TheCollegeFootballGirl.com has launched...

You can now find my college football thoughts and analysis at TheCollegeFootballGirl.com

The Cheerleading Debate Continues...

For those of you who witnessed (i.e., were subjected to) the Great Debate of senior year at Revere High School between Rob Walter and myself over whether or not cheerleading was a sport and are interested in the status of that debate, Rob has informed me that our argument has finally had it's day in court! The article is below and while the Judge ruled that cheerleading is NOT a college varsity sport, I must point out that the limiting word "college" in this decision means that my argument is weakened, but not completely defeated! I do admit that this is a setback for cheerleaders out there and the "sport" I ardently defended. But, as I'm sure none of you are surprised to hear, this debate is (still) not over yet!

CHEERLEADING NOT A COLLEGE VARSITY SPORT, JUDGE RULES

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Competitive cheerleading is too "underdeveloped" to qualify as a full-fledged sport for women under federal gender equality rules, and the university which proposed it discriminated against women, a federal judge in Connecticut ruled.

In the 95-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill said Quinnipiac University, located in Connecticut, had discriminated against women when it sought to eliminate the school's varsity volleyball team and create a competitive cheerleading squad in its stead.

Universities are mandated under a federal statute called Title IX modified in 1975 to provide equal opportunity for men and women in athletics programs.

"Quinnipiac discriminated on the basis of sex... by failing to provide equal athletic participation opportunities for women," Underhill said.

Plaintiffs' attorney Jonathan Orleans praised the ruling, saying in a statement "This is a victory not only for the student athletes and their coach, but for women's collegiate sports generally."

Connecticut ACLU executive director Andrew Schneider said the decision "gives force to the law that has opened doors for women over the last 30 years."

"The University's competitive cheerleading team does not qualify as a varsity sport for the purposes of Title IX and, therefore, its members may not be counted as athletic participants under the statute," the judge ruled.

While cheerleading may be recognized in the future, the judge said, "the activity is still too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic participation opportunities for students."

It’s Not Bad to Be Prince…Unless You’ve Been King

If anyone bothered to watch the presentation of the Miami Heat’s “new look,” besides witnessing something that looked eerily like the opening of a Jonas Brothers’ concert, you might have noticed Lebron James standing in a new position. For a man who has been the “center” of attention his entire career, he was now standing off to the side, specifically to Dwayne Wade’s right. Numerous examples, such as Destiny’s Child, the Three Tenors, the Chipmunks and the Supremes, demonstrate that that the one in the middle is the leader (Beyonce, Pavarotti, Alvin and Diana Ross) and the ones on the sides are in support roles. Welcome to Wade County Lebron, where you are no longer King. You are now just a helper there to acquire another championship for Miami, which will be quite an accomplishment since they haven’t done it in four entire years. I suppose 2006 was a really long time ago for some people, but if you’re in Cleveland you’ve been waiting for an NBA Championship since, um, 1970 when they first became a franchise. That’s 40 years--- a little more impressive than 4 for whoever can accomplish it. We know that person is NOT Lebron James. I’m not sure who will be able to do it, but since Lebron failed, can Cleveland really blame him for giving up?

Well, yes, they can. And I won’t even address the playoff series against the Boston Celtics this year where the fans concluded that the only possible explanation for the way Lebron played was that Delonte West must have been sleeping with his mom. But to return to my point, it was not so much for quitting, but for how he did it. Like Lebron, I grew up in Akron, Ohio. My parents’ house is in the neighborhood across the main street off of which Lebron lives. (I thought about toilet-papering his house but apparently there are too many cops outside). And like Lebron, I chose to leave. I love visiting Akron and think the people there are the best I’ve ever met, but it’s not the place for me to live. So I can’t blame him for wanting to experience a new city. However, James owed the town that made him King some respect. He could have politely and professionally sat down with Dan Gilbert and informed him of his decision. After everything that Gilbert has done for James over the years, I think that’s the least he could have done. Instead he made the type of presentation that hasn’t been seen since 2006 when high school quarterback Jimmy Clausen arrived at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend in a stretch hummer limousine to announce that he would be attending Notre Dame. Clausen paid for that one dearly with the media and to this day will still be remembered for that embarrassing spectacle he made of himself at age 18. As if Lebron James needed more attention in his life. But even if we give him leniency on account of his being a complete narcissist, I would still think that a 25 year-old “professional” athlete would behave more appropriately.

