FOOTBALL

In the NFL, the most anticipated game of this coming week is easily Green Bay v. Minnesota.  It will be Brett Favre’s first showdown against his own team.  The game will be in Minnesota and is completely sold out.  Remember, it’s not just a homecoming, for the Packers and the Vikings, it’s a huge rivalry.  Now you’ve got, essentially, the mayor of one city playing for the other.  Favre is a God in Green Bay, but now Minnesota has adopted him as their own, especially after Favre’s miracle throw to win the game last week against San Francisco.

What does this game mean to Favre, however?  What’s his take?  Well, to take a term from the 2004 presidential election, he’s ‘flip-floping’.  One moment, Favre said this isn’t about revenge at all.  This is just another game that he will try his hardest.  Then, all of a sudden, Favre says something to the extent of ‘It’s human nature to want to prove that he can still play’.  Favre said he didn’t want to use the word revenge, but there is definitely a sense of determination to show the team that traded him away, Green Bay, that they made a mistake.  This game will be one for the ages.  And just wait until Favre makes his debut against Green Bay IN GREEN BAY later this season.  That’s where it’s going to get really interesting.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, Allen Iverson is speaking to the media about his experience last season with the Detroit Pistons.  Last year, Iverson was brought from Denver to Detroit to try and give the Pistons a competitive edge in the now complicated Eastern Conference.  Iverson said he was brought to town, and told he would start.  They said that they would never disrespect his career by making him come off the bench.  Well, now Iverson said that just a short time after arriving in Detroit, they told him they wanted him to come off the bench.  In so many words, they made it clear that if he didn’t play the role of a sub, they wouldn’t play with him at all.  It was then that Iverson realized that this was the worst move of his career.

Now Iverson finds himself in a new situation in Memphis, where he definitely won’t be coming off the bench.  If anything, the Grizzlies are looking to him as a savior of sorts, hoping he can play a leadership role and bring a cohesiveness to a bunch of up-and-coming stars (i.e. Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, Hasheem Thabeet).  Iverson said he definitely wants to get to the playoffs, but that’s not enough for HIM.  He intends to win the whole thing. This time, Iverson said, “It’s personal”.  In the twilight of his career, he wants to rejuvenate his love for the game.