I don’t know if you noticed this weekend but Jets coach Rex Ryan attended an MMA show in Miami.  While the fighters were throwing kicks, punches, elbows, wrestling moves, and anything else they could – Rex Ryan was throwing the bird to Miami Dolphin admirers.  That was probably the cleanest punch all night!  While Herschel Walker was making is MMA debut, it was Sexy Rexy that took all the headlines and I’m sure his old man Buddy was probably proud that his son could overshadow all of the activities going on during the Super Bowl weekend to make the front page of the New York papers.

What I’m getting tired of is the “apologies” that go along with this activity.  Bud Adams, owner of the Tennessee Titans was fined $250K for dropping the bird on fans looking into his suite and I’m sure Rex will get some type of financial punishment.  I wish the Pro Bowl would have been as defensive as people are that get caught on camera flipping the bird – maybe only 60 points would have been scored in the game.  Somebody should be fined for allowing that “game” to continue if you ask me!  If you want to impress me, drop your drawers and bring out the full moon – that would be a true expression of heart felt feelings!  From an athletic apparel standpoint, I see a line of tees that could be named flying the bird and have images of famous sports personalities that “get caught” doing so – extend the line and make them moon on the shirts as well with a little creative license.  It will be expensive to inventory since this happens about 2-4 times per month but who wouldn’t love the smiling Rex flipping off the fans on a tee?  I’d love one and I’m giving this idea out free to some entrepreneur – please buy me a beer when you make the first million off the idea!

While on the subject  MMA, they do an awesome job of creating athletic apparel and have launched several brands of clothing.  I recently saw a sneak preview of the tee that a fighter would be wearing about a month prior to a fight.  While these human cockfighters might take significant punishment to the head, they are a thinking man’s warrior to cash in on their short fighting lives in their sport.  This article is not meant to be an advertisement for anyone, I found several interesting MMA inspired brands on  http://shopbeenvied.com/ and they’ve been great to deal with when I’ve placed orders.

Is anyone else tired of people having to apologize for flipping the bird like I am?  We have bigger issues in the world, or even in football with concussions and labor strife so I think we can put this little gesture aside.  Sound off!

I’m a big George Carlin fan and love so many of his comedy routines.  However, one of my favorite one liners from him was “vuja de” – which is the feeling that somehow NONE OF THIS has happened before.  Of course, this doesn’t apply to Brett Favre and his interception at the end of the game – just ask Corey Webster of the Giants.  If vuja de applies, it would have to be that Favre was on the road this time and was at home in Lambeau last time but since he grew up in Saints country, even that doesn’t apply.

If we sold football jerseys here, I would immediately begin selling a Saints jersey with Favre’s name and his number on it in honor of that interception that killed the Vikes chances to win the game last night?  How awesome would it be to see the Super Bowl stadium in Miami filled with #4 Favre SAINTS jerseys – that would be classic!  Maybe that throw was a late charitable donation to the Katrina relief fund.

Seconds away from taking another team to the Super Bowl at the age of 40, assuming a kicker actually makes a kick, Favre makes the most fundamental mistake any qb can make – throwing late over the middle and it costs him and the Vikes a potentially fairy tale end to a career.  Now, this deja vu moment means enormous doses of psychotropic drugs for Favre and Viking fans – that and listening to Green Bay Packer fans laughing their ginormous backsides off at the Vikes for all of the trash talking that happened this year.  The Vikes sure are thankful for Buffalo Bill fans to have others to commiserate with.

So where does Favre go from here?  We all know the first step is months of endless speculation about coming back or retiring which means blah blah blah.  However, what goes on inside Favre’s head?  Athletes have the great power of amnesia to forget bad plays – good luck this time.  The carbon copy of the previous horrible play could be the beginning of Brett Favre starring in a lifetime of Grumpier Old Men with Brett mumbling about the games that got away.  Call him the reverse Al Bundy!  Good thing he lives in rural Mississippi or we would have tmz cameras capturing him wandering the streets grumbling about those games.  I guess what it comes down to is: does Favre have the passion to play another season after the beating he took last night and does he has mental “stones” to be able to put this behind him?  My opinion is if he comes back, he will try to win the Super Bowl every week next season and that will only double down on stupidity – he could throw as many interceptions as Jay Cutler!  I wish him well and it will be fun to watch.  What do you think?  Will Favre come back and how will it go if he does?  Please comment and lets have some fun.

