BRETT FAVRE’S LEGACY IN JEOPARDY

Talk about Decisional Conflict… Decide already!

Teary-eyed Favre retires in 2008, the 1st Time.

Here we go again: Brett Favre, the former NFL quarterback of the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets, has announced for a third time that he is definitely, unconditionally and unequivocally retiring from the National Football League for good.  Yeah, right!

Brett Favre has been a fantastic quarterback in the NFL and has had jaw-dropping performances on the field in huge games.  He has been an inspiration to millions of aspiring young football players and as a Mississippian himself has participated in a very effective disaster relief program after Hurricane Katrina leveled a good portion of Louisiana and Mississippi.  He’s always played like a warrior giving 110% all the time and never asked anything of his teammates that he didn’t expect of himself.  His name scatters the record books in practically every quarterback category and his iron Man will and never give in competitiveness are unequaled by anyone else in the game. He is the greatest Green Bay Packer player ever in team history voted by Packer fans and he holds more individual records than any Green Bay Packer since the inception of the franchise in 1919 by Earl “Curly” Lambeau.

However, I’m not so sure Curley Lambeau would be proud of the team’s most popular and definitely most focal player in team history, not proud at all.

With one of the most celebrated careers in the NFL, with a bigger than life persona in Wisconsin  and with a giant fan base all over the country, Brett Favre has done everything he could possibly do to; trample on, pour gasoline on and set fire to his legacy as a legendary Green Bay Packer. He has also risked looking like a big flake as he stands at the podium in Canton, Ohio, one day, giving his Hall of Fame induction speech.

Brett Favre even has a street named after him in Green Bay, “Favre Way”, running adjacent to Holmgren Avenue. Yet, Packer fans aren’t exactly dancing down the street in Favre’s honor.  He once held the key to the city in Green Bay, but now many of the unhappy, betrayed fans of Green Bay are calling locksmiths and are having their locks changed after the much talked about antics of the golden boy from Gulf port, Mississippi. Why?

In 2008, Brett Favre, in an emotional and tearful press conference, announced that he had spent himself on the field and had nothing left to give the game.  He adamantly announced his retirement effective immediately and that he was unconditionally retiring from the NFL.  Packers Head coach Mike McCarthy and team Pres. and CEO Mark Murphy scrambled for a replacement for their future Hall of Fame quarterback directly after Favre informed them of his imminent retirement.  After a long and grueling search, the Packers staff chose the successor to Farve- 24-year-old Aaron Rodgers from the University of California would become the new starting Green Bay Packers quarterback. Then… before a single snap of the football in the following preseason, Favre announced that he was coming out of retirement.  Coming out of retirement?  The off-season wasn’t even over and a preseason practice hadn’t even begun and he was convinced that now he had changed his mind and was ready for another season with the Green Bay Packers in ‘09. However, Favre’s plan didn’t exactly coincide with the Green Bay Packers?  The problem was that Farve told the Packers organization that he was definitely not coming back for another season with the team and was permanently retiring.  McCarthy and Murphy stated to Favre that they accepted his voluntary resignation for retirement and needed to move on.  When Favre changed his mind, it was too late for the Packers to reverse their decision and that they were ready to go into the ‘09  season with Rodgers, a dynamic young quarterback with a ton of raw potential.  Favre’s timing regarding his announcement to come out of retirement was horrible for the franchise and it put everyone concerned in a big pickle.  Of course, the fans of Green Bay would’ve loved to have No.4 taking snaps again for another season in a green and yellow jersey, but the coaching staff and front office decided that because of the late notice, they would move forward, without Farve, and start building their new look offense around Aaron Rogers.  Favre was angry with Mike McCarthy and Mark Murphy among other key personnel responsible for making this tough decision and decided that he would still continue his bid to return to the NFL for another season, it just wouldn’t be in a Packer uniform.  The decision met mixed reviews depending on who you talk to, and in an unsurprising way, the majority of Green Bay Packers fans held their support for the move and would wait cautiously optimistic.  Rogers had gigantic shoes to fill, but his first season as Favre’s successor, Rogers had a  very acceptable opening season.  Rogers started all 16 games in 2008 and ranked third in the NFC and sixth in the NFL with a 93.8 passer rating. He completed 341-of-536 passes (63.6 percent) for 4,038 yards, 28 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions. He also ranked fourth in the league in both TD passes and passing yards . Altogether, not a bad freshman year for the former California Bear quarterback.  The Green Bay Packers fans had officially embraced Aaron Rodgers as their new starting quarterback.

