What about Bob?

Bob Glauber is in Philly at Eagles camp, but a conflict with the interview session has forced us to push the live chat back to 3 p.m. Please join us then.

Now the question is whether Lynch is done, period.

The veteran safety, who took a significant paycut to stay with the team, was barely used in practice during the first week and received permission from head coach Mike Shanahan to skedaddle.
Lynch will certainly ponder any potential opportunities out there, although it's not certain how many teams will be lined up for an aging star with some recent neck problems.

If it's curtains on his playing career, we'll turn Lynch over to Neil Best, because he plans on pursuing a television career.

I'm sure Newsday Giants beat reporter Tom Rock will offer a few motivational sayings to our previous post, but in the meantime, TRock came up with an all-timer in one of his own blog posts.

"My story for tomorrow's newspaper is already up today. Imagine if I was covering the Olympics in China, where today really is yesterday and tomorrow is today. I wonder if the Internet knows what I'll be writing for the Friday paper. I think I just crossed the International Date Line of sanity."

Hang in, TRock, the two-a-days will be over before you know it.

Meantime, check out Rock's story from the other day on former Lawrence High offensive lineman Shane Olivea, who is attempting to hook on with the Super Bowl champs after being released by the Chargers. It's a compelling read.

(If Rock seems a bit obsessed with constant updates on Olivea, it's understandable. After all, just like Rock, Olivea was a top schoolboy lineman on Long Island.)

When you go into the Giants' locker room, one thing that jumps out are the sayings posted on the walls. Turns out Tom Coughlin is very much into quoting famous people, which is what I wrote about for my intro to Giants' camp last week.

I am into famous quotes, and will be sharing a few as we move along here in the blogosphere.

If you've got any motivational sayings, bring 'em on.

Memo to Boland: You already used the Helen Hayes "rest/rust" saying, so no smart aleck comments here. I know there are some favorites deep inside the Bubbling Cauldron of Intensity.

Not sure how much it would take to keep me away from the Newsday.com computer, but it sure would be a whole lot less than what the Packers reportedly talked about when thinking of ways to keep Brett Favre retired.

It is a bizarre turn of events - if the story is true. But I doubt it will ever come to this, because this isn't about the money with Favre. The guy just wants to play.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy was told about the report that Green Bay offered as much as $20 million for Favre to stay in retirement, but since he hadn't talked to team president Mark Murphy, he couldn't confirm anything.

Again, the word that keeps coming back to this blog to describe the bizarre events we keep coming across in the world of sports: Oy.

Live chat at 3 p.m. and we will discuss further!

The script took a dramatic turn this morning at Bucs practice, where Jeff Garcia was injured on a rollout during a non-contact drill and had to be carted off the field.

Wow.

Meanwhile, with the Packers now reportedly entertaining the idea of trading Favre within the division to either Minnesota or Chicago, the asking price may have just gotten higher.

Not sure we're convinced the Packers are actually willing to pull the trigger on a trade within the division, although it's in the best interests of Green Bay to make people THINK they're willing to trade within the division.

Thus, if you're Tampa and your own 38-year-old quarterback just limped off the practice field with a bum leg, you might be inclined to up your offer a tad if Green Bay is at least floating the possibility of dealing with Minny or Chicawgo (pronunciation of Chicago Norm of Final Score fame.)

I'll have some impressions from Eagles' camp in a bit, and don't forget the live chat at 3 p.m.

We'll be at Eagles camp checking out Donovan McNabb & Co., so hop on aboard the virtual train and join us for a live chat at noon.

Just come back to the site, and we'll have directions for you.

We'll piggy-back MLB writer Ken Davidoff's chat, so if you'd like to ask a question or two about the Pudge Rodriguez trade, we'll be up to speed on that, too.

Adios.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has given the Packers and Brett Favre more time to resolve their differences and bring about a resolution to the impasse.

Goodell was expected to approve Favre's reinstatement letter today, but decided to put the matter on hold to see if the two sides could work out an agreement.

Had Goodell approved the request, the Packers would have had 24 hours to either put him on the active roster, trade him or release him. Goodell's move effectively gives the sides more breathing room to try and reach some kind of agreement, although it remains to be seen if anything can be done.

The two words that continue to apply: stay tuned.

Trying being one of the poor saps camped outside of Brett Favre's agent's office today in Hattiesburg, Miss. trying to get a comment from the Great One about how his meeting went with Packers president Mark Murphy.

