Since We've Been Gone ...

You know, summer is one of those times of year that's always so conflicting. School's out; yay! Baseball season is being dominated by the Yankees and Red Sox; boo! We're going to the beach; yay! Your sole source of NFL news is about your team's seventh string running back; boo! ... And so it goes. This summer, however, has been quite an exciting one for the sports world. Here's a brief recap of what you've missed if you haven't seen a minute of ESPN since school ended.

Brett Favre announced he was coming back. But then everyone thought he was going to retire because of his arm. But then he made it clear he was coming back ... and then announced he was retiring for good. Finally, it's clear he's coming back for good (or at least until his arm gives way in week 6). The winners during this situation: the 13 teams on the Vikings' schedule. Brett Favre (pictured, left) is a joke. He can't throw the ball accurate more than 30 yards in the air,

and at this stage in his life, makes poorer decisions than ever. The losers during this situation? Everyone else. The Vikings, for having to put up with this distraction all summer. The fans, who used to be very pro-Favre around America, and now hate the guy. Sage Rosenfels and Tavaris Jackson. One of those guys thought he was going to be the starting quarterback of a Super Bowl contending team this fall. That same guy is about to be a third stringer. Brad Childress, perhaps the biggest goat of all, who has admitted that he will sell his soul to the devil and abandon his team for a risky player. And, of course Favre. Brett, you're still going to the hall of fame; I just don't know whos going to be there to support you.

Elsewhere in the NFL, draft picks are showing why their teams drafted them. Except Michael Crabtree, because he thinks he deserves top three, not top ten, money because he feels he was a top three, not top ten, player. Oh, and Andre Smith, because who honestly thought the Bengals' organization could do anything right? Oh, and Tyson Jackson, because people are still wondering why the hell the Chiefs took him.

In the NBA, Shaq and LeBron are now together ... And every single fair-weather NBA fan in the entire world has become a Cavs fan, because you have no sense of humor at all if you dislike both of those players. I'm proud to say one of the very few predictions I got right last year was predicting LA would go all the way and win the NBA championship, and I made that prediction because of how much better LA was inside than Cleveland. Of course, I didn't realize that the Magic were that much better inside than Cleveland, too. If the big Shaqtus (pictured, right) has anything left in the tank, this should put Cleveland over the hump.

Of course, baseball is still in progress, and things are starting to get good, so there will be more on that soon. Maryland football is about to start up their regular season, and even though they're not supposed to be good, there will be more on that soon, too. And Maryland basketball is still months away, but they're supposed to be really good, so it's never too soon to start thinking about them either.

Individuals Making NBA, NHL More Fun

Time for a quick break from the college basketball and NFL free agency talk you've been hearing on the show and reading on here. And no, this isn't Tyler. This is Tony, and I want to talk some hockey.

I've never had a problem with hockey. In fact, I used to play hockey. As I got older, though, I learned a hard lesson: There are only so many hours in a day. With sleep requirements, eating requirements, and school requirements, there simply was not enough time in the day for me to rationalize caring about hockey - especially when the Ravens were preparing for the draft and the Terps were making their annual end-of-season bubble push. Hockey just wasn't ... fun enough. 

Then, Alex Ovechkin (pictured, left) and Sidney Crosby came along. Their almost-daily highlights on ESPN followed shortly behind. Intrigue followed that, because I couldn't watch this and not think it's one of the coolest things you've ever seen in your life. They play each other, and it's on NBC, and I watch a period. I read about it after the game and learn that Ovechkin thinks Crosby is a whiner; Crosby thinks Ovechkin is a dirty player. Now I want to watch another game between them, this time all the way, and hopefully I see them go at it. During the process, I see another Ovechkin goal and I start checking the "NHL" page on ESPN.  

Wait, did I just become a hockey fan again?

I still don't follow the Capitals, or any other hockey team, religiously. But if I flip through channels and a hockey game is on, I'll probably stop to watch, especially if it's Ovechkin. Such has one man completely changed my perspective on a sport I thought I didn't have time for. 

It's really the same type of deal for the NBA. There is one notable difference, though. I still loved the game of basketball. I have never not been a college basketball fan. The NBA to me, though, was a completely different sport. There was no teamwork. Traveling was allowed. Players really didn't care until the playoffs started. 

Enter LeBron James. 

Remember that Ovechkin goal? Try this play, and you'll find they're about on the same plane. You have to get excited. Go a few days, and you see LeBron puts up something silly like 38, 13, and 11 or something. You think to yourself, "Man I have to see if he's for real." So you tune in to a Cavs game one night, but it's not on because they're showing the end of a Lakers game, and you watch as Kobe Bryant hits a fade-away three to beat the buzzer. You've never cared about the NBA, but instantly you are going to watch the next game because you want to see LeBron top that.

Like it not, you care about the NBA now. 

The NFL and MLB are undoubtedly the top two professional leagues in America, but both the NBA and NHL are surviving. It's now no wonder why. Individual players are driving both of these leagues, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, as long as you know what you're getting when you go in. So, for the next few months, enjoy Ovechkin and LeBron singlehandedly will their teams on their championship runs. These are once-in-a-generation players, so don't miss them.