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08/04/2008: "Monday Already? Sports Rant Time ..."

The circus is in town - all three rings ...

- In the left ring - Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, his once and future employers. Unable to convince him to stay retired - even after offering him a $25 million "marketing" position - the Packers are now facing their own personal hell. This afternoon, Favre stepped off a plane in Green Bay, freshly reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and mobbed by adoring fans. Now, he's meeting with teammates and team officials as they try to figure out where to go next. Frankly, I think both sides deserve a large share of the blame for getting themselves into this mess, but right now it needs to be about how to get out of it. It doesn't really matter that Brett gave his word to the team to stay retired, or that the team gave their word to perennial backup Aaron Rodgers that he'd be the new starter. Having a healthy Favre in camp makes the Packers a better team, and that's all that matters. They can claim that there is a competition in deference to Rodgers' feelings, but the bottom line is that Favre was second in last year's MVP voting, had one of his best years ever, and was within 1 pass of taking the Packers to the Super Bowl. It doesn't matter how he got to camp - now that he's there, he needs to be under center.

- In the right ring, those pathetic golfers trying to make us all forget that guy named Tiger. We all remember the last time we saw Tiger Woods, winning the US Open on half a leg. When he announced that surgery would shut him down until next spring, it was supposed to be a great opportunity for all those guys who had been held back by Tiger's victories. Right. This weekend was the first World Golf Championship event ever held without Woods in the field, and he's dominated the WGC. Someone had to step up, right? Well, maybe not. The record will show that Vijay Singh was the winner, but he finished on fumes and only took the trophy after Phil Mickelson once again threw away a tourney by carding three bogeys on the final four holes. Classic Phil. Only thing falling faster than his ranking must be the TV ratings - is it even being televised. Oh, and Michelle Wie missed the cut in a guy's event - again - although she did beat David Duval ...

- And in the spotlit center ring, it's Manny being Manny. There was a rumor running around late last week that a three-team trade would result in disgruntled Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez playing for - gasp - the Marlins. My initial response was WTF; that quickly changed to dismay at the thought that we'd lose talented young outfielder Jeremy Hermida in the deal. But when the dust settled, Manny was headed west to the Dodgers. LA hasn't made a decent roster move all season, starting with giving way too much money to Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones. But this one deal just might make up for all of that evil. For two minor leaguers who didn't fit in their plans anyway, the Dodgers got one of the games most feared hitters - and the Sox are even paying his salary. Think of it as a 2-month free loan. The question, of course, was whether or not Manny would produce. How does 2 home runs, 6 RBI and an average well over .600 in his first three games sound? There'll inevitably be a Manny moment down the line, and it remains to be seen if the Blue Crew will even try and resign him over the offseason. But for now, having Manny Ramirez in the lineup makes the Dodgers the unlikely favorites to take the NL West title.