All right, Brett Favre. All right, you maddening flip-flopper and hopeless egomaniac. You asked for it. Last month, when you decided to stay retired after retiring and unretiring and retiring in an 18-month drama requiring daily Dramamine, I wrote the following: "This is it as a football player, Brett. Or else a country that once wanted to love you will view you as a psychotic laughingstock, if it doesn't already.''Today, America views Favre as a psychotic laughingstock. Because there he was Tuesday, in purple shorts and a purple helmet, wearing his No. 4 as he trotted onto a practice field with the Minnesota Vikings. Why he changes his mind the way the rest of us change boxer briefs, I could not explain if I consulted 100 of the world's leading shrinks. But it's a fair bet that Favre was playing a con game with the Vikings and the rest of us all along, not wanting to participate in offseason mini-camps, organized team activities and the dreadful early stages of training camp. He showed up when he wanted, days before the second preseason game Friday night in the Metrodome -- where he'll be the starting quarterback, of course, so the Vikings can sell more tickets and ramp up sales for those $259 FAVRE jerseys.




