Don't believe the hype

You know when I’ll believe that Brett Favre isn’t going to play this season? When the Vikings’ season is over and he hasn’t taken a snap.

Then, and only then, will I believe that the latest “Favre is retiring” rumors are true. Quite frankly, anyone who buys into these vague reports now is naive.

Even if the attention addict of a quarterback does turn down the Vikings (who reportedly sweetened his deal by $4 million today) and officially announces his retirement, I won’t be sold. After all, he’s retired and changed his mind twice before.

If the Vikings break training camp and No. 4 isn’t in uniform, it doesn’t mean a thing. If Minnesota announces that Tavaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels is the starting quarterback and one of them is under center when the season opens next month, don’t rule out another Favre comeback. If the Vikings get off to a good start, it’s entirely possible some players on the team will get text messages along the lines of, “I’m coming back!”

After last season, we learned that Favre needed surgery on his ankle if he wanted to keep playing. He had said surgery, leading everyone to believe he’d play another season (at least). He spent the summer practicing with high school kids in Mississippi. Aside from being so narcissistic he feels cool being the big man on a high school campus, that certainly seems like a sign that he’s planning on playing a 20th NFL season.

Most assumed that was the case, until Tuesday. Now ESPN, among other national media outlets, is jumping all over this story as if a couple of alleged text messages are the end of the Favre speculation.

I flipped on ESPN Tuesday afternoon and Steve Young was on, talking about Favre. He was asked who he thought would be under center when the Vikings begin the season. Young said, unless he hears otherwise from Favre himself, it’s Favre. Then Scott Van Pelt asked if all the talk of Favre retiring was a huge waste of time. Um, yes. Yes it was, and will continue to be.

We won’t know for a while whether Favre is serious this time. We won’t know when he makes the official announcement. We won’t know when the season starts. We’ll know when the season is over. And even then, there’s no guarantee he won’t try to come back next year.

Like most football fans, I’m sick to death of Favre. I’d like him to shut up and retire, and stay quiet until he’s inducted into the Hall of Fame. But that’s not going to happen. This saga is far from over.

NFL random thoughts

NFL training camps are in full swing, the first preseason game is Sunday, and the regular season kicks off Sept. 9. I, for one, cannot wait until Week 1. But in the meantime, we have some interesting stories from camp.

Albert Haynesworth: First the defensive tackle complains about the Redskins switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense (boo hoo), then he shows up to training camp out of shape. He has yet to pass the team's conditioning test, and thus, is not allowed to practice. He had to run two 300-yard shuttles, with a three-and-a-half-minute break in between, in times of 70 and 73 seconds, respectively. I would love to try this test, in which Haynesworth was required to run 25 yards and back six times before the break, then do it again. Granted, Hayesworth has about 200 pounds on me (he's listed at 350, but if he's out of shape, my guess is he's carrying some extra pounds), but he's also two years younger and, oh yeah, he signed a $100 million contract last year. If I had $100 million as motivation, I'd damn sure be able to pass this test.
But it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that Haynesworth has an attitude problem. Before he became one of the best defensive tackles in the league, he was a punk with the Titans who once stepped on a guy's head, sans helmet, after a play.

Darrelle Revis: The Jets cornerback, arguably the best cornerback in the NFL, is holding out of camp for a better contract. I'm always a little torn on these issues. On one hand, he has a contract that he signed, live up to it. On the other, his rookie contract isn't close to market value for an elite corner. He's supposed to make $1 million this year. By comparison, Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha signed a deal that pays him an average of about $15 million a year. I'd like to say Revis should show up at work and trust that the Jets will do the right thing. But NFL teams don't always do right by their players.

T.Ocho: I've never been a big Terrell Owens fan, but I think he's found a good fit with fellow wacky wideout Chad Ochocinco in Cincinnati. The Bengals won the AFC North last season, and adding T.O. should make the Bengals better. It'll be interesting to watch that team this year. What's the over/under on excessive touchdown celebration penalties and fines for the two of them? I'll set it at 9.5 penalties, 5.5 fines and take the over on penalties, the under on fines.

