Finally, the Prima Donna can go quietly into the night

All of his crap should have ended here, but Brett Favre has finally retired for good ... we think.

FINALLY! It's been reported that Brett Favre is going to stay retired and no longer make himself the center of attention instead of the team(s) that he plays for.

I've written about Favre in the past for the publication I work for. I think I wrote two columns on him and I still feel the same way about him as I did back then.

Only difference is that he's done this whole dramatic, reality TV-like decision-making process on playing in the NFL for about 4-5 years.

Remember him crying New Year's Eve during what appeared to be an impromptu retirement speech after the Green Bay Packers beat the Super Bowl bound Chicago Bears?

All of a sudden, he comes back to training camp as though none of what he said happened.

A season before, he contemplated retiring, but I won't judge him on that because of everything going on with his wife, father and his home state of Mississippi.

Fast forward to 2007, Favre has his most successful season in years, breaking John Elway's record wins and Dan Marino's career TD record and most games played with three or more TDs record.

He chokes in overtime to the New York Giants in the NFC championship game, and retires roughly three months following that loss.

Nearly four months later, Favre wants back in.

He's traded to the Jets (and misses all of training camp due to an approximately month-long feud with the Packers). Plays well, then sucks, then retires for the second time in 11 months).

This year, he takes the Minnesota Vikings through hell and back on this self-centered diva that used to be portrayed as a humble, fun-loving, selfless southerner all summer long.

Until training camp was about to begin.

Thank the fans? For what?
Brett Favre let a lot of people down. Fans of two teams in the NFC North have reason to dislike No. 4 (not including Bears fans), not to mention Jets fans that felt like you blew an opportunity to put the team in contention for a ring.

But you thank ... the fans?

"I would like to thank everyone, including the Packers, Jets and Vikings [--] but, most importantly, the fans," Favre said to ESPN according to an Associated Press story.

Thank the fans? For what?

They don't thank you. How do you think Vikes fans feel after this?

You made fans have to choose between being Packer fans or Brett Favre fans. That should never happen.

And I think you know how Jets fans from the East Coast feel, because they've probably already told you (in a really whiny voice).

Don't bother wasting time thanking fans and organizations that had to put up with your petulant ways for summers of torture.

You're not welcome.

Favre to the booth. Dear God, please. No!
It's bad enough that there's quite enough "journalists" out there that make the story more about them than about the story itself.

We see it in sports, but with most sports columnists, the writing is understood as perspective piece and the story should reflect the view of the author.

But I think the public has heard enough, seen enough, vomitted enough about anything regarding Favre.

But Jemele Hill thinks that Favre could join the booth or become an NFL commentator for some media outlet soon.

"But here's a new possibility to consider: Favre as a NFL commentator."

NO!

Just stay in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and don't come back to the NFL in any capacity.

Every great story ends. And as you can see, sequels tend to only make the original worse.

My first perfect game: Buehrle's made dream come true

I finally got to see a perfect game, and the first from a pitcher from a team I love.

So, it finally happened.


I've never seen a perfect game in its entirety before today. Never knew the thrill of watching pitch-by-pitch in anguish hoping the no-hitter remains intact and knowing, that history is just innings away.

On my commute to work, I didn't realize it until the end of the six inning when White Sox radio broadcaster Ed Farmer said that Mark Buehrle was perfect.

By the time I got to the office at The Journal-Standard, it was the bottom of the seventh just before No. 56 would take the mound in the eighth.

To see those last two innings in front of co-workers was a thrill. Dewayne Wise, you've saved yourself from scrutiny for about a week now after that unbelievable grab in the ninth inning.

Great game to watch. I'll never forget this game. Thanks for the great memory!

Only sad thing is, this will in all likelihood bring Buehrle that much closer to retirement.

McNair ... musings on career, death and investigation

Titans quarterback Steve McNair, left, walks off the field with kicker Craig Hentrich. Tennessee lost Saturday's AFC Divisional Playoffs to the New England Patriots, 17-14, in Foxboro, Mass. Charles Krupa / AP

Steve McNair's morphine shots had probably worn off.

He had to grit the pain of a strained calf on his right leg, and a sprained left ankle in the 2004 AFC Divisional Playoff game against the New England Patriots.

Oh, and it was two degrees out with a wind chill of -14. It was one of the coldest playoff games of all-time.

But there was Steve, gimping through the pain, barely able to walk under center or position himself in the shotgun and doing what he did best — lead the Tennessee Titans for a chance at a comeback.

I'll never forget that drive. Not the stats. But circumstances that McNair showed the heart of a champion, despite never having the rings to ever show for it.

It affirmed why I was a McNair fan since the Music City Miracle. The comebacks.

Now, I'm just wishing Steve would come back. ...

