As I have been paying close attention to the Olympic games in Bejing, the preseason NFL coverage, the MLB pennant races are getting into full swing, and so many other thoughts of professional sports have gone through my head. Now with all of the talk of Brett Favre going to the Jets, Tiger Woods having season-ending surgery on his knee, Kevin Garnett finally winning a championship in Boston with the Celtics, and I'll even throw in Rafael Nadal defeating Roger Federer at Wimbledon. There is one player in professional sports that seems to be getting left out of conversations and is actually having the biggest turn-around in a career in 2008. If you guessed Josh Hamilton, you were wrong.

The correct answer: Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant, in my opinion, has had the biggest turn-around of his career in 2008. During the offseason only one year ago, Bryant very oddly went on to report and go on and on about how he would never win with Los Angeles and how he wanted out. Going back even farther, remember that whole Colorado rape scandal? Bryant lost all of his endorsements, everyone would boo him or heckle him each game he played, and he was constantly under adversity. Finally something has clicked and he's becoming a mature NBA superstar.

Nowadays nobody even really remembers the past, the Lakers made it to the NBA finals but eventually fell to the Boston Celtics; however it rekindled the biggest rivalry in NBA history.

He already has 3 championships, he finally won the NBA Most Valuable Player award for 2008 edging out young star Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets. Now, Kobe Bryant was the leader for the 2008 Men's Team USA Olympic squad dubbed "The Redeem Team." He also has the endorsements of Nike, Vitamin Water, among others back on his side.

Kobe Bryant took 'The Redeem Team' on his shoulders in the final 8:30 left to go in the gold metal game against Spain whom Team USA could not seem to stop on defense. He ended the game shooting the free throws awarded after Spain took a technical foul. He sunk all 4 free throws and solidified the end and putting USA back on top in the international basketball world.

Bryant, with his number change from 8-24 is now the mature veteran leader for the Lakers that the NBA really needs. For now I'll leave you with a quote from Kobe Bryant himself.

"I dont want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant."

Thursday night marked the start of the NFL preseason, as the schedule got underway with a small slate of games. Not only did these games signal the start of football season, but it also indicated that baseball will be soon coming to an end and that pennant races are will be heating up.

With a little over a month and a half left in the 2008 baseball season, teams are beginning to pencil themselves in as playoff contenders across Major League Baseball, as clubs have started to make the final push to the playoffs. Currently, the leaders in six division races, as well as both wildcard battles are leading by 2 1/2 games or less in their respective races. Below is a quick breakdown of the pursuit for the playoffs…

* Chicago White Sox (AL Central leader) ½ game lead on Minnesota
* Milwaukee (NL Wildcard leader) 1.0 game lead on St. Louis
* Philadelphia (NL East leader) 1.5 game lead on Florida
* Arizona (NL West leader) 1.5 game lead on Los Angeles
* Boston (AL Wildcard leader) 2.5 game lead on Minnesota
* Tampa Bay (AL East leader) 2.5 game lead on Boston

What's even more impressive is that if you add up the amount of games first place teams have in the above pennant races, you get 9.5 games. That is 2.5 games less than the Anaheim Angels current 12 game lead on the AL West.

Furthermore, if the MLB playoffs were to start today, we would have a healthy offering of divisional series matchups, as well as the potential for some marquee matchups leading up to the World Series…

(1) Los Angeles Angels vs. (4) Boston Red Sox
(2) Tampa Bay vs. (3) Chicago White Sox

(1) Chicago Cubs vs. (4) Arizona
(2) Philadelphia vs. (3) Milwaukee

So, if the playoffs really did start today we would have two first round rematches of last year’s divisional round, and the other two matchups would have three teams who have not won a playoff game in quite awhile (Yes, Philadelphia made the playoffs last year, but they did not win any games as they were swept by Colorado). Not to mention, we would also have the defending World Series champions back to defend their title (Boston), as well as a team who has not won the pennant in 100 years (Chicago Cubs) and has a serious goat they need to get off their back.