Favre gave a hand wave to the masses and said: "Why don't y'all get in the shade?"

When asked a few minutes later at the gates of his home west of Hattiesburg, Favre waved off a Hattiesburg American reporter without comment.

Oy.

Don't be surpirsed to see it happen.

It was Glenn who was forced on Parcells in the first round of the 1996 draft, when Patriots owner Robert Kraft took away Parcells' personnel powers. During his first training camp with the Patriots, Glenn suffered a tweaked hammy, and at a press conference that turned out to be somewhat historic (I was lucky enough to be there, actually), Parcells was asked about Glenn's status.

"She's doing fine," Parcells said.

It created a firestorm of controversy, and further alienated Parcells from Kraft. After that season, in which the Patriots went to the Super Bowl and were beaten by Brett Favre's Packers, Parcells jumped to the Jets.

Glenn eventually became an elite receivers and was recruited by the Cowboys when Parcells was coach. Thus, I'm not surprised at all that Glenn would be rejoining Parcells. In fact, I predicted it last month.

Perhaps if I could predict football games like that, I might not be the butt of Newsday football handicapper and thoroughbred maniac Ed McNamara's cackling during the season.

How do I know this? Because he has said it repeatedly on a 50,000-watt radio station in the largest media market in the country.

In fact, Boomer Esiason's co-host on the Monday morning drive time show says he'll show up at Jets camp today to stage a rally to implore the Jets to trade for BF. He will scream through a bullhorn "Get Brett!"
I asked Chad Pennington, who is kicking tail in his competition with Kellen Clemens, what he thought of Carton showing up to rally Jets' fans, and he was amused. He did take a shot at Carton, saying he wasn't a true Jets' fan if he did something like this and that Pennington would laugh about it.

Carton shot back that last season's 4-12 season was laughable.

It's all very silly stuff, but it made for an entertaining day's work at Hofstra yesterday and will probably prompt Erik Boland to veer somewhat off course during his reporting. I'm sorry for any trouble I've caused, EBo.

(I did write that Carton might be surprised at the amount of fans who WILL NOT join him in the rally, judging from the comments I got from fans yesterday. Then again, famous radio personalities shouting through a bullhorn might make these things unpredictable.)

Ok, where do we begin?

Yesterday afternoon, he faxed his reinstatement letter to the NFL office, which did not make an immediate determination on his request. That could happen later today, when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell approves the matter.

No surprise there.

But there was a very interesting development from Packers president Mark Murphy, who flew to Mississippi last night for a meeting this morning with Favre and his agent, Bus Cook. Murphy hopes to persuade Favre not to report to Packers' training camp until the team can resolve his situation one way or another.

Not sure that's possible at this point, because any trading partners the Packers have right now will surely want to wait as long as they can to drive down the asking price since they know Green Bay wants to deal him. The Bucs still appear to be the odds-on favorite to swing a deal, with the Jets a distant second.

Favre's preference is Minnesota, or possibly Chicago, but there's no way Packers GM Ted Thompson deals him to an NFC North rival.

The next move is Favre's. He can report to Packers training camp once he is reinstated, or he can sit it out and wait for a deal to happen.

If he reports, the circus will be unprecedented.

Tom Rock will be on the horn for a live chat at 2 p.m. So come back to the Newsday.com sports site, click a few buttons where the chat mavens indicate, and fire away with some Giants' questions.

Maybe Boland has one, since he's so up on politics these days. I guess I could ask him because he's sitting across the room, but he appears to be blogging about the morning practice we just saw at Hofstra.

Anyway, it appears Mr. Limbaugh would be interested in becoming an owner of the Rams if the team were to be sold. Limbaugh grew up in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

"The Rams would be a great team to have," Limbaugh told the St. Louis Business Journal last week. "I have a lot of friends in ownership in the NFL, and my desire to get involved has not been a secret."

Only one problem. Limbaugh is a wealthy man, but probably not rich enough. He's worth an estimated $300 million, which probably wouldn't pass muster in terms of a lead owner.

"I have no debt whatsoever. This would require changing that," he told the publication.

Limbaugh was a commentator for ESPN, but his comments ultimately got him into hot water, especially comments he made at Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb that were considered by many to be racist.

The Rams are not for sale, but owner Georgia Frontiere died earlier this year and her children have become majority owners. Chip Rosenbloom has said the team is not for sale.

