Some random observations from the sports world …

- It’s hard to believe that high school football practice begins in less than a month. Didn’t school just end? Of course, that also means NFL training camps will be opening soon.

- Speaking of football, is anyone tired yet of Brett Favre’s holding the Green Bay Packers hostage year after year? I’m sure Aaron Rodgers is. Can someone in the Packer organization stand up and say, &uot;Rodgers is our starter for this year&uot;? Don’t get me wrong. Favre is a Hall of Fame player and had a great season last year, getting an overachieving team to the NFC title game. But Brett, you already retired once and held your team in limbo last year before the season starter. End the drama and let the new regime take hold.

- Janice Holeman of Franklin High School recently participate for the East team in the annual Virginia High School Coaches Association East-West All-Star game. Holeman scored 2 points as the West routed the East 97-53.

- Donielle Babb, formerly of Franklin High School, still has the second most rushing yards in a Virginia High School League playoff game. In 2004, Babb rushed for 378 yards on 18 carries in Franklin’s win over J.J. Burton High School.

- Who’s the better pitcher, Boof Bonser or Barry Zito? Bonser, a little-known sometimes reliever, sometimes starter with the funny name, is 3-6 with a 6.19 ERA this year for the Minnesota Twins. Zito, the well-payed hurler from the San Francisco Giants, is 4-12 with a

5.73 ERA. At one point, Zito was 2-11 with a 6.32 ERA.

- Olympic Games (Aug. 8-Aug. 24) or X Games (July 31-Aug. 3)? That probably depends on what age bracket you fall into. According to the Nielsen Ratings, last year’s X Games 13 drew 35 percent more views than the 2006 X Games among the male 12-17 age group. Four billion people worldwide are expected to watch the 2008 Olympics.

- I was sad to see that Chris Fraser, the former football coach at Smithfield High School, has left to coach at Charlottesville High School. I only met Fraser once, last year at a Smithfield-Southampton game, but he seemed like a nice guy. He took a lot of time to explain his team’s offense and how the season was going. I guess he got out at the right time, now that Dyrell Roberts has left for Virginia Tech.

JEFF ZEIGLER covers sports for The Tidewater News. His e-mail address is jzeigler@hotmail.com.