And just so you know Lebron, the people are the ones who made you King… and they can turn on you… and they can take it back. As far as Cleveland is concerned, you’ve lost your crown. You now live in a Kingdom ruled by King Wade and at best, you are his Prince.

225: Much More Than a Number

A Collaborative piece by R. McManis and S. T.

On February 7, 2010, a rookie named Austin Collie will take the field in Super Bowl XLIV. While he didn’t gain a significant amount of attention during the season, his 7 catches for 123 yards in the AFC Championship game helped propel the Colts over the Jets in the best game of his young career. Looking back on how a rookie like Collie ended up here, we decided to review his scouting report from last year. Mel Kiper Jr. described him as a good fourth receiving option for most teams given his knowledge of the game, smarts, and productivity. As the127th player taken in last April’s draft, he’s the only rookie wide receiver playing in the Super Bowl this year. But the true reason why we’re focusing on Collie isn’t his Super Bowl appearance, rather that his scouting report is almost identical to another player who is not playing in the NFL right now. We’ve listed their reports below:

Height-Weight Speed Ratio

Austin Collie: 3 - Falls within prototypical ranges for height and weight but lacks good top-end speed.

Player X: 3 - Below average for height and weight but has excellent top-end speed.

Durability

Austin Collie: 3 - Reported to 2008 fall camp with stress fracture below right knee and slowed by an ankle injury in 2007.

Player X: 2 - No injuries to date other than a minor procedure in April 2008.

Character

Austin Collie: 2 - Character doesn’t appear to be a concern. Solid worker. No off-the-field issues that we’re aware of at this point.

Player X: 2 - Excellent character. Significantly involved with the American Cancer Society. Solid worker. No off-the-field issues that we’re aware of at this point.

Separation Skills

Austin Collie: 2 - Footwork and savvy are excellent. Sinks hips, gears down quickly and does a nice job of getting shoulders turned around on comeback routes. Shows adequate burst off the line and coming out of cuts but lacks elite explosiveness and should have a harder time separating from man coverage at the NFL level.

Player X: 2 - Footwork and savvy are excellent. Sinks hips, gears down quickly and does a nice job of getting shoulders turned around on comeback routes. Shows adequate burst off the line and coming out of cuts. But will have a harder time separating from man coverage at the NFL level.

Ball Skills

Austin Collie: 3 - Shows above-average body control when the ball is in the air and can adjust to passes thrown to back shoulder. Inconsistent hands. Flashes ability to snatch ball out of air play but drops some passes that should catch and may have small hands. Let’s ball get to frame too much.

Player X: 3 - Shows above-average body control when the ball is in the air and can adjust to passes thrown to back shoulder. Legs are better than hands. Flashes ability to snatch ball out of air play but drops some passes that should catch and may have small hands. Let’s ball get to frame too much.

Vertical Speed

Austin Collie: 4 - Doesn’t show a second gear when tracking the ball downfield and isn’t going to run by many NFL corners.

Player X: 4 - Doesn’t show a second gear when tracking the ball downfield and isn’t going to run by many NFL corners.

Run After Catch

Austin Collie: 3 - Doesn’t pick up many yards after contact and appears to lack ideal lower body strength. Can make the first defender miss but lacks elite elusiveness and breakaway speed.

Player X: 3 - Doesn’t pick up many yards after contact (try none) and appears to lack ideal lower body strength. Can make the first defender miss but lacks elite elusiveness and breakaway speed.

Competitiveness and Toughness

Austin Collie: 3 - Isn’t afraid to go over the middle. Flashes ability to deliver violent initial punch and sustain blocks but effort as a blocker is inconsistent. Takes too long to slip press coverage and can get pushed around by bigger corners.

Player X: 3 - Isn’t afraid to go over the middle. Takes too long to slip press coverage and can get pushed around by bigger corners.

