Brett Favre went back to Green Bay with his new team and made them eat their boo’s. Not bad for an old man… read more about the game from ESPN.com:
GREEN BAY, Wis. — If it were up to Brett Favre — and these days, I’m pretty sure everything is — fans departing Lambeau Field late Sunday would have had one collective thought.
“I hope that everyone in the stadium watching tonight said, ‘I sure hate that that joker is on the other side, but he does play the way he’s always played,’” he said.
Favre’s renaissance was never more apparent than Sunday, when he took control of a seesaw game at precisely the moment the Minnesota Vikings needed him most in an eventual 38-26 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
A 23-7 run had allowed the Packers to pull within 31-26. The clock showed 5 minutes and 38 seconds remaining in the game, and it was time for someone to grab the moment and for someone else to slink back.
On that count, Favre again proved there is no one better. He pushed the Vikings into the end zone in four plays, the last a 16-yard scoring strike to receiver Bernard Berrian on third-and-11. The touchdown pass, Favre’s fourth of the day, put away the Packers as only a seasoned winner can do, putting an exclamation point on Favre’s return to Lambeau and providing further documentation of his impact on the Vikings.
You’ve probably heard, once or twice, that Favre played 16 years in Green Bay. Trust me when I tell you he took special satisfaction in beating the Packers for the second time this season. But to me, it’s important to focus on the bigger point as well: Not only has Favre put the Vikings (7-1) exactly where they hoped to be, but he has left the Packers (4-3) precisely in the place they have most feared: Below him in the standings.
“The largest storyline was who was going to be in first place in the NFC North,” said Packers defensive end Aaron Kampman.
Favre has almost single-handedly eliminated his former team from that race. In two games against them, he completed 69 percent of his passes for seven touchdowns. He was neither intercepted nor sacked. Sunday, he was two steps ahead at every turn.
“We tried to put pressure on them with blitzes,” Packers cornerback Charles Woodson said. “And he either pointed them out and set the protection the right way, or threw the ball quick and we weren’t able to get to him. We felt like we had enough things called — and still we can’t get to him for whatever reason. Right now we can’t win the big game.”
There’s little doubt Favre is in the Packers’ heads. They know he has fallen prey to his emotions before, and they hoped a raucous Lambeau crowd — combined with more pressure — would jar him into some early mistakes. Instead, the opposite occurred. The Packers choked in the early going, falling behind 14-3 early in the second quarter and taking more sacks (four) than first downs (three) into the halftime locker room.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers escaped the pocket a few times in the second half, the biggest reason why the Packers offense briefly sprung to life. But on this night, he was no match for a rival who was too focused to let the opportunity fall away.
“I can’t tell you how many text messages I’ve gotten from guys just in passing today and yesterday,” Favre said. “’Hey, you’re going to play great. I know you’re nervous.’ I’m like, ‘Easy for you to say.’ But they were right again. I don’t know. It’s awful stressful to feel that way every week. I’d like to feel a little more relaxed. But I’m also pleased with the way I’ve played in these games.”
I suppose it’s possible the Vikings would have won Sunday with one of their other quarterbacks, Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels. The Vikings hadn’t won here in the Brad Childress era, so I’m dubious of that possibility. Regardless, there’s no one I’d rather have right now, with 5:38 remaining and the game in the balance, than Favre. And here’s one thing I am sure of: If Favre were not with the Vikings, there is no way there would be a 2.5-game difference between the teams in the standings.
Perhaps that’s why Vikings placekicker Ryan Longwell, 35, mobbed Favre, 40, after the final gun. Longwell, who kicked for Green Bay for nine seasons, knew how special and unique Favre’s accomplishment is.
“Unless you play here and have gone through it you just don’t know,” Longwell said. “It goes beyond just winning. It’s a special victory.”
Favre said his emotions began rising Sunday morning near the end of a 30-minute bus ride from the team hotel to Lambeau Field. He saw “a few fingers” as the bus pulled into the parking lot, he joked, but there was never a time when I thought Favre was close to letting the crowd get the best of him.
He celebrated heartily after tight end Visanthe Shiancoe’s 12-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter, and at one point he appeared to be jawing with Packers defensive end Cullen Jenkins. Otherwise, however, Favre remained stoic. After the game, he spent several minutes embracing former teammates — Rodgers, Donald Driver and Al Harris among them — and said he was had no intentions to throw any “daggers.”
“I’d like to think I always handle myself with class,” he said. “It’s always tougher when you lose. I understand that. Never been one to rub it in anyone’s face. Guys I’ve played with as a Packer, I’ve got a lot of respect for. As I do this organization and these fans.”
So where does this leave us? For the first time that I can remember, Favre used the words “Super Bowl” in talking about the Vikings’ prospects this season. Up until Sunday, Favre had been saying he hopes to get the team “where we want to be.”
With a 7-1 performance in the first half of the season, the Vikings have pushed themselves onto the short list of favorites for this year’s championship.
“I want to lead this Viking team to the Super Bowl,” Favre said. “Believe me. I do. I’m going to do everything in my power. … At this point, we’ve put ourselves in a good position.”
