This weekend saw the U.S. Open come to a close for the women, with Kim Clijsters successfully defending her title Saturday night from a rather terrified Vera Zvonareva. Both players won great semifinal matches to get there: Zvonareva stunned finals favorite Caroline Wozniacki, while Clijsters outlasted a determined Venus Williams. But despite both women's level of play the day before, it ended anticlimactically with a painfully lopsided final. (Thanks to a fortuitous postponement of the men's final, however, there's still hope for a more enthralling conclusion to the tournament.)

The stat line for Eli Manning makes it look like he had one of those old Jeff George games: 20-of-30 passing, 263 yards passing, three touchdowns, three interceptions. But none of those three interceptions were Manning's fault, and the man looked terrific all day in a 31-18 win over the Carolina Panthers in the first regular-season game at the New Meadowlands. It's kind of funny, calling Manning a "man"; he has been the perpetual little brother, the even more yokel-ish quarterback who has always looked a little lost, like maybe he really did like squash more. (Other than that Super Bowl drive, of course.) Now, he looks like a No. 1 draft pick. Considering the history of quarterbacks drafted No. 1, he looks a ton better.

His line for the Trenton Thunder last night: four innings, no runs, two hits, four strikeouts, and most important, no problems with his injured left groin. (Much to the dismay of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Pettitte accomplished this during Game 2 of the teams' playoff series.) The Yankees would like Pettitte to make one more start in the minors before returning to the big-league club — he was on a strict limit of four innings or 65 pitches, whichever came first — though the Yankees might not have a farm team in action Tuesday, when he'd next be scheduled to pitch.

Brett Favre, who was a New York Jet only twenty months ago, though it seems like a lifetime, is back in the NFL, and all told, even for him, it feels like the most halfhearted comeback yet. Last year, it made sense for Favre to come back to the Vikings; the team was complete and Super Bowl–ready everywhere other than the quarterback position. He filled the last remaining void. But now, the team is a year older, the best wide receivers are injured, and Favre looks a little lost, like maybe he shouldn't have let those guys fly across the country and talk him into coming back. Though, of course, if they hadn't come, you just know he'd be calling to ask them why not.