Gotta love the bad economy!  While unemployment is over 10% and the forecast is for further job losses, I found some advertising for playoff tickets incredible today.  In fact, the popular website I often check for super bowl tickets showed you can grab a “cheap” seat for about $2,000 and lower level tickets for around $10,000 – I wonder what parking costs?  A good thing the Pro Bowl will be played a week before the super bowl so that you can just stick around after that game to catch the big one.  If you chose to buy a football jersey, that will set you back another couple hundred – although I’ve seen some low cost football jerseys on various sites on the web.  Stay tuned!

So the question is, how do I get the money to get to the super bowl to see  your team play.  If you live in New Orleans, you could probably stop by ACORN’s office and see if there are any way they could generate a charitable donation to you.  If you live in Minnesota, you could probably call the social security office, tell them you are Brett Favre, and that you need to start collecting your pension since you’ve hit the mandatory age where you must begin collecting payments.  If you live in Indy, maybe Direct TV will provide free cable for 10 years so that you can go.  Finally, if you live in the big city, I recommend the Tony Soprano if he didn’t meet his maker in the last episode when the music started and the scene faded to black.

What happens when the Vikes play the Colts in the Super Bowl – does AARP sign Favre to sell their new national health care policies?  Do they begin to wear #4 football jerseys and forget why they have them on?  Since the game will be played in Miami, will we be able to tell Favre apart from all of the senior citizens that already live there?  Buy your Super Bowl Tickets and NFL jerseys now before they sell out – however you pay for them!

While the jury might be out on what Brett Favre can still do on the field, one thing there is no doubt about is that he is a one man economic stimulus package for the Twin Cities!  While Brett is going to cost the Vikings about $12 million this season for the contract he signed, he immediately generated $2-3 million yesterday for the team in the sales of new season tickets and individual game tickets – sales that will continue to increase for the next several weeks before we even know if the risky addition is even going to work out.  Since people that attend football games spend money on food and drink, that probably adds another million dollars to the value.  When sales for his football jerseys are included, that revenue range increases another $2-$5 million in sales.  High five to the apparel company that launches the half Packer / half Viking football jersey because even that will sell.  While the Vikings don’t receive an immediate financial benefit, the TV ratings for the remaining pre-season games will be record breaking – a bonanza for the local tv affiliate that is lucky enough to carry the games.  It is hard to believe but the Minnesota Vikings immediately broke even on a $10 million dollar contract on day 1 in a terrible economy!

Speaking of green, Favre used to play for a team that wore the color and I’m not talking about the New York Jets.  It just so happens that I was up in Wisconsin this past weekend and I was surprised by how Packer fans felt about Favre joining the Vikings.  In a word, indifferent.  Packer fans are conspiracy theorists and I was surprised to hear they still expected Favre to join the Vikes – probably in week 4 or so.  Silly me, I thought this whole soap opera was done because he couldn’t stop working out for a couple of weeks and then play in the NFL at the age of 40 – could he?  I think the main reason that people are indifferent in the land of cheese is that Aaron Rodgers had a very respectable first season leading the team and this season is supposed to a playoff one that could lead to a Super Bowl in a very wide open NFC.  I’m sure the reaction would be significantly different if the Packers were headed into a terrible season but the other factor is time.  This saga has dragged on for about 2 years and Packer fans are tired of it – just get on with it is their view and I agree.

So how will Brett Favre do as the qb of the Minnesota Vikings?  While it appears he still might have most of his trademark “fastball” based on videos of him practicing in Mississippi, he does have a slight tear in his rotator cuff that will cut the velocity down a bit.  Likewise that shoulder pain, among the others boo boos that will develop over the season, will serve as a reminder that he is old enough that the dead sea was only sick when he entered the NFL.  His gunslinger approach isn’t necessary on a team with the most talented running back in the league AP.

All of these factors, it is easy to make a case for Super Bowl success or flaming failure.  I think it will be a little of both in a tale of two cities story.  I think Favre will have early season success with the Vikes and they will get off to a fast start.  However, I think Favre will become a victim of something he has never succumbed to – a season ending injury which will mean the Vikings will need to fall back on the 3 seemingly nameless qb’s not good enough for the team to chase an old man living a 1,000 miles south of their team facilities.  I’ve previously written a blog that has the thought is a tree fell in the woods (meaning Tiger being out injured) and nobody was around, would it make noise.  In this case, the Favre tree is a redwood and the noise will reverberate throughout the NFL – stay tuned for the next chapter in this story.