Favre signs 1 year deal to play in the Big Apple

So, Brett Favre went on to test the market and see which teams might be interested in him, but it would have to be in a starting capacity. Favre wasn’t interested in holding a clipboard on the sideline, so it would have to be a tailor fit program for him and those jobs don’t come along every day.  Although it looked like it would be a difficult task to find Favre a starting position somewhere in the NFL, there were a few interested teams that could possibly accommodate a starting job for the veteran quarterback with 17 seasons behind him.  Some of those possible suitors were; the Chicago Bears, the Minnesota Vikings, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Jets.  Favre took his time determining just which team would fit his style and which team was willing to offer him the most money.  He juggled the four teams interested and at the last possible breaking point, he chose the New York Jets.  The Jets weren’t dealing with a surplus of quarterbacks on the roster and they hadn’t developed a definite starter for the future.  Chad Pennington started most of the the games between 2000-2007 seasons peaking in 2002 with a 68.9 completion percentage, with 22 TDs and a very respectable 104.2 quarterback rating, but his production at quarterback was drastically hampered by the crummy supporting cast around him at the time.  Pennington was a more than adequate starting quarterback.  He did his job and really deserved to hold onto his starting position, but the Jets were impatient with losing and no city in the world hates losing more than the fans of New York City. Pennington is a good quarterback, but he doesn’t inspire people and he doesn’t have the kind of game where he can put the team on his shoulders and carry them to victories… Brett Favre can.  The team coaches and front office were ready for a change and, in signing Favre to a one year tender offer of $5 million,.that’s what they got.
At that point, they knew they were looking to find a quarterback who could secure the position until they were able to find a long-term solution to a problem position they’ve had in New York since perhaps Richard Todd wore a Jets uniform in the early 80’s.  We now know that New York did find their long-term solution in drafting Mark Sanchez out of Southern Cal in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft.  But, Lo and behold, along came Brett Favre with his big arm and big mouth in the Big Apple and New York was buzzing with excitement of a Hall of Fame quarterback like Brett Favre calling signals for the New York Jets.  Favre’s arrival in New York was a media circus and Favre appeared to marinate in the attention.  Of course, he made no promises regarding his addition to the football team, which I find spectacularly peculiar considering they opened up their wallet to him and he had no problem taking the money. But, that is just the way that American professional sports works… and unfortunately it’s the way that the American people think… “Give me what I want now, and all pay for it later.”

I think Brett Favre is a chump and he has single-handedly ruined the football careers of dozens of players due to his selfishness and narcissistic approach to the game.  Oh, he’s all team member on the field, no question about it, but his off field behavior has hurt coaches, players and it has rippled out to their families and many fans and Favre doesn’t really care about that, or so it seems.

As he dangled his name to several teams in the NFL, questions started stirring around every team interested.  In Minnesota Tavaris Jackson, their starting quarterback at the time, wondered how long his job would be available and with the Vikings interested in Favre, Jackson knew they weren’t happy with him.  In Tampa Bay, Jeff Garcia had the same issues that Jackson had and in Chicago, it was Brian Griese and Kyle Orton.

Now, Brett Favre has done it again.  He gave his definite, unequivocal, unconditional announcement that he was retiring once again.  You can probably guess what happened next.  That’s right… he announced that he was interested in shopping his name around and looking for a possible team that he could land with and play one more year… with of course, another announcement of retirement after that year.

Packer legend, will they ever forgive him for considering Vikes?

It was the worlds worst kept secret that Brett Favre was courting the Minnesota Vikings for his so-called, final season.  It was contingent on his surgically repaired arm and whether or not it was able to pass with much strength. What makes this ridiculously idiotic  is that the Minnesota Vikings are direct rivals of the Green Bay Packers and Favre was entertaining the idea of playing one more desperate year with a team in the same division as to so-called beloved Green Bay Packers?  I don’t think you could pick a better team, except for maybe the Bears, that Green Bay Packers despise.  It’s mostly a friendly rival, but Brett Favre had no business in considering playing for the Vikings after 17 seasons with the Green Bay Packers.  He didn’t need the money (that’s for sure) and he had already retired twice.  Now he just looks like a sad, pathetic football player who has millions of dollars and just can’t find anything else to do with his life except for play football.  I can’t think of a much more selfish mentality than to hold a bank account over $100 million and you can’t find anything else to do in the world to fill your time… how about helping somebody who isn’t worth $100 million? Something tells me that Brett Favre just doesn’t find helping the less fortunate to be rewarding. There’s nothing more pathetic than an aging mascot and that is what Brett Favre has become.  The problem for him and his legacy is that Packer fans will always remember that Favre was poised and ready to play for their rivals the Minnesota Vikings, with only a sore arm preventing him from entering Lambeau Field wearing purple.  Even just the serious consideration might as well have been a full on contract with the Vikings.  It wasn’t necessary, I think it was a slap in the face of Green Bay Packers fans and it comes off looking like a desperate man who has no other identity but his place on the football field.  That is sad for Favre, it’s sad for Green Bay Packers fans and frankly it’s sad for anyone who once admired Brett Favre while he was one of the greatest sports personalities in America and a pretty fine quarterback in the NFL.  He had the Green Bay Packers fans eating out of his hand for 17 seasons, and he might as well have spit in their faces.

