According to my Nonna...

Derek Anderson, or D.A. as the local Cleveland announcers apparently are calling him...still looks quite hesitant. And Cleveland still can't throw a touchdown in the redzone, but beggers can't be choosers and if the Browns are winning, I won't complain (too much).

Brett Favre: A Study in Narcissism

And just when we thought we were going to finally have a season free from the incessant and vapid Brett Favre discussions, Favre did it to us again and un-retired to play with Minnesota.

While Gene Wojciechowski writes in the column linked to above that Green Bay didn't want Favre, I don't believe that's entirely accurate. They just didn't want it to be ALL about Favre. But Favre is a narcissist and he doesn't love football nearly as much as he loves hearing and talking about himself.

Then there's the matter of Wojciecowski's comparison of Favre to Fredo Corleone:

...the nanosecond he signed that two-year, $25 million contract with the Vikings was the nanosecond he burned the last few remaining wooden bridges between him and Packers fans. He became Fredo Corleone in "The Godfather: Part II" -- the one who betrays the family. Packers fans became Michael Corleone, who tells his older brother, "Fredo, you're nothing to me now."

Fredo got popped on a fishing boat in the middle of Lake Tahoe. Favre could get his on national television in the middle of the Metrodome. Or he could lead the team with the league's best running back and one of the league's best defensive lines to Super Bowl XLIV.

But that's not exactly an accurate or fair comparison for Favre. Fredo was always an idiot--never the chosen son--so for him to end up dead in a lake at the end of it all wasn't just somewhat expected, it was also a relief. Favre may have betrayed his team, but he's with another family now that will at least attempt to protect him. Fredo never left his family (on his own accord at least). But the Favre situation is nothing like the mafia. It's more like a guy stringing his girlfriend along at the end of the relationship. The guy, let's call him Brett, can't decide whether or not he wants to be in a relationship and finally the girl, who we'll call Cheesy, has had enough. She moves on and starts dating Aaron, despite the fact that she still loves Brett and would want to be with him. However, that's when Brett decides he can actually be in a relationship and ends up dating someone else seriously for a year. They break up and instead of taking time to be by himself and do the spiritual and emotional healing he so desperately needs, he jumps into bed with Cheesy's sister and they start dating! And if women ran the mafia, he would have ended up dead in a lake at the end also.

Speaking of women, the ladies of A Girl's Fantasy feel that the showdown at the Metrodome isn't necessarily going to happen. They're sensing a season-ending-injury on the horizon.

MNF Reborn

I don't know if anyone else had a chance to watch the Carolina Panthers @ NY Giants pre-season game tonight, but if you didn't, you missed out on Jon Gruden's refreshing debut in the booth. The more he speaks the happier I am. He even keeps the discussions on point by not talking about non-football topics, which I don't want to hear from the guys in the booth (including non-football topics disguised as football-related topics). He may not be the hottest head football coach anymore, but he's definitely the hottest broadcaster. This is the best thing that's happened to me all summer (and no don't take that personally because I'm not including that).

The Rick Pitino Saga: Blonde Devils takes a break from tanning to comment

Sex: the act of sexual intercourse (...between two people who know each other really well?)

According to ESPN's article on the Rick Pitino saga by Jemele Hill, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino should resign. She wonders:

How can parents trust Pitino to guide their son correctly after reading he had sex with a woman he barely knew?

What?!?

So, I'm just confused a teeny bit on the subject (seriously, ESPN, seriously). Is having sex with someone you barely know now considered immoral and unethical? Don't get me wrong, I agree that in Pitino's case it constituted cheating, but that's a direct quote above--she's not even talking about cheating. I'm also curious as to how in the name of all that is holy that recruiting trips fall under the category or moral and ethical? Jemele further suggests that paying for an abortion and calling it "health insurance" is somehow reprehensible.

Pitino should resign. Spare his university further embarrassment. Spare his family continued humiliation. Save himself from being questioned by unsure parents who, when sizing up Pitino, will wonder whether they really want to entrust the care of their son to a man who, according to some reports, forked over $3,000 to Sypher for an abortion. Oops, I mean "health insurance."

First, I like that he isn't confirming whether or not this woman had an abortion because it's not his business to share. And second, that's absolutely what their sons should be learning to do! Could you imagine how wonderful it would be if these boys actually were taught to take responsibility and pay for their mistakes? That should be the first thing they learn at college: if you get a girl pregnant because you're too stupid to wear a condom, you better pay for it. Which brings me to my final point, and the real issue which ESPN completely misses here. The concern shouldn't be that Pitino stepped up and potentially paid for to fix a problem he caused, but why oh why was he not wearing a condom? I would expect most Kentucky restaurants come equipped with condom machines in their bathrooms (sorry for the joke, Kentucky, but I couldn't resist), which would have been very convenient given Pitino's preferences. It is one thing to have sex with someone you barely know (again, according to Jemele most of us are going to hell), but doing it in a restaurant bathroom (yuck) without a condom is just completely irresponsible. (I realize that if you're a guy you're probably a little confused by my previous sentence, so please just ignore the logic as you usually do and proceed to the next paragraph.)

Jemele does make an excellent point though when she observes that if Pitino "were a .500 coach with no titles or just another University employee, he'd be gone already." She's right. But the question is, do these schools and communities really care about the morality of their coaches or is it just business? Perhaps these morality clauses are just a "Get Out of Contract Free Card" for schools. Does anyone really care if Rick Pitino cheats on his wife? The problem lies not in the school or the person, but in society.

The idea many people have is that if you have the opportunity you take it. But they should keep in mind that the opportunists will do the same (see example, Ben Roethlisberger). And perhaps it's not a morality issue at all, but an intelligence one. Maybe we need smarter sports/public figures? And maybe these men/people should just stop getting married and committing themselves in relationships if they don't want to commit themselves in relationships. I know, rocket science...

And finally, I would like to point out that the most sympathetic character in this entire saga, Rick Pitino's wife, is only going to suffer if her husband loses his job. The reason for sticking it out through these ordeals is to reap the benefits of the IFU gift (i.e., I f-ed up and I still love you and more importantly, this costs an entire year's salary so I'm hoping you'll forgive me). Yes, I know that's not the only reason, but my point is that she and her children all suffer if the main income-earner in the household is out of a job.

In the end, not only is this entire saga ridiculous, but what Pitino did was stupid and mean to his family and the fact that we're even discussing this (whether you're Louisville, Karen Cunagin Sypher or Rick Pitino) is all about money. Because there are so many more important issues in the world than where Rick Pitino likes to ejaculate.