Olympics start this week

Olympic Opening Ceremonies moved

The opening ceremonies will start at 6:30 p.m. Friday on NBC, in what the network is calling a "special early start time." Olympic competition actually begins earlier with some soccer matches on MSNBC, including the U.S. women's team playing Wednesday. But the big China-is-great production number, otherwise known as the opening ceremonies, will be the focus of the 4 1/2 hours on Friday.

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Favre back in the mix

Almost six weeks to the day after Favre told Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy that he was seriously considering ending his retirement, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that he was reinstating the legendary quarterback at noon today and ordered the Packers to make room for him on their 80-man roster.

And it appears not only will the Packers take Favre back, they will allow him to compete with Aaron Rodgers for the starting quarterback job. A source close to the Packers told the Journal Sentinel on Sunday afternoon that it was understood between both parties that Favre would have a chance to compete for a starting job.

Before that can happen, however, Favre must meet with McCarthy

Some teammates thoughts
"He wants to play," cornerback Al Harris insisted.

"That's really all you can do is open it up," cornerback Charles Woodson said. "He's reinstated so at that point, once they did that, you've got to give him a chance to win his job. So I think that's only fair. We'll see what happens."

“I love him,” said Driver, who has made three Pro Bowls with Favre throwing him the ball. “That’s one thing I’ve always said. We have a very, very close relationship, so it’s good to have a close friend around, and that’s the biggest thing to me.

“Everyone back home’s saying, ‘Have you met Brett?’” rookie tight end Jermichael Finley said. “I’m like, ‘Nah, man. He hasn’t showed up.’ It’s going to be great to meet him.”

“The only person I really worry about is Aaron, and I think he’s handling it real well,” receiver James Jones said. “However they play it out, they play it out. Aaron’s a man. He’ll handle whatever situation. If he’s the starter, he’s going to handle that as the starter. Something comes up where Brett is the starter, then (Rodgers) will handle it that way. He’ll be fine.”

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25 things you never knew about Metallica (unless you have never read or seen anything about them

Also, Metallica finally revealed the last piece of the Death Magnetic puzzle, announcing their new Rick Rubin-produced album will be available worldwide on September 12th. While most albums are released in Europe on Monday and the States on Tuesday, Metallica are keeping with the unorthodox nature of this album’s release, giving the world Death Magnetic on a Friday. We assume that Friday will also see the release of the playable Death Magnetic for Guitar Hero III.

Brett Favre wants to play, at least for now. He has flip-flopped more times than a pancake at IHOP. What is the team suppose to do? If he returns, there will be a divided locker room, second guessing all over the place, and Green Bay might end up losing their successor to Favre.

The Packers should not give him his outright release. Favre retires, the Pack moves on with Rodgers, all is well. Favre wants a meeting in March to say he wants to unretire, then cancels. The organization seemed willing at that point to let him return. Now, almost 4 months later, he wants to play?

What is he gets into training camp and decides it is just too much and he really doesn't want to play. This is selfishness at the utmost degree. If the team tries to trade him, what will they get? Probably not much. Forget the other divisional teams and maybe most in the NFC (maybe Tampa is a possibility). You think Favre wants to go to Baltimore or Oakland? Surely, he wants to go south. Carolina would fit but are the Packers willing and able to make a respectable deal with other teams knowing that he has to be traded? He has put this organization is a terrible spot.

What a mess

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This is not a good thing. Packer is synonymous with the NCAA tournament.

Packer out (no, not Brett Favre)
Billy Packer's streak of Final Fours is over after 34 years.

Billy Packer will reportedly be replaced by CBS studio analyst Clark Kellogg.
Packer, a color commentator, will be replaced in CBS' coverage by studio analyst Clark Kellogg, according to media reports Monday.

Jim Nantz will continue in his Final Four play-by-play role.

Packer, 68, will leave CBS after 28 years to pursue "other projects in basketball," according to The Miami Herald.

Speculation of Packer's exit was fueled amid widespread criticism during this year's tournament.

Early in the 2008 semifinal between Kansas and North Carolina, with the Jayhawks up 38-12, Packer declared, "The game is over."

North Carolina cut the lead to 54-50 with 11 minutes left in the second half before Kansas pulled away, winning 84-66.

The Jayhawks beat Memphis 75-68 to claim the national title.

Packer, who began his Final Four run at NBC, later defended the comment to USA Today.

"My job is to say what I see, not have some kind of subconscious feelings about offending anybody. ... It probably annoyed some people, but I don't concern myself with having some agenda that's contrary to what I'm seeing," he said.

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Ian Kinsler is doing things few people predicted. He still has glove issues but this guy can play the game. I was fortunate to be able to meet him about 1 1/2 years ago and speak with him. He was confident, bordering on cocky, but still a pretty nice guy.
Kinsler hits 25

Kinsler extended his majors-best hitting streak to 25 games with three hits and drove in three runs, and Young and Bradley also had key hits, leading the Texas Rangers to a wild 12-11 victory over the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox that clinched another series win.

"We're showing a lot of character, clawing our way through games," said Young, who has a 15-game hitting streak. "We're playing as a team. ... The momentum we've built up over the last couple of months, hopefully we can carry that over into the second half.

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The Beatles are still a little bit popular
The hand-painted drum skin that appeared on the sleeve of the Beatles' ground-breaking 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" sold for $1.1 million at auction on Thursday in London, four times its estimate.

Billed as the "world's most famous drum skin," it was the star lot of Christie's rock and pop memorabilia sale in London, and eclipsed the other highlight, John Lennon's handwritten lyrics for hit song "Give Peace a Chance."

The manuscript still fetched $834,000, well above pre-sale expectations of around $500,000.

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Dit ontluikt voor u (that's Dutch for "This Bud's for you")

Belgian brewer InBev has announced it will buy its U.S. rival Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion to create the world's largest brewer.

The deal would create the world's largest brewer and put the U.S. beer-maker in the hands of Belgian-based InBev.

The acquisition means control over America's largest brewer, the No. 2 worldwide, moves overseas. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Anheuser-Busch has more than 48 percent of American market share with brands that include Bud Light.

InBev is the world's second largest beer maker, with brands that include Stella Artois and Becks.

The deal must be approved by shareholders and European and U.S. antitrust regulators. The merger will produce the fourth-largest consumer product company worldwide

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