FAVRE HASN'T PUT KNIFE AWAY YET

Normally, I am glad to read the reports of hard-working, respectable people in the media.

When it comes to Brett Favre, I'm no longer so glad.

With word leaking last week that Favre was going to talk to the Vikings about joining the team, I made my feelings clear.

Despite trying ever since to avoid Favre news, it's practically unavoidable. He's all over the place. Luckily, he doesn't play hockey, so there is still refuge.

The latest interesting nugget comes from Greg Bedard of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He blogged about Favre early Wednesday, and he sounds as jaded as I am about the whole thing.

This is what I'm reasonably sure is going on:

BLF tested his arm early last week. It did not go well. He called the Vikings to say he was done, that his arm is killing him. The Vikings, who really want him, said, 'Not so fast. Let us take a look to see how bad it is.' BLF can't play without arthroscopic surgery. And it will involve more than just clipping the biceps tendon. The shoulder needs to be cleaned out. That tends to happen with 39-year-old shoulders. (This is why both the Yahoo! and ESPN reports were correct last week)

Again, like I've reported from the beginning, this all depends on BLF's shoulder and whether he is willing to get the surgery. If he doesn't get it, he's done. If he does, he's still in play.

The Vikings think eventually BLF will come around and want to play again sometime later this month or in June. They're just waiting him out and keeping him on the line until then. This is not ending anytime soon.

First off, it's positively genius to refer to Favre as "BLF". I love it.

(Brett's middle name is Lorenzo.)

I can only echo the Packers' take on the deal. If he wants to play football, he should go ahead and play.

Of course, when the Packers say it, the meaning isn't exactly what it sounds like. It's their cute little way of saying "Bring it on, sir". I'm thinking the Packers don't believe Favre's arm can either 1) withstand a 16-game season, or 2) beat the Packers twice.

I'm thinking they're probably right on both counts.