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The football equivalent of “the Day to the Music Died” is fast upon Packer Nation:  a date after which things will never be the same for the Green Bay Packers will likely come this very week.  It can no longer be avoided.

As it has for many residents of this part of the country, scarcely hours have gone by for me without discussing/scanning internet for updates about the Packers future Hall of Fame QB since news of Brett Favre’s July 12 letter to the Green Bay Packers asking for his outright release broke.  Probably well before then also.

Since 2005 I have privately wanted Favre to retire before his skills diminished and before the team ‘held on too long’ to trying to win with him, for fear of the franchise to its pre-Favre malaise.  I made arrangements to go to a game each of the past three seasons saying in the back of my mind “this could be my last chance to see Brett play in person”.  I anticipated a furor over Favre’s eventual departure and even privately suggested to pals that Bob Harlan, the best PR and community relations man the Packers have ever had, should use his considerable standing in the organization to convince Favre that 2007 should be his final season, for the good of the organization, on his way out.  Harlan’s not a meddler though, and while he’s taken quite a few for the team,  he doesn’t fly suicide missions or do anyone’s dirty work.

Last summer I figured this would end quietly.  I was wrong on many fronts. I predicted the 2007 Packers would take a step backward after making progress in 2006 under Mike McCarthy, and that might be enough to send Favre off into the sunset .  I underestimated McCarthy as a coach, figuring he’d be someone who’d have to overachieve to succeed while the Packers went through the painful process of rebuilding, who could be jettisoned after giving the team more time to ‘get younger’.  I underestimated Ted Thompson’s ability to get the team going back in a positive direction in with astute personnel moves, drafting and contract decisions. One 4-12 season, that’s quite a fast ‘rebuild’   I underestimated Brett Favre.  Set that final unfortunate poorly thrown out pattern of the season aside.  What Favre did in 2007 was remarkable.  If not for Tom Brady, he has a fourth NFL MVP trophy in his den. I quickly went from wanting him to retire to saying “no doubt Brett comes back in 2008″.

Whatever window of opportunity there was for Favre to change his mind about playing in Green Bay AND for McCarthy and Thompson to take him back, that window has closed. 

Whatever hope Thompson and McCarthy had that Brett would change his mind and stay retired, appears false, judging by Favre’s sentiments as reported by the Chris Mortensons and Greta Van Susterens of the world.   They risk distracting the team members they DID choose if they let this continue.

Whatever chance Brett had of returning to the Packers with his otherworldly perception undented in the minds of Packer Nation disappeared when they heard his words convey that while team is important, sometimes he has to do what’s best for him first, and even he gets angry and blames others  when things don’t go his way.  He’s human.  If this drags on, he might become something worse in Packer Nation’s mind.

It’s time to end this thing.  Ted, please make the best deal possible to trade Brett, and if that can’t be done, release him.  I will do my best to support your decision and Brett’s decision to play again elsewhere.  .  . neither will be easy for me.

The time for win-wins for both parties or for one to be shown a clear winner has passed.  Ted Mike and Brett have each done great things and  I’m certain all three will look back in time and see how they might have done better in instances where they EACH made mistakes. Now they want different things. Packers may hold the cards, and yet Brett signals he will not sit quietly if they wish to keep him from playing.  So be it.

I was never fond of the concept that the Packers “owe” Brett his release.  Ted Thompson unapologetically pursued the course he feels is best for the Packers, and I applaud him for not wanting Favre to go to a division rival.  Given the  course things have taken, Thompson risks letting things drift quickly from an ‘agreement to disagree’ to becoming the guy who made Brett Favre–sure fire Hall of Famer– a martyr by refusing to trade or release him while teams interested still had time to fully consider adding Favre to their squad.  He still risks criticism should Favre outplay Rodgers in Favre’s new location:  my sense is sitting on Favre and endangering Favre’s long-term relationship with the franchise is now a risk too great to go unheeded.

I do not think of this in terms of owing Brett.  I think of it in terms of ‘first loss is the least loss’ in terms of Thompson not throwing more of his good political capital after that already questionably invested.  You’ve made your point:  you run the franchise.  Now let’s finish this and move on.

Cliff Christl said it well:  Thompson should be willing to have the courage of his convictions and give Favre the chance to play, even if that means in Minnesota.  How interesting that we fear Favre going to Minnesota or Chicago more than anything.  My ex soon ended up with someone I had already met and known after she and I parted company.  It was going to be painful seeing her with someone else no matter who it was when she found love again.  It did hurt a little more that she went to someone familiar.  Still I could not live in fear of what might happen after she left.  I eventually had to let go of that which was long familiar, so I could eventually have hope for what was next.

