General

Shanoff’s W.U.C.: Favre, LeBron, Royals, Ovie

May 6, 2009, 12:12 PM UTC

Today’s Calls: Brett Favre vs. Brad Childress, LeBron vs. MVP, Nuggets vs. Mavs, Dodgers vs. Royals, Joba Chamberlain vs. Rick Porcello, Alexander Ovechkin vs. Sidney Crosby, Tony Dungy vs. Michael Vick and More. â†µâ†µThe Opening Pitch: Come back, Brett!â†µ

â†µâ†µIt’s not because I’m a Favre fan — in fact, I’m squarely in the “Favre-hater” group. And it’s not because I want to torture myself — or anyone else — with non-stop Favre mania you know would accompany his return. (See the coverage of his meeting with Brad Childress.)â†µ

â†µâ†µBut there is a huge difference between Favre returning as a mercenary for the Jets and Favre returning for his old team’s biggest rival, a team so desperate for a decent quarterback that they would take a retired 40-year-old chucker with a bad wing over their weak incumbent Tarvaris Jackson or iffy import Sage Rosenfels.â†µ

â†µâ†µIt becomes infinitely more dramatic: Every game Favre would play for the Vikings would be a dagger to Packers fans. You know: The ones who have a Favre jersey framed in their living room or who named their kids “Brett.”â†µ

â†µâ†µMy goal in all this is to see Packers fans finally turn on their franchise’s greatest hero — to see him, once and for all, as the self-obsessed diva that he really is, something that fans across the rest of the league have known all along.â†µ

â†µâ†µSimultaneously, you will see Vikings fans — previously loathing Favre as much as anyone — contort themselves into unimaginable shapes to justify now rooting for him. “But he’s OUR Favre now!” When he forces a season-ending interception and the one-year experiment is over, they will realize the deal they made.â†µ

â†µâ†µFans elsewhere can sit back and watch one of the great NFL rivalries turn otherwise amazing and loyal fans into soulless shells of their former selves. (Interesting, right?)â†µ

â†µâ†µUnable to resist the drama, Favre is SO coming back. â†µ

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â†µâ†µNBA: Who’s your MVP? No question, it’s LeBron — his first of what presumably is many, many MVP awards. But all the individual awards are meaningless if he doesn’t win a ring. He is much closer to that goal after his Cavs obliterated the weary, overmatched Hawks.â†µ

â†µâ†µNuggets keep rolling: The numbers are against the Mavs. They are now down 0-2 to the Nuggets, and they are 0-6 against them for the season. The Nuggets have won 15 straight at home. Denver’s offense is clicking (Melo 25, Nene 25, Smith 21, Billups 18) and its bench is superior (Smith +27 and Andersen +24 vs. Terry -21 and Barea -18). Right now, this looks like no other Nuggets team ever, certainly in the playoffs.â†µ

â†µâ†µNBA Tonight: Weird as this sounds to say, the Lakers better beat the Rockets tonight in Game 2 — same goes for the Celtics.â†µ

â†µâ†µMLB Talking Points:â†µ

â†µâ†µ— Milestones: Dodgers start 12-0 at homeâ†µ

â†µâ†µ— Royals Bandwagon: Walk-off! (4th straight W)â†µ

â†µâ†µ— Yanks-Sox: Joba Ks 12; Yanks still loseâ†µ

â†µâ†µ— Rookie Watch: Tigers SP Rick Porcelloâ†µ

â†µâ†µ— Fantasy Stud: Shane Victorino (4-for-5, HR, 3 RBI, 3 R)â†µ

â†µâ†µNHL: Nationalization Hockey League? The NHL took control over the financially-strapped Coyotes. Here’s an idea: Sell them to a Russian oligarch, who will then relocate the team to a hockey-frenzied/hockey-starved region like Quebec. Problem solved.â†µ

â†µâ†µNHL Playoffs: Ovechkin-Crosby Round 3 — sorry, Caps-Pens Game 3 — is a must-see tonight, after the double-hatter this weekend. In Ovie, we are watching the best player in the league at what might be the top of his game. â†µ

â†µâ†µ(In the series you might not be watching closely, the Canucks went up 2-1 on the Blackhawks and the Ducks went up 2-1 on the Red Wings.)â†µ

â†µâ†µVick Watch: Michael Vick met with Tony Dungy at Leavenworth, and I doubt they were talking about the Wildcat formation. This was all about Vick expressing enough remorse that Dungy would be his reference for the hearing Vick will get with Roger Goodell about his reinstatement. As perhaps the most pious person in the NFL, Dungy and his evaluation will carry weight — with the Commish and with the public.â†µ

â†µâ†µCFB: Expand the Big Ten? Commish Jim Delany says no. If JoePa is concerned the league’s season ends so early that they disappear from the national radar, the solution is simple: Re-jigger the schedule to include more bye weeks and have the final week of the conference’s season — including Ohio State-Michigan — on that first Saturday in December when the other leagues have their title games. Again: Problem solved.â†µ

â†µâ†µYankee Stadium Fun: If the team is going to charge absurd prices for tickets, the least they can do is have a consistent policy as it relates to rain-outs and letting fans back into the stadium after kicking them out.â†µ

â†µâ†µPolitics: Dave Bing, your new mayor of Detroit. The key to success in the office comes down to one thing: Don’t text your secret mistress.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Last Word: 6.99 million people watched Game 7 of Celtics-Bulls, making it the most-watched first-round NBA playoff game ever. (More remarkable, it topped the previous record — Game 6 a few nights earlier — by more than 30 percent.)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. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/danshanoff. â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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