Draft Status

Austin Collie isn’t going to be much of a big-play threat at the NFL level and he needs to get stronger so he can hold his own working against bigger corners. In addition, he doesn’t catch the ball as well as his stats suggest. However, he’s a crisp route runner who is quick and big enough to develop into a productive sub-package receiver in time. As a result, Collie projects a mid-to-late round pick.

Player X Isn’t going to be much of a big-play threat at the NFL level and needs to get stronger to hold own working against bigger corners. However, a crisp route runner who is quick and under the right circumstances could develop into a productive sub-package receiver in time.

With scouting reports being so critical to evaluating NFL talent, how do we distinguish on paper between a player suited for the NFL and one who is not? This is where 225 comes into play. The 225 lb. bench press rep test is the only key element not touched upon in the above reports. And the difference between Collie and Player X’s results are astounding. While Collie had 17 reps, Player X couldn’t record a single rep. This simple bench press test is what tells us that Collie is an NFL player and Player X is actually Sarah Wells (aka “Kirsch”), a 35-year-old working mother more likely to catch chicken pox than a touchdown pass. And while Kirsch is a great athlete, played Division I Soccer and still plays and coaches the game, she is more importantly a woman who has to carry around a bag of rocks to keep herself firmly on the ground when it’s windy outside. This is why all of the elements of the NFL combine and the scouting reports are crucial. The 40 times may get all of the media attention, but we know that the real test is the bench press. We hope this sheds some light on the bench press rep test, especially for those of you who have questioned “why 225 lbs...isn’t that arbitrary?” Furthermore, on behalf of Kirsch’s family and friends, we just want to thank the 225 bench press rep test for keeping Kirsch safely out of the NFL.

One More Month of the Decade from Hell...and change is already in the air...

Last night was so good that it almost made me forget the Browns, the Irish, the Blonde Devils (lost by one point to Jailbait) and my Pick 'Em team at ESPN (bragging rights took a huge hit this weekend). And watching the Saints absolutely abuse the Patriots on Monday Night Football was perhaps a signal that change is coming. It couldn't have come sooner. This decade, this terrible decade, has seemingly belonged to Boston and I'm just happy it's over for more than one reason. Boston is the least of my problems.

And then there's what happened after the game. In my bed innocently watching the post-game press conference and all of the sudden I'm struck by a startling and horrific image on my pink television. Tom Brady looks bad. Awful. This opinion is confirmed moments later when I received a text message from Jailbait (who watched the game no doubt to ensure that Marques Colston scored enough points for her to beat me by the aforementioned one point): "Totally bewildered by Tom Brady's hair." While we women do not discuss uniforms as we're often accused of, we will absolutely discuss hotness. And hair, as I learned last night, can play a big part in that measurement. What happened to him? Jailbait's theories included: 1) a retro-70's look, 2) covering up a receding hairline and 3) going granola. I believe, however, that this has everything to do with marrying Giselle. She clearly is taking her work home with her. That is, she's spent too many hours in the fashion world surrounded by gay men and now is confused as to what straight men should look like. This hairstyle must have come directly from a runway somewhere. And as a responsible football writer, I'm going to spend the remainder of the afternoon researching Prada, Gucci, Armani, etc. to determine WHERE exactly this hairstyle came from!

