When did Brett Favre become a woman?

My wife is going to hate this.

I love my wife a great deal, but she has a minor issue in life. She's not a real strong decision-maker. She likes to, well, pull a John Kerry. In other words, she likes to flip-flop. Change her mind. Alter her thinking. It drives me nuts.

Other times, she just puts off making a decision altogether.

Ugh.

Anyway, Brett Favre apparently had a sex change. Either that, or he's letting his wife make the most important decision of his career for him - because that decision isn't coming. And it probably should have by now.

Favre, as many of you know, has been trying to figure out whether he's going to retire or return for the 2006 season in Green Bay. Being traded and becoming a free agent have been eliminated by Favre as options, as he says he's going to play for the Packers or hang it up. And Favre is taking his sweet time making up his mind.

A few things...

1. The scene in Tunica, Mississippi, over the weekend was hilarious. Favre had a regularly-scheduled press conference prior to his charity golf tournament, which is a major fundraiser for the Favre Fourward Foundation. Favre has a chance to talk about the fundraising and the sponsors and thank everyone for taking part. Somehow, word got out that this press conference, which took place Saturday morning, was going to feature Favre's decision. Suddenly, the press conference, normally a pretty lightly-attended event, became OMG BREAKING NEWS on ESPNEWS, SportsCenter, and the NFL Network, among others. At least one Green Bay TV station (WFRV) streamed live video of what was basically, for them, a Seinfeld press conference - a press conference about nothing.

2. The reaction of these media types was golden. Suddenly, Favre has gone from "trying to make the right decision for himself and his family" to being "a selfish pig who is holding the Packers hostage". While I appreciate the fact that people are now willing to rip Favre after years of over-coddling by the national media, this is a bit over the top.

After all, it's not Favre's fault that all of you suckers flew to Tunica, Mississippi, instead of doing due diligence to figure out that no decision had been made. Do you really think Favre is going to make his announcement to the media/fans first, and not bother to tell the organization what his plans are first? Of course he's going to tell the team first. And someone, the usual "unnamed source", is going to leak that decision to the media before it's announced by Favre. That's how it always works. Why would this story be any different?

The other argument. "He's holding the team hostage."

Yikes.

I challenge anyone to argue how Favre is holding the team hostage. Because I'm failing to see it.

If Favre wavers a little more and doesn't bother to make a decision before the first minicamp, he probably won't attend the minicamp. If that happens, Aaron Rodgers will get the majority of the snaps. Then, if Favre retires, Rodgers takes over as the starting QB and the Packers go somewhere between 3-13 and 8-8.

If Favre retires tomorrow, the first minicamp will feature Aaron Rodgers as the starting QB and he will get the majority of the snaps. The Packers will proceed to go somewhere between 3-13 and 8-8.

If Favre waits to make a decision and decides to return, or if he decides tomorrow, the Packers will have him serve as the starting quarterback. Whether he gets a lot of snaps in minicamp is irrelevant, since Favre has played as long as he has and has so much experience in this offense. So Favre will be the starting quarterback, and Rodgers will be the primary backup, and the Packers will probably be significantly better than they were a year ago.

Had Favre retired in January, the Packers MIGHT have signed a backup for Rodgers or someone to compete for the starting job. However, it is worth noting that there wasn't a single veteran free-agent quarterback available who would have been a good fit for Mike McCarthy's version of the West Coast offense except for Aaron Brooks, and it's quite a stretch to say that the Packers would have signed Brooks had they known Favre's intentions before free agency began. Even if you could make that argument, it's quite a leap to say that, as a result, Favre has been holding the team hostage.

That said, I'll never forget the picture I had in my head Saturday while I was watching the press conference. The picture of the looks on these reporters' faces when they realized that they had flown all the way to Tunica, Mississippi, for a press conference about nothing that's at all newsworthy...at least not for the NFL Network.

Are we that desperate for a story to talk about?