Monday morning quarterback

In a move that even Stevie Wonder saw coming, Mike Sherman got the ax today as head coach of the Green Bay Packers. Now the entire cheesehead nation waits on pins and needles to see if Brett Favre will follow through on his threat to retire if Sherman was no longer the coach. Umm Brett here's a number for you to jot down, 435-7502 the number for U-Haul in Green Bay, which is conveniently located next to the Greyhound station, hint hint.

Since the day Mike Holmgren bought a raincoat and shuffled off to Seattle, Packers fans have been living in a delusional dream world that makes the magical land of OZ look like the intersection of 20'th and Center. Somehow there was this notion year in and year out that the Packers were really a Superbowl caliber team and all they needed was a little tweaking in order to get them moving in the right direction. If this season proved anything it is that the Packers are a bad team in desperate need of a top to bottom overhaul, and yes fellow cheeseheads that means sending Brett back to Mississippi.

This is not to take anything away from Brett's fabulous career. He is a sure-fire, first ballot hall of famer, and he will be remembered as one of the great quarterbacks of all time. However what he is not, is someone who can muscle a team back into the NFL playoffs. It's time for Brett to bow out gracefully, hand the reigns over to Aaron Rodgers, and take a seat next to Terry Bradshaw on Sunday mornings.

Thompson and co. have a lot of work ahead of them, for there are no quick fixes here. They need to adapt a long-term outlook and start building not towards 2006 but rather 2007, 2008, or even 2009. On the bright side all those who are on the season ticket waiting list should get a boost. It looks as if you may have just moved up a couple of years in line.