Then again, everyone has his price.

"It's the same as it's been," Rosenbloom told the St. Louis Dispatch. "If the right person at the time right time with the right price came, I suppose that you might sell your house, right? So, I don't say never. ... If we get a phone call today from somebody who says the right things, we would listen."

Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia is obviously aware of the swirl of speculation centering on Brett Favre's potential trade to Tampa. But like the gutsy quarterback he has been throughout his career, he answers the controversy with a combination of in-your-face confidence and bemusement.

Asked about Jon Gruden's flirtation with Favre, Garcia quipped: "He loves quarterbacks. But he likes to just date. He doesn't like to marry."

Brilliant.

As for Garcia's overall take on the situation: "If (Favre) comes in, as much as the accolades are huge on that side, I'm the starting quarterback, and it's going to be a battle. That's just my attitude. I'm the starter here. I'm going to choke it to death until somebody pulls my grip off of it."

Beautiful.

The Steelers safety battled through knee injuries much of last season and missed four games, missed the team's first two practices yesterday because of another injury: a pulled hammy.

Polamalu, a tireless worker, did everything possible to get ready for training camp, but pulled the muscle a few days before the Steelers reported.

Bummer.

Not to worry, Black N Gold and BBiB! The injury doesn't imperil his availability for the season.

Bengals receiver Chad Johnson, who underwent arthroscopic ankle surgery shortly after the team's final mini-camp, isn't on the practice field yet.

Neither is Plax, who is still gimpy from an ankle injury he suffered a couple weeks ago on the same ankle that was dinged all last season.

I realize my previous post entitled "Does Brett Favre like Lindsay Lohan?" raised some eyebrows - and the ire of a handful of readers, including, of all people, Mr. Blogrotica himself, Erik Boland.
But as you read in the text, it was done at the suggestion of long-time reader Faw Bills, who opined that a headline like that would do wonders on the Google search engine.

Well, lo and behold, we just Googled "Brett Favre and Lindsay Lohan," http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=brett+favre+and+lindsay+lohanwhich rung up 124,000 entries in 0.18 seconds. And guess what? The "What About Bob" post was listed second.

Now, we readily admit there aren't too many people Googling "Brett Favre and Lindsay Lohan," but you get the message.

Brilliant stuff, Faw Bills.

So says head coach Mike McCarthy.

"I don't foresee Brett Favre coming in here as a problem," McCarthy said. "Brett Favre is a big part of the Green Bay Packers' history, and he may be a part of the future as we move forward. That's an option he has if he reinstates."

Any advice for Favre from McCarthy?

"I don't want to tell him how to handle it. We're all men here. Everyone has an understanding of what's going on. We'll deal with it. We're a football team and football players play football. They've handled it better than anybody."

My Tribune teammate (for at least a few more days, anyway) Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times took some heat for a story he wrote that Brett Favre's agent, Bus Cook, was quietly exploring whether any teams might be interested in Favre should the Packers quarterback decide to un-retire.

When did Farmer write the piece? In early April.

It was roundly rejected by Favre and Cook at the time.

Well done, Mr. Farmer.

The Bills' second-year running back pleaded guilty in a case involving a hit-and-run car accident, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell now says he won't impose a suspension.

The reason: since Lynch pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation, Goodell said he did not violate the league's personal conduct policy.

Now that Brett Favre has agreed to give the Packers a few more days to work out a solution for the future Hall of Fame quarterback, it's time for Glauber Nation readers to make their guess as to what happens next.

A trade to the Jets? The Bucs? The Bears? The Vikings? A return to the Packers?

Fire away, and we'll see who wins.

As we've told you before with these contests, we can't give away even so much as a ham 'n cheese sandwich to anyone who makes the correct guess. But we can offer a free blog post to whoever guesses the right answer.

Fire away.

Who knows? Who cares?

But it was suggested to me by loyal reader Faw Bills that simply writing that headline (we posted a slightly different version before, but it was suggested it was a bit over the top, so we've toned it down) will create a decent chance of this blog post being picked up on Google searches and thus enhancing page views.

Again, they didn't teach us this stuff in journalism class, but since Google now rules the world, we will abide by the new rules.

In the meantime, the real story with Favre is obviously the continuing saga about where he'll end up.

Favre is hoping something can be worked out by tomorrow or Wednesday. If not, then don't be surprised to see the 38-year-old quarterback who has mentally retired and unretired about a billion times in the last four-plus months report to Packers' camp.