And finally ...
Brett Favre: Will he just man up and admit that he's coming back for another season with the Vikings? The answer is no, he won't for a while. But seriously, we all know he's going to play, but we also know he has no interest in training camp. The Vikings are clearly OK with that, so he might as well just stop the guessing games. "Yes, I'm coming back to the Vikings. But I'm not showing up until ..."
I'm quite certain Favre will play again. I'm also pretty sure there's no way he and Minnesota are having the season they had last year. Absolutely nothing went wrong, Favre had a career year and the Vikings were one play away from going to the Super Bowl. There's no way that good fortune will continue into a second season. The Vikes will be good, but they're not winning the NFC North (you know who I'm picking there) and they won't get a sniff of the Super Bowl. So fine, Brett, come on back. But don't make the mistake of thinking 2010 will be a repeat of 2009.

Not feeling the Heat

With the offseason acquisition of LeBron James and Chris Bosh, the Miami Heat are poised to bring home their second NBA championship in five years. But there will be few dozen people who won't be too happy if that happens.

With season-ticket sales rocketing, Heat executives decided to fire 30 members of its ticket sales team on Friday. The work was already finished, and why not save a few bucks to give to the team's newest members? Pretty classless move, if you ask me.

The team confirmed the firings on Friday as team vice president of sales Steve Weber delivered the bad news. With an "exhausted inventory of season tickets, we no longer require a season ticket sales team to sell tickets," the statement said.

The waiting list for season tickets is about 6,000.

"While the decision to release part of our sales force was a difficult one, we greatly appreciate their contributions to our company," said the statement, which went on to wish those fired success in future endeavors.

The translation is "Thanks for doing all of the year's work in three weeks, now go find a new job." With their new deep pockets, maybe LeBron and Bosh can offer a little severance package?

Speaking of LeBron, a fan wearing a No. 6 Heat jersey recently was escorted from Jacobs Field, home of the Cleveland Indians. The fan was booed heartily, and I can only imagine what happened when he reached the boundaries of the stadium.

Sure, this guy is a bonehead, but does it give anyone the right to get angry or assault him? I went to a Red Sox-Yankees game in 2004 at Yankee Stadium and wore a No. 15 Kevin Millar shirt. I was pelted with peanuts for most of the 2-0 Boston victory.

All because I liked a different team. I know the same thing likely happens at Fenway, but why? God forbid someone else roots for a different team. When assaults occur - either verbal or physical - those fans have lost all touch with reality.

Neither here nor there

Hitting a few headlines from the sports world:

- Washington Nationals phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg missed Tuesday night's start with stiffness in his arm. Every start the 22-year-old right-hander has made has also made national headlines, but what was supposed to be his 10th start ended before it began.

In nine starts for Washington, Strasburg is 5-2 with a 2.32 earned run average. He has 75 strikeouts and 15 walks in 54 1-3 innings. The team's most prized player and still just a rookie, Strasburg has a bright future ahead of him. But here's to hoping he doesn't go the way of David Clyde.

- Former Raiders hard-hitting safety Jack Tatum died on Tuesday after suffering massive heart attack. He was 61. I was merely seven months old when Tatum's hit on Darryl Stingley paralyzed the Patriots wide receiver from the neck down, so I can't give a firsthand account of the incident.

But I have seen the replay, and the incident fueled my dad's hatred for the Raiders. "A bunch of cheapshot artists," he would tell me growing up. At the time, I was a Raiders fan, mostly because of Bo Jackson.

Tatum certainly didn't get much love on Boston sports talk radio on Tuesday. Even former Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan struggled to find kind words to say about a man that ended another player's career with a vicious hit, collisions he took pride in and used to sell three books.

- How fitting is it that Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco will be teammates? That NFL's two biggest showmen will line up on opposite sides after the Bengals signed T.O. to a one-year deal worth $2 million.

Owens has a shot to make an addition $2 million with bonuses, meaning that when Carson Palmer doesn't throw the ball his way, the barking and whining will begin. I can only assume a game of "Can You Top This?" will begin between the two diva receivers upon each touchdown scored.

Then again, how many TDs are we expecting from T.O.?

