Article:Random Thoughts and Brutal Honesty: July 4th Edition

First off, a very happy July 4th to one and all. I haven't done this segment in a while, but I have so many thoughts on the sports world running through my head. I feel compelled to clear  my head today, so here goes:

- It's official. Agent Zero is reporting to duty once again in a Washington Wizards uniform. Arenas inked a 6 year, $111 million dollar deal after originally being offered a 127 million dollar deal for the same period of time. Realizing how essential it is for the Wizards to obtain more depth and recalling how important it is for franchise players not to be a salary cap burden,  Arenas offered to sign for 16 million dollars less. This was a classy move by Arenas and he should be commended for it. Unfortunately, this does not erase the fact that this signing will be a salary cap burden anyhow. It will be even more of a burden because this money will be going to a player who missed the 06-07 playoff series and 69 games of the 07-08 regular season. And even when he returned, he was a non-factor and wound up hindering the Wizards offense than helping it. This is a BAD, BAD  move with a great deal of risk involved. The Wizards should consider themselves lucky that Agent Zero basically gave 16 million dollars back for the sake of their salary cap. Quite frankly, they shouldn't have resigned Arenas at all due to his health risk. The Knicks took a big chance signing Antonio Mcdyess to a huge deal when he was an injury waiting to happen and they paid dearly for years salary-cap wise. A huge risk taken by the Wizards with a limited potential reward. It's not like they're a contender in the East.

- The downtrend in the play of American tennis is anything but noticeable. Andy Roddick has the mental fortitude of a gerbil. James Blake can't seem to get out of his own way and it's a shame to see most American-born tennis players disappearing in major tournaments before the 4th round. The standard and tone for American tennis continues to be set by the Williams sisters. Sure, they're not dominating the tennis scene like they were in years past. But with Sharapova, Ivanovic and Jelena {How is SHE ranked # 1?} Jankovic out of the way, the Williams sisters smelled blood and devoured all comers in their path so much that it was basically a foregone concludion that they would meet in the finale. There is no question Venus is the favorite. Wimbledon is her domain and she is playing the better tennis as of now. Quite frankly, she should have been ranked #1 for this tournament being the defending champion. Serena has the bigger chip on the shoulder going into Saturday and I'm interested to see how she responds. But the bigger question that must be asked is who will step up for the United States and carry the torch after the Williams sisters had have enough? Judging by what I'm seeing from the rest of the pack, I'm not seeing very many answers.

- Does anyone else feel that Rafael Nadal is poised to beat Federer at Wimbledon on Sunday?

- So the apparent Brett Favre comeback story was nothing more than rumors printed out at the wonderful folks at ESPN. However, there is still a part of me that believes that Brett Favre hasn't given up the game by any means. After all, he did say that he would ponder a return if Aaron Rodgers suffered an injury. The Packers cannot successfully move forward until they are fully assured that Favre has COMPLETELY given up the game. Aaron Rodgers has to be given room to breathe as the quarterback. He dosen't need the franchise looking over their shoulder to see what Favre is going to do. Favre needs to come forward and announce that he is make a COMPLETE break from football or a COMPLETE return. If he dosen't, then these rumors will continue to fly around and distract the Packers and namely Aaron Rodgers.