Posts Tagged ‘retirement’

For Your Entertainment: NBA Finals Bingo – Game One

6.03.10 2:13 am by Alex

The 2010 NBA Finals tip off tonight featuring a rematch of the ’08 series. As with any NBA matchup, there are plenty of storylines and interesting characters on both teams. To help you enjoy the game even more, we’ve created NBA Finals Bingo. The rules are pretty much self-explanatory. Be sure and hit us up on Twitter as you’re watching the game and marking your boards. We’ll probably do at least one more of these (or maybe more if you beg) for your bingo-ing pleasure later in the series, so leave your ideas for version 2 in the comments or via the aforementioned Twitter. Putting a Free Space in the middle would be too easy, so I went with a Jack Nicholson sighting, which is pretty much a gimme anyway.Also, if you don’t get the Rasheed reference, click here and watch this.

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The “Brett Favre” Rule: Helping Teams Prepare for the Season

5.04.10 4:09 pm by Brian

A recent saying has taken root in the NFL that you’re not truly an NFL superstar until you have a rule change come about because of something you did or something that happened to you.  We have the “Tom Brady Rule” about defensive players not being able to hit quarterbacks below the knees after Brady’s 2008-ending injury—and some would add the “Tuck Rule” to Brady’s résumé as well—and this season will see a “Flozell Adams Rule” where personal fouls occurring at the end of a half can be assessed on the kickoff that begins the next half of play thanks to Adams’ antics with Justin Tuck the New York Giants before halftime in a game last December.

I think one of our old NFL superstars could use a rule of his own, however; #4 for the Minnesota Vikings, Brett Favre.

Brett Favre in the 1st Half of the 2009 NFC Championship Game

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Why Brett Favre Needs to Come to Minnesota

6.24.09 3:22 pm by Pat

If you’ve watched any SportsCenter or read a newspaper over the past few weeks, you have surely heard about the ongoing saga that is Brett Favre and his retirement status.  After 16 illustrious seasons at the helm of the Green Bay Packers, Favre decided to call it quits.  That lasted all of about five months and Favre ended up in a New York Jets uniform.  He started out the season well leading the Jets to an 8-3 record but he fizzled during the final five games of the season winning only one game during that stretch and throwing just two touchdowns in comparison to nine interceptions.  Many attributed his slide in performance to his age and felt that Favre, at age 39, was simply too old and too tired to compete for a full 16 regular season games plus any playoff games on top of it.

What I’m about to say may be called blasphemy in the state of Minnesota where I was born and raised, but I grew up a Brett Favre fan which made me a Green Bay Packer fan.  I liked the Vikings, but when they came head to head I was cheering for Favre.  There is something about the way he played the game with passion, toughness, and (for lack of a better word) balls that made me root for him.  Another reason that I wasn’t a die-hard Vikings fan had to do with Dennis Green and Daunte Culpepper, but that’s another story.  I have to say that I have become a bigger Vikings fan with the arrival of Adrian Peterson and Jared Allen.  As the talk about Brett Favre continues this summer and questions of his arm strength, age, and other factors are debated, I decided to take a look into why Brett Favre “works” for the Vikings this season and why it would be a mistake for them not to sign him.

This season will be easier on Favre’s body than last season.  Although Favre will be a year older, he’s coming off of a surgery that should help with the soreness in his throwing arm/shoulder.  While I’m sure there are some out there who would disagree with me, I think that the Vikings offensive line is better than that of the Jets and will be able to provide Favre the protection he needs (I’ve searched for offensive line rankings in several locations but many are based on fantasy related aspects which isn’t what we are looking, such as here and here).  Some say the Jets have better pass protection than the Vikings, but everyone knew the Vikings were going to run last year and defenses planned for it but the Vikings still ran and ran well.  I believe that with a legitimate threat at quarterback, a quarterback who can get rid of the ball quick and make fast reads, the Vikings offensive line will soon be called one of the best at pass protection as well as the best to rush behind.

If you look at last year’s New York Jets’ schedule, Favre played in six games from November on that were in cold weather, outdoor stadium cities.  That takes a toll on anybody and especially quarterbacks who have to throw in bad conditions with cold hands.  Looking at the Vikings schedule this year, from November on the Vikings have just two outdoor games in cold weather cities.  The warm confines of the Metrodome will keep Favre out of the elements late in the season for the most part.  The Vikings also have the second easiest schedule this year in terms of strength of schedule and while this doesn’t guarantee that the Vikings will win games, there are definitely some weak teams on their schedule.

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