It should be an entertaining rest of the season as MLB is on pace to have one of its best finishes in recent years, as just about every playoff spot is on pace to be decided in the final week of the season. If this can be pulled off, this should result in not only some great revenue for teams competing in the playoff races, but also some great television ratings for the TV stations broadcasting these games. Most of all, these pennant races will setup a great anticipation for baseball fans as to what the 2008 MLB Playoffs will bring.

With Brett Favre getting traded to the New York Jets early Thursday morning, the trade sent shockwaves through the sports world. This trade also sent tremors through the video game community, as gamers are now wondering if Favre will be included in this year’s installment of Madden 09 as a member of the Jets.

When Madden football was initially being planned out earlier this year, Brett Favre retired as a member of the Green Bay Packers and rode off into the sunset. However, as the game got closer to it's August 12 release date, the rumor of Favre returning to play professional football got stronger. After many discussions between Favre and his former club, he was traded to the Jets Wednesday night. This has come with little time to spare as Madden is due to be released worldwide in five days. With the game currently in its mass-production phrase, there is nothing EA Sports can currently do to get Favre in a Jets uniform in time for the game's release.

Once the game is released however, gamers can rejoice as there will be plenty of ways to get Brett Favre into the game, wearing a New York Jets jersey…

* For next-gen consoles (Xbox 360/PS3/Wii), EA Sports will be putting out a downloadable roster update, which will include Favre in a Jets uniform. This update will be available to people who have Internet access from their gaming console, via the EA Sports server. The update will most likely be released a couple of days after the initial 8/12 release date. Also, many websites dedicated to updating rosters for the Madden video game, such as EARosters.com will also be creating roster downloads for online gamers to enjoy.

* If you don’t have an Internet connection, or you are purchasing the XBox/PS2 version of Madden, you may not be able to obtain a roster update. However, you can still create Brett Favre and place him in the game by signing him off waivers or creating him as a player in the game. This of course depends on if Favre is included in the game's free agents list or not.

So no matter which version of Madden 09 you own, you’ll be able to get Brett Favre added to the New York Jets roster. The real question however is can you lead New York’s other football franchise to a Super Bowl victory for the first time since Joe Namath did in 1969???

Just minutes before Midnight on August 6, 2008 Brett Favre was traded to the New York Jets for a 2009 draft pick. Let me begin by saying that I have never been a fan of Favre. The past 5 years or so have been a grueling process trying to decide if the guy will actually call it quits or not. This year when I thought my wish had been finally granted...I was indeed proved wrong.

After avoiding all the talks of the on-going daytime drama that is NFL Live on ESPN, it finally happened. It eventually came down to Favre becoming reinstated, reporting to Green Bay, having meetings with Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy for 5 hours at a time, Brett going back home, and then the talks of the New York Jets or Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Now let's dissect this outcome shall we. The Packers are finally left with what they wanted, Aaron Rodgers. Yes, the same Aaron Rodgers from California-Berkley that fell to the Packers in the 2005 NFL Draft and has been injured 3 times and only played in 7 games. In which he managed to throw an interception, be sacked 9 times, and lose 3 fumbles.

The Jets on the other hand just turned their team around into a Super Bowl contender...hardly the case to this guy. Thomas Jones is their starting running back who struggled last year and has to prove that he's no longer the same guy that lost his starting running back role in Chicago to that guy named Cedric Benson. Their defense is lackluster to say the least. Now they add Brett Favre. Right away you question what they're gaining from this. Chad Pennington was already fighting for the starting role and now with the addition to "The Green Machine" #4, it would be safe to assume that he could be playing elsewhere by the start of the regular season.

But in the end Tampa Bay would've have flourished with him either. Warrick Dunn returns who should have just retired as well. Favre will be throwing to Joey Galloway who can't seem to stay healthy and uninjured even during the off-season.

In the end the Packers got what they wanted even though they failed to "protect the legacy of Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers." Lastly, what is the only positive point from all of this some might wonder? Favre will get manhandled by the Patriots linebackers twice a year of course!