In the end, the only thing that kept Favre from signing that one-year deal with Minnesota was his failing surgically repaired throwing arm.  The detached muscle on his throwing arm was causing him pain and he could not develop enough velocity on his throws to be able to make accurate and strong passes. I think he has really put a black eye on his name and has thumbed his nose at the city of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

How sad…

Ginepri Returns With A Triumph In Indy

Ginepri Returns To the ATP Trophy Platform

Finally Ginepri Returns To The Winners Circle

Indianapolis, Indiana

Robby Ginepri is finally back in the winner’s circle again at his latest ATP World Tour victory, defending No.3 seed Sam Querrey 6-2, 6-4 in an all-American final Sunday at the Indianapolis Tennis Championship.  This was his third career ATP title.

Ginepri collected $80,000 and 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings points with the victory at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament. He also assumed the lead in the Olympus US Open Series Bonus Challenge standings following the first week of the North American summer hard-court circuit. This accolade isn’t expected to last.  Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will be back in action next week as well as Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro. After the top five players return, things will change drastically.

“This tournament is very special for me. Having won twice here is an amazing feeling,” said Ginepri. “When I won here in 2005 I was about in the same position, around No. 100. This one has to be more special as I really never expected it.”

Ginepri struggled to break the big serving Querrey, but did twice in the opening set and was given an opportunity to serve out the match when Querrey choked and doublefaulted on a break point in the ninth game of the second set.  Ginepri finally prevailed on a triple match point when Querrey returned an overhead smash volley that went long.

“Sam has a big serve, but I got onto it early in the match,” said Ginepri. “If I hadn’t run him around court he would have taken control. I had to step up with my shots today and try to dictate. When I serve well, I play better.”

Querrey said: “I didn’t have rhythm on serve today, it was not there. He’s such a good returner – he puts a lot of pressure on you. He played well and had very few unforced errors. It was not my best day, but I still made him play a lot of balls. I’ve practiced 100 times with him but a match is different. Still, I knew what to expect from his game. He got better as the week went on.”

The 26-year-old Ginepri was making his first appearance in a tour-level final since winning the Indianapolis title in 2005 (d. Dent), while Querrey was making his second successive final appearance after finishing runner-up to countryman Rajeev Ram in Newport two weeks ago.

Coupled with the Newport final – the first all-American championship since New Haven in August 2007 – it marked the first time since 2003 on the ATP World Tour that there had been all-American final in consecutive U.S. tournaments. This is due to the strong influence of international tennis players pouring out of Serbia, Spain, Russia and Croatia.  Americans have been struggling, particularly abroad and on clay and grass surfaces.  The only exception being Andy Roddick who has had a stellar year so far and looks to reestablish his service dominance on hard courts like the Rogers and Cincinnati Masters.  Andy Roddick owns one grand slam trophy, which just happened to be on the hard court of Flushing Meadows, New York.

Ginepri improved to 3-0 in ATP World Tour finals, also winning the grass-court title in 2003 at Newport. The former World No. 15 had entered the week at No. 95 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, but is expected to climb as many as  40 positions with his recent title in Indiana..

Ginepri, a Georgia resident, had been slowed early in the year by a nine-day hospital stay due to an appendicitis, returning to action 30 pounds lighter last May, and had only won 4 of 17 matches coming into Indianapolis. He improved to a 9-13 season mark, and an 18-7 event record in Indianapolis – placing him fifth on the all-time match wins list at the hard-court event in Indiana.

“I’ve only played 10-11 matches this season but I got the job done,” said Ginepri. “I really had no expectations but I had no pressure either. It’s funny how things work out.”

NOTES:

This is a good launching pad for Ginepri to prepare for the Rogers cup in early August and another tournament that will surely provide him much support, the Cincinnati Masters where list of the dailies catching him Ginepri is a crowd favorite.  The hardcourt surfaces seem to suit Ginepri and he has high hopes for is chances at not only the Rogers cup and the Cincinnati Masters, but he believes he has a better than average chance of going deep in Flushing Meadows, once the U.S. Open begins.

