Before discussing Matthew Stafford, Maurice Jones-Drew and the Pitt Panthers...

There is no way to better illustrate that we are in a dead spot on the sports calendar than to say the weekend highlight was the NBA dunk contest and that I am looking forward to this week's NFL Combine. The latter is true, though that is primarily due to the insane amount of time I spent this weekend debating where to slot Percy Harvin, the merits of the Eagles taking a tight end over a running back in the first round or the potential of having FOUR centers go in the first two rounds of my latest mock draft. Yes, I have need help.

In between watching You Tube clips of Josh Freeman, I filled up my sports plate primarily with college hoops, a side of the rain-shortened Daytona 500 (I tried getting into it as I mentioned in Friday’s post, but somewhere around Kyle Busch’s wreck and finding Godfather 2 on cable, I lost track. Don’t give up on me NASCAR nation, I just need to ditch the remote) and a dash of the rain-delayed PGA tour stop in Pebble Beach.

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Before discussing Michael Crabtree, the upcoming weekend in College Basketball and which NFL quarterback I compare to the current cast of Saturday Night Live...

NASCAR Nation – A smart blogger would probably try to pander to you folks with a shiny new post about his or her detailed thoughts on the first race in the Sprint Cup Series, otherwise known as “The Great American Race”, the Daytona 500, regardless of whether he is a gear head or not. That’s just not my style.

I fall into the category of sports fans that simply do not grasp, understand or are not engaged in the world or auto racing, though I have given it more than a college try. I even have a NASCAR Fantasy League championship on my hypothetical gaming resume (though I have to say it would be on the second page, somewhere below my Fantasy PGA Golf title, but ahead of my 2008 American Idol Pool co-championship. Yes, I have a problem).

Truth is, I can enjoy and even at times, understand the actual racing (though for a detailed analysis of the big race, you will want to check out our Daytona preview). I mean, who does not find a tight race, with cars going three and four wide coming around the final turns, to be rather electrifying. We can all relate to being two lanes over on the highway with our exit fast approaching and trying to pass that car that just…won’t...get…out of our way.

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Before discussing Mark Sanchez, Manny Ramirez and “Lost”…

Until the 2009 NFL regular season begins, I will not be 100 percent convinced that Brett Favre is done, even following the news that he submitted his formal retirement papers with the league office. I mean, there are ample reasons to be skeptical of an athlete who made Sugar Ray Leonard seem almost decisive about his career plans in comparison. This back and forth, the "will he or won’t he" return drama made has been more annoying than any B-grade soap opera plot. His prima donna ways of holding up the Packers plans probably made even Madonna cringe.

Needless to say, I am not sad that, if it is true, Brett Favre is done. Hallelujah.

Yes, the gunslinger from Kiln, Mississippi was, at his peak, one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history and has nearly every major league passing record, three most valuable player awards (the last one coming in 1997) and a Super Bowl trophy to show for it. Outside of Barry Sanders, Favre was the most exciting player in the league, must-see TV for sure. He took chances that even the most brazen criminal might deem too risky, played through every bump and bruise and did it all with a John Wayne movie star flair. With that said…

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