The Jets, meanwhile, appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach. My sense is that they're not closing the door on the possibility of Favre joining the team, but they're not willing to pay a king's ransom for a quarterback who might give them only a year.

My other sense is that Favre's preferred team is the Vikings, who are coached by Brad Childress, a man Favre befriended when Childress sat in on some Packers' meetings when he was a college coach. Childress also worked extensively with former Packers assistant Andy Reid, who is now the Eagles' head coach.

As for Ms. Lohan, please check various gossip sites for any updates about her personal life.

The Eagles' cornerback, who has been the subject of trade rumors for months, especially after the team signed free agent corner Asante Samuel, isn't too happy with the way the Eagles have handled his situation.

The team couldn't find a suitable trading partner for the former Pro Bowl corner, who is looking for a new contract, and Sheppard is none too happy about it.

The word he uses to sum up his feelings: "disappreciated."

Ok, so maybe it's not a word you'll find in Webster's Dictionary, but you get the point. Kind of reuminds me of the Herm Edwards-ism: "flustrated." That's frustrated and flustered in one word.

Cute.

Albany - The idea was to be on hand here for the first practice of the defending Super Bowl champions.

Oh, well.

Brett Favre has now blown that plan out of the water now that it's been reported the Jets have received permission to talk to the Packers' quarterback about a potential trade.

It's still very early in the news cycle here, and the Jets haven't clarified the issue just yet. Even so, it's a massive story that potentially sends shock waves through an organization desperate for good news.

First things first. Let's suppose the Jets have, in fact, requested permission to talk to Favre about a deal. Does that automatically mean Favre is New York bound, 17 years after the team failed to land him in the draft and settled on eventual bust Browning Nagle?

Not quite.

Favre will have to think long and hard about going to a team coming off a 4-12 season. Even with all the high-priced talent the Jets acquired via free agency and/or trade, it's still a stretch to see Favre agreeing to play in New York. After all, wasn't it just last March where a weepy Favre announced his retirement because the only thing he wanted was to win a Super Bowl and he simply didn't see that in the cards? That was with a team that was just minutes away from getting to Super Bowl XLII.

So now Favre all of a sudden decides he not only wants to play again, but wants to play for a team that is still a huge question mark, especially in a division with the Patriots? If you're Brett Favre, is that what you want to do with the rest of your career?

Not likely.

Not impossible, but not likely.

I can think of three teams that Favre would prefer to play for over the Jets: the Packers if they can somehow mend fences after the flip-flop on his decision; the Vikings, who might be ready to make a run with a much-improved defense (almost impossible, since they're in the same division as the Packers); and the Bucs, who are coming off a playoff season and whose veteran quarterback, Jeff Garcia, is embroiled in a contract dispute (very possible, especially since Jon Gruden was on the Packers' coaching staff during Favre's early years in Green Bay).

The Jets will certainly be an intriguing possibility for Favre, but a huge risk nonetheless. A vastly different offensive system than Green Bay's would take time to learn, and would surely result in a bunch of interceptions, at least early on. A team that will take time to coalesce with so many new faces. And a coaching staff that is coming off a poor effort last year.

Whatever the case, this story has suddenly become intriguing, especially after the Jets initially showed no interest in pursuing Favre.

But with each interception thrown in training camp by Kellen Clemens and Chad Pennington, the cries of "Get Favre!" grow louder.

Stay tuned.

And why not?

They've got a Pro Bowl tight end who looks as if he's made it all the way back from a leg injury suffered last December. And they've got the guy they've been trying to pry away from the Giants for months.

Here's what quarterback Drew Brees has to say.

And head coach Sean Peyton, who was Shockey's first offensive coordinator as a Giants' rookie.

...

by the way, I am still astounded that a couple of kids created such a stir with their interview last month with Shockey, who said some things he has no recollection of now. Take a look again.

In fact, several of those fans showed up at the team's annual shareholders meeting and let team executives, particularly general manager Ted Thompson, have it when the subject of Favre came up.

I realize a football blog isn't the place you'd ordinarily write about a tidbit about one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Then again, who knew while reading the John Grisham book, "A Painted House," we'd learn something about Stan "The Man" Musial.

The book is about a poor sharecropper family in rural Arkansas, and it's told through the eyes of a 7-year-old boy growing up on a farm in 1952. The kid dreamed of growing up and playing for the Cardinals.

