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Here's a joke for you: What does HBO's training camp reality show "Hard Knocks" and the Heisman Trophy have in common?

The answer is that they're both usually considered NFL kryptonite.

Since you're probably not laughing right now, let me save myself by saying that this particular joke may not be funny, but it is true.

OWATONNA, Minn. - Minnesota Vikings owner and President Mark Wilf said Tuesday the franchise has received the boost it was looking for when it signed Brett Favre and made it clear the veteran quarterback would be welcomed back in 2010 to play the second season of the two-year, $25 million deal he received in August.

Wayne Gretzky played for Canada during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano and then managed the men's hockey team for each of the next two Olympics -- Salt Lake City in 2002 and Turin in 2006.

Rich Rodriguez will get a third season at the helm of the Michigan football program in part because he is joined at the hip with athletic director Bill Martin. One's failure tarnishes the other's legacy and with Martin soon to retire he will, as a going-away present, give Rodriguez the rope he needs to turn things around and salvage their combined reputations.

Here's the question.

If some other coach had decided to go for it on fourth-and-2 from his own 28 with 2:08 left and a six-point lead, what would you be saying?

Any coach.

At any level of football.

High school, college, NFL, any level.

What would you be saying?

A quick three and out as we mark the days until the Alabama-Florida SEC Championship Game showdown:

Nobody is quite sure yet whether to continue to press Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh on his future or to start thumping the tub for Saturday's Big Game with Cal, so let's go to Plan C -- the Emerald Bowl.

INDIANAPOLIS - I'm backing Bill Belichick.

Many of you have trouble with the unsolid shot. You know the one. The one that doesn't feel very solid and hits off the bottom of the clubhead. It goes very low with the full swing and skirts across the green with no control.

It is usually caused by hitting up on the ball so much that you are only hitting the top of the ball.

With six bowl-eligible teams, the Pac-10 is the best conference in college football and sitting at the throne is Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. And to think, some people thought the $60,000 private bathroom the university built its coach over the summer was a bad idea.