On Hiatus

Hey everyone,

So I know it's been a while since the blog has been updated, there is a reason for that. I've been busy with things in my life and sadly my sports writing has taken a hit. But don't fear, The Sports Voice will return as soon as I am able to dedicate the amount of time that it deserves. So please check back regularly and i promise that one day soon, new articles will return.

Forget "Good-Bye", in Wisconsin it's "Go Saints"

I've noticed something interesting while walking around this past week. I live in Milwaukee Wisconsin, and that means I live in the land of the Packers, and Packer fans worshiped God and Brett Favre, and not necessarily in that order.

Then came the summer of 2007 and the first retirement, and in turn the first return from retirement. Cheeseheads were split, but many sided with Favre. They blamed the Packers brass for not welcoming back the hero that they'd followed for 16 years. Eventually Favre was traded to the Jets, and after a lack luster year in New York retired again.

That's when things started to turn for Packer fans, the rumblings got louder and louder, thier hero was angling to play for the rival Vikings. And when it was official, most Packer fans disowned Favre. Throughout the past season they've not only cheered for the Packers to win, but every week they've cheered for the worst possible situations to befall the once loved Favre.

This brings me to what I heard around Milwaukee this past week. Nearly everyone i came in contact with ended the conversation the same way. in place of "later", "Talk to you soon", and "i'll call you" everyone said "go Saints".

That's how much Packer fans don't want Favre to succeed tonight, that's how much they want to see Favre crumble, they've actually changed their vernacular to suit their hatred of the old man.

"I just don't want to see him win in that purple jersey...i didn't like it when he was in New York, but now that he's a Viking he's dead to me", that was what an employee at a local grocery store told me when i was shopping this morning and she's wasn't the first to tell me that. Oh and of course when i was walking away she said, "have a good day and go Saints!"

I can't believe how the mighty have fallen in Wisconsin. What fans don't realize is that rivalries in the current sports landscape, aside from maybe Yankees v. Redsox, are fan made. Players don't buy into them as much as fans do. I don't fault Favre, he wanted to play for a winner and when he looked around the Packers locker room, he didn't think they were gong to be able to compete (Aaron Rodgers has shown that he was wrong) and the same thing happened with the Jets. It's amazing to see how quickly Packer fans have turned on him, how quickly they've gone from loving his "good old boy" act to despising it, and believe me it's always been an act.

So if the Vikings win today and the Old Gun Slinger leads them to the Super Bowl, I imagine that everyone in the state of wisconsin will be replacing Good-bye with "Go Colts" or "Go Jets"

Fantasy Football Draft Preview

It's that time of the year again; the time that average Joe's get to live out their dreams of becoming the next Wellington Mara or Al Davis (before Davis became the Archie Bunker of the NFL). Obviously Fantasy Football is not a part of our culture, you'd be hard press to find an office in the country that doesn't have some sort of fantasy football league every fall.

I'm no different, I love the last weeks of the preseason because it normally means my drafts are coming up. that being said here are some important points, trends, and players to look at going into your drafts.

• Beware of Michael Turner...seriously - You've heard it all off-season, beware the curse of 370. I don't know what it is about the 370 carry mark but it does something to backs. Looking at the 27 backs in NFL history who have reached the mark of 370, only two ('03 Ladainian Tomlinson and '85 Walter Payton) matched or exceeded their Touchdown mark of the previous year. I'm not saying Turner is going to have a down year, I'm just saying I've got 4 other running backs ahead of him.

• Just because Brett Favre is a Viking, don't expect the production of other Vikings to significantly increase - Look, obviously the receivers are going to get a bit better looking now that a decent QB is in town, but if Favre has another horrible stretch run those receivers are going to fail you right when you need them most. Maybe look at them a few picks higher, a round higher at most. And Adrian Peterson can't be ranked higher than 1.

• DeAngelo Williams should be mentioned with the top fantasy backs - Jonathan Stewart is still bothered by the Achilles injury that shortened his '08 season. Williams is a great back to start with, but if Stewart is bugged by injury throughout the year, look for Williams' numbers to only improve from last years bust out season.

• This is the year of the Wide Receiver - Forget the tried and true method of drafting Running Backs with your first two picks, this year you have to get a receiver early, because the drop off after the first two tiers (Moss, Fitzgerald, Wayne, A. Johnson, C. Johnson, Wayne, Colston) is drastic.

Happy Drafting everyone!

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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