Not Again!!!

The old...and I do mean old...#4 is at it again. Brett Favre cannot make up his mind on retiring. What a shocker?! The last time we saw Favre was when he was gun slinging the pigskin in the Big Apple for the New York Jets. Of course, that came after all of the drama that was induced when he was reportedly going to bow out of Green Bay, where he had spent his entire NFL career and won a Super Bowl, and cross state lines into Minnesota and sign with the Vikings. The Packers were in an uproar and even filed "tampering" charges (whatever that means in the world of football) against the Vikings organization. If you were a Packer fan around this time that would sound like Brett was going to stay in Green Bay right? WRONG! He ended up having his bags packed and went to New York instead to play for Eric Mangini.

After one season, the former Southern Miss alum began playing the Rock Band III version of (in Frank Sinatra style no less) "Start spreading the news, I'm leavin' today! I want to be a part of it...MINNESOTA!" Come on, you know the tune! It just so turns out that by the end of this week Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress will be meeting with Brett, whose last name is spelled nothing like its pronounced, at an undisclosed location to discuss putting retirement on hold and signing as the newest quarterback with the Purple People Eaters.

I see this as something that's been planned for quite some time. No, I don't mean a conspiracy to get Favre to play in a town that has rivaled that of Green Bay for many-a-year in the good old black and blue division also known as the NFC North. But rather a plan to acquire one of the biggest names at quarterback in the history of the game to help improve the Minnesota Vikings football team. A lot of people don't know, in my opinion, that Brad Childress tries his damnedest to be sneaky with his quarterback moves and is, quite frankly, unsuccessful every single time. At the beginning of last season he named Tarvaris Jackson as his starting quarterback for the entire season and said there were no doubts that he was his go-to-guy at QB. After losing multiple games as a starter to begin the season, Childress yanked Jackson, put him on the pine, and gave the car keys to veteran Gus Frerotte as his starting quarterback for the remainder of the year. Turns out Jackson returned and still saw playing time before all 16 regular season games had been completed. Obviously you can point out that Childress' bold statements aren't so bold. Oh and by the way, this off season, the Vikings head coach brought in Sage Rosenfels to battle Jackson before all of this Favre hoopla surfaced. Let me get this straight. In less than two seasons, Childress has planned to go with either Tarvaris Jackson, Gus Frerotte and/or Sage Rosenfels to lead his team and the city of Minneapolis to a Super Bowl ring?!?! Brad: Bill Belichick just called, he said thanks for sharing your team's revenue this season and he'll see you at the NFL Draft combine next April. Geez, what a moron! And speaking of the draft, WHY didn't the Vikings grab some prospect at quarterback from the draft a couple of weeks ago? Do you think its because the organization believes Jackson and Rosenfels will be the future of Minnesota football? Absolutely not! The team has strategically placed itself in a position that makes it structurally ready for a guy who has torn them apart for the past several years. Unfortunately for me, I firmly believe Brett Favre will stay out of retirement and play football for the Vikings this season. The Green Bay fans will love him simply because he's brought that franchise its only Super Bowl victory since Bart Starr did it more than 40 years ago. Favre will also be loved by the folks in Minneapolis because he automatically will make the team better. He will create motivation for the team, serve as a mentor to its players and increase the value of its mediocre receiving core. I, on the other hand, WILL NOT support #4 with the name Favre on its jersey in Minnesota. I have too much pride and too many years of loyalty stocked in this team that I so gratefully love to watch on Sundays and that occasional Monday or Thursday night. Too many times have I watched this arrogant S.O.B. quarterback make 4th quarter comeback drives one after another against my beloved team. I will never forget that nor will I ever forgive that. I refuse to cheer for him. He may soon dawn the purple and gold. But in my eyes and in my heart, he will never, EVER, be a Minnesota Viking regardless of the accolades he may go on to achieve.

