Thank God, finally someone within the Packers organization is sticking it to he who must not be named.  A day after Brett Favre “threatened” to show up at Packers training camp, Mike McCarthy issued the vote of confidence in Aaron Rodgers that everyone was hoping for.  He’s the guy in 2008 for the Packers and Favre won’t be given the opportunity to compete for the job.

Take that, asshole.  I’m not sure if I can remember a more arrogant approach taken by an athlete than the one Favre is riding right now.  “Trade me or start me.”  What? How about you sit on the bench and teach Rodgers because A. you’re under contract and B. when you committed to retirement, the Packers committed to Rodgers.  I don’t know who Favre thinks he is coming back to the Packers with an honest opinion that he is greater than the organization itself.  I don’t care about his resume and I don’t care that he could probably run for mayor and win it in Green Bay, he hung it up and the Packers moved on.

I think because I’m tired of hearing this story and it doesn’t make grammatical sense, I’ll be referring to him as Farve from now on.  It clears up the questions any person has when they first hear Brett’s name and wonder why the V and R are switched.  It doesn’t make sense.  Then again, neither does his flip flopping on retirement.  Picture this: if the Packers were to let Farve come back this season and take the starting job, any hope of Aaron Rodgers resigning with this indecisive team would be thrown out the window.  Rodgers has wasted four years of his career sitting on the bench “learning” from Farve even though Farve admits he didn’t teach Rodgers a damn thing (Awesome guy, right?).  Hypothetically the Packers would play well, win their division, go to the playoffs, and inetivably be bounced by either the Dallas Cowboys or by a superior AFC team in the Super Bowl.  Brett Farve would to on to retire after the year and the Packers would then find themselves without Farve, without Rodgers, and without a chance.  But Brett hasn’t played this out in his mind because, like all other things with the Packers and him, (the bastard had his own locker room, he wouldn’t even suit up with his teammates) the focus is always about Brett.  Well, Farve, now the focus is on Aaron Rodgers.  Mike McCarthy said so.  Ted Thompson said so.  I said so.

One last thought on the issue: there’s always been a great deal of respect for players who play out their entire career in one city, especially in the modern era of free agency.  Look at guys like Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, John Elway, and Dan Marino.  With that said, have fun tarnishing your legacy in Tampa or New York, Farve.

Hey, If the moon was made of barbecue spare ribs, would ya eat it?  Hell, I know I would.  Then I’d polish it off with an ice cool Budweiser.  In this video, Braves reliever Will  Ohman goes Will Ferrell on the lineup card and does one of the most spot-on impressions of Harry Caray I’ve seen.  Props to The 700 Level for posting this, I couldn’t stop laughing.

Remember in June when the Yankees were floundering at .500 and almost 10 games back and I told you that they’d be fine.  I wasn’t wrong.  It’s not like this is a new occurrence for the Bronx Bombers.  Oh and, by the way, they just added a .330 slugging outfielder to the mix by acquiring the X man, Xavier Nady, and reliever Damaso Marte for a few luxury box tickets, a bag full of trinkets, and a minor leaguer.

Joba Chamberlain is slowly working his way up the list of people I am a fan of.  It’s not because of his awesome autographed picture that’s available in SkyMall and other flight magazines and it’s not because he almost seamlessly converted from a set up man to the best starter in the Yankees rotation.  It’s because, despite his impeccable pitch location for 99% of the league, he magically loses a ball or two when Kevin Youkilis steps in the box.  Combine that with my open hate for the Red Sox as an organization and we have a good match.

I’m not advocating throwing at players heads, lets make that clear right now.  Pegging people, however, is part of the game.  It’s the pitchers job to intimidate; if he can’t strike fear into the batter with an inside fastball or two, he’ll get shellacked.  Hence, after Chamberlain gassed one over Youkilis’ head and luckily hit his bat for strike one, he came back with sliders and cheddar on the outside corner that Youkilis had no chance at hitting.  Intimidation.

