On Sunday, Brett Favre signed his letter seeking reinstatement to the Packers, but has not yet sent it to the NFL. Favre also said on Sunday that at the request of Packers GM Ted Thompson, that he has not yet reported to Packers camp. As everyone knows, since Favre retired in March, he has said he wants to return, but the Pack don’t want him.

If and when Favre is eventually reinstated, the Pack have said they have no plans to release him, or let him be the starting QB. Favre wants to be traded, and the Pack seem open to it, but not to where Favre wants to go – The Vikings.

My opinion on this is that this has completely turned into a joke. There needs to be a resolution quickly. The Packers are trying to have everything their way and are rapidly losing credibility every day this drags on. Their reasoning for not wanting Favre as the starter is a joke, something akin to what you only see in Chicago, saying for 5 months they’ve been saying they’re moving on and that bringing Favre back would ruin it.

Also, as Favre said in the article, they need to clear up this tampering stuff. As the article says, Brett Favre said he has never had a Packers-issued cell phone. This whole saga becomes an even bigger joke with every passing day.

While their neighboors to the North were busy dealing with their soap opera, the Bears were busy working on a new contract for return man and wide receiver Devin Hester, after he reported to camp on Friday following a 2-day holdout. On Sunday, they finished that, giving Hester a new contract. The deal is a 4-year, $30 million extension with $15 million guaranteed that keeps Hester signed through 2013.

This contract wraps up a very busy off-season for GM Jerry Angelo who spent about $185 million on extensions or new contracts for players already on the roster. In addition to Hester’s deal, Angelo gave new deals and extensions to Robbie Gould, Lance Briggs, Desmond Clark, Rex Grossman, Kyle Orton, Tommie Harris, Alex Brown, and Brian Urlacher.

Now the focus turns to training camp and the upcoming season, where the Bears expect Hester to be an integral part of the wide receiver corps, to help make up for the lost production created by Bernard Berrian’s departure to Minnesota. Now that all the contracts have been signed and there isn’t any player mad, we are now free to look at the upcoming season, but that is another story for another time.

At long last, the on-going sale of the Chicago Cubs has finally started, with opening bids having been submitted on Friday. According to the article, 7 groups submitted bids for the Cubs, Wrigley Field, and the Tribune Company’s 25% stake in Comcast Sports Net Chicago. Sources say Mark Cuban was one of the bidders. Experts predict that the sale will fetch over $1 billion, helping Sam Zell knock off some of the $13 billion in debt he owes on the company, in particular, a lump sum payment of $750 million that is due in June 2009. Whether or not the deal gets done by then remains to be seen, and if it goes past that, what will happen when Cuban outbids Canning, but MLB accepts Canning remains to be seen as well. My personal wishes are that this sale drags beyond June 2009, making it more likely that if Cuban is to be rejected despite having the highest bid, Zell will sue saying he is entitled to the highest bid.

After losing defensive end Phillip Daniels for the season with a torn ACL, the Washington Redskins acquired Jason Taylor from the Miami Dolphins to fill the void, giving up a 2nd-round draft pick in 2009, and a 6th-round choice in 2010.

With this trade, it puts an end to Jason Taylor’s time in Bill Parcells’ doghouse, who Taylor fell out of favor with after focusing the off-season on Dancing With the Stars and not football. This makes one less story that won’t be regurgatated all season long.

About 10 days after getting CC Sabathia, in a quest to make the playoffs for the first time since they won it all in 1982, the Milwaukee Brewers have acquired 2nd baseman Ray Durham from the San Francisco Giants, hoping his .293 batting average, and .385 on-base percentage will help bolster a team that has the worst batting average in MLB among 2nd basemen. This move will either create a platoon at 2B, or it will move out Rickie Weeks completely. What happens is to be seen, but one thing is for certain: The Cubs are still better than the Brewers

With last week’s MLB All-Star Game going 15 innings, and mercifully ending in the bottom of the 15th on a walk-off sacrafice fly in the final All-Star Game at historical Yankee Stadium in it’s final season, MLB’s All-Star Game was exposed as a fraud and a joke. After the 2002 game which ended in a tie in Bud Selig’s hometown of Milwaukee, the commish has tried to make the game more entertaining, and get the players to care about the game, by linking home-field advantage in the World Series to the game, with Fox using the slogan this one counts. As this game lingered on, Bud Selig told both managers that the game would be played to it’s end.