Rivalry Week--for my fantasy gals

Rivalry Week. It kicked off on 11/21 with Ohio State vs Michigan and continued through Saturday with the Iron Bowl (Alabama vs Auburn), The Egg Bowl (Ole Miss vs Mississippi State), Bedlam (Oklahoma State vs Oklahoma), the Backyard Brawl (Pittsburgh vs West Virginia), etc. and is capped off on Sunday with Cats vs Dogs, the Sibling Rivalry, the Ex-Roommate challenge, Domer vs Domer and the Rookie Showdown. Yes, I'm talking fantasy football and thanks solely to the scheduling gods, i.e., the computer generated schedule from Sportsline, our big rival games all coincidentally occurred during the same week and on the same weekend as college football's rivalry games. It's actually almost frightening how that worked out. And the games aren't over. Jailbait and I (the Notre Dame rivalry game) are actually in a barn burner and it will come down to how Marques Colston plays tomorrow night. Incidentally, Jailbait and I have been battling it out all season to avoid last place. While Sharon has the worst record, I have the last ranked scoring offense in the league. Meanwhile Purple Haze has a .75 lead over her former roommate Golden Rules, but she'll need Robert Meachem to basically not play to hold onto that lead and her number one ranking. The sibling rivalry game is very much up in the air right now despite Strawberry Shortcake's almost 40-point lead, given the fact that Black Widows still has Drew Brees, Pierre Thomas AND Randy Moss playing tomorrow night. The Red Dogs fittingly have dominated the Big Cats and there's no chance for redemption there. Finally, the rookie showdown between the Fighting Turtles and the H-Town Cagedancers is decidedly favoring the Turtles. And while neither of these teams are rookies this year, as the two newest members of the league (in their 2nd year) they will hold the rookie title until circumstances dictate otherwise. Stay tuned for the results...

http://www.ohio.com/sports/browns/70113032.html#

There's Always Someone to Blame...

Tonight my fantasy league is having a huge debate trying to determine why team Jailbait, who otherwise is substantially knowledgeable in fantasy football, would start the season a meager 1-6 with no hope in sight. There are several theories. The first has to do with balance. This week Notre Dame broke its 6 week losing streak to Boston College and therefore it would only be fair if the Notre Dame grad, Jailbait, lost to the BC grad, Golden Rules. That explains Week 7, but what about the first 6 weeks? The overwhelming conclusion can be summed up in one word: MICHIGAN. The owner in question has been canoodling with a certain Michigan grad ever since the football season began and the implications have been severe. The football gods have spoken and Jailbait must be punished, with Week 7 being particularly painful for her. Not only did she have Leon Washington score zero points and end up on IR, but she also had Brian Westbrook score zero points and leave the game and Chris Cooley score just 4.25 points before he left the game. The following debate took place and while it may seem to have gotten off-track, it left us with a simple conclusion:

Golden Rules: Oh, I didn't know that Sharon was a Notre Dame grad. That explains everything! God let Notre Dame win on Saturday, so He let me win today.
Jailbait: ha. unbelievable. but why do i always have to lose??!!
Blonde Devils: ...I have one word for you: Michigan. Yes, everyone, that's right, Sharon is dating a Michigan grad!
Jailbait: but i taunt him...........a lot!!!
Black Widows: Eve may have taunted the devil, but it still got her naked in a field.
Blonde Devils: Is that a bad thing?
Black Widows: ...Adam and Eve disobeyed God = bad thing! Sharon, stop "taunting" the devil. Jailbait: f*ck me.......i met him at the end of August.......ohhhhhhh what have i done????!!!!!!!
Blonde Devils: ...but you said she ended up naked in a field, presumably with a hot guy (Adam) so I'm just wondering if that's such a bad thing?
Black Widows: Who said Adam was hot and yes it is a bad thing! I know you are aware of the story, but perhaps you don't understand it?! God mad at you= bad thing. And on Alexandra's behalf...ew.
Jailbait: oh lord, and i didn't know Golden Rules went to BC. Jesus. i'm taking an ambien and hoping it will make me forget this whole weekend.........
Black Widows: Going to bed. Sharon, say 21 Hail Marys and then go to bed.
Jailbait: I'm going to say at least 50 Hail Mary's, otherwise I'm afraid a bolt of lightning will strike the building across the street, bounce off, come in my window, and round the corner and hit me in bed. and it's not even storming out....
Conclusion: Michigan fans cannot be trusted...

The Boycott Persists (aka Ode to a Salary Cap)

One of my favorite things to do during the summer when I was growing up was to lie on the sofa with the patio door open, listening to the radio broadcast of the Cleveland Indians games with my dad. To this day, listening to baseball on the radio is still one of my favorite things to do. It's just become slightly more complicated with the suspect radio reception in my apartment and a sliding door that opens to a balcony overlooking Broadway rather than a backyard. But once the playoffs begin, I begin my boycott. Why? I simply want a salary cap.