Haze of old

Rookies in pro sports routinely have to put up with a lot of crap from the veterans on the team. Call it initiation, a rite of passage, hazing. It can include forcing the rooks to wear silly clothes to the team facility, taping them to goalposts or making them carry a vet’s pads off the practice field.

Cowboys rookie Dez Bryant, however, has no interest in such tradition. After practice on Sunday, the wide receiver from Oklahoma State was commanded to take Roy Williams’ pads from the field. Bryant refused and now, for some reason, the football world is aghast.

Veterans and former players from other teams are lambasting Bryant for his insubordination, and Williams promised there will be consequences.

But Bryant deserves some credit for taking a stand against this archaic, idiotic, inane practice. When is this frat boy garbage going to end?

Professional athletes (“professional” being a key word) shouldn’t act like high school seniors picking on freshmen. They ought to act professionally.

Perhaps if a more respected Cowboys veteran — Tony Romo, Marion Barber, DeMarcus Ware, etc. — had asked Bryan to carry his pads, he would have. But Bryant shouldn’t have to obey a guy that’s going to be behind him on the depth chart when the season opens.

Bryant’s refusal doesn’t imply that he’s a bad teammate or has an attitude problem or doesn’t respect his NFL elders. For those who didn’t get the message the first time, Bryant put it into words on Sunday

“I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player’s pads,” he told reporters.

I, for one, hope other rookies follow suit.

Giving out Hall passes

Every year at this time, names are thrown around for possible induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, by far the most prestigious of all Halls.

Personally, I don't think Andre Dawson's numbers stack up, but the entire landscape is changing thanks to the Steroid Era. Here's a small list of guys, although some have been linked to PEDs, who are first-ballot players when their time comes.

Manny Ramirez - 500 home runs and maybe the most feared right-handed hitter of this generation.

Jim Thome - Quietly continues to climb up the ladder on the all-time home run list.

Alex Rodriguez - He's sitting at 599 homers, and only a handful or so of guys have reached 600 for a career.

Ichiro Suzuki - Between his obvious hitting prowess, he's a 10-time all-star, has speed and few play a better right field than the Japanese import.

Ken Griffey Jr. - Do I have to give reasons? If not for injuries, we'd be saying, "Barry Bonds who?"

Derek Jeter - One of the best players on the best team for a long, long time. Even take him off the Yankees, and he's still a likely Hall of Famer.

Mariano Rivera - He's been so good for so long and continues to get the job done in the twilight of his career. Then again, who says he's in the twilight?

Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson: Could very well be the last pitchers in history to eclipse the 300-win plateau.

Here's a list of guys who are likely in, but maybe not on the first ballot:

Omar Vizquel - This generation's top defensive shortstop. If he had a bit of a better bat, he'd be in the Jeter category.

Pedro Martinez - He's only got 219 wins, but no pitcher (maybe Sandy Koufax) was more dominant during a 5- to 7-year stretch than Pedro. And he got his ring.

Chipper Jones - He's truly an ambassador for the game, hit 433 home runs and has been an institution in Atlanta. I'd like to think he's in.

Guys who haven't done quite enough yet, but should they keep pushing ....

Albert Pujols - The numbers and awards keep piling up for this guy, and it's only a matter of time.

Joe Mauer - He just signed a deal that'll keep him in Minnesota for a long time, a place where he's comfortable. No pressure in Minnesota, so his MVP-type seasons will keep coming. And he's a catcher, meaning these numbers will be unprecedented for the position.

Ryan Howard - He's nearly halfway to 500 home runs already, and he's got an MVP award. The Phillies were smart enough to pay this man.

Guys who probably won't get in until something changes with the perception of steroid users: Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Raphael Palmeiro.

That last group I really feel for, because they didn't need the PEDs to be good. They were good. They needed the PEDs to be great. Greed took over.

Now I know I missed a few here and there, so feel free to chime in about any of these guys, or those I omitted.

Sunset-Ireland game postponed

Saturday's game between the Irish national baseball team and the Sunset League All-Stars, scheduled for 5 p.m., was postponed by heavy rainfall.

The game will be played on Sunday at 11 a.m., at Cardines Field in Newport. The event is free and open to the public.