Not 4 sure

So will he or won't he? In what is becoming an annual American summer institution, along the lines of the 4th of July and Californian wildfires...we sit with bated breath or should I say bated brett and await a decision from Brett Favre on whether he will retire.

As of yesterday sources declared Favre as good as retired based on Visanthe Shiancoe's revelation that the qb had sent Viking teammates text messages declaring he was done with football.

Now today, Favre, himself, comes out and says that the texts never were sent, and that if his ankle permits, he will compete in his 20th NFL season.

This all comes on the heels of Viking management saying they will give Favre a raise from $13 mil to $16 mil with $4 mil worth of incentives available...Roger Clemens did this same thing, now Favre is following Clemens' manipultion of the basic economics principle of supply and demand. The Vikings need Favre to quarterback the team if it is to have any chance at winning a Super Bowl.

The Vikings situation can be compared to the Johnny Drama/Bob Saget/John Stamos triangle on entourage. The Viking brass is like Stamos, they want to be part of a successful product. In order to be successful, they need a winner, someone that has done it before and can get it done again. favre is like Saget, someone that has the credentials of past successes; Favre last year with the vikes and his entire career with the Pack, Saget has a successful stand up career and was the star of one of the most successful and syndicated sitcoms of all time. proven winners who are a safe bet to produce another winner. Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson are the Dramas of this comparison, with all three, you dont realy know what you will be getting. Maybe a hit, but more than likely a dud. All have been relgated to back up roles their entire careers. Much like Stamos' pegging an old friend and proven winner to make a buddy sitcom with, the Vikings need to have Favre under center to have the best shot at winning a championship.

While we are on the subject of Entourage, let's not overlook Turtle's recent, yet completely unwarranted success with beautiful women. First it was Meadow Soprano, and now he moves on to Maxim August cover model Dania Ramirez. The only thing that can explain these going ons is what I like to call the Seinfeld Effect.

The Seinfeld Effect takes hold when an ugly man is able to attract a very attractive woman. A prime example of this would be the movie She's Out of My League. The film is basically a 2-hour case study of The Seinfeld Effect. Although the fact he was a Pens fan probably helped in him nabbing the girl.

The Seinfeld effect was developed based on fictional Jerry Seinfeld's uncanny ability to constantly date hot women. Let's face it, Jerry is more Smarty Jones than Indiana Jones.

Other men benifitting from the Seinfeld Effect:

Kevin James and Stacy Carosi on King of Queens










Marc Anthony and JLo










Barney and Betty Rubble on the Flintstones










Ellen and Portia de Rossi









Seal and Heidi Klum









Ok now back to football. If Favre retires than the Vikes will be stuck with Rosenfels and Jackson as their options at qb. Some people may want to blame Favre for waiting to announce his retirement and not allow to team to acquire someone like Donovan McNabb via free agency. That is all and well if you want to blame Favre for that, but in reality Brett planned on coming back and wasn't worried about the Vikings finding his replacement this offseason. Why would a guy get surgery if he wasn't fully committed to a return? He wants to play, it is up to whether his 40-year-old ankle can take the punishment of a 16-game season.

Well if he doesn't come back, this is what the Vikings will be left with.



and



Then there will be the naysayers who will no doubt vent about how this is just a ploy to skip another training camp. It's no secret, Favre doesn't want to go through the riggers of camp. At age 40, I think he knows what he's doing on the field. However, I do think, that if he could be out there he would. He likes this team and has seen that they are capable of something special. That alone is enough motivation for him to bond with teammates and gain the cohesion and chemistry that is needed to hoist the Lombardi trophy.

I'm a Favre fan and there is no denying it. How can you not root for a guy that wears real.comfortable.jeans? I'm hoping he comes back and that there is a little of that gunslinger magic left in his right arm to make that trip to Dallas for the Super Bowl.

Yes, this whole John Kerry-esque flip flopping is getting old, but anything is better than the LeBron/Cleveland mess. Let's face it Cleveland, Drew Carey is now your biggest star.

As long as he can endure the pain, and remember this is a guy that has played in 295 consecutive regular season games, I expect to see #4, in that always manly purple and gold uniform, slinging the ball down the field. The Vikings schedule is just too juicy for Favre to pass up. They get revenge for their NFC Championship game loss to New Orleans in Week 1, then they make road trips to the Jets and Packers. You can't tell me that Favre wouldn't like one more shot at those clubs.

Say what you want about Favre off the field, but on it he is one of the best and most competitive men to ever don a helmet and pair of shoulder pads. There is no way he could allow his final pass in the NFL to look like this.