I generally don't believe in conspiracy theories. That goes for conspiracies within government as well as sports. For one thing, the organization and planning of the degree needed for such intricate subterfuge is often beyond the types that work in these businesses.
Plus, keeping secrets is way too difficult. From what I know about writing about politics and sports over the years is that those people leak like sieves. The worst-kept secret is that there are no secrets. As a result, it makes the art of deception and conspiracy rather difficult.
However, when I heard that Brett Favre - the most famous man on the planet if you believe the breathless dispatches from ESPN -- had been traded to the New York Jets, well, I started looking behind the grassy knoll.
An attention hound quarterback with decades of fawning by the largest sports media outlet in the world headed to the largest media market in the country... nah, there can't be anything behind it, could there?
Brett Favre in New York? Mere coincidence.
To be fair, accounts coming out of Wisconsin or Mississippi or 34,000-feet above the earth or wherever the hell Brett Favre is these days, indicate that he really didn't want to get traded to the Jets. After all, the Jets were 4-12 last season, which is four games worse than what Favre's Packers were during a dreadful 2006, but identical to the 4-12 2005 season Favre masterminded in 2005.
Hey, it's not like the Jets are getting Doug Williams or Trent Dilfer [1]to replace Chad Pennington, who nearly guided the surprising '06 team into the AFC Championship. And they certainly are not getting a Bart Starr in the twilight years in Favre. Make it more like Johnny Unitas going to the Chargers for one last go-around or Willie Mays with the Mets, flailing away on the turf at Shea during the '73 post-season.
Sure, the New York media will give the big star some love when he arrives. New York loves a media event and a star, after all. But in New York (to paraphrase Lou Reed) there are no stars in the sky - they are all on the ground.
Maybe that's why Favre reportedly preferred a trade to Tampa Bay? Sunny skies, warm weather, and plenty of things to do outdoors during the winter instead of sitting inside and watching the old quarterback flail around on the turf while attempting to turn the clock back.
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Back in the old days when Sports Illustrated was the king of all sports media, they used to put out a special Olympic preview in the weeks before the games opened. Aside from the feature stories and the look into the American athletes' chances in Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta, etc., etc., the magazine predicted the winners of the gold, silver and bronze in every event.
It was pretty cool, I thought. Sometimes they were even accurate with the predictions.
Wouldn't you know it that Sports Illustrated still makes its predictions? Here they are.
After a quick glance, here's what caught my eye:
- Bernard Lagat taking the silver in the 1,500, but off the podium in the 5,000.
- Kenyan Martin Lel atop the field in the Marathon. Strangely, of the 14 nations to take gold in the marathon, Kenya is not one of them. Incidentally, Lel and countryman Robert Cheuriyot are the best, big-race marathoners in the world, but I still say don't sleep on Ryan Hall.
- No American women in the distance events. Not even Deena Kastor, who took the bronze in the marathon in sweltering heat and humidity at the Athens games.
- Tyson Gay over Usain Bolt in the 100.
- Usain Bolt over everyone in the 200.
- Jeremy Wariner over LaShawn Merritt in the 400.
Aside from Ryan Hall, Brian Sell, Dathan Ritzenhein and the other distance guys, it will be interesting to see how NBC covers Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang as he attempts to beat world-record holder Dayron Robles in the 110-meter hurdles. NBC went all out in reporting on Australian Cathy Freeman during the Sydney games, which is understandable. But along with women's marathoner Zhou Chunxiu, Liu Xiang is the biggest threat to win gold for the host country.
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Finally, Philadelphia Will Do's Dan McQuade is chronicling the Olympics in blog form for Vanity Fair (yeah, freaking Vanity Fair!). Here's his first post.
For the record, Dan is Luke Skywalker to my Obi Wan... well, probably not, but I'm going to say it anyway.
[1] QBs just like Brett Favre in that they have won exactly one Super Bowl.