Everyone Hates Brett Favre

Guess what everyone? Brett Favre is back! He is playing for the Vikings this year! You didn't believe he could go an entire month without there being stories written about him and him keeping his name in the spotlight did you? I am not even going to link an article that says Brett Favre is back, we all have read about it and have discussed it. In the span of a little over one year I have gone from thinking Brett Favre is slightly overrated as a quarterback, to thinking he is a liar and an asshole for un-retiring, to knowing he is done as a quarterback because he can't play an entire season, to knowing he is a liar due to anything come out of his mouth being lie, and finally I am at the stage where I just want him to go away because I am tired of his waffling and spotlight chasing ways.

It's so bad Peter King has taken time away from taking out personal vendettas against the Westin with Tweet posts (like this one about the Westin) to slightly criticize Favre:

I've gotten 75-100 responses from people outraged at the hotel overbooking (including hotel employees). We won't be silenced.

Peter should just do what Martin Luther King did and stand up for what is right. I am not comparing those two of course, I am just using their name in the same sentence like Peter did with Jackie Robinson and Mike Vick yesterday.

You know things have gotten bad when Peter King criticizes Brett Favre at all. He only criticizes him about 10% as much as truly deserves to be criticized, but at least he does a little in his Tuesday mailbag.

"I'm sure I'll regret my decision down the road.''

--Brett Favre, to me, on July 28.

Down the road? That's a pretty short road. More like a driveway.

I wonder how it feels for Peter to hold Brett Favre in such high regard only to know Brett played him like he played every other journalist in America? It has to hurt his caffeinated feelings, wouldn't you think?

You would think I think this Brett Favre-to-Minnesota story is great, but I don't. I think it's wrong. I think it's a circus. And I think Minnesota coach Brad Childress is making a mistake.

See the angle Peter is taking here? He is sort of blaming Brett Favre, but mostly he is blaming Brad Childress for taking Brett Favre back...but not really blaming Brett Favre for retiring, again, last month and then telling the Vikings he wanted to play. It's a Catch-22 but if Favre did not say he wanted to play and then change his mind repeatedly, there would be no circus. Peter still refuses to acknowledge that Brett Favre's inability to make a decision pretty much led to this entire situation.

Peter is right, we do think he loves the Brett Favre to Minnesota story simply because he wrote 3 articles about it in a span of 24 hours when Favre last retired...and he brings up Brett Favre every damn week in his MMQB. You could see how his readers would think he liked the story.

If I were Childress, I'd have waited until Sage Rosenfels struggled -- if he struggled -- and then made the call to Favre. By doing it now, Childress loses Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson; how can they ever trust anything he says now?

Probably the same way we can't trust anything Brett Favre says at this point. It's two liars in Childress and Favre trusting each other in an effort to save the coaching job of the coach and the legacy of the player. If I were Rosenfels or Jackson I would demand a trade immediately. Sure the Vikings may not honor it but I wouldn't want to be in Minnesota anymore, that's for damn sure.

This move doesn't even make sense for the Vikings. Getting Favre for one year or two years will only make sure neither John David Booty and Tavaris Jackson never get a chance to develop as NFL quarterbacks and throws away the money and draft pick they spent on Rosenfels.

And the way Favre talked to me three weeks ago, there's a chance he won't last the season and Childress will have to turn to one of his angry quarterbacks.

I don't think you understand Peter. Brett Favre wants to play football and he has the passion to play? Why should lack of stamina and a diminished skill set prevent him from doing this? He always wants $12 million dollars to drag the team down. I don't think that is too much to ask for a quarterback who is coming off surgery and publicly said less than a month ago and he can't make it through an entire season. Gosh, the Vikings are getting a deal for $12 million.

I can't believe I fell for it and actually thought Favre would wait until midseason to join a team and be the savior. I actually believe him when he said he could not physically make it through an entire season. Either he lied about not being able to make it through an entire season or the Vikings are really going to get diminished returns on their Favre investment after about 8 games.

Childress has looked like a desperate man throughout this melodrama.

Yeah, Brad Childress has looked like the desperate man...not Brett Favre, he hasn't been desperate at all through this with his constant yearning for the spotlight and for his "comeback" to be set to his exact specifications. He gets a ton of money, can skip training camp, and doesn't have to compete with another player for the starting job.

Peter is only being semi-hard on Brett Favre here. Brett Favre is an incredibly desperate person and it has shown throughout this entire situation. The pathetic thing is that he has gotten his way the whole time.

Now the Vikings let him come back after the team has gone through training camp. Favre's the wishy-washiest player in memory -- and the Vikings are his enablers. It's ridiculous.

