It is a pretty busy time of the sporting year over here in the United States. The NBA play-offs are in full swing, with Boston battling Orlando, Kobe Bryant's Lakers fighting it out with a revived Houston, Denver creating quite a stir for themselves and LeBron James expected to carry all before him in Cleveland.

Likewise, the NHL play-offs are about orange-hot at the moment (saving 'red' for the Stanley Cup finals series), with Detroit and Anaheim locked in a bitter struggle, the ice hockey superstars of Washington and Pittsburgh trading epic hat-tricks and the Boston Bruins looking like championship material for the first time since Richard Nixon was attempting to re-write the law as President.

Favre: Set to return?

The baseball season is also into its second month and we can start to see some real pointers towards who might be duking it out for the World Series later this year.

At the same time, arguably the biggest sporting name in the US, Alex Rodriguez - he of the mega Yankees contract that could wipe out the debt of much of the Third World - is facing more allegations of cheating and drug-taking, with a frenzy of activity around his imminent return to the game after a lengthy injury lay-off.

Significant story

So it takes a pretty significant story for the NFL to muscle its way into the headlines and heated talk-show debates at this time of year. Step forward Brett Lorenzo Favre, and the amazing 'will he? Won't he?' retirement Saga.

Episode 3,597 sees 'our hero' earnestly heading for talks with Minnesota head coach Brad Childress "at an undisclosed location" this week to see if the great ex-Green Bay (and New York Jets, for anyone with a short memory) gunslinger might, just might, consider un-hanging up his cleats one last time.

Cue mass hysteria in the media ranks.

Forget A-Rod, King James and Sid 'The Kid' Crosby; all the genuine sporting action now pales into insignificance compared to the breathless hint of (yet) another Favre comeback.

When I switched on my TV this morning (ESPN, followed by ESPN2, with a little bit of Fox Sports and the NFL Network for good measure), the overwhelming volume (in every sense) of Favre stories, rumours and opinions was almost deafening.

In fact, I did have to change the channel at one point when two talking heads started shouting at each other, one claiming that Favre was over-rated, the other that Brett should have free will to play for whoever he likes in the league, and, presumably, set the schedule for when he most fancies a game as well.

The truth, of course, lies somewhere in the middle. But that is an awfully big area to cover. The general reaction to the potential third coming of the legendary quarterback can be summarised in five main categories.

One: Incredulity. "He's going to unretire? Again? Isn't he, like, 95 now and all wrinkled and busted?" Well, he will be 40 in October, and the last we saw of him was a distinctly sub-standard version of the real Favre McCoy, throwing a gazillion interceptions as the Jets' play-off hopes disappeared in a miserable 1-4 finish to last season.

Two: Suspicion. As in, "What does he want to come back for? Doesn't he already hold every record in the book, and isn't he in danger of tarnishing his legacy?" Well yes, and yes. There is a now very real danger that the strong-armed passer will be remembered mainly for his end-of-career histrionics in being denied a return to the Packers, finding a belated five-month home in New York and now considering throwing a medium-sized wrench into the Minnesota machinery.

Childress seems more than happy to indulge the Favre comeback possibility (despite already having three QBs on the roster and an offence that won their division last term).

However, you have to wonder - as many pundits have gleefully been doing - how it would rock the Vikings' boat in terms of team chemistry, bearing in mind some of the vitriol that followed Brett out of the door at The Meadowlands.

Three: Alarm. For anyone keeping a close eye on the medical bulletins out of the Jets camp in the final months of 2008, there is a genuine fear No 4 would be setting himself up for a serious injury (or two) by returning to the game at his age, especially with the concerns over his right bicep and shoulder.

As many will remember, the Favre who finished last season in that welter of interceptions looked only a shadow of his former self, and much of that was attributed to a partially torn bicep and sore shoulder, which has given rise to much in-depth investigation of bicep surgery (or the lack thereof) and how much pounding a shoulder can actually take before it falls off.

General consensus

The general consensus is that unless Favre can commit himself to a proper conditioning and fitness programme (and the early indications are that he just wants to turn up and play, by and large), he is setting himself up for a major physical collapse somewhere along the line.

Four: Pure glee. But this is mainly from those who struggle to get their heads around the NBA and NHL and wish the NFL played 13 months of the year.

These are the pundits who are desperate for a good, meaty gossip story which involves "behind the scenes talks" and "sources close to the player" that actually reveal very little but give the talk-shows enough leeway to go speculating away to their hearts' content. This really only numbers a few dozen in the US, but they are a pretty noisy few dozen, hence difficult to ignore.

And finally, there is the 'Oh no, not him AGAIN' brigade who just want Favre to go away and stop messing with their league. For many (and I'm guessing that it's a sizeable percentage, maybe close to 50), it is most definitely a case of rolling their eyes, sticking their fingers in their ears and going "La, la, la, la! I can't hear you!' as soon as the sporting headlines come on.

For them, they have already seen (and heard) enough. Favre was yesterday's news by the end of last season and he is now so far past his sell-by-date that the contents have gone beyond green and mouldy and are now actively creating whole new life-forms. It is a mockery of a sham of a travesty (thank you, Woody Allen!) of a VERY tired side-show and they just want it to stop.

Sadly, that looks like the very last thing on the agenda of the man from Louisiana.

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