Think we've seen the last of Brett Favre? Think again.

No surprise:

A show of hands, please. How many believed all along that we hadn't seen the last of Brett Favre?

In passing If we didn't know before, it should be obvious now that Favre is high maintenance.

Suggestion In the wake of Favre's possible change of heart, there needs to be a new rule: Athletes must wait until at least three months after the season to announce their retirements. After getting away for a while, aging jocks can re-assess how much they miss the game - and the spotlight - without jerking around their teams and fans.

Awkward News of Favre's dilly-dallying broke the same week as a Sports Illustrated article about the problems Aaron Rodgers will experience following a legend. Suddenly, that doesn't appear to be the worst of Rodgers' problems.

Run to glory With apologies to our local major league baseball stars, this is LaShawn Merritt's summer. After winning the 400 at the U.S. Olympic trials, the Portsmouth native will garner worldwide attention as he tries for Olympic gold in one of track's glamour events.

Futurewatch ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit thinks Southern Cal has the country's best defense and most dangerous offensive backfield. Is it too late for U.Va. to schedule Duke for its opener?

Break for me Contrary to what I suspected would happen, the Aug. 30th USC-U.Va. game has not been moved to a nighttime start but kicks off at 3:30. That's a steamy time of day to be playing football, but it's good for newspaper deadlines. We need every break we can get.

Honest thief Derek Jeter, on taking "souvenirs" from Yankee Stadium when it closes at the end of this season: "You can write whatever you want. I'm going to steal something."

Stat stuff Thanks to the surprising Rays, this weekend's Yankees-Red Sox series marks the first time since 1997 that the rivals have played one another this late in the season when one of the teams wasn't in first place.

Not impressed Call me unconvinced. Major League Baseball introduced interleague play in 1997; I still think it's an overrated gimmick.

Bird droppings Guess who sent the Baltimore Ravens a stern letter protesting the team's plans to use a pair of real-life African white nape ravens during pre-game player introductions this season? Yep, one more organization has run "afowl" of PETA.

Bottom line It's not big news, but Elton Brand, one of the NBA's best low post players, opted out of the last year of his contract with the Clippers to become an unrestricted free agent. If he signs with a contender, it could change the balance of power in the East or West.

Old school What can you say about the Bulgarian weightlifting team after it dropped out of the Olympics because 11 of 13 members tested positive for banned substances? When the Iron Curtain fell, it must have hit these dopes on the head.

Idle thought The next time Favre gets an itch, somebody should be around to hand him a bottle of calamine lotion.

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373, bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com