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Shanoff’s Wake-Up Call: Favre to Vikings (?!?!)

Aug 4, 2008, 12:55 PM UTC

Today’s Calls: Brett Favre vs. Ari Fleischer, Manny Ramirez vs. Mark Cuban, CC Sabathia vs. Francisco Lirianoâ†µâ†µThe Opening Pitch: Brett Favre is back, effective 1 p.m. today.â†µ

â†µâ†µGreen Bay president Mark Murphy says the team will turn this into its advantage. I am no ex-White House PR spinner, but I’m not quite sure how trading Favre to the Packers’ biggest rival creates any “advantage.”â†µ

â†µâ†µFirst, there were reports that the Packers would let Favre compete for the starting job; that seemed reasonable. Now, there’s a report that they let the Vikings know Favre is available for trade.â†µ

â†µâ†µWhaaa?!?! How did we go from a $20M hush money offer to trading him to the Cheeseheads’ enemy?â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Packers have bungled this thing all the way through and now they seem on the verge of making the biggest mistake yet.â†µ

â†µâ†µ(The Vikings, of course, would be insane not to pursue this quickly, before popular sentiment in Wisconsin forces the Packers’ “brain trust” — ha! — to reconsider.)â†µ

â†µâ†µFavre on the Vikings? Great for Favre. Great for Vikings fans. Great for the media. For Packers fans? There is no way to spin this: It is a worst-case scenario.â†µ

â†µâ†µIf you thought the circus was in town last week, amazingly, you haven’t seen anything yet.â†µ

â†µ

â†µAL Central Awesomeness: While the White Sox were losing the AL Central lead by losing to the Royals in a game filled with bench-clearing, Ozzie-freaking insanity, the Twins were taking over, thanks to Francisco Liriano's first win in two years.â†µ

â†µâ†µCC for Cy? How about Manny for MVP? Not crazy: Manny is 8-for-13 with 2 HRs and 5 RBIs in his first three games, including taking 2 of 3 from division rival Arizona. I’m so starting this bandwagon.â†µ

â†µâ†µ(Meanwhile, yes, CC for Cy is totally back on.)â†µ

â†µâ†µRays Bandwagon: You can keep the Manny drama and the Yankees surge and the Angels’ run and even the Cubs’ dreaming — the best story in baseball remains the Rays, who tied their win total for all of ‘07.â†µ

â†µâ†µMark Cuban bid $1.3 billion for the Cubs: It was the highest offer; he REALLY wants to own this team. I’m sure Sam Zell is happy to sell at that price; is MLB willing to take him on? Well, they should be.â†µ

â†µâ†µR.I.P, Skip Carey: Condolences to family, friends and fans of the longtime Braves announcer.â†µ

â†µâ†µNFL Preseason: There are two distinct ways to think about exhibitions: Ignoring it or reading way too much into it. Guess which way I go? And off we go. ...â†µ

â†µâ†µRedskins top Colts in preseason opener: No Manning? No Sanders? No Freeney? No Harrison? No Jason Taylor? No Portis? Yes, but the Redskins had rookie QB Colt Brennan, who threw 2 TDs to give Jim Zorn a winning coaching debut, if you take the most liberal definition of “winning” and “debut.”â†µ

â†µâ†µNFL Camping: Steve Smith suspended 2 games. And not two exhibitions, either (which would have been totally reasonable) — the first two regular-season games, against the Chargers and Bears. The question now: Does Smith’s Top 20 fantasy stock drop with two fewer games of productivity?â†µ

â†µâ†µNFL Injury Watch: Four words any Chiefs fan should dread hearing: “Glenn Dorsey knee injury.”â†µ

â†µâ†µUSA Oops: We saw a preview of the scenario for why the USA should recapture the gold — Kobe delivering when the team needed it most. (Don’t be confused: More cohesion, more LeBron/Wade/Melo, more determination ... all secondary. Kobe is Team USA’s X-factor.)â†µ

â†µâ†µCFB: The Reggie Bush lawsuit will be in open court? Presuming the NCAA books its seat for the front row, I still think USC can kiss off its 2004 national title — and Vince Young can start clearing his mantle for a Heisman.â†µ

â†µâ†µSports Media: The Erin Andrews story extends to another day, courtesy of Michael Rand at RandBall.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Last Word: Where was Steve Spurrier’s annual preseason coaches Top 25 tradition of voting Duke No. 25? Apparently, the American Football Coaches’ Association executive director told him it eroded the integrity of the poll.â†µ

â†µâ†µMy response was wondering if Grant Teaff was so concerned about poll integrity, he would be publishing who voted for whom, every week, starting with this preseason poll.â†µ

â†µâ†µ(h/t: Gainesville Sun)â†µ

â†µâ†µDan Shanoff writes The Wake-Up Call every weekday morning for SportingNews.com and blogs daily at DanShanoff.com. Got any comments, questions or feedback? Email Dan at shanofftsn-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com.â†µ

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