Opining on Madden's Man Crush

No huge news today, so I'll scrape the bottom of the barrel and briefly give my take on Brett Favre. There are no good outcomes for either Favre or the Packers because he's not going to play for a contender and he doesn't want to earn back his starting job with the Packers (which he deserves some criticism for, by the by). I think Pack GM Ted Thompson just has to start at the worst case scenario (Favre winning a Super Bowl with Minnesota or Chicago) and work backwards. I think having him in camp is the next worst outcome. You think the media is swarming now, just wait until they hand Favre a microphone every day. Getting a pair of draft picks for a one- or two-season quarterback might be the best option available. The Wisconsin State Journal is saying the Packers are gauging Favre's value with the Jets, Texans, Ravens, Dolphins, Panthers, Buccaneers, Falcons and Redskins. The Skins are out because their salary cap situation means they'd have to send one of their pivotal players back to Green Bay instead of picks and I think the team doesn't want to obstruct Jason Campbell's development anymore (see: Offensive coordinator turnover rate). I doubt the Dolphins are interested, as they have three decent options and need all the picks they can get to rebuild. Of those remaining teams, only Tampa Bay has more than $13 million in cap space to fit Favre, making them the logical choice to land him according to SI's Peter King. I tend to agree, it makes sense. But will Favre go? And Tampa plays Green Bay this year, and made the playoffs last season despite QB woes. If Favre is the missing piece in Tampa the playoffs could get more interesting than a plane full of snakes.

• I heard that Ron Artest was trying to sign with Detroit ... just didn't know it was the WNBA team. A game between Detroit and Los Angeles ended in a brawl involving two of the league's top players in rookie Candace Parker and "legend" Lisa Leslie. The latter was tossed to the floor by Detroit coach Rick Mahorn. Did the WNBA just get interesting?

• FWIW Joel Hanrahan is Washington's new closer following the Rauch trade.

• Rutgers Football Head Coach Greg Schiano can apparently

cut out on his contract if the school's new stadium isn't completed by 2009. C'mon. It's New Jersey, do you really think the unions (and James Gandolfini) are going to let that stadium go unfinished and watch the program slip back into mediocrity? Fugetaboutit!

• Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Childress, he of the pristine 'fro that would make Wilt Chamberlain blush, apparently signed for $20 million to play in Greece. That's allegedly less money than the Hawks offered ($36 million), which means it's worth $16 million to get off of the Atlanta Hawks. More coming on the trend of pro talent heading to Europe later.

• ACC officials announced that Nationals Park will host a bowl game this winter that will feature (if bowl eligible) Navy and ... wait for it ... the NINTH-best team in the ACC. For the last three seasons, you couldn't pay me to watch the BEST team in the ACC. Here's a short list of what I'd rather do than watch this game: Listen to "Little Women" on audio cassette, watch a WNBA game that doesn't involve Mixed Martial Arts action and die on a plane full of snakes. However, if the teams are bowl eligible, that means one of them will have the best winning percentage of any home team to play on the field this year.