retire his jersey on the first Monday Night game of the season? Doubt it.

In terms of where he goes - no clue. Teams most interested (I gotta think) would be Detroit, Chicago (both divisional teams), Jets, Redskins and maybe Buffalo. I would imagine Dan Snyder may really want him there - he's never afraid to open the wallet for a big fish. You never know though - if Favre feels "disrespected" from this he may want to really stick it to them so to speak and bolt to Chicago or Minnesota. We'll see, will be very interesting to see how this plays out.

Non-Sports Thoughts:

• Haven't really looked forward to many movies lately, but Dark Knight and (I'm sad to say) the X-Files movie. Not sure where that little story/show ever went, but I got hooked.
  
• I've decided that I'll sell my truck when the first rocket hits Tehran.
  
• I think Jose Conseco is fighting someone in some celebrity boxing match tonight - sheesh.