Finally, a little bit of the truth comes out of Peter's mouth. I have had my full of Brett Favre for the rest of my life. I rarely wish for others to fail, but I completely hope he fails. I want to see him fail and for the NFL to see him for the player and person he truly is, which is a selfish person who uses his past skills and achievements to get extort NFL teams into giving him exactly what he wants.

Now Peter turns to the only other topic that matters in the NFL right now. Mike Vick.

Plus, Dawkins is right about the competitive aspect. If Kolb is pushing McNabb, McNabb knows Kolb is not good enough to beat him out. But if Vick is pushing him, McNabb knows he could lose that one.

Kolb may not be good enough to beat McNabb out for the starting QB job, but I also really hope Mike Vick can't pop back into the NFL after two years away from the game and take over the starting QB job from McNabb either. McNabb has been playing in the Eagles system his entire career. What would they say about McNabb if it takes Mike Vick just a couple games of playing to take the starting QB job from McNabb who has been to 5 NFC Championships with the Eagles?

"That's right," said Dawkins. "Signing Michael means Donovan will make sure his game stays tight.''

I don't know whether I find it sad that McNabb needs to be pushed for the starting job to get him motivated or this is just human nature.

(Peter King on Todd Haley as the Chiefs head coach)

Ian, this is my belief: When a team stinks, as the Chiefs do, and a coach with a pretty good track record comes in, the only way you can judge the coach is if you get in the boat with him, row hard, and see where the sea takes you. Like him or not, the Chiefs have a smart coach who is an equal-opportunity abuser.

Two things: What track record does Todd Haley have as a head coach? Nothing at all. He has been an offensive coordinator with one team and that is about it, he hasn't had any football success other than that. The second thing is that I am going to argue the "smart coach" thing because it took him 3 quarters to open up the Cardinals' offense in the Super Bowl. I am hard on Todd Haley but only because he thinks he can be like Bill Parcells and berate players to get their respect. I am not sure he knows respect is earned, not yelled into submission.

(On whether Kyle Orton struggled in the first preseason game because he is not used to having a good offensive line)

I asked Orton on Monday about his first interception, the one by 49ers cornerback Nate Clements, when Clements was side-by-side with Denver tight end Daniel Graham in the end zone while Peyton Hillis ran free nearby when his cover man slipped. Orton said he'd already decided to throw to Graham, and what he should have done is throw the ball out of the end zone. I don't buy that. I know I'm doing a classic second-guess, but I believe Orton has to be able to make that split-second read to Hillis, especially with Graham closely guarded.

That has to make the entire city of Denver proud and completely non-nervous that even given a second chance to see what he did wrong, Kyle Orton still misses the fact he had a wide open man. This stuff is easier said than done I guess but I am sure Orton had watched the tape at that point and is surprises me he didn't say he would have thrown the ball to the open man.

I fucking hate Blogger. I hate it. I wrote an entire second half of this post and Blogger decided to not only not save what I wrote as I went along, but when I went to post it I got an error message which wiped everything I had written from here on out. I am not going to re-write the entire damn thing, it took too long. If I were Peter King I would whine about it and then start a boycott of Blogger.

Andrew of Philadelphia: "Is it too hard to believe that the Eagles are grooming Vick to be the next Donovan McNabb? McNabb has been in the league now for 10-plus years, he's been hurt multiple years and his career is waning. Andy Reid took a young agile yet inaccurate passer in McNabb and turned him into one of the best in the league. Vick can sit behind Donovan for two years (or less because of the injury prone McNabb), learn the offense and come in once McNabb has had his day in the NFL? Is that too far-fetched?''

This is the question that many Eagles fans have now, which is why I wasn't sure signing Vick was a great idea. They will clamor for him to be on the field if McNabb struggles. McNabb was drafted out of college by Andy Reid so he had a blank slate to work with concerning McNabb. Unfortunately I don't know how much "molding" of Vick can be done at this point. I don't really see Reid being able to turn Vick into one of the most accurate passers at this point in his career.

What says Peter?

Not at all. But I think it's a waste of time in this case to think much beyond this year. Reid made this decision ONLY when McNabb was an enthusiastic supporter of it; had McNabb not been on board, Reid wouldn't have done it.

Peter clings to the idea that McNabb was on board for this move. Whether it is true or not, if you take away the fact McNabb is on board there is not a whole lot of logical reasoning behind the Vick signing for the Eagles...that doesn't stop Peter from using the same "McNabb agreed to it" reasoning everytime a question is asked though.

Jay S. of Trenton: "Suppose the Broncos go 3-13 and end up with the NFL's worst record. Their first-round draft pick would belong to Seattle. Assuming that happens, has there been a bigger draft fleecing in the history of the NFL than Alphonso Smith for the first overall pick?''

