WE HARDLY KNEW 'YE

I've long admired Brett Favre. I've long wondered why his name wasn't pronounced Fav-re, but hey, he's from the South and I'm from Southern Illinois; sometimes we don't say things the way that others do. We'd never add an r to idea, for instance. I also liked to play the Packers in the all-too-few-heydays (or is it haydays) of the St. Louis Rams. It seems like Kurt Warner could beat Brett pretty handily.

But this is not to bash the Packers or Mr. Favre. Both are class acts. But had I not had a heads up from Packer buddy Ryan P., and had I just turned on a sports channel, I'd have thought Favre passed away. I thought Heath Ledger got a lot of press. Wow! It was all over the news/sports channels all day. More than any retired player that I've ever seen.

It made me think about the old SNL newscast with Chevy Chase announcing that Generalisimo Franco is still dead. They must have run that for two months. And, yes, I laughed every time. Even when I knew it was coming. So, that being said, yes, Brett Favre still is retired after quarterbacking the Packers for 17 years and 160 wins.

No one saw the retirement coming. But we all heard about it. Now discussions begin about who was the greatest quarterback ever. As Cardinal broadcaster Mike Shannon used to say about different players, "If he's not the best, he's amongst them."

When it comes to Favre, I'd agree. Now, can we move on. Please.