Not that many of you missed me, but, I m back from a little summer break.  I know I have much work to do to get some of my most loyal readers back (all, three of you) but I will be posting again here with more frequency. This post is a quick take on the Packers and the NFL…away we go!

Favre and the Packers: Let me be clear about something - Favre is 99% to blame for the situation that the Packers and he find themselves in. However, Thompson is quickly showing what this is about. EGO. That’s right. It’s two men’s egos, Favre, thinking that he can still play (and probably a very good assumption), and Thompson, who is convinced that his players, and plan is the only way for the Packers, he is convinced that plan is a good succession plan in the post - Favre era.

I was ready to give Thompson the benefit of the doubt, but then I read about how he has been treating the Ryan Grant situation. Grant was basically offered a pittance (in NFL Salary terms) after bailing the Packers out last year.  Thompson is quickly trying to show his muscle and make his mark.  In his attempt to do so, he is alienating a big portion of the fan base that respects what the Packers have stood for so long, a community of fans and players that take care of each other.  I am not saying that Thompson is completely wrong…but he needs to stop the chest pounding and hard line stances before too long.  Because if Grant sits out, Favre leaves, and the Pack struggles, hell’s heat will hit Green Bay, and it won’t matter how cold December and January get!

NFL: Am I the only one who thinks that the NFL is slowly starting to slip into the same funk that the NBA and other leagues have found themselves in the past?  There was a quiet headline when the 2012 SuperBowl site was announced, the league decided to shorten the current CBA and review it after the 2010 season. Essentially the owners feel that they are sharing a bigger piece of the pie with the players and think that player’s salaries have gotten out of control.  Compound that with another interesting piece of news that came out after the draft, when many veteran players started complaining about how much the draft picks were getting compared to the vetran players.

Fast forward to now where camps are opening and it seems like one player after another are either unhappy with thier current deals or can’t get deals done for one reason or ther other.  Not to mention an off season that has seen many players in the news for one criminal offense or another. The NBA went through this a while ago when the fans started to see the players as “thugs” who were selfish and cared more about the money than the game. I’m not saying that the NFL is there, but all of these small things that are quickly adding up seem to signal a much deeper problem.  I know Goodell is trying to be the no-nonse commish, but the NFL, which has been riding high the last decade or so, needs to make sure that they don’t fall into the same abyss that many other seemingly untouchable leagues have found themselvevs in after contract, behavior, and image issues. I don’t think the walls are crumbling just yet, but there are definetely cracks that need some patching.