So who else thinks the penalty passed down from the NFL regarding Brett Favre's alleged sexual harassment is a total joke? For the most part, I've been impressed with Commissioner Roger Goodell's work. Aside from allowing Michael Vick to play in the league again, he's been pretty even-handed in his rulings. The measly fine handed down to Favre is nothing but a slap on the wrist, if that. It'd be more appropriately described as a love tap.

Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money to people like you and me. Fifty thousand dollars to Brett Favre is a drop in the bucket. The New York Times reports the fine "represents less than one percent of Favre's $16 million salary this season and is less than some of the fines the NFL has handed out in its crackdown this season against helmet-to-helmet hits." Now, I get that helmet-to-helmet fines need to be big numbers. People die when those situations go wrong, but was Favre's fine just a parting gift?

There was little point in suspending him and it's no secret that the NFL purposely drew out the length of time spent on the investigation so Favre could finish out the season. Supposedly he's really retiring this time and, though I don't agree with his conduct as of late, even I would hate to see his career end in suspension. But hitting him with a fifty thousand dollar fine is laughable.

The NFL claims they couldn't find evidence that he "violated league policy on workplace conduct" so instead they fined him for his lack of cooperation with the investigation. How many companies do you know that wouldn't take a text message from your phone as evidence that you sent a text message to your subordinate? What would happen to you if you sent a subordinate employee in your workplace a picture of your junk? How many companies do you know that allow their employees to sexually harass each other without serious consequences? There are plenty of workplaces where this would result in severe consequences, up to and including dismissal.

It appears this Favre drama, retirement or not, could be far from over. Attorneys for Jenn Sterger claim she hasn't yet decided whether or not to pursue further legal action against Favre. Most women I ask about this situation take the stance that Sterger knew what she was doing and that harassment was just the convenient term that came out of what began as a great ego boost and fun story to tell friends over drinks. After all, this story even came with pictures.

Of course, anyone could make any number of speculations about this story and its circumstances. There are too many unanswered questions not to draw intense scrutiny. Why didn't Sterger come forward earlier? If she was truly feeling threatened and harassed, why did she leak the photos and voicemails to other people rather than going straight to her employers or lawyers? How many other women has Favre harassed on the Jets staff, or elsewhere? Two more women came forward this week to file complaints against him.

And, somewhere in the back of every woman's mind is the question "why would a guy like Favre obsess over this woman, a woman that's ended up costing him more than fifty grand, when he could get a piece of ass from countless women anywhere, who don't work for his own employer?"

It shouldn't be surprising to any of us, least of all Sterger since she works in the industry, that celebrities are treated differently than us 'normal working folk.' If she was legitimately harassed then I hope things turn out well for her and she gets some closure and gets to continue with her career as best one can after something like this. But if she's just a manipulative slut now trying to play the victim I hope she gets shipped off to work with some team in Siberia. Because if she is faking the harassment, she's not helping women who really do have to deal with these issues in a "normal" workplace.

As for Favre, I'm hoping he's really going to retire this time. The news reported that there were moving trucks outside his Minnesota house already, packing up all his Wranglers and heading down to Mississippi. My suggestion would be that, if that's all the NFL is going to fine him, then in addition, Favre should spend some time talking with women that have been sexually harassed in the workplace. And, while he's at it, picture each one of them as one of his own daughters in a similar situation.

At least he thanked the Packers in the end and it even seemed genuine. It's tough to imagine this could be my last Favre-related blog. Tear. So anyone else think there should've been a stiffer penalty?(Pun intended.) Anyone going to miss him?