It seems as if all the talk surrounding the NFL this week has been about Brett Favre. Will he play on? Will he retire? These questions are yet to be answered, however on Monday Brett spoke to Green Bay management, asking to be released. The reason for his decision was not because Green Bay had arguements with Favre, the decision was made purely on Brett wanting to play in the NFL next season, wether that be at Lambeau Field or elsewhere.

Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy claimed in an interview on Saturday that he and General Manager Ted Thompson had always wanted Brett back at Green Bay, however he would need to be coming back in a different role than he played last year as the Packers want to finally give an oppurtunity to Aaron Rodgers.

Favre has the opputunity to prove he is still capable of leading Green Bay in offseason training, as the Packers will look to see if Favre can still play at a level that is for one better than Aaron Rodgers, but more importantly is at a level which will excell Green Bay in the upcoming NFL season.

Favre has made it clear to the Packers that he will not be coming back to the team if he does not start, which leaves Green Bay with the only option left - to trade him.

[yt]QABJhvMjib8[/yt]

At first there were rumors. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia. Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell. These rumors alone made the average MMA fan skeptical from the get go. But then it got even better. Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo. Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao. Babalu Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead. You can’t be serious, can you?

Affliction, the renowned clothing company that equips a number of athletes with these lush shirts, will have their first ever event named “Banned” on July 19th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The name of their event stems from when their products were banned from being worn by the UFC fighters by the profanity-laced UFC president Dana White. A couple of months later, they announced that they were launching an MMA organization. Instantaneously, they were being called a flop, a joke, and straight up imbeciles. With the main card that I mentioned above, they were slated to lose money…and we mean a LOT of money.

Day by day Affliction gained steam. For their first ever event, they have already sold nearly 10,000 tickets for the Honda Center. Now that my friends, is pretty amazing.

Donald Trump has now partnered with Affliction and is getting into the MMA game. Now whenever you have Trump on your side, you are slated to never go down without a major battle. Regardless, Affliction has done a tremendous job of pulling out a high profile production crew for this event.

World renowned legendary announcer Michael Buffer will be announcing the Affliction event. Megadeth will be performing. Big John McCarthy, Jay Glazer, and Frank Trigg will be commentating and the list simply goes on.

This is certainly the greatest MMA event in years with talent stacked from the preliminary card all the way to the main card. Here is how the card will look like:

Main Card (PPV - $39.95):
Fedor Emelianenko v. Tim Sylvia
Josh Barnett v. Pedro Rizzo
Andrei Arlovski v Ben Rothwell
Matt Lindland v Fabio Negao
Babalu Sobral v Mike Whitehead

Undercard (FOX Sports Net):
Aleksander Emelianenko v. Paul Buentello
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira v. Edwin Dewees
Vitor Belfort v. Terry Martin
Ray Lizama v. Justin Levens
Mike Pyle v. JJ Ambrose
Savant Young v. Mark Hominick

Here’s hoping he hasn’t been hanging out with Josh Howard and Chris Andersen.

Sacramento Kings center Brad Miller has been suspended for five games for violating the league’s drug program, according to ESPN. Miller hasn’t previously been suspended for drug violations in his ten seasons in the NBA.

He released an official statement:

“I want to apologize to my family, teammates, fans and entire Kings organization. I made a mistake. It was an error in judgment and I’m very sorry. I regret it deeply. It’s something I won’t and can’t take lightly. I hope to bounce back from this as a better person and I’m excited about the upcoming season.”

The Purdue product came into the league undrafted in 1998, and has been an All-Star in both conferences. Last season, he averaged 13.4 PPG, 9.5 REB, 3.7 AST in 72 games for the Kings.

Sam Amick, a sports writer for the Sacramento Bee, has reported that the LA Lakers have contacted the Kings about Ron Artest, according to a league source. The Kings have not responded yet.

LA’s disappointing performance in the finals, and recent loss of reserve forward Ronny Turiaf to free agency, might be enough to make LA do a deal to add Artest’s toughness and defense to the team. It is assumed that Lamar Odom, a versatile, albeit inconsistent, forward would be the main piece offered in the proposal.