In one of the passages, Grisham writes about the batting race between Cardinals Hall of Famer Musial and Frank Baumholtz of the Cubs. The two were neck and neck heading into the final week, and on the final day of the season, with Musial safely in first place, he actually was called in from center to pitch to Baumholtz. It was the only pitching appearance of Musial's career.
(He had been a minor league pitcher, but a sore shoulder changed his career path.)

Baumholtz hit a grounder to third, but reached on an error.

(Yes, Best, that was before my time.)

It sure seems that the Bucs are the logical landing spot for Favre, who still wants to play, but might decide not to play, but might change his mind and play after all.

Depends on what day it is, I guess.

Anyway, the Bucs do seem like a good fit for Favre. After all, the Packers have no interest in dealing Favre to division rival Minnesota. And with little interest around the league for the services of a soon-to-be 39-year-old quarterback who can't seem to decide whether he'll play or not, Tampa has plenty to offer Favre.

There is head coach Jon Gruden, a former Packers assistant (receivers coach) whom Favre knew early in his career in Green Bay. Gruden loves veteran quarterbacks, and with Jeff Garcia making noises about a contract extension, Favre could be an instant fix at the position.

The Bucs are coming off a playoff berth and have a defense that is nearly back to the level of a few years ago.

It's anyone's guess when Favre will make the next move, but the next move is his.

With NFL commissioner Roger Goodell pressing both Favre and the Packers to resolve his situation, and with the Packers reporting to training camp on Sunday, things need to be resolved in short order.

That's the essential question to the Jets as they began training camp this morning in their final run at Hofstra.

It is an open competition between Pennington and third-year man Kellen Clemens, and it's anyone's guess to which QB will win the battle. But as I wrote in today's paper, I'm not betting against Pennington just yet.

Too much experience. Too much competitiveness. Too much resiliency.

We'll see how it plays out in the practice-by-practice drama that will be brought to you by newbie Jets beat reporter Erik Boland, who has already made a rookie mistake before the first practice even began.

(Go ahead, Boland. I'm sure you're anxious to fire away now that you've re-charged the venom on the recent trip back home to Cleveland.)

Ah, so now we know the secret of why Boland is so keen on visiting the homeland along the shores of Lake Erie.

It seems most of us take vacations to recharge our batteries. Evidently, Boland takes his to recharge his venom and take a shot at his mentor. That's Boland, who is still waiting to cover the first training practice of his career.

Must be a Cleveland thing.

Meanwhile, we'll be attempting to recharge our batteries in a more conventional way, so the blogging will cease and desist entirely for a bit. By the time we return, Brett Favre might be officially unretired, Michael Strahan might wobble about his retirement plans, and Mike Francesa and Chris Russo might be splitsville.

Once we do return to our perch here, it will be full go through next year's draft - and then some.

So, Black N Gold, BBiB!, Sandy, Islander505, jeffp, TonyA, Hookslide, both Richie G's and all our other regular commenters, relax, enjoy the weather, and we'll see you in a bit.

... but the Jaguars appear to be staying.

Despite a report that indicated team owner Wayne Weaver is negotiating a sale of the team - which could then be relocated to Los Angeles - Weaver is adamantly denying the team is for sale.

He insists the Jags will remain in Jacksonville.

The Jaguars former first-round receiver is having enough trouble sticking with the team now that newly acquired Troy Williamson and Jerry Porter are on board.

Now a much more serious situation confronts Jones. He was arrested earlier this week for possession of cocaine.

It is probably a matter of days or weeks before he is tossed out of J'ville.

Packers executives seem pretty confident Brett Favre will decide to remain retired rather than scratch the itch he apparently has to still play.

We're not so sure on this one.

The sports world is littered with great players who don't bow out gracefully, and Favre might just have to be added to a list that includes Michael Jordan, Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas, and Franco Harris.

We're hoping Favre does decide to remain retired. But we're certainly leaving the door open for a return. And if he does decide he really does want to come back, then the Packers should welcome him.

The NFL has hired Pennsylvania's police chief for an important security post. One of his tasks will be to make sure teams do not steal other teams' signals.

Wonder if that will appease another person from Pennsylvania who has been critical of the NFL's handling of the Spygate controversy last season. Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter has backed off his call for Congressional hearings, but he is keeping tabs on the issue moving forward.