Favre Back in NFL? You "Brett"er Believe it

When my phone was ringing at 7:30am this morning, I was ready to yell at my buddy for calling me so early. Then when he told me that my favorite team, the Minnesota Vikings were in the process of flying Brett Favre into town to sign the 39 year old QB, I was suddenly invigorated.   Now that the Vikings finally have a quarterback that they can count on, can the Vikings be counted on to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender? The answer is an emphatic "Yes".   By inking Favre, the Vikings will now find themselves as a slight favorite to win the NFC North. Before today's news, the division was considered a three-team race between Minnesota, Chicago, and Green Bay.
In fact, many people liked Chicago or Green Bay to finish ahead of the Vikes because they had much more talent at the quarterback position. I am amazed that Tavaris Jackson is still getting a chance to be a starting quarterback.   How much grooming does this kid need?   Jackson showed what he was all about in last year's playoff game against Philadelphia, when he was too afraid to throw the ball downfield and would time-after-time settle for the short pass instead.   Sage Rosenfels was likely not going to be the answer either. He has bounced around four different teams now, and has 30 lifetime touchdown passes and 29 Interceptions. Not exactly a stellar ratio here.   If anything, the most recent news about Favre will not only be a good thing for the Vikings, it will b... [More]

Is Boxing Almost Down for the Count?

I understand why MMA has passed boxing in terms of popularity.

There are more ways to win a match, plus you can still knock out your opponent with one punch, just like with boxing.

When I visited Las Vegas in July last year, I saw firsthand that MMA has not only passed boxing, but its lapped it a few times.

I was tempted to go to UFC 86 (Rampage Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin), but when I saw it was going to be $500 just to get in, I balked.

Then I saw on the same night as UFC, that there was going to be a boxing match between Ricardo Torres and Kendall Holt to decide the WBO light welterweight title.

I could get fifth-row tickets for $150 each. Sign me up. While I have never been to a MMA event, I hadn’t been to a boxing match, either.

While 11,000 people were going bonkers at Mandalay Bay before the start of the UFC event, Planet Hollywood was listless, as there may have been 4,000 people at the boxing event.

In between fights, Paris Hilton shockingly made a cameo, something that Showtime obviously paid big bucks for. The crowd was amused actually.

Earlier in the day, I went to Imperial Palace and made a bet on the "Total Rounds" the fight would go. I bet over 9.5, figuring I would either see a few knockdowns or win some money. After seeing the 2/1 underdog Torres knock down Holt twice in the first 30 seconds, and then Holt knockout Torres 30 seconds later, I had never been so happy to lose a bet before.
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Attendance dropping, but sport ticket prices aren't

With the way the economy is at the present moment, you are seeing many people give up their season tickets to their favorite sports teams.   The Detroit Pistons reported that over half of their season ticket holders decided not to renew for the upcoming season. It seems to me that for the most part, teams aren't being proactive in finding ways to get more people at their games, and are staying stagnant with their ticket prices.   I have no problem watching more games at home these days.
I mean HDTV is such a better product than what we had just a few years ago.   Sports franchises need to make more of a concerted effort to try and show people that they realize that in today's world, its not as
economically feasible to go to a sporting event, and are willing to work with the fans.   For instance, the teams need to have agreements set it place with advertisers (ex: food and drink companies) or other retailers
(ex: sports apparel shops) where if people buy items from these
companies, that they get free or reduced prices for tickets.   The people who run these teams know that they make an unbelieveably good return on investment on concessions during a game, so the more people they have at their games the more moolah they make.   Have you seen a reduction in prices for sporting events where you live?
Please let me know.   Michael Perry is an oddsmaker with ... [More]