I’m tired of this thing, Ted.  I don’t want to hear FOX News’ (kudos to Tom Breuer and Joseph Minton Amann with their tome ’Fair and Balanced,My Ass!’) Greta Van Susteren has been in Wisconsin again until her next high school reunion, Brett. 

Make the deal now , before either side says or does something more each is sure to regret.  Many other Packer greats forgave and made up with the franchise after suffering employment indignities greater than those Favre has been subjected to (Bart Starr).  I won’t be ready for Brett’s jersey to be retired on September 8. The thought of Lambeau’s reaction to Favre in Viking purple horrifies me.   Still, if he moves on now, the chances are best that he, the Packers and Packer Nation will be ready much sooner than if this drags on. 

Here’s a good idea, Wisconsin voters:  don’t decide who to vote for in a Wisconsin Supreme Court election by watching  TV ads alone.  This is the 2nd straight election in consecutive years in WI where ads on TV airwaves featured primarily ads promoting why NOT to vote for a particular candidate rather than why one should vote for a particular candidate. 

 I’m hardly a wonk for issues before the Wisconsin State Supreme Court, and I know current justice Annette Ziegler (elected ‘07)  did not recuse herself (before election to Supreme Court) in 11 cases involving a bank for which her husband was on the board.  Her opponent Linda Clifford made sure I knew by turning on the TV and watching ads against Ziegler.  She had a point:  the State ethics board found that Ziegler’s conduct–while it didn’t ”benefit her personally” from any of the cases –merited a $5000 fine and a public reprimand, and a “here’s a good idea what not to do” finger-wagging for elected judges statewide.  I don’t know why Clifford didn’t spend more money on TV pitching why she’d be better than Ziegler.  Perhaps she didn’t have much cash and wanted bang for the buck.  Ziegler hardly took the high road herself . .  . my summary recollection of her campaign was a) ‘at least I’m a judge’ and b) unspecific anti-liberal blather which has come to mean nothing for me because it’s been invoked so much for well over two decades as to be rendered without meaning in Wisconsin and national campaigns.  Issues please, people, issues!

Turn the clock ahead to 2008:  TV ads for Michael Gableman and incumbent Louis Butler  suggested that if each’s opponent is elected, the result would be repeal of the rule of law and emptying of prisons and jails, leaving us poor citizens defenseless against criminals’ mayhem.  Wisconsin’s courts are hardly at risk in this regard, and WI continues to be mentioned as a state with a consistently high incarceration rate, especially for black males. 

Maybe the message for me is “turn off the TV and read something” if I want to be better informed.  Still why wouldn’t a candidate want to say more about why he/she SHOULD be a judge as to why his/her opponent SHOULDN’T?  It appears to me they’re figuring the average person will not spend much time on their campaign.   Perhaps they’re correct. Thus if voters’ collective attention can be grabbed with pithy ads painting an opponent as satan, why not do it?

Because that approach makes me sick.  Because I’m a civics class nerd who cares and thinks it’s important to vote, and such campaigning makes people LESS likely to vote.  Because I respect the willingness of individuals of all political stripes who make time in hectic modern life for public service and I want my intelligence to receive like respect from candidates running for office. 

A friend of Russian descent recently ended a decade-long wait to become a US Citizen and is now a fellow American as of March 26.  I wonder what he thinks of his first State election he’ll vote in as a citizen. I hope he’s counting on more than TV to frame the issues for him re the Wisconsin State Supreme Court .

This kind of campaigning doesn’t make me particularly proud to be an American.  I’ll give Justice Butler, who I’ve seen speak and I tend to like, a bit of late credit for touting some of his own credentials and getting Sen. Herb Kohl on the stump for him in late-running ads (apparently Butler isn’t concerned about invoking the wrath of the 17 hard-core Milwaukee Bucks fans still in residence in the state).  Still, Justice Butler, why let it get so late before “going positive”?  If the ads against Gableman weren’t yours, the public will still think they are yours unless you take action. 

Better late than never, but I still prefer sooner.  I don’t want to buy the idea ”going narrow” is how it’s done”.

For all three of you who care, here are my baseball predictions for 2008:

 AL West:  Angels, Mariners, A’s, Rangers.   It’ll be close, but the curse of Richie Sexson will keep the M’s from breaking thru to win a division title.

 AL Central:  Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Twins, Royals.   Tigers have too much offense. Indians are loaded but will come up just short of a division title. 

 AL East:  RedSox, Yankees, Jays, Rays, O’s.  It’ll be close but Yanks won’t have enough pitching at the end. Let’s hear it for Hank Steinbrenner coming in and throwing some gas on the fire in the Sox/Yanks rivalry.  Apparently I’ve been brainwashed by all the Sox fans at ESPN.   Blue Jays will be closer to the action than many expect this year.  O’s since you’re leaving Ft Lauderdale spring training complex for Dodgertown, I’m putting my hex on you, though you won’t need much help.

