In 1776, General George Washington began pulling out of New York after the American army suffered a string of humiliating defeats at the hands of the British, and he had a decision to make. Does he leave the City of New York standing for the British to enjoy, or does he burn the place down, so they can\’t occupy it? Before fully retreating, he got a letter from Congress ordering him to leave the city standing. As he would later write to his brother, \”Had I been left to the dictates of my own judgment, New York should have been laid in ashes.\”

Brett Favre has been traded to the New York Jets. And I have to say – I\’m with Washington.

And so it goes. Historians will now remember the humid evening of August 7th, 2008 as the night Brett Favre chose to play for a 4-12 Jets team, virtually guaranteeing an ignominious end to his career. I\’ve written plenty about this nonsense, and there\’s no need to rehash it all here. I just wish I had Doc Brown\’s Delorean so I could climb in, fire up the flux capacitor, and skip having to watch the embarrassment of Favre trying to throw to Jerricho Cotchery and Laveranues Coles. (Although Bubba Franks is on the Jets\’ preseason roster – maybe they can exhume Dorsey Levens and Antonio Freeman for old time\’s sake.)

The biggest winner in Favre\’s move to New York is clearly the drugstore closest to Sports Illustrated writer Peter King\’s house, as he will now be buying a lot of lotion for Brett\’s daily rubdowns.

So as I write this as ESPN is on in the background, it appears they are parading every douchebag, bloodsucking reporter they have out, one by one, explaining how it is Fox Sports scooped them on a story they had 32 people covering. So far, we\’ve seen Sal Paolantonio, Rachel Nichols, Chris Mortensen, and noted \”being washed up\” expert Trent Dilfer chiming in.

Incidentally, all day ESPN kept playing up the interview Rachel Nichols got from Favre outside his plane before he took off from Green Bay this morning. Honest to God – why do we even have a Department of Homeland Security if Rachel Nichols can chase down a plane on a runway?

As a final thought, just remember – the Packers still have the best QB in the NFC North. And absolutely nothing has changed with regard to the Packers\’ roster from March of this year – except that Brett Favre will be playing in another city. No tears were shed when Reggie came back with the Carolina Panthers, and none should be in this case.