It Has Begun!

You know a lot of people were making the joke that it wouldn't really be football season without a Brett Favre story. Well a few weeks ago everyone got their punchline, but it seemed like that was it. Well now there's a whole years worth of jokes and punchlines to be made, but who's going to be laughing?

In case you've been living in a shanty in a remote village in China, you've heard that Brett Favre signed with the Minnesota Vikings earlier today, a contract worth somewhere between $10-$12 Million.

People had to know this was coming, they had to know that Favre was going to find a way to get on to the field this year, that he was going to find a way to play against the Packers this year.

Favre joining the Vikings makes the NFC North the most insteresting quarterback division in football. Every team has a story behind center this year.

• Vikings - No explanation needed.

• Bears - The rebirth of Jay Cutler or The decline of Jay Cutler

• Lions - Can Stafford return the Lions to the top of the divison? or at least get them a win?

• Packers - Was last year an fluke or is Aaron Rodgers the real deal?
  

The Sports Voice Podcast - Episode #2!

In the second episode of The Sports Voice podcast, we look at the NBA Playoffs vs. The NHL Playoffs. We also talk about a possible trade brinign Shaq to the Cleveland Cavs, and I backtrack a bit from the statement that Lebron might be ready to take a seat next to “his airness”.

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The Sports Voice - Episode #1 Online Now!

The first episode of The Sports Voice Podcast is live and on the air! Check it out and let us know what you think!

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When was the last time we had a playoff that was this good?

No matter who wins the game 7's tomorrow, one thing is for sure, This has been the best NBA playoffs season in recent memory. Honestly, think back to last year, what do you remember most about it? You remember the Celtics and Lakers in the finals...That's it. Maybe, if you're a big NBA fan, you'll remember the Lakers v. Jazz series or maybe the game 7 duel between Paul Pierce and Lebron James. But, on a whole just through 2 rounds, this years playoffs has been more entertaining then any in a long while.

- When was the last time you saw the defending champions taken to game 7 in the first round, while watching a budding rivalry between two of the best and youngest point guards in the league?

- When was the last time you saw such a dominating performance by one man, seemingly carrying his entire team through the playoffs mowing down anyone in their path?

- When was the last time you saw a Team put it all together at the exact right time, show that they could be a true championship contender when everyone viewed them as an afterthought?

- When was the last time you saw one of the best players in the league going off nearly every game in a series and still have his team pushed to a game 7 against an injury riddled team that no one thought had a chance?

And we're not even to the conference finals yet. In a league that has had some rather underwhelming playoff seasons as of late, this is just what the doctor ordered. I'll be watching both game 7s (flipping to check in with the NHL Conference finals as well) as I imagine everyone else who calls themselves a sports fan will be.

NBA's new idea...a flop?

Alright, how exactly is the NBA going to enforce their new rule?

Basically the NBA is going to start fining players for flopping. All this comes on the wake of about 23 hours and 57 minutes of constant discussion on ESPN about whether Brent Barry should have jumped into Derek Fisher to get a foul call (the other 3 minutes of coverage were divided between the cracked foot of Big Brown and a profile of former spelling bee "icon" Samir Patel)

Flopping has been a problem in the NBA for a while, and we all know it, ever since the great Vlade Divac started the tradition when he suited up for the kings. No other NBA issue, besides the referees, is talked about more on fan blogs and sports talk radio more than the flop and its non-place in the game of basketball. So in theory this new "rule" should be great, a player blatantly flops and he'll get fined...great!

Here's the problem with this new "Rule". The flop is used to draw a foul call, normally either a charge or a hack, sometimes the ref calls it sometimes they don't...it's a judgment call. the only thing that this new "rule" is going to do is shift the judgment to someone else. The NBA will tell its refs to crack down on floppers in the off-season, but otherwise the new "rule" won't change the way the game is officiated, so it really doesn't change a thing.

The fines will more then likely be small enough that the players that use the flop as part of their game (I'm looking at you Tony Parker) won't change their game, the only thing that will do that is if after a certain amount of fines there are suspensions. But even then how do you determine what is a, and I'm quoting the story, "serial flopper" is flopping or actually fouled. I think it's idiotic to substitute one person's judgment for anothers and call it a solution.

And otherwise, how can the NBA be able to put "in-arena observers" at every game to search out floppers, when MLB can't put one more person at games to watch replays to get the calls right?