As always, circumstances ended McNair's dream

Down 17-14 after Adam Vinatieri kicked a 46-yard field goal that just barely went over crossbar,
McNair had 4:11 left to put the Titans in position. McNair delivered two strikes to NIU alum Justin McCareins and Drew Bennett and rushed for 12 more yards.

Two penalties hurt the Titans and eventually forced a 4th-and-12 heave that was incomplete because of a drop by Bennett.

Every year, it seemed there was some reason why the Titans couldn't move forward and win it all. I tried to blame McNair, but oft-times I found it hard to.

2000 - Eddie George can't hold on to the ball rushing or receiving and Al Del Greco misses three damn field goals in a loss to the hated Baltimore Ravens. McNair didn't blaze the stat sheet up, but, who could against that defense? Wasted back-to-back 13-3 season.

2001 - George has turf toe and Titans are just bad. You could blame everyone for that season.

2002 - Titans comeback from a 1-4 start to finish 11-5, thanks mostly to McNair (remember that comeback win against the Giants?). They lose to the Raiders because the defense has no answers to Rich Gannon.

2003 - Look above to start of blog. During the off-season, Titans lose Jevon Kearse, Robarie Smith McCareins to free agency. McNair's favorite target, Frank Wycheck, retires. A rundown Eddie George is cut and signed by Dallas.
Salary cap capped all hope of Tennessee making another run with Steve on the squad.

2004 - Tyrone Calico tears ACL (thanks, horse-collar Roy Williams) during the preseason. The last vertical deep threat on roster is gone, Chris Brown (not the singer) is Titans' only hope with McNair battles a bruised sternum and misses eight games.

2005 - Goodbye Samari Rolle and Derrick Mason. McNair's the oldest guy on the team next to Brad Hopkins. 4-12 record to show for it. The following season, McNair is unceremoniously traded to the hated Baltimore Ravens after being locked out of Titans facilities.

Born on Valentine's Day, dead on the Fourth of July.

I thought that moment was painful, but that was nothing compared to how I felt when I got a text from a friend last Saturday.

My heart sank when I read "McNair shot and killed" on my cell phone. Over the years, aside from Walter Payton, McNair became my favorite player in the NFL. I stood up for him during his failures like Titans coach — and former Chicago Bears return specialist — Jeff Fisher did so many times before.

I also bragged, unlike McNair ever did throughout his career, when he won the MVP.

But I didn't know how to digest that my favorite player since Payton was dead and gone. Born on a day of love — Valentine's Day — dead on the 4th of July in gunfire.

Very unsettling.

Bothered by a few things
I'm more unsettled by a few things regarding McNair's untimely death.

First. The response. Not by NFL fans or reporters questioning his hall-of-fame status. That was bound to come up.

But the females that continue to judge McNair for dating a woman while married to someone else.

Look, he was wrong for committing adultery, but did he deserve death? Talk to enough women, or follow enough of them on Twitter, and you'd honestly have to start to wonder.

Just ask Holly Robinson Peete, who disrespectfully said that she and her kids wouldn't go to her husband's funeral if he was having an affair with a 20-year-old.

It's a shame, really. Not all women think like this, but some of the scorned out there would actually justify murder for infidelity.

Second is anyone anti-gun that want to go on a crusade after this death. I'm no fan of guns, but people are responsible for the death of McNair and Sahel Kazemi not guns.

If it was a murder-suicide, would we feel different if Kazemi stabbed McNair to death? Would we be anti-knife?

I don't like how people use death as a chance to push some kind of agenda or cause.

Something doesn't add up
I'm far from a detective, so I won't act as though the Nashville detectives aren't doing their jobs.

But things don't add up. A 20-year-old woman is able to shoot McNair four times, twice in the body and twice in the head with no misses?

Understandably, the final shot was point-blank range, but three shots were at a distance, according to reports. If this was the first time she's ever shot a gun, you'd think she'd miss at least once, right?

And just how do you explain the guy being underneath her? Maybe I'm missing something (which is why I'm not a detective), but how do you shoot yourself in the head and end up with the burner underneath your body, as opposed to being on the side of you or in your hand still?

And there doesn't seem to be much of a motive. Did McNair tell her she's not the one that day? If so, then why did she already purchase a gun when Kazemi already said 'Steve has lots of guns'?

And the jealous boyfriend is appearing more and more suspicious to me.

Legacy overshadowed
The saddest aspect of McNair's murder is that his legacy as a quarterback will be lost to a tabloid-death, filled with plots of a mystery long triangle (or rectangle) who-done-it.

Nevermind his community service and player-mentor relationships with players like Vince Young and Troy Smith. Nevermind his play on the field that turned a relocated and renamed franchise from relative NFL nobodies to one of the winningest teams in the league in a five-year span (1999-2004).

Nevermind his family, including his wife and children (who he probably loved through his final days) and the fans who loved who he was on Sundays and Mondays.

For now, McNair's life has been reduced to a love-scandal gone dreadfully wrong.