Who says it's a slow time in sports?

OK, so I spent most of my holiday weekend playing "Rock Band" with my wife and daughter on my son's X Box. I admit it. The damn thing is addictive. But in between my wicked guitar solos on Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" and the eternally long "Foreplay/Long Time" by Boston -- my fingers still hurt from trying to pick my way through that one -- I did manage to watch a little sports on TV.

Who said we've entered that mid-summer dead zone between the end of the NBA Finals and the opening of football training camps? Between the compelling theater of Joey Chestnut's dogged sudden-death victory against Kobyashi in the Nathan's Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest and the emerging soap opera of Brett Favre's rumored comeback and A-Rod's impending divorce, there was plenty going on to keep us all busy.

As it turned out, the real guilty pleasure of my long weekend was tennis, a sport I could usually care less about.

Like a rubbernecker slowing down to check out a wreck on the side of the highway, I seemed strangely drawn to it -- first, the Williams' sibling rivalry on Saturday, then the epic five-set battle between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the men's final on Sunday. I'm not sure the drama and the rivalries will renew my interest in tennis the way it was when Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi were at the top of their games, but it will probably entice me into tuning in again when the U.S. Open rolls around in September. With Tiger Woods missing from the PGA Tour for the rest of the year, it promises to be a better watch than golf's two upcoming majors, the British Open and PGA Championship.

As for the soap opera updates, I can't say that I'm surprised to hear that Favre has begun to get the "itch" to play football again. He proved he can still play last season and I had a feeling that he eventually be haunted by the interception he threw on what would have been his final career pass in overtime of the NFC championship game.

The fact that his interest in returning was leaked to ESPN and played up so big tells me that -- no matter what team management is saying officially -- the Packers want and need No. 4 back in uniform this fall. My guess is that they've seen enough of heir apparent Aaron Rogers in summer workouts and minicamps to realize that he's not good enough to get the job done.

Don't be shocked to see Favre back with the Pack soon.

There was once a time when I looked down on star athletes coming out of retirement to squeeze out one last bit of glory from their careers. But my view on the subject has changed drastically during the past few weeks. I know what it's like to have something you love and have done for most of your life suddenly taken away from you. I know what it feels like to be sitting idly at home, wishing you could go back out and do it just one more time. As long as there's somebody out there willing to give Favre or race car driver Mark Martin -- who recently came out of semi-retirement to make one last run at an elusive Sprint Cup championship for team owner Rick Hendrick next year -- a shot, why shouldn't they be encouraged to come back? Personally, I'll be rooting for both of them.

As for me and my career "comeback," I have agreed to take on the job of ACC writer for the Wilmington-Star news. It's only a part-time position in which I write 3-4 columns and stories for them each week during the football and basketball seasons, so I'll have plenty of time for other interests -- including one here in Fayetteville involving the three local minor league teams. I'll fill you in on the details as they develop. Let's just say things are "Up & Coming!"

Thank you all for your support and your concern. Trust me when I say that I enjoy writing for you even more than you seem to enjoy discussing what I write. You mean the world to me!