Finally, I will say this: I blame you, Brad Childress, for getting our team to where we are today. We might be a good football team, but we are not a great football team. And good luck trying to circle the wagons this season, Brad. Your back is against the wall. Somewhere along the line I heard a rumor coming from the west coast. And you may have heard it too. Its subtle whispers are calling to you, Brad. "If they build it, you will lose..." There is a stadium that is going to be built in Los Angeles. So go ahead and take your gambles. It won't matter once the dust has settled. And in my opinion, you've already buried us in Minnesota. The end is near, and you know it as well as I do. But look on the bright side, Brad. Once the Vikings franchise is embedded in Los Angeles after your impeccable legacy, you shouldn't have a problem finding a new job there. I hear its the second largest city in the country.

Take A Good Look At This Picture...

I should have blogged about the NCAA tournament sooner than this. As a matter of fact, there probably should have been a post published shortly after the pairings were released to show the world my picks for this years bracket. I'm thankful that I held off because, now that the first two rounds are in the books, one of my Final Four predictions has already bit the dust. That's right. Take a good look at the logo you see at the top of this post. That's about how my face looked on Friday night when the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest were utterly embarrassed by Cleveland State in Miami. That teeth-clinching, angry looking smirk has yet to leave my face even a few days in the aftermath.

I know. I'm my own worst enemy here, and my friends at home and work let me know about my horrible prediction of putting Wake Forest in my Final Four as soon as I informed them I penciled in the Demon Deacons over Louisville. "What?! Are you crazy?!" the voices rained down on me as I returned to work on Monday morning. But all I could do was bow my shaking head in remorse knowing I'd just blogged about the Cardinals' greatness just a week after they won the Big East Tournament outright.

I try not to mix passion with money and sports. Deep inside (and I know most of you know what I'm talking about here) I felt as though if I picked Louisville to go all the way and cut down the nets on April 6 in Detroit, they would somehow stumble in the opening rounds of the tourney, and somehow I would blame myself for it. Sometimes that's just how my luck rolls when it comes to pools and fantasy leagues. Speaking of pools, I'm currently in one run by friends that also includes family members. This pool has about 20 entries, if not more, and the winner will be paid out almost $300 in cold hard cash. See why I'm pouting now???

I still have Memphis, Pittsburgh and North Carolina still alive to make it as three of my Final Four teams. But, then again, so does everyone else in America along with their pen pals in foreign countries. So there is no ground to be gained here.

I thought Wake Forest would have been a decent pick to come out of the Midwest Region and make it to the Final Four. Heck, Seth Davis from CBS predicted the same. Of course he also had Virginia Commonwealth upsetting UCLA and, well, we all know now how that turned out. Sorry Seth. But apparently we both suck this year and so does Wake Forest. My chant from here on out will be to bring on the upsets and GO CARDS!

Muchas Gracias, NCAA Tournament Committee

Signed,
Randy Burns

(Happy St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, March 17th)

Tournament Selection Committee: Do Your Job

Okay I will openly admit it. Loud and proud. I'm a University of Louisville Cardinals fan. I should be. I mean after all it is my alma mater and I have lived in this town my entire life. But whether anyone associated with the Men's Division I Basketball Tournament has ever stepped foot on the Derby City is irrelevant. The bottom line is, after taking down Syracuse last night in Madison Square Garden, the Cards deserve an overall #1 seed in this years NCAA tournament.

Of all the "projected" number one seeds, North Carolina, UConn, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Oklahoma (the list could go on and on), Louisville was the only school to win their conference tournament and the regular season crown. Let's not forget the fact that the Big East was without argument this year the most talented conference in all the land. Tune in to ESPN's Bracketology show tonight and Dick Vitale will explain to you exactly what I'm talking about. If he says anything less, it will be due to the fact he is still pouting about the Tar Heels loss to Florida State yesterday. It wouldn't surprise me if he even hyped up Duke for a #1 overall seed if they win today simply because he is in love with the ACC.

