After 17 grueling years of playing in the NFL Brett Favre has finally decided to call it quits. After breaking all sorts of records, most consecutive games played at quarterback (253), most passing yards, most TDs and most interceptions, just to name a few.

A teary eyed Favre basically said that he could still play, but he can’t handle the mental part of the game. That he was just tired of training for upcoming seasons. He doesn’t care if he is ending his career with his last pass being the interception that lost the Packers chances of going to the Super Bowl. And he doesn’t care whether or not he is ranked among the best quarterbacks (he’s not even in my top 5), he played for the passion and fun of the game. One thing is for certain he always gave it his all every game and for that he is greatly appreciated.

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What’s going on with sports this year? Why is there so much interest in a team or player going undefeated in a season? It all started with the Patriots. They have a brush with greatness and now everyone wants to see someone go undefeated. I understand that, yes it would be cool if it actually happened, but enough with trying to predict an undefeated season in every sport. Next thing you know the Yankees win their first 5 games out of 162 and they’re going undefeated.

The next victim of having an undefeated season thrust upon them is Tiger Woods. He wins his first two tournaments (out of the seventeen that he has to play) and all of sudden he can go undefeated. Doesn’t anyone realize how hard that would be to accomplish? It’s hard to do in team sports, imagine in golf where it’s you against 70-80 players. I doubt very much that it will happen. Tiger Woods will be known as the best golfer when his time is done, but it won’t be for an undefeated season. It will be for the most tour wins and the most major wins ever.

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The Lakers started off Super Bowl Sunday with a game of their own, winning their second straight with no center, and giving us 30 wins before the All-Star break, always a good sign. Pau Gasol was there, but not in uniform, as the team thought it was too early for him to play. They stomped the Washington Wizards 103-91, Kobe Bryant leading all scorers with 30, and taking his team 2-1 on this, their longest road trip since 1960.

Before the trip began, there was worry what such a schedule would do to a handicapped team like the Lakers, especially after losing a heartbreaking first game in Detroit. But since the news of the Spanish acquisition, the team seems even hungrier, every role player chipping in to make the Lakers look like one of the deepest teams in the NBA.

The Laker bench includes Jordan Farmar, Vladamir Radmanovic, and Sasha Vujacic, giving us legitimate three point threats, all of them shooting over 40%. Not to mention Andrew Bynum when he returns in several weeks to back up Gasol. These are all players that can, and have been scoring in double figures regularly.

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The Lakers started the week right after a tough 95-98 loss to LeBron and the Cavs (For some reason LeBron always seems to up his game when he comes to L.A.). The Lakers beat the New York Knicks easily 120-109 on Tuesdays. Kobe led the Lakers in scoring with 24 points, but he also received strong support from Odom (22 points) and Vujacic (20 points).

The Lakers had another tough loss on Thursday to the Detroit Pistons, 90-89. Tayshaun Prince hit a 3 pointer with 4 seconds left to win the game. Kobe (as always) was the Lakers leading scorer with 39 point. With the loss the closet the Lakers can get to the first place Suns would be 3.5 games back and that’s if the Suns lose.

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Oh my god, no more football! I know for some of you this doesn’t seem like any big deal, but to avid fans of the sport, like myself, it comes as a heavy blow. Sundays at my house are ritualistic. I got my picks and a couple of snacks, so nobody better try and fuck with me. Sure, I love basketball, and I especially love the Lakers, but a little old-fashioned game of hard-nosed football is closest to my heart. The Super Bowl is just around the corner, and a little after that is the Pro Bowl, but that just won’t be enough to satisfy my football-sized appetite. I’m going to need supplementation. I guess that’s what Madden 08 on Xbox 360 is for, I’ll have to play that shit every Sunday for a couple of hours, that might help, a little.

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You know the old saying “if it wasn’t for bad luck he wouldn’t have any luck at all?” The 2007-2008 version of the Clippers demand a revision. Maybe something like ‘if it weren’t for bad luck the Clippers wouldn’t be half as entertaining’. It’s high comedy at this point. Embrace it. Since the Clippers can only win games when yip yap Sam scores over 20 points, don’t expect many more victories. If the Clippers were a romantic comedy, they would play the part of the schlubby best friend who hates himself, eats too much, and has an unhealthy obsession with comic books who can never quite pull it together. He’s good for a laugh though. The same goes for the Clippers, except we don’t necessarily celebrate their minor humiliations.