The 90's had some of the best baseball I've seen and the Indians were one of the hottest teams around. And they did it the right way--they grew their players through the farm system and developed them into major league ballplayers. Lofton, Ramirez, Thome, Vizquel, Alomar, Baerga, Mesa, Hersheiser, etc. all for the bargain price of $35 Million a year in 1995. The highest payroll that year was just a bit under $50 Million and the lowest just over $12 Million. That disparity is a far cry from what we've witnessed in baseball over the past 10 years. In 2001 team payrolls hit $100 Million for the first time and never looked back.

What's startling is how those teams with the top 10 highest payrolls differ from the rest of the league in terms of their ability to play in the post-season. While everyone acknowledges the elementary argument that the highest payroll does not guarantee a championship and that teams with small payrolls still make the playoffs, payroll has an impact nonetheless.

In order to understand this, let's take a look at this decade. If one considers all 30 teams and the likelihood of a team making one of the eight playoff spots in a given year, there is a 26.7% chance. However, if one takes into account payroll, the chances change dramatically depending on where your team falls in the hierarchy. In the past decade, if you were one of the fortunate fans who's team fell in the top 10 highest payrolls, then there was a 43% chance your team would make it to the post-season. Even better if your team had the highest payroll, in which case there was a 90% chance your team would make the playoffs. Too bad for the other 20 teams...just an 18.5% chance of making the playoffs for teams not in payroll's top 10.

So I boycott the postseason. It's unfair, uncompetitive, unsatisfying and un-fun...and will be until baseball gets a salary cap.

USC's First "Touchdown" Against the Buckeyes on Saturday Night

Please note the left knee visibly touching the ground at the 1 yard line along with the ball in the same location, OUT of the endzone...

MNF 9.14.09

The oddest moment of tonight's MNF game between Buffalo and New England was at the very end when Suzy Kolber stood next to Tom Brady attempting to interview him. He glanced to his left and distinctly decided NOT to speak to her. Then when he started walking away, she grabbed his arm and the following conversation ensued:

Suzy: After all the time...
Tom: I'm going in.
Suzy: After all the time...
Tom: I'm going in (he starts to jog)
Suzy: (jogging with him) What was it like to lead a dramatic comeback?
Tom: What did you say?
Suzy: After all the time away, what was it like to lead such a dramatic comeback?
Tom: I can't hear a word you're saying...it's that loud in here (he added to save face)...
Suzy: After all the time away what was it like to lead such a dramatic come-back?
Tom: (after realizing he can't shake her he finally stops jogging) well it's not how we drew it up, but I'll take the win. You know, we did a lot of things poorly but I'm glad we got the win.
Suzy: Congratulations...(she walks away, pushes her hair back and doesn't look pleased).

It was pretty amusing to watch. In other news, the best moment of the night was when the Patriots almost lost...and anytime Jon Gruden spoke...

NFL Week 1 Recap (to the extent I care)

Chicago@Green Bay. Jay Cutler had 4 interceptions (a career high) and at one point almost threw three picks in less than 10 seconds. I'm not sure who's fault it is, Cutler's or his receivers or me for jinxing him by drafting him in my fantasy league. But I expect next week to be much better.

New York Jets@Houston. Mark Sanchez looked decent against a team that went 8-8 last year and finished in the bottom third in the league in 8 of the main defensive categories. My point: Don't get too excited Jets fans as he still has a lot to prove. As for Houston, Slaton needs to go sage himself and figure out where his energy is being thrown off...I wonder who he's dating as that could have something to do with it.

Minnesota@Cleveland. Adrian Peterson looked like a beast, Cleveland scored an offensive touchdown (at the point in the game when it didn't actually matter anymore) and someone please explain to me who was behind the wildcat goal line thing that failed miserably? Btw, Brett Favre had his 270th career start. I find that completely unacceptable for someone who has retired twice. If you are going to "retire" you need to at least miss one game so that we believe you are actually genuine and not just doing this for attention.

As for how A Girl's Fantasy feels about the Shawn Merriman incident in light of the fact that there's a $10 fine for domestic violence in our league: 1) He has simply been accused and is innocent until proven guilty; 2) We believe Merriman over Tila Tequila (yeah, that's right, the girl we all used to be friends with on MySpace back when that was almost cool); 3) the only crime we consider him guilty of is bad judgment in dating choices. As a result, we have instituted a new rule that comes long overdue, a $5 fine for dating reality stars.