On the flip side, the Kings are finished with the Ron Artest experiment. Artest has been relatively well behaved over the past few years, but he still has had legal issues and an inconsistent attitude towards the team. He has often decided when he plays, and has been criticized for his selfish play at times. If this deal is to be made, it’s assumed the Kings would insist LA relieve them of forward Kenny Thomas. Thomas, who is making over $16 million over the next two seasons, is another player the Kings would be only too happy to see leave. Despite rising gas prices, you’d still see a line of Kings fans willing to drive Kenny to the airport.

Additional Info:

Ron Artest -The Kings acquired the 6′7” forward back in 2006 for Peja Stojakovic. Ron is still one of the premiere individual defenders in the game, and his absence from the All-Defensive team has me scratching my head. Artest recently decided not to opt out of the last year of his deal, and will be paid about $8.5 million.

Artest averaged 20.5 PPG, 5.8 REB, 3.5 AST in 57 games last season.

Lamar Odom - Odom is one of the most versatile players in the game, and has great ball handling ability for a player his size. Unfortunately, he’s had issues with his consistency. Phil Jackson, the Lakers’ head coach, has commented publicly on Odom’s fragile mindset. Odom was instrumental in LA reaching the NBA Finals last season. He is also in the last year of his deal, worth about $14.6 million.

Odom averaged 14.2 PPG, 10.6 REB, 3.5 AST in 77 games last season.

Artest and Odom are good friends and have known each other for years. Both are from Queens, New York, and Artest attended a game of the NBA Finals to support Odom. Artest has expressed a desire to play with Odom.

Lakers forward-center Ronny Turiaf agreed to a four-year, $17 million offer from the Golden State Warriors, according to two league sources.

With the Los Angeles Lakers unlikely to match the four-year, $17 million offer from the Warriors, us Laker fans are filled with mixed emotions.

We’re overjoyed that there’s a team (other than the Lakers) willing to overpay a player who’s nothing more than a glorified reserve. And yes, I’m now allowed to call Ronny Turiaf a glorified reserve since he’ll no longer be a Los Angeles Laker. But then again, we’re saddened that our glorified reserve is ripped from our heart (no pun intended) and placed on a conference rival. Then boom, just like that, we’re happy again once we realise what Ronny has overcame in his life and where he stands today in terms of his health and professional career. But thinking about his professional career saddens us again when we realise we won’t be able to look at the Laker bench after a thunderous Kobe Bryant dunk and see #21getting Jiggy Wit It by himself or with his towel. But ultimately in the end, we’re happy because even if Ronny isn’t the most deserving player of a 4-year, $17 million contract, he’s by far the most deserving person.

Could Brett make a return to Green Bay?

Talk surrounding the comeback of legendary quarterback Brett Favre has been ever so apparent in these last few weeks as the media and fans alike have hopped onto the “Comeback Bandwagon” as Brett has made it clear that a possible return to any team - not just Green Bay, is possible. Brett, who announced his retirement in March of this year, has been in long conversation with Packers coach Mike McCarthy, stating that he would love to make a return to Green Bay as his first option.

The only way Favre ends up with Chicago or Minnesota, who seem like great candidates for the to-be Hall of Famer, is if the Packers end up releasing Favre, although with two years left on his contract at Green Bay there should be no problem in re-instating the former QB. However, Green Bay management should seriously consider keeping a close eye on backup Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers as he may be Lambeau leaping himself over the Dubuque- Wisconsin bridge anytime in the coming year, as he has been the 2nd string quarterback for Green Bay in his 4 year tenure.

Team and player chemistry, especially in today’s sporting world, is by far overrated at times, but it’s just plain ignorant to dismiss it. If we see this Favre situation get out of hand and incorrectly handled by Packers’ management, it could have the ability to sink the huge amount of chemistry that this team has had over the last 12 months, and possibly end the fairytale comeback to an outstanding career

Quick-Facts: Brett Favre is a three-time NFL MVP, seven-time All-Pro selection and nine-time Pro-Bowl selection, with a pass completion percentage of 61.4 resulting in 442 Touchdowns and 61,655 yards over 17 NFL seasons.