In the Web

• I hope I find everyone in great holiday sprits and I thank you for reading my rapid take on the week that was in sports. Welcome to another edition of "In the Web."

• The Green Bay Packers (10-1) and their iconic signal-caller, Brett Favre, seem destined for glory and triumph after registering their best start to a season since 1962. Favre, a 3-time N.F.L. MVP, is having the greatest year of his storybook career and his final words may ultimately be, "I'm going to Disney World!" If Carmen Diaz's former movie flame is able to punctuate his legacy with another ring, it will go down as one of the most spectacular and unlikely sports moments ever. On a personal note, it would be my favorite athletic memory since "Rowdy" Roddy Piper smashed a coconut over Jimmy Snuka's cranium in the middle of a segment of "Piper's Pit" in 1985.

• In any other season, Favre, 38, would be a lock to add to his collection of MVP hardware. Unfortunately for Favre and the rest of "Cheesehead Nation," this is not any other season. Tom Brady, 30, has already lapped his competition for this award like a Kenyan sprinter at the Boston Marathon. Brady's numbers are obscene (39 touchdowns in comparison to a paltry 4 interceptions) and he is the undisputed leader of a New England team that seems bound to be one for the ages. In essence, it is impossible to play the quarterback position better than Brady has this year. For your reference, the Webster's dictionary defines the word impossible as being "something that cannot be done."

• Despite eventually losing 31-28, the Philadelphia Eagles (5-6) proved Sunday night that it is not "impossible" to beat the Patriots (11-0). Philly displayed a warrior mentality reminiscent of their hometown pride, Rocky Balboa, and their toe-to-toe performance against a Clubber Lang-like Pats squad should be a realization to the rest of the league that the signal-stealers are susceptible to defeat. As "the Italian Stallion" said to the offensive juggernaut that was Lang in Rocky III, "You ain't so bad. You ain't so bad. You ain't nothin.' C'Mon, champ, hit me in the face! My Mom hits harder than you." Before we deem the Pats the baddest thing to hit the pigskin landscape since leather-helmets, let's let them win it first.

• The University of Alabama's smarmy football coach, Nick Saban, is the most unlikeable leader of a team on the collegiate gridiron since John Goodman's character in the original "Revenge of the Nerds" movie. To emphasize this fact, a delusional Saban last week correlated a Crimson Tide loss to the events of 9-11 and Pearl Harbor.

"Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event," Saban said during the opening remarks of his weekly news conference. "It may be 9-11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to catastrophic events. Pearl Harbor kind of got us ready for World War II, or whatever, and that was a catastrophic event."

I won't even dignify the content of Saban’s remarks with a thorough backlash. I will simply say that his wording and articulation will never be referred to as Churchill-ian.

• Speaking of abrasive and villainous coaches, it truly makes sense that New England Patriot's Head Coach Bill Belichick holds Saban in such high regard. Those two are meant for each other. One has to presume purgatory would be akin to driving cross-country with the two beautiful and engaging personalities.

• Kudos to Kurt Warner, 36, for reinvigorating his career with the Arizona Cardinals. Warner, a borderline Hall of Famer and 2-time N.F.L. MVP, is Nedward "Ned" Flanders but with more testicular fortitude and a better arm. The N.F.L. needs more men like Warner.

• The decrepit New York Jets (1-10) will be remembered notoriously for three things when this year goes into the archives. The first thing that will be evoked will be their fans sub-human reaction when they cheered an injury to the class act that is Chad Pennington during an opening day 38-14 loss to the Patriots. The second fond memory will be of when Jets Head Coach Eric Mangini blew the whistle on his mentor's nefarious tactics and placed a question on the Patriots reign and Belichick's genius. Ultimately, and best of all, the 2007 version of "Gang Green" will be immortalized for Gate D and East Rutherford's answer to Bourbon Street. This is one of the ugliest seasons in the history of a homely franchise.

• The Goldie Hawn-charged Wildcats could inevitably overpower this year’s best college football team.

• Ricardo Mayorga (29-6-1), 34, was awarded a majority decision over Fernando Vargas (26-4), 29, last Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It seems like bad guys do often finish first.

• Redskins star cornerback Sean Taylor was shot in the leg in his home during an apparent botched burglary Sunday night and he succumbed to his wound the following morning at the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. It is yet to be seen how the media will portray the troubled Taylor. But, good man or bad, it is a terrible tragedy when a talented person dies at the young age of 24.

• My most sincere “thanks” for your time. I hope I kept you entertained.