Week 1 College Football Recap

1. ACC. Best game without a doubt was Miami v. Florida State. Both quarterbacks had career nights and offense was a plenty as neither defense looked quite as "fast" as predicted. Miami's Jacory Harris had 386 passing yards, approximately double the yards he's had in any game to-date. And FSU's QB Christian Ponder looked nothing like he did in 2008, luckily. Although they lost the game, a bright spot for the Seminoles is true freshman Greg Reid who forced the pick-6 of Harris with less than 12 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter and in the final drive of the game gave Florida State field position in Miami territory with his kick return. Luckily an ACC win was guaranteed in this game because it was a rough start for the conference. In non-conference match-ups they went 4-6, including two losses to FCS schools thanks to Duke (v. Richmond) and Viginia (v. William and Mary). Btw, the fact that Duke was upset by Richmond shouldn't be that surprising considering they did the exact same thing to the Blue Devils in 2006. Something to keep an eye on for next week is Clemson's C.J. Spiller. The holder of 10 school records was injured on a punt return in the second quarter last week against Middle Tennessee State and didn't return. Spiller claims his foot/hamstring (conflicting reports) injury is "fine" and it better be as the Tigers play Georgia Tech next week and will need to put up some decent numbers on the ground to compete with a team that had 335 rushing yards last week (albeit against Jacksonville State, but still...)

2. The Big Ten. They escaped with some extremely close wins over formidable opponents such as Navy, Syracuse and Iowa State (obviously joking) and once again primed the media for discussions regarding how over-rated and slow they are. As I always do, I will reiterate how this first week generally means nothing as long as you win. The only team that shocked me was Illinois and how terrible they were again Missouri. The latter lost Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin and still put up 37 points against a team that finished in the top-20 in total defense last year. And speaking of 2008, in this contest last year, Illinois passed for 451 yards and 5 touchdowns and scored 52 points compared to 179 yards and zero touchdowns through the air and just 9 points this year. Perhaps injuries may have been a small excuse for the Illini though... Arrelious Benn and Jason Ford left early with ankle sprains while Daniel Dufrene sat out with...you can guess...an ankle injury. And at least for week 1, Shonn Greene's absense was noteable. As a team Iowa had a total of 87 yards rushing, while Greene had at least 100 yards on the ground in every single game in 2008. He was second in the nation only to UConn's Donald Brown and somehow I have both of them on my fantasy team this year (I'll explain later but having two rookies isn't exactly a good thing and that's not even the half of it).

3. The Pac-10. There was nothing to learn about this conference this week other than the fact that Oregon has some issues. We'll see how SC handles losing 11 players to the NFL Draft next week when they visit the Horseshoe. Cal's 52-13 win over Maryland was somewhat unexpected but I suppose the Terrapins couldn't handle losing 4 of their top 5 tacklers and having one of the most inexperienced O-lines in the nation. Cal went 9-4 in 2008 and one would expect them to improve upon that in 2009 given the talent returning, the emergence of Jahvid Best, hopefully not having to deal with the injury problems from last year and the fact that the dizzying alternation between Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley at quarterback is a moot concern. But even with a certain starter in Riley, given that Jeff Tedford seems to hit 9 or 10 wins only every other year, I wouldn't be surprised if this team somehow ends up stepping down a notch.

4. The Big 12. The offense we saw from Oklahoma this weekend had practically nothing in common with the record-setting one of 2008. With Jermaine Gresham out due to injury and Sam Bradford going down with a shoulder sprain, the only familiar faces out there were at tailback and left tackle. And having 9 guys back from a defense that ranked 99th last year against the pass didn't help, especially going against Max Hall.

5. The Big East. Let's go UC. I tried to pick Cincinnati against the spread in the pool I'm in but the guys running it forgot to tell me that the rules require me to pick a team playing on Saturday only. Bummer.

6. The SEC. I really look forward to watching Alabama this year...and can't wait to find out which regular season game Florida loses : )

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.