Chip Shots

Favre from over.

Brett Favre's tired. Physically he feels great but mentally he's just tired of having to prepare to play football week after week. It's interesting that everybody is denying that Randy Moss signing with the Patriots had anyhting to do with it even though the official announcement came after Moss' deal was announced.

Brett was a great quarterback who would have been so much better if the Packer's had actually surrounded him with more talent. Favre and Marino are two guys who did great things with mediocre help. Elway, Young and Montana were lucky to play with some of the best players in the game. Imagine what Favre would have done if the Packers had signed a great running back or a consistent receiver.

Of course, Favre's not done. He's burned out right now but after a few months off he'll get the itch, and by the time the season starts he'll have a burning desire to play. A contender will lose their starting QB in the second or third week of the season and Favre will sign a one year deal to take over. If Vinny Testaverde and Kurt Warner keep getting mid season offers can Favre really stay away? No way. Especially if a team like Indy or New England loses their franchise QB for the season.

Favre's retirement seems more like closing the Green Bay chapter of his career. He still wants to win a Super Bowl and if a good team suffers a tough break on the way to the playoffs, Favre will be lacing them up before you can say Strahan.


Long Knight

Bob Knight is going to bring his sense of entitlement to ESPN as a studio analyst covering college basketball. A lot of reporters think this is ironic because now he's one of them. Nope. Bobby's got a multi-million dollar contract. Bobby doesn't have to stay up late trying to get his story finished by midnight. Bobby won't have to interview Bobby.

Knight's going to park his fat ass in a chair and do what he does best: tell everybody how smart he is. Never mind that he got so full of himself that Indiana had to fire him, and forget about the past 20 years where Knight's teams have done nothing of consequence.

This is just another fine example of ESPN padding the studio with big names and small brains.

Spring Fever

Excited about Spring Training? Why?

Baseball doesn't matter until the end of August. Take up a hobby, losers.

DRAFT

The NFL draft is coming up and we'll see how committed teams are to character when Darren McFadden gets drafted in the top five. His numerous brushes with the law, aggressive social disposition and disdain for birth control won't matter as much as that 4.28 second time in the 40. And nobody's going to ask about steroids or HGH. In the NFL everything's legal as long as you don't get caught. Just ask Shaun Merriman.

MADNESS

Dick Vitale can whine about players leaving early for the NBA but you can't take anything away from the NCAA Championship Tournament. 65 teams get a shot at winning it all. Forget about the bubble teams that don't make it. If you can't stay on the inside of the top 50 you're lucky to be in the conversation at all. Next time play harder.

As for the Tourney, how can you not enjoy it? This is simplicity at it's best. Win and you're in, lose and you get to watch the rest of the BIG DANCE on TV. There's no "best of" series. Teams have one chance to prove themselves. That's the way it should be.

Good vs. Evil

Kobe Bryant threw a preseason tantrum because he thought his team was crappy. He bitched and moaned and demanded to be traded. The Lakers were close to dealing Kobe to Chicago but the teams couldn't agree on the details. Now the Lakers are playing well, players Kobe called out are stepping up and they even made a big trade before the deadline. Now the Lakers are the sexy pick to win the West, even though Tim Duncan and the Spurs are the ugly chick you'll go home with at closing time.

LeBron James didn't throw any tantrums. Rumors circulated that he was frustrated that the Cavs hadn't improved but King James refused to throw his teammates under the bus and stopped well short of demanding anything. Danny Ferry tried to find LeBron the help he needed but deals for Mike Bibby and Jason Kidd fell through. The Nets didn't want Kidd staying int he East and the Kings wanted too much in return for Bibby. LeBron kept his mouth shut, played his ass off and was rewarded with an overhaul. Now the Cavs have workhorses who can compliment James by doing the dirty work, rather than get in his way.

So why is there any discussion about MVP? James wins it hands down. Beside averaging close a a triple double all season long, James has been the ultimate team player. Kobe might be a dynamic scoring machine but he's got the mentality of a spoiled little boy, James is a man among men. James is everything right with sports, and Kobe is a good bit of what's wrong with them.

Tiger Woods

Can't have a title like Chip Shots and not mention golf and with Tiger playing a game with which most people aren't familiar, it's worthwhile. There's not only talk of Tiger sweeping all four majors this year, some people wonder if he can win every event on his schedule. Tiger has run away with victories and he's come from behind to steal them. Sure, it's early but The Masters is right around the corner and he looks unbeatable. He's in his early 30s which means he's just entering what most people consider to be a golfer's prime.

Tiger's so good that he's made the rest of the PGA Tour irrelevant. Golf analysts lament that Tiger doesn't have a chief rival the way Jack had Arnie. It's not that the talent isn't there, it's that Tiger is that much better than everybody else.

Tiger's success makes him the golfer people love to hate. Traditionalists discredit his victory tally because he's played in a number of special invitation events that may or may not have excluded golfers who can beat him. Tiger has long talked about defining his career in terms of major victories and he's already in double digits there. He's on pace to bury Jack Nicklaus within the next three or four years and given Tiger's commitment to fitness, he could be a physically dominant golfer when he's in his 50s. Before he retires Tiger might have more major wins than most golfers can claim in regular PGA events.

Tiger has a reputation for being arrogant and rude but so have a lot of great athletes. Tiger is focused when he's on the course and doesn't have time to mug for the cameras. That's why he wins. Outside of golf and a few commercials Tiger lives a very private life. His swimsuit model wife has even stepped out of the limelight. Like him or not you have to give the guy credit for his commitment to excellence and consistency in his behavior.