They wouldn’t be there, of course, were it not for two victories over his former team. And the Vikings would not have swept the Packers without him.
“Am I pleased with the way these two games have turned out?” Favre said. “Yes, absolutely. I knew I could play. My arm feels great. My arm is in a good place. The team has welcomed me in. All the other stuff doesn’t matter. It makes a good story. I know it. [But] I’m glad it’s over. I’m glad we won them both.”
Was this “revelation” absolutely necessary to sell his book?! Get the details Here.
Everyone has heard about the extramarital affair between ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips and his 22-year old production assistant that caused him to get fired this weekend and his wife filing for a divorce.
Even after Phillips termination the drama continued with popular sports blog Deadspin and ESPN online. Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio was mad about being “misinformed” about the Phillips situation and decided to get back at ESPN by airing out the dirty laundry of ESPN employees.
According to Time Magazine, “Daulerio insists that he trusts his sources and claims that he really was trying to make a larger point about ESPN’s culture — employees allegedly complain that while on-air personalities get reprimanded for inappropriate relationships, business executives enjoy more leeway.”
This is just one example of how the web is changing journalistic standards. Anyone can publish a rumor with a click of their mouse. Basically the only way to go after an online media outlet through a defamation claim. If a public figure can prove “that an individual person or media outlet published something about him with so-called actual malice — knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth. This standard offers considerable protection for media outlets; actual malice is difficult to prove.”
Looks like analyst Steve Phillips is in for a time out. It looks like some girls just can’t handle being dumped.
“ESPN analyst Steve Phillips had a fling with a 22-year-old production assistant, who, after being dumped, taunted his wife with “Fatal Attraction”-like phone calls and a letter that bragged about her sexcapades with Phillips while taking pot shots at their “loveless marriage,” The Post has learned.
The former Met general manager, whose tenure with the team was rocked by admissions of infidelity, confessed to his wife and local cops that he had slept with ESPN assistant Brooke Hundley several times this past summer before dumping her.
In retaliation, the jilted young woman repeatedly phoned Phillips’ wife, Marni, saying, “We both can’t have him!” an explosive police report claims.”
Continue reading for the full story.
Despite numerous attempts by responsible people everywhere it seems that rookie hazing will never go out of style! It’s to see the tradition is still respected by the time players get to the pros! Here are some classics from the NFL as told by Amog.com:
5. Can I Have Your Autograph?
Some of us will never get to know what it feels like to be asked for an autograph. I bet it’s a thrill for a rookie in the NFL. However, it turns out that this was just a prank for QB Kyle Orton in 2005.
Bear’s center Olin Kreutz asked Orton to sign a helmet for his family. The autographed helmet was not for Kreutz’s family. Instead the helmet in question actually belonged to one Kyle Orton, who if you haven’t guessed, had to practice in it.
4. The Bicycle Tree
Even some of the best NFL players need a laugh here and there. Joe Montana was known to put rookie’s bikes in different trees.
It seems a little tacky and harmless, but considering that the practice field was only about a quarter-mile from the housing facility, bikes were the main source of transportation. After a tough day on the field a player would have to fetch his bike from a tree, only to discover that he just got someone else’s bike down.
3. Payback is a Bitch
There’s a rule that even non-NFL players know – do what the Vets tell you. I guess OT Chris Colmer didn’t get that message.
In 2005, FB Mike Alstott asked the rookie to get him a Gatorade. Colmer decided to be a wise guy and drew a map to the fridge for Alstott instead. As redemption, Alstott took the wheels off of Colmer’s car and left a map on the windshield to where the tires were.
2. Hey Mom! I Made The Pro-Bowl!
Maurice Jones-Drew retold this prank, as what he perceived as a funny joke, about rookie DE Quentin Groves in 2008.
One of the Jags defensive linemen told Groves that he had made the Pro Bowl. A dream come true, right? Groves did the natural thing and called his family, friends, etc. in his excitement. After practice his teammates broke the news that it was just a joke. I would hate to have made that return call.
1. When The Saints Go Hazing
When Ditka coached the Saints back in 1998 he may have let some pranks go a little too far. Not one, but two players, were injured during a hazing incident. On the final night of camp the Vets forced the rookies to run the gauntlet. They were kicked, elbowed and hit with bags filled of coins as they made their way through.
Rookie Tight End Cam Cleeland got smacked in the left eye and had to go to get a CAT scan. He even had to go to an eye specialist to make sure everything was alright. During the same night, rookie DT Jeff Danish put his hand through a window after the gauntlet. Danish went on to sue the Saints, six players and an assistant coach for assault, which was settled out of court.
Things are really heating up in this story… South Africa is ready to declare WWIII! Read more from Guardian.co.uk:
Athlete Caster Semenya has pulled out of her return to competitive sport amid growing fears over the psychological impact of rumours about her sex.
The 18-year-old withdrew from a cross-country race in South Africa tomorrow after it was widely reported that a leaked sex test reveals she is a hermaphrodite. Her coach, Michael Seme, said she will not run because she is “not feeling well”.