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We’ll start with basketball. The Lakers have their toughest road trip ahead of them, nine in a row, just after losing an improving Andrew Bynum. The “fans” at Staples Center were heard on Thursday night, booing Kwame Brown after a horrible performance, contributing seven turnovers, missing a couple lay-ups, and wide open dunks.

Now, I hate Kwame too; he sucks, a project that never panned out, and almost worthless if not for his size, but it’s my position never to boo my own team. I doubt Kwame would have had seven turnovers if the crowd was behind him. Kwame actually apologized to the team after the loss to Phoenix. The Lakers are now 26-12 facing Denver tonight here in L.A. Let’s try and be supportive of a guy who will be getting the bulk of the minutes while Bynum is out.

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The Clippers, coming off a huge win over the division leading Phoenix Suns, are set to battle the big three of New Jersey, Richard Jefferson, Jason Kidd, and Vince Carter. If you haven’t seen the uber athletic 6’10” rookie Sean Williams out of Boston College, he can be a fun one to watch as well.

Even with the three All-Star caliber players in the starting rotation, this Nets team is average. They are a tough one to figure having lost twice to their lowly cross-town rival New York Knicks. This is a good test for the Clippers to see if they can continue their solid play after a rare victory over the Suns on Tuesday night. Even though they have been losing, their level of play has risen in the past week and culminated with the Suns win.

The great Jason Kidd is reason enough to come out and see if the Clips can win back to back for only the second time this season. Are you a face painter or aren’t you? C’mon take a break from booing Kwame and shower the Clips with your unending affection.

Not much has gone right for the Clippers this season. They’re sitting ugly at 10-22 with no light at the end of the tunnel. There may be an Elton Brand at the end of the tunnel, but definitely not any light. That’s why if you’re a fan pretty much the only thing you can look forward to aside from spotting a washed up celebrity at one of their games, is the OTHER teams that come visit. Give up any sense of false hope you may have and embrace the other stars around the league. Tonight at 7:30, it’s Dirk. Tuesday night it’s Nash. These guys are fun to watch, unfortunately it’s not quite as fun when they’re making fools of your beloved Clips.

If you listen to sports talk radio here in Los Angeles you knew that at one point the Lakers would struggle to make the playoffs, that the Lakers will now contend for the Pacific Division against the Suns, and that Andrew Bynum is the next Wilt Chamberlain. Really? Sports talk radio is giving political talk radio a run for its money in terms of absurdity. It’s laughable. My radio dial accidentally landed on some kind of Lakers talk show whereby I listened to the hosts and listeners compare Andrew Bynum to Shaquille O’Neal…favorably.

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The la.cityzine sports report begins with the Dodgers. Big news for the blue crew, they sign right hander Hiroki Kuroda for 3 years at $35.3 million. It was another big pay day for Frank McCourt, who just paid $36.2 million for Andruw Jones. Kuroda comes out of Hiroshima with a 12-8 record and a 3.56 earned run average. He is expected to be the 3^rd or 4^th starter, behind Brad Penny, Derrick Lowe, and perhaps Chad Billingsly. This move allows the Dodgers to keep their young talent, who are very valuable in terms of trade possibilities and the future of the roster. With plenty of time before the season, you can bet Ned Colletti will make another big move to improve the line up

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The poor old Clippers are at it again, stumbling their way through December on their way to becoming one of the more inept teams in the West. If it weren’t for a Garnettless Minnesota team and an inexperienced Sonics, the Clippers would be at the bottom of the list. While Minnesota is just 3-16 they did beat Phoenix this past week, and one of the five Sonics victories came courtesy of the Clips, so they really are starting to make their case regardless. This is a team that started 4-0. They are 3-12 since and after losing to Miami have dropped 8 of their last 9. How do you lose 8 of your last 9 with Paul Davis AND Kobe Stopper on your roster?

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