By Tom Jones
St. Petersburg Times
Former (or is it current?) Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre is free to do what he wants. If he wants to continue playing, far be it from us to tell him he shouldn’t. But after the mess of the past couple of weeks, we would advise him to make it official ó retire. Here are four reasons he should walk away. Why only four? That’s his number.
1. He still goes out on top. Forget that last pass for an interception in the NFC Championship Game. Favre still had a tremendous season in 2007 and will be remembered for taking the Pack to within one score of the Super Bowl.
2. What if he stinks this season? Sooner or later, time catches up to everyone. What if Favre’s clock has run out? Wouldn’t it be awful to see him return, have a horrible season, maybe get hurt and ruin his legacy?
3. He’ll be the good guy. After all the he said/they said and bad blood with the Packers during the past two weeks, Favre could say, “You know? Forget it. I’ll retire and let the Packers move on, too.” At that point, Favre will always be seen as the better man, doing what’s best for everyone, while the Packers will be the bad guys for how they treated poor Brett Favre.
4. You don’t want to finish your career elsewhere. The Packers don’t want him back, and Favre should always be remembered wearing the Packer green and yellow. Wouldn’t it just be weird to see him in Tampa Bay Bucs pewter, Minnesota Vikings purple or Miami Dolphins teal? (Actually, Bucs pewter doesn’t seem that bad.)
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A recent Harris Poll asked fans in the United States and then Canada to name their favorite sports stars. Two things stand out. First, how different the two are after the No. 1 pick and, second, how a couple of stars whom no longer even play made the lists.
United States: 1. Tiger Woods 2. Michael Jordan 3. Brett Favre 4. Kobe Bryant 5. Jeff Gordon 6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 7. Derek Jeter 8. Peyton Manning 9. Tom Brady 10. Kevin Garnett.
Canada: 1. Tiger Woods 2. Sidney Crosby 3. Wayne Gretzky 4. Trevor Linden 5. Mats Sundin 6. Mike Weir 7. Roger Federer T8. Daniel Alfredsson T8. Rafael Nadal 10. David Beckham.
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So now University of Central Florida football coach George O’Leary is not even speaking if any reporter from the Orlando Sentinel is within earshot because he’s upset with the paper’s coverage over a UCF player’s death last spring. Maybe the Sentinel should start its own policy and stop covering UCF football. If O’Leary doesn’t want to talk, the Sentinel, the only paper that regularly covers the Knights, should ignore him and his program.
-If Danica Patrick were a man and acted the way she does sometimes, another driver would’ve punched her in the mouth by now.
-Sergio Garcia is now 28. He’s too old to be called a “bright young golfer” anymore. Isn’t it about time he wins a major? In fact, in his past seven majors, Garcia was disqualified once, missed three cuts and finished no higher than tied for 18th. Sergio, you’re going the wrong way!