American James Blake, a good friend of Robbie Ginepri, was in the audience in Indiana to watch Ginepri win in the Indianapolis final, while he is nursing a minor wrist injury.  Blake, is on schedule to be ready for the Rogers cup, he told reporters.  “But it’s really not a big thing, mostly preventative.”  said Blake.

Roger Federer, the current World No.1, and his wife Mirka are proud parents of twin baby girls.

THE RETURN OF “EL TURRO” RAFAEL NADAL

Rafa-Mania Returns!

Nadal’s Absence Shows Just What Tennis Is Without The Spaniard

Nadal and his sweet stroke with thrill fans again August 10that the Rogers Cup

This is a peculiar time in professional tennis where it is painfully obvious how much the game loses when Rafael Nadal is missing from the tournament draws.  Simply put, the game is suffering without its best player. Roger Federer has reclaimed is number one world ranking, as Nadal sat idle during Wimbledon and was further setback after his historic loss at Roland Garros to 25th-ranked Robin Soderling, in a four set match where Nadal was clearly handicapped by his knees and looked to be in great pain. This was Nadal’s first-ever loss at the French Open.  He will surely be anxious to return to the red clay and reclaim his place in history as the greatest clay court player ever, but right now there is work to be done on a hard court services leading up to the U.S. Open.

It has been a difficult mid-year setback for the Spaniard, Nadal, with his ongoing knee problems. However, the 23-year-old Nadal is back to his old self and reportedly 100% ready to compete again.  Rafa announced before the Wimbledon tournament began, that he wouldn’t be taking part in Wimbledon competition if he wasn’t 100%  healthy enough to compete for championships as he is accustomed to.

After testing his knees on the grass of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Nadal looked very much in pain, and lost two exhibition matches testing the knees. It was clear that he couldn’t compete in his condition at the time, so in front of scores of reporters, he announced officially that he would be pulling his name from the Wimbledon draw.  This was a huge disappointment for everyone, including Roger Federer.  “Rafa missing Wimbledon is of course disappointing to me.  Rafa and I have had a great matches playing each other in our careers, and I’m disappointed that we can’t offer another final to the fans.” Federer said to reporters in London. “Rafa is of course my biggest rival and his absence will be disappointing for everyone, I’m sure.”  said Federer. Missing Wimbledon had to be heartbreaking for Nadal, after playing the magnificent, 5 1/2 hour, five set thriller in 2008 in which Nadal came out on top, winning his first Wimbledon trophy. Nadal had great success in 2008.  It was an historic year for him, winning his fourth consecutive French Open title and then realizing his biggest dream at Wimbledon.  He continued his success on the hard court of the mid-season push toward the U.S. Open.  Immediately after winning the French Open and Wimbledon, the Spaniard won a 6th consecutive tournament winning the Rogers cup in Toronto.  Directly after the Rogers cup, Nadal flew to Ohio the next day for the Cincinnati Masters.  Rafa didn’t win, but he did go to the final where he lost to Andy Murray of Scotland.  But this is another example of tournament champions not afforded a break between events.

Andy Murray Still Eyeing His First Slam Title

After so much success in 2008, Rafael Nadal was feeling ragged, worn out and completely exhausted.  Tennis success will do that to a player and the more you win, the more demand there is on a player.  No one knows this better than Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.  Their success, particularly in the grand slam events has required them to attend post tournament parties, trophy presentations and VIP dinners after the championship banquets.  There is also photo shoots for the champions and press conferences allowing writers the opportunity to question players post tournament.

The greed of the ATP brass are causing some of the best tennis talent in the world to get worn down and injured.  It’s really just a matter of simple arithmetic.  Typically, the best players in the world win the most tournaments.  The only way to win a tennis tournament is to advance deep into a tournament and play in the final and win.  This means, that the champion of a tournament plays tennis longer in a tournament than anyone except for the runner-up.  This puts more miles on the best players and because the ATP executives are scheduling far too many tournaments, there is little time between the end of one tournament and the beginning of the next.  The winners are playing more tennis with less time off between events.  This is Nadal’s and Federer’s complaint and they have been very vocal on this subject, out and out blaming the ATP schedulers of not caring about the athletes health and focusing only on the money and the whims of the tournament hosts and sponsors.  This is what has been so damaging to Nadal’s late season success.