South Africa condemned the international media reports as an invasion of the teenager’s privacy and threatened a “third world war” if the women’s 800m champion is disqualified from athletics.
The process by which Semenya’s most intimate physical details have become a public talking point intensified when Australia’s Sydney Daily Telegraph said that she had no womb or ovaries, but internal male testes which were producing extraordinary amounts of testosterone.
The strain of the ordeal began to show on Semenya’s family. When her mother, Dorcas, was contacted by one newspaper for a response, she wept and demanded: “What do you want me to do?” Semenya’s father, Jacob, said people who believed his daughter was not a woman were sick. “They are crazy. Are they God?”
Both the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the media were condemned today for failing to respect Semenya’s human rights.
Jacob Zuma, the South African president, said: “We have a girl who has performed and won. I don’t think we should play with people’s lives and privacy. Why should we not respect the privilege between doctor and patient?”
His sports minister, Makhenkesi Stofile, said it would be unjust for the IAAF to exclude Semenya from competing as a woman. “I think it would be the third world war,” he said. “We will go to the highest levels in contesting such a decision. I think it would be totally unfair and totally unjust.”
Stofile said his department was consulting a top legal firm about action against the IAAF over human rights violations. “What is disconcerting is that the pattern being followed in releasing these purported results is the same as the one being used when Ms Semenya’s humiliation started,” he said.
“We see the media being the ones breaking the story, while those close to the matter are pleading ignorance. Just like before, Caster’s human rights are not respected at all. The humiliation she and her family suffered is still continuing. We are even seeing the greed factor starting to outstrip genuine concerns for her rights and future wellbeing.”
Stofile continued: “No one doubts her gender anymore. Now the issue is of the percentages of her gender; this is as disgusting as it is unethical. Caster is a woman, she remains our heroine. We must protect her.”
A group from Semenya’s home province, Limpopo, urged all participants in the controversy to consider the teenager’s feelings. The Limpopo Progressive Women’s Movement said: “We want to urge all role players in this sad saga to be more sensitive in how they handle it going forward. Stop the leaks, stop the double standards and stop hurting Caster and her family … How can we victimise a national hero like this?”
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the ex-wife of former president Nelson Mandela, joined the condemnation. “The poor innocent child is a victim of all this, and it is not of her making,” she told South Africa’s Star newspaper. “I do not understand how any sane person can blame this child for a biological problem which is not of her making.”
The IAAF, facing another embarrassing leak, declined to confirm or deny the Australian report but said it should be treated with caution. The body’s spokesman, Nick Davies, said it had received the results of Semenya’s tests but would not release them until 20-21 November.
“I simply haven’t seen the results,” Davies wrote in an email to the Associated Press. “We have received the results from Germany, but they now need to be examined by a group of experts and we will not be in a position to speak to the athlete about them for at least a few weeks.
“After that, depending on the results, we will meet privately with the athlete to discuss further action.”
After dominating her race at the world championships in Berlin last month, Semenya underwent blood and chromosome tests, as well as a gynaecological examination. The IAAF has said Semenya probably would keep her gold medal because the case was not related to a doping matter. But it is less clear whether she would be allowed to compete again if she proves to be a hermaphrodite.
Trespassing, possible jail time… not sure if the man-on-sweaty man kiss was worth it buddy. Nadal seems pretty cool about it though! Check out the video from the US Open here:
There you go Heatley… you act like a jackass and you get embarrassed in the always classic “Angry Hitler” routine. Enjoy:
Nice one Bernie… This is so obviously a stupid move. Read more from TimesOnline.co.uk:
Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One chief, said yesterday that he preferred totalitarian regimes to democracies and praised Adolf Hitler for his ability to “get things done”.
In an outspoken interview with The Times, the 78-year-old billionaire chastised contemporary politicians for their weakness and extolled the virtues of strong leadership.
Mr Ecclestone said: “In a lot of ways, terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was in the way that he could command a lot of people, able to get things done.
“In the end he got lost, so he wasn’t a very good dictator because either he had all these things and knew what was going on and insisted, or he just went along with it . . . so either way he wasn’t a dictator.” He also rounded on democracy, claiming that “it hasn’t done a lot of good for many countries — including this one [Britain]”.
RIP Steve… Here is some information in the developing story around McNair’s death. From CBC.ca:
Nashville police say a woman found shot to death with former NFL star Steve McNair recently purchased a gun, according to a report in The Tennessean newspaper.
Sahel Kazemi and the former Tennessee Titans quarterback were found dead on Saturday in a condominium owned by McNair.
Kazemi, 20, died Saturday of a single gunshot wound to the head alongside McNair, who had two gunshots to the head and two to the chest. The gun was found under Kazemi’s body.
“We believe the pistol recovered from the apartment was purchased by Kazemi,” police spokesman Don Aaron told The Tennessean.
Aaron said testing to determine if gunshot residue was present on Kazemi’s hands has not yet been completed.
U.S. federal law prohibits anyone under 21 from purchasing a handgun.
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