BY JOE SANTORO
Special to the Nevada Appeal
Sports fodder for a Friday morning . . .
Brett Favre needs to find a hobby. Fishing, collecting tin cans, dining at a different restaurant every night, walking in shopping malls before the stores open. It doesn't matter. Find something that interests you, Brett, and leave the Green Bay Packers alone. The Packers put up with Favre's on-again, off-again retirement threats for years. He finally retires and, surprise, surprise, now he wants to come back. The Packers and general manager Ted Thompson, though, don't seem to want him back and are looking like the Grinch That Stole The Super Bowl from poor, little Packerville. We don't blame the Packers. The Packers wouldn't win the Super Bowl with Favre, Bart Starr or even Don Majkowski this season. The organization needs to move on before Aaron Rodgers turns into Roy Rogers. Favre needs to go buy a new fishing pole.
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Why, exactly, would Favre want to come back? To get beat up for another five months? To hear the roar of the crowd once again? To fill his lungs with the smells of the locker room? To make sure ESPN will waste thousands of additional hours telling the world how great he is? OK, he loves football. We understand that. But it's time to find something else to do. It can only end badly for an old quarterback.
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The worst thing would be for Favre to come back and play for another team. Think Joe Namath with the Los Angeles Rams, Johnny Unitas on the San Diego Chargers, Michael Jordan with the Washington Wizards, Jerry Tarkanian with the San Antonio Spurs, Joey Tribbiani on "Joey." Come to your senses, Brett.
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The Oakland Athletics, who refused to pay Miguel Tejada, Jason Giambi, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Johnny Damon, Mark McGwire and, by the way, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Joe Rudi and Vida Blue, signed a 16-year-old pitcher this week to a $4.25 million bonus. And you wonder why a hot dog and a beer costs $12.
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The NBA should be ashamed of itself. Commissioner David Stern ripped the Sonics out of Seattle this week and moved the franchise to, of all places, Oklahoma City. Actually, Oklahoma City is only getting the players. The colors, the team name and the franchise history will stay in Seattle. Big deal. If you live in Seattle are you going to go watch the team name, colors and team history this winter? Seattle, which loved the Sonics for 40 years, deserved better.
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All of the hysteria and excitement (listening, ESPN?) over the Tampa Bay Rays needs to settle down for a while. Yes, the Rays are good. And, yes, they will be good for a long, long time if they don't mess things up. But it's only July 4. Relax.
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Will the Washington Wizards be a good fit for ex-Wolf Pack shot blocker JaVale McGee? Well, first of all, any team that pays you first-round NBA money is a good fit. So don't worry about Pam's little boy. The Wizards are perfect for McGee. He'll get a chance to sit back and develop without any pressure as NBA lifers Andray Blatche, Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas man the middle for a couple years. Wizards president Ernie Grunfield said, "if he puts in the work he can be a factor for us down the road." So, no pressure on the kid. For now. But we'll see how long it take for someone in Washington to bring up the name Kwame Brown.
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McGee showed a side of himself in his very first Washington press conference that he rarely showed in his two years in Reno. First of all, he can smile in public. And he can make people laugh. Who knew? When asked when he first started playing basketball, he smiled and said, "when I came out of the womb." He was also asked if he'll be able to deal with the Washington heat. Someone off camera then said to the questioner, "You've never been to Reno." McGee just smiled and said, "Yeah." It's nice to see that everything is working out for McGee, a kid who always seemed like he was playing with the weight of the world on his shoulders as a college player.
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Shawn Chacon pushes his general manager in Houston and Manny Ramirez shoves the traveling secretary in Boston. Chacon gets released and Ramirez offers a shallow apology, no doubt written by the public relations department or his agent, and goes right back into the lineup. Pacman Jones gets arrested and kicked out of the league and he gets signed by the Dallas Cowboys even before the NFL officially allows him back into the league. Cedric Benson gets arrested twice and the Chicago Bears release him. Here's the deal in professional sports. If you can play, you can do what you want to do. If you can't play, you better join a church group and volunteer to hand out turkeys at Thanksgiving.
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Sports Cliche We Hate: "The Home Run Derby messes up your swing." Alex Rodriguez is refusing to take part in the Home Run Derby because, he says, it will ruin his swing. Yeah, right. A-Rod, who probably has already set up a date with Madonna that night, owes it to the Yankees, Yankee fans and the sport of baseball to take part in the Home Run Derby at the very last All-Star game in Yankee Stadium. Mess up your swing? Rodriguez acts like he is a .320 hitter who goes the other way when he has two strikes. This is a guy who swings for the fences every at-bat. The Home Run Derby would probably help his swing. It's one night. Your precious swing will survive. Do something for the fans, for once.