I am officially the first person (on this blog) to break the story that Brett Favre is retiring.
Raised a Cowboys fan, Green Bay wasn't a team to root for so much as a team to contend against. But, and this makes me the worst sports fan in existence, I'm a sucker for a juggernaut.
It's proven impossible to live in Wisconsin and resent the Packers. They haven't exactly been a juggernaut in seasons past but Brett Achilles Gunslinger The Man Favre is irresistably likeable.
If you listen to Wisconsin sports radio you can bet quarters to nickels that any given show will have a Brett Favre update. One might get tired of hearing about Favre. One might wonder how so much of Wisconsin life/economy/religion can revolve around Favre.
But then again, my uncle and cousins made a special trip from CA to see Greenbay play at Lambeau last season. They shut the Vikings out at Lambeau. The trip was worth every penny to them, and that's no few pennies any more.
I have missed the opportunity to see the closest thing we might have to Achilles on the plain of Troy. Really, no matter who you root for, if you're going to see one pro football game before you die, wouldn't it have to be Favre and the Packers at Lambeau? Maybe your team against Favre and the Packers at Lambeau?
And it has become in the last decades playing Favre and the Packers, not the Packers and Favre. He is the face of immortality for this generation of the team and perhaps the league.
He wasn't perfect. Now the endless arguments will commence about just how great he was/wasn't. But it's no small thing to go public with your triumphs (all the records, Super Bowl MVP) and tragedies (painkillers). And fans don't want perfection (which is why Tom Brady will never sell more jerseys than Favre), they want a hero. They want to cheer for the guy who starts every game so excited he usually needs to get sacked once or twice in order to settle down and throw for immortality.
Well done Mr. Favre. Thanks for giving people a reason to love big sports.
***
Great article online here.
Recent Comments
Mar 5, 2008
Achilles sets his armor down.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Actually, Tom Brady will trump Farve (if he hasn't already) in the HERO category. 28 game winning 4th Qtr drives versus his total loses (including playoffs) of 27! Yeah, those are pretty heroic numbers!
Micah - your years of Wisconsin residency have been good for you. :) Thanks for loving our Favre. Growing up a stone's throw from Lambeau, it's hard to explain how important they are - he is - to who we are.
At the end of the day, it's a game.
But he's a really good guy who has given a lot of people a lot of hope in some strange midwestern misguided religious fervor kind of way.
:)
Steph
"But, and this makes me the worst sports fan in existence, I'm a sucker for a juggernaut."
Does that mean you were rooting for the Patriots in the Super Bowl?!
I have no personal connection with the New York Giants whatsoever but I've never been happier with a Super Bowl outcome nor more enjoyed a fourth quarter.
But maybe I just can't believe Brady ditched the exquisite Bridget Moynahan after knocking her up. What a cad! Am I the only person who regards Gisele Bundchen as a trade-down?
So I just love the fact that the only game Brady lost all year was the only one most of the world saw. The icing on the cake was that they didn't even live up to their side of Plaxico Burress' 23-17 prediction:
“We’re only going to score 17 points?” a surprised Brady said Wednesday. “OK. Is Plax playing defense? I wish he had said 45-42 and gave us a little credit for scoring more points.”
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-super-bowl-giantsguarantees
Post a Comment