I can almost guarantee you that someone on the Yankees will get dotted today for Joba’s actions last night.  Warnings will be issued, benches might stand up and glare at each other, and ESPN will assuredly blow it out of proportion and re-run all those clips of A-Rod and Varitek slugging at each other and Don Zimmer getting thrown by Pedro.  It’s inevitable.  But it’s part of the game.  I’m just glad to see that, in today’s society where stepping on toes will shatter your image in the public eye, someone like Chamberlain has the stones to play the game with some grit and lawlessness.  And hey, what do you know, at only three games out, the Yankees are right back in this thing.  I told you so.

I’m not sure what’s more hilarious about Andrew Giuliani; his lawsuit against Duke for kicking him off the golf team or the actions that got him the boot in the first place.  Giuliani’s lawsuit entails that Duke recruited him to play golf for the school and then proceeded to take steps to ensure he’d be removed from the team.  His bounty on the lawsuit?  Free access to the Duke golf facilities for the rest of his life.

Hey Andruw, your pops can’t spot you some change for a few range balls down at the local range?  Maybe if you didn’t want to be kicked off the team you shouldn’t have whipped that apple core at your teammate’s face.  Or maybe you shouldn’t have gone Happy Gilmore on your team and thrown your putter.  Or maybe you shouldn’t have spun your wheels and revved your engine in the parking lot of the course, a real classy act at a fine establishment such as a country club.  But you’re right, Andrew.  They recruited you to play and gosh darnit, you should never be denied that right.  God forbid they decide to recruit more players than they can hold and have to cut a few players.  God forbid they let you go after acting like a complete elitist dick to your teammates.

This whole story, though it won’t make front page headlines, is absolutely hilarious.  I love when rich kids don’t get their way and then swing their parent’s name around to get what they want.  Get over yourself, Giuliani.

As a side note, Andrew Giuliani looks identical to my buddy and leader of Red Sox Nation, Paul Metzler.

• Anquan Boldin, one of the brightest receivers in the NFL, isn’t pleased with Arizona Cardinals management. After saying the Cardinals lied to him about his request for a new contract, Boldin has come out and said he won’t resign when his contract expires after the 2010 season. While it’s often hard to side with a client of Drew Rosenhaus, at least Boldin will still hit the field during training camp and bust his ass, something his own starting quarterback hasn’t even done.

• The last couple days have seen nearly every major conference be put into the spotlight of Media Day. One of those was the Big Ten, my least favorite conference. New Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez took the podium and gave one of the week’s most amusing comments. Rodriguez said he would answer a reporter’s question about West Virginia “so he wouldn’t have to address it for 13 or 14 more years.” Get real, Rich. The questions won’t stop, especially when your Wolverines lose their opener to a talented Utah team.

• One of the NFL’s most consistent receivers, Rod Smith announced his retirement from the NFL today. The 38-year-old had battled injuries for the last couple years, but remained a positive force in the Broncos’ locker room. Smith’s numbers support his induction into the NFL Hall of Fame, but the Broncos need him to continue to mentor troubled receiver Brandon Marshall, who appears hellbent on destroying his NFL career before it even begins.

I should start by saying that the entire situation that has arisen between Lions rookie Caleb Campbell and his call to serve the Army is sticky and poorly timed. I understand that there was a policy in place that allowed Campbell, an Army grad, to play football and serve at a local recruiting station in place of the years of service he is required to serve. The timing on the change of policy, forcing Campbell to serve instead of play football, is a bit poor. It actually sucks. That said…

Campbell has a duty to his country, and he acknowledged that by entering the Army and most recently in his call to duty. It’s unreasonable that Campbell would be allowed to sit behind a desk for a few hours a day and then go play football while the guys he sat next to in the academy are being shipped off to Afghanistan or Iraq.  Isn’t it a little bit out of line that, because Campbell can read a HB Cut and hit people, he’s exempt from having to serve the years he committed to when joining the Army.  Not only is that somewhat unfair, I’m not sure Campbell could, in his good conscience, live with that. Heres how we make light out of the situation…

Anyone remember that San Antonio Spurs center nicknamed “The Admiral?” David Robinson, who attended the Naval Academy, served two years prior to entering the NBA. The reflection on the NBA was purely positive, having an athlete who served his country and then lived his dream of playing in the NBA. Can’t this same thing happen for Campbell? How incredible would the story be if Campbell, after serving his two years in the Army, came back to the NFL and became a star. The situation sucks, and the timing was awful, but this could turn out to be a great thing for both the Army and the NFL.