Let's get back to the Cardinals for a moment. In the last few games, they may not have performed up to par in the first half, but they have certainly finished strong and were never faced with nail-biting two or three point losses. Rather they have dominated their opponents in the second half and Pitino has been a March Mastermind when it comes to coaching. But then again, what else is new. Kentucky fans will hate me here, but, this years Louisville squad reminds me of the 1996 Wildcats when they won the National Championship. I'm not saying the Cards are loaded with unbelievable talent or even multiple future NBA'ers, but they arguably have the same amount of depth. That's a credit to Pitino's recruiting over the years which has now allowed him to swap players in and out to suit the game's tempo. You want offense, keep in Sosa and Smith. You want defense, put in McGee and Knowles. Couple that with the superstars of Terrence Williams and Earl Clark and its easily seen that Louisville is, quite simply, locked and loaded for the tournament which begins this Thursday.

Ladies and gentlemen, keep your eyes peeled and your ears open. Grab your closest anxiety medicine and put the remote down. March Madness is finally upon us....GO CARDS!

Take 2: Shame On You Jerry Jones!

In order to find this post amusing, you must read the comment that follows the initial post entitled "Shame On You Jerry Jones!" Interestingly enough, the author of that comment, Billy Ottman, just happens to be a life-long Buffalo Bills fan! So now it appears he will be eating his words as Terrell Owens has signed on for a one year deal to play in Buffalo. Good for the Bills because, in the event Owens mis behaves, they can release him from the team or use him as trade bait. Bad for Billy because the man who he claims is the "Team Obliterator" is now going to be the thorn in his side (according to the response to my post).

I will finish by saying this: T.O. will produce and flourish in Buffalo. He'll be a nice compliment to standout Lee Evans and be a nice compliment to the Bills' wide receiver core. He won't win a championship by any means, but he can end his career on a good note should he choose to do so. But Billy, for your sake, I only wish you could be in the locker room when Owens gets into a ruckus with quarterback Trent Edwards if the Bills get eliminated from the playoffs before season's end.

A-Rod = The $275 Million Coward

Call it what you want to call it but the latest in the Alex Rodriguez saga has turned out to be a pure cover up. A-Rod is now so ashamed to take the field on opeining day, he has opted for hip surgery that will keep him out of the Yankees lineup until May. This comes just weeks after he confirmed reports to be true that he had indeed taken steriods while playing for the Texas Rangers about 8 years ago.

I don't mean to single out A-Rod in this blog as the only player with this type of behavior. After all it has been going on for quite a while in across all sports. When an athlete is ashamed about their actions, and hasn't been labeled a "bad boy" of the sport by the fans, they'll simply go into hiding by blaming their absence on a physical injury. The reason players, and Alex is certainly no exception here, sit out for weeks and/or months at a time after their inexcusable behavior is because it allows time for fans and the media to remove focus from them and their situations.

I can sometimes be a conspiracy theorist, as some of my friends and family will tell you. Sometimes I create these conspiracies for the sheer entertainment and thought of "what if...". But listen, if you signed a 10 year $275 million contract with the most successful franchise in the history of sports, you need to man up to it. A cist on your hip? Are you kidding me?! A-Rod might as well have said he was going to have surgery because of a hang nail.

Manny Isn't Worth The Money

I know I talked him up before in past blogs but "Manny being Manny" just isn't worth the money here. The Dodgers decided to keep Ramirez on their roster after inking him to a 2-year $45 million contract. Bad move by the boys in blue. Los Angeles is putting all of their eggs into one basket expecting one man to make all the difference. Why not try restructuring that contract and spread the wealth by trying to attract better pitching prospects or even a few key utility players to beef up the depth on the bench?



Now I agree that I hopped on the bandwagon when L.A. first landed the spectacular outfielder, but to pay this guy this much money over a short span of time is not the brightest of decisions no matter what sport. Unless of course we are talking Michael Jordan. And Manny is not the MJ of baseball. Never has been in my opinion.



When the Dodgers grabbed him from the Boston Red Sox last year, I thought for sure he would have made a huge impact on a team managed by Joe Torre. I even predicted them to make it to the World Series. That didn't happen. And neither should this contract. At best, look for the Dodgers to win the division but will run out of gas in the divisional playoffs come October.