Nadal and Federer: The Rivalry

Rafa Nadal plays a punishing, physical brand of tennis and he plays every point like it’s his last.  Perhaps after missing two months out of the tennis season, again, Rafa and his coach and uncle Toni Nadal might be working on the intensity in which he plays each ball.  Roger Federer is a wonderful example of a player who plays within himself and his body.  In other words, Roger doesn’t push his body beyond its breaking point.  He stays remarkably healthy and injury free, yet he plays just as many, if not more, tournaments each year.  What makes Federer stay healthy the way he does is that he knows when he can lose a point without harming his chances to win a match.  You’ll see Federer double fault from time to time, but it always seems that he doesn’t win he is serving at 40-love.  This is a very intelligent way to play the game.  Federer will also give up on a difficult shot, but he does it when he has already wrapped up the game, the set or the match.  Nadal needs to back off on his athleticism and start using smart selective decision-making when choosing which balls to chase down and which can be let go.  It will be a difficult challenge for Rafa, but it is one he must conquer, or letting in the possibilities of an abbreviated career.  Make no mistake, Rafael Nadal is perhaps the most supremely conditioned athlete ever to play the sport of tennis, that’s why he can do the things he does on a tennis court.  It is breathtaking to watch this young man run from one side of the court in a defensive backhand, that turns immediately into a weapon, followed by a sprint back to the other side of the court where he is lately off the playing surface and he comes across with a forehand winner with tons of topspin making it nearly impossible to defend.  This is the kind of game he has played his whole life, well the 20 years he’s been playing.  This is a man who can bring people out of their seats with ovation after ovation, and television does no justice to what this young man from Majorca, Spain does with a tennis racquet.  The fans want more Rafa, let’s hope he has adjusted his game a tiny bit, or that he brings a telephone booth with him everywhere he goes, because he’ll need privacy when he changes into his red superhero cape and blue tennis shorts.

Great news: The Nadal camp has officially announced that Rafa will join Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and several other headliners in the warm-up tournaments to the U.S. Open.  First tournament back for Nadal will be the Rogers cup in Canada and just  a couple of days after that, the Cincinnati Masters in Ohio will begin.  Then, it’s off to the final grand slam tournament of 2009.  The U.S. Open has all the biggest names ready to take the court in NY.  Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin Del Potro, Andy Roddick and many more.  Tennis is about to get exciting again.  Nadal is returning and Roger Federer should a proud papa up by the time the U.S. Open commences.  Federer has taken a leave to be by his wife’s side as they welcome their first child.  Federer should be ready to go when the U.S. Open begins.

What makes the upcoming U.S. Open interesting, besides all the great tennis talent coming to Flushing Meadows, is that Rafael Nadal will have his first chance to complete a career grand slam.  He already possesses four French Open titles, he has the Wimbledon trophy and this year he won his first grand slam event on the hard surface in Melbourne, Australian.  He has yet to make a final at Flushing Meadows, but this year will be interesting for Nadal.  He will be in unfamiliar territory.  Never before has Nadal been able to go into the U.S. Open with fresh legs and a rested mind.  Thus far, he has entered  the open pushed beyond his body’s limits and then we don’t see the best of Nadal.

Roddick gives all, not enough to beat 6 time Wimby champ Federer

There will be some very intriguing matchups, as there usually are at a slam event, but because of the emergence of Andy Murray, Juan Martin Del Potro, Robin Soderling and the forgotten one, Novak Djokovic, anyone can really surprise us at the last major of the year.  Huge home crowd favorite, Andy Roddick will be an interesting player to watch.  He played the tournament of his life at Wimbledon, had many chances to win the championship, but failed.  Sometimes, getting taken out to the woodshed and beaten can sometimes be easier than playing a fantastic tournament and having to look back at the small number of mistakes, but how crucial they were to the outcome.  Make no mistake, Roger Federer played a brilliant match, but Andy dominated at times. In the end, it was a game where Federer made the points, but I’ll so leave he had lapses of concentration and it cost him dearly.  Andy will surely be looking back at the second set tiebreaker when he led 6-2 and two service points at his command.  He double faulted on one, and then Roger Federer simply took control of the tiebreaker and the second set.  To Roddick’s credit, he put that set behind him and played a magnificent match, he just couldn’t contain Federer’s prowess on his beloved grass court.  So, how will Roddick cope with such a loss?  He may be motivated by what a wonderful performance he had at Wimbledon, or he might still carry the scars from a chance taken away or perhaps handed away.  We’ll never know until we see the American in the next tournament.

But, this is Rafael Nadal’s U.S. Open.  How he plays will be fascinating and with a fresh body to play the last grand slam of the year, this might be his best chance to dethrone Roger Federer and be on his way to regaining his number one status as the best tennis player in the world, not to mention a career grand slam at the age of 23.  Not too bad… Vamos Rafa!