I don't care how expensive 1st round picks are. Trading the 1st pick in the draft for a lesser value in Alphonso Smith is stupid. Especially for a team trying to rebuild. Usually draft picks and impact players are the best way to rebuild a team, so that 1st round pick may end up coming in handy.

I am not down on Alphonso Smith, I find it odd that Darrius Heyward-Bey's best game over this past college football season was against Alphonso Smith and Wake Forest. I don't know if Smith was actually covering Heyward-Bey or not, but I do find it odd the best game he had this year was against Smith. If I were having a gut reaction I would say Smith should have shut down Heyward-Bey or at least held him to his season's average, not give allow him to have the best game of his Junior year. It doesn't obviously mean Smith is not going to be a good NFL player, it just tells me he very well could not be worth a top 10 pick in the draft next year.

Peter?

But I am reminded about what that wise old football philosopher Randy Cross told me about Alphonso Smith after he studied him on tape last spring: "This guy might be the best cornerback in the draft, and he's definitely worth a first-round pick.''

Worth a first round pick, but not the first pick in the entire damn draft. A draft that will include tons of good QB prospects and players in the secondary like Taylor Mays and Eric Berry. There is a difference in him being worth a first round pick and the first pick in the draft. The first pick in the draft, no matter how expensive can be an impact player.

Now Peter whines about the Westin.

As of 7 a.m. today, I had more than 200 responses to my Westin situation in Tweets (mostly), phone calls and texts, plus another 1,000 or so in my SI e-mail. The general manager of the San Diego Westin has written a letter of apology on behalf of the hotel, and an old friend from high school now running the Westin Copley Place in Boston has done the same. I am grateful for the input, and I am not angry at any one person for the situation.

There is a line where complaining about the Westin's policy and trying to prove a point crosses over into just being obstinate and being difficult to please just to make yourself feel more important by causing a problem. Peter has crossed that threshold.

Peter travels a lot during the year. There are going to be bad examples of customer service and things are going to go wrong. Deal with it and quit complaining about it. I don't get to read Peter compliment a hotel when they give great service or have his precious freaking coffee ready every morning, but we always get to read about the bad shampoo and what the hotel did wrong from Peter.

The Westin has a messed up policy. Deal with it or choose a new hotel. Don't turn it into a high school drama where you act like your life has been altered in some immeasurable way in a negative manner.

This is the source of my anger: Let's say you have a 500-room hotel. Let's say it's a busy weekend, and you have sold out all 500 rooms with guaranteed reservations. Is the goal of the hotel to sell every one of its rooms every night? Yes -- or at least that's what the goal should be. I'm told by several emailers/Tweeters who work in the hotel industry that this isn't the goal of hotels. The goal, rather, is to sell more than 500 rooms by figuring an average of how many no-shows among those 500 reservations there will be. Let's say the hotel averages 20 no-shows per night for this time of year. Then the hotel will sell, for example, 515 rooms, and hope that it has at least 15 no-shows. So the hotel will earn, for example, about $3,000 more per night if it's a fairly upscale hotel by overbooking.

It stinks but this is exactly how businesses are run. Airlines overbook, salespeople double book their appointments and hotels overbook rooms to ensure they will make a profit. They are not running a hostel, they are running a business. An empty room is a sunk cost.

I'm not in this for free rooms or free anything and will accept nothing to "make it right.'' I want to see the policy changed. What possibly is the meaning of a guaranteed reservation if you get to a hotel at 11:15 at night and there's not a room for you?

It's a great question. They comped a room at another hotel for Peter and he himself acknowledges it was 11:15 at night, so as long as the room has a bed he should be fine for the time being. I would be annoyed also but I would also get over it and not try to bring the entire hotel industry down because I have been inconvenienced.

I'll decide this week and let you know what my plans are in Monday's column.

Please don't. It's so self important to actually believe you can change a hotel's policy by bitching. Maybe Peter will change the policy but it really should not be this big of a deal. Boycott the hotel and don't make a public display of it all.

Click here to pre-order Peter King's new book, "Monday Morning Quarterback: A fully caffeinated guide to everything you need to know about the NFL"

That's right, Peter has a book coming out. I bet 320 pages are about Brett Favre and the rest of the book is about his traveling problems.

-One more thing for the day. I am glad the Nationals and Stephen Strasburg were able to come to an agreement on a contract. It would have been incredibly stupid if they had not been able to. Strasburg needs to start pitching so he can make more money on another contract and the Nationals need to get fans butts in the seats somehow, outside of paying the fans to come to the game.

I thought for sure Scott Boras wanting tons of money and the general ineptitude of the Nationals front office would cause this deal to never happen. This was a huge win-win for both sides, though I am not sure what took so long, neither side had great alternative options.