 So I’m predicting three chilling divisional races in the AL.  This could be the best season ever!

 AL WildCard:  Indians

AL Champ:  Tigers

NL West:    D-backs, Dodgers, Rockies, Padres, Giants.   Any of the top four could win division, and things went just a little too perfectly for Colorado last year.  Everyone sees them coming this year.  I’m not buying the Dodgers hype.

NL East:  Phillies, Mets, Braves, Marlins, Nats.  It was tempting to pick the Braves.  Picking the Mets not to win this division might be wishful thinking of the fan of another NL team.

 NL Central:  Cubs, Reds, Brewers, Cards, Astros, Pirates.  It was bold to pick the Brewers last year, and I turn into a complete homer if I pick them again.   Reds young arms (Cueto, Bailey, Volquez teamed with Arroyo and Harang) scare the crap out of me.  Besides, did I tell you my predictions usually stink??  I hope I’m wrong about this division.  Here, I’ll say Soto and Fukudome make the difference in the veteran Cubs free-swinging offense.

NL Wild Card: Mets

NL Champ:  Mets

World Series champs:  Tigers in 7

New season begins

Awful bumbling century

Make it 1-0-1

All the best to the Wrigley Field grounds crew getting that soggy field ready tomorrow.  Miller Park grounds crew has scheduled a poker game, a long lunch and then a nap for Monday.  C’mon, Miller Park Cub games might as well be Cubs home games anyway, how about heading north?  No?? Then look for a rainout in CHI and trying again on Tuesday, April 1st– B

On Feb 26 I fly to SE Florida for my fifth annual Grapefruit League junket with my baseball buddy and host Bill. Between walking to the beach to swim and inspect unsold hi-rise condos, and hanging out at the pool reading newspapers and other mind candy, we’ll get to 3-4 games and remember the joy of being at the ballpark on a sunny day in winter. Although with no Raffy Palmeiro, Miguel Tejada or Sammy Sosa in Orioles camp, I don’t know who will be the target of any snide fan taunts, aside from the occasional Bronx native who tries to start a “Let’s go Yankees” chant.

So Bud Selig agrees to extend his contract as commissioner of MLB til 2014. No doubt the owners want Bud stay around to deal with the residue from the steroid era and negotiate the next collective bargaining agreement with the players in 2011, and take the rap for whatever goes poorly him when he goes. Besides, if I’m Don Fehr and I know Bud is leaving next summer, I might want to stall on doing anything more about performance enhancers, and eagerly await the chance to Jedi-mind trick a new commissioner about the next labor deal.

Occasionally I’m asked whether the whole steroid/HGH flap has diminished my enthusiasm for MLB. I must say it hasn’t. Maybe if I had a kid who was really into baseball and were faced with discussing the kid’s questions about why these guys cheated, I’d feel more conflicted. Perhaps if my team hadn’t just come off its first winning season in 15 years and weren’t a favorite to end a 26 year playoff drought I might get to fewer games.

How I feel about a player when he played and how he handles allegations that he used in public affect how I view a player. I’m less worried about whether Roger Clemens used steroids than I am about how non-believable and jerky he’s been on this whole thing since the Mitchell Report was issued. He threw the following short list of people under the bus while trying to defend himself: his trainer, two of his teammates, his team doctor, his wife, his agent and his handlers, the players association, Sen Mitchell himself. He also interrupted the closing statement of the chairman of a Congressional committee during his closing statement, secretly taped phone conversations with his former trainer trying to trap him, sucked up to members of Congress on the committee before his hearing by signing autographs for them, and refused to take any responsibility for anything that has happened during his career that didn’t go according to plan. I didn’t like him before, and I like him less now. Even if he is clean, I’d advise against suggesting that either kids or adults emulate Roger Clemens.

Still, there’s enough blame to go around. Shame on MLB for needing Congress to have a session to try to get to the bottom of a single performance enhancing substance case. Shame on the Players Union for telling players to stonewall the Mitchell Commission (advice for which Clemens is paying a huge price, but he doesn’t even own up to that). Shame on Congress for turning the hearing into a partisan bickering session. I’ll close with a few good Jayson Stark quotes: 1) “Maybe Republicans automatically gravitate toward the wealthy and famous” Republicans were very soft on Clemens) and 2) “why didn’t anyone ask what Clemens was thinking when he threw that shard of broken bat at Mike Piazza in the 2000 World Series??

After reading dozens of my rants on email about baseball, politics, current events, the economy, whatever, a friend suggested organizing a blog for the benefit of the handful of interested parties who’d appreciate not being bombarded with my opinions until they want to see them.  So please, friends, take me off your spam blocker lists!!