Maybe Brett Favre should have stayed retired

Brett Favre probably wishes he’d retired. …

He’s not alone. …

Joe Theismann, on the pass protection Favre has been given by the Minnesota Vikings, tells Sporting News Today: “If you took that many shots in a bar, you wouldn’t be able to walk out.” …

Someone should ask Tom Brady what he thinks of Brian Wilson’s goofy black beard, which even batters facing the San Francisco Giants closer must find amusing. …

It looks like a novelty. …

Wilson won’t admit dying it, but as reader Paul Nilson of Burbank notes, “It looks like he dips his face in shoe polish.” …

In Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez, the Giants feature a playoff rotation that should be able to hold water against the Philadelphia Phillies’ dominant H2O trio of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt. …

Cliff Lee, after helping the Texas Rangers win a playoff series for the first time, may have finally found a team that plans to hang on to him for more than a few months. …

Drew Brees’ play has stirred nary a zephyr this season. …

LeBron James, perhaps trying to temper the out-of-control hype surrounding the Miami Heat: “Boston, Orlando and the Lakers are going to be ahead of us.” …

If USC’s defense had been merely mediocre the last two weeks, Matt Barkley and the Trojans would still be unbeaten. …

UCLA, which might get another shot Oct. 21 at Oregon if Ohio State loses Saturday at Wisconsin, has not defeated a top-ranked team since Jan. 1, 1976, when John Sciarra and the Bruins upset Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. …

The Bruins are 0-6 since, with two losses each against Nebraska, Oklahoma and USC. …

USC is 0-3 against top-ranked opponents since November 1984, when it outscored Washington at the Coliseum. …

Look out, No. 1: Before Stephen Garcia and South Carolina upset top-ranked Alabama on Saturday, the Gamecocks basketball team toppled No. 1-ranked Kentucky in January and the Gamecocks baseball team stopped No. 1-ranked Arizona State in June en route to winning the College World Series. …

Statistician Bill James, father of sabermetrics, in a cameo on Sunday’s baseball-themed episode of “The Simpsons”: “I made baseball as much fun as doing your taxes.” …

Jimmie Johnson’s drive for five is very much alive. …

When Orval Overall and the Chicago Cubs wrapped up their most recent World Series title with a Game 5 victory over Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers 102 years ago Thursday, they did it in front of a record-low crowd of 6,210 at Detroit. …

Had they an inkling of what was to come, surely more Cubs fans would have made the trip from Chicago. …

One of these years, maybe Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns could play the Lakers or Clippers in their annual under-the-stars exhibition at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. …

Noting this month’s 25th anniversary of Tom Niedenfuer’s famous playoff meltdown against the St. Louis Cardinals, reader Mark Stewart of Valley Glen recalls this letter to the editor from Walker A. Tompkins of Santa Barbara: “I’m too nice a fan/to mention names/but there’s one reliever/we Niedenfuer games.” …

Stewart also recalls this line from Richard Hibbard of Upland, regarding ex-Kings forward Gary Shuchuk: “How many pucks would a Shuchuk shoot if a Shuchuk could shoot pucks?” …

Let’s see Bob Miller say that three times fast. …

Nick Folk, who kicked five field goals Monday night in the New York Jets’ victory over the Vikings, is an older brother of Washington’s Erik Folk, who two years in a row has booted game-winning field goals against USC. …

Their folks, the Folks, surely must be proud. …

Bill Mazeroski’s famous ninth-inning, Game 7 home run 50 years ago Wednesday ended a one-of-a-kind World Series in which the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Yankees despite posting a ghastly team earned-run average of 7.11 and losing games by scores of 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0. …

Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra and the losing Yankees batted a record .338, hitting 10 home runs. …

John Wooden would have turned 100 on Thursday. …

Born in 1910, the lifelong baseball fan and lover of poetry never saw the Cubs win a World Series.

jerome.crowe@latimes.com