The Associated Press informs us, complete with shocking headline, that had the Avalanche put pressure on Joe Sakic to quickly decide his future plans, he probably would have retired right then and there.  Of course, this topic can't possibly be discussed without a really obscure reference to that vastly unpopular sport of American football:

The Colorado captain said Tuesday he's thankful the Avalanche didn't press him for a decision on his future the way the Green Bay Packers did with their iconic quarterback, an approach that backfired this summer when Favre changed his mind about retirement and forced an ugly separation.

"After you see what happened to him, I'm actually real glad that I did take my time," Sakic said. "If I was forced to make a decision back in May or June, I probably would have retired and I probably would be regretting it right now.

For crying out loud, can't anybody contemplate retirement without being compared to Brett Favre?  I'm starting to think that the word "retirement" is just going to get replaced with "Favred" before long. 

"Where's Sakic?  Isn't he playing?"

"Oh, didn't you hear?  He Favred this summer."

Then again, Favre still hasn't actually retired himself, so maybe just contemplating retirement is enough to earn the name.  And anyway, does anyone really believe that had the Avs forced the issue and Sakic had decided to retire, that he would have unretired and joined another team by now?  That's what Favre did, so how does comparing him to Sakic make any sense at all? 

I wish I could retire from literacy so I wouldn't have to read any more of this crap.