If these games are to really count, then massive changes are needed. First off, every team should not have to be represented. If the game is to count, why should better players from teams that already have reps be left off so every team has someone at the game? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of playing to win? Second, something has to be done about the pitchers. You’ve got guys throwing 100+ pitches on the Sunday before the game who have to throw 2 days later in the All-Star Game. This can damage their arms down the road and jeopardize their teams playoff hopes, like the Philadelphia Phillies for example. Brad Lidge got up 6 times, and threw over 100 warm-up pitches, plus the pitches he threw in the game. If I was the Phillies GM, I would be livid that my pitcher had to do that. To remedy this, the rosters should be expanded so more pitchers can be added, so that these guys who throw on Sunday don’t have to be used, unless of course the game started becoming a single-game triple-header.

Lastly, linking home-field advantage in the World Series to this game should be abolished. It’s a complete joke that this exhibition decides who gets game 7 of the WS at home. MLB has really screwed this up.

When convicted steroids dealer Kirk Radomski found a shipping receipt under a busted TV last week, that was not the only thing that was busted. One Mr. William Roger Clemens has also been busted. That receipt found under the idiot box was for an HGH shipment sent to Clemens. As everyone knows, when Clemens testified under oath in February, he said he never used HGH, and he didn’t have any knowledge of his wife using it either. This is going to prove Clemens is lying. Roger, you really screwed this one up. See you in the slammer.

So last week, the Cubs and Brewers each made trades for starting pitchers that figure to up the ante in the NL Central race, with the Beermakers acquiring ace CC Sabathia from the Cleveland Indians, and the Cubs acquiring Rich Harden from the Oakland A’s. Their additions give both teams a solid 1-2 punch in Ben Sheets and Sabathia for the Brewers, and Carlos Zambrano and Harden for the Cubs. All 4 of these pitchers are bona fide aces who are among the best in the game. For the Cubs, the only problem is if Harden can stay healthy this season. He has been on the DL 6 times in the last 4 years, all with pitching related problems. Ditto for the Brewers with Sheets, also struck with Wood and Prior Syndrome.

The Cubs should be a little concerned over Harden’s health. The timing of this deal is very fishy, that he was traded about 3 weeks before the deadline. Anyone who has read Moneyball by Michael Lewis would understand how Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane’s mind works, and this move is not consistent with that. Perhaps Beane knows something that the Cubs don’t, and tried dumping off Harden before the injury came out. If Harden makes it through 2008 in one piece, the Cubs could have a very 1-2-3 in Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, and Harden, and a solid #4 in Ted Lilly.

Ultimately, I think the Cubs will end up edging the Brewers (and Cardinals) and win the NL Central, while the Brewers will miss the playoffs, and then Sabathia will bolt town for a 9-figure contract over the winter…possibly with the Cubs.

In the last week, since Brett Favre has said he wants to return, he officially asked the Pack for reinstatement or release. The Packers said they have no intentions of releasing him, and then later said they would welcome him back…As the back-up to Aaron Rodgers.

This is all a joke, and quite frankly, it’s getting to be stupid. Either the Packers should release Favre, or bring him back as the starter. Do they really think Aaron Rodgers can get them a Super Bowl title in 2008? They are kidding themselves if they think so, after last year when the Pack were so close. Why should Favre have to settle for being the back-up after starting 275 consecutive games (including playoffs).

The Pack need to realize that they can’t have it both ways. If they are so concerned about Favre going somewhere else and possibly hurting them later, then they should bring him back as the starter. #4 under center gives the Pack the best shot at winning the Super Bowl this year. As for where Favre would go if he were released, Minnesota would seem to be the most logical choice. With a solid defense, a great offensive line, and Adrian Peterson at RB, Favre would seem to be the final piece to the puzzle there.

As for those suggesting he come down south to the Windy City and play for the arch-enemy the Bears, forget it. They are not a QB away from being Super Bowl contenders, regardless of what the media says. They have a makeshift offensive line, and a very weak reciever core, and a running game that is not proven. If Favre were to play with the Bears in 2008, it would be just like his 2005 season with the Pack – not good. And for those who think it’s the Chicago media who says Favre would be the final piece, they’re wrong. William C. Rhoden of the New York Times recently wrote that too.

This is no way to treat a legend. Either the Pack should release Favre, or bring him back as a starter

According to ESPN, Brett Favre is contemplating coming out of retirement. Despite this, Favre calls it a rumor.

When will the madness stop!? Brett, make up your mind already, would you? This is getting absurd, every year. If I was Aaron Rodgers, I would demand a trade if Favre actually does return to Green Bay. When he retired, there was talk the Packers didn’t want him back. Maybe they don’t actually want him back. Maybe if he returns, the Madden Curse will live on and Favre’s streak will end. All I can say about this is don’t come back, Brett. People say he can still play, I say look no further than this, a brilliant article by Sal Paolantonio.