A Favre-less Monday Night Football in Lambeau...
As I turned on ESPN to watch the game last night and saw the team run out of the tunnel it just didn't feel right. I knew it was coming, but I still wasn't prepared for how wrong it was to not see #4 running out of the tunnel with them. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad this whole ordeal is over, but it hardly ended as most of us Packer fans desired.
I won't even mention how the commentators didn't even "commentate" on the game...all they did was rehash all the off-season drama between the Favre thing and Chad Johnson - you would have never even known there was a game going on in the background. But the thing that frustrated me the most last night was how "Korn-ball" and the rest of the commentators were so "shocked" that the Packer fans supported Rodgers when he took the field. Get it through your heads, people, I've said it before and I'll say it again - this has NEVER been about NOT liking Aaron Rodgers. It has ONLY been about the fact that given our choice as Packer fans - we believe that Favre is the better QB right now. I believe that Coach McCarthy felt the same way, but at the end of the day the Green Bay Packers sign his paycheck so it didn't matter because he had to do what Thompson and Murphy wanted to do when it was all said and done. He did and I'm afraid we'll all pay for it. Give us Packer fans some credit, people - the city owns the team and we're all insanely passionate for the Pack. Nothing will change the way we feel about our team - not even extreme egos in upper level management in the organization and trading our starting QB that we've grown to love and accept as family. We'll always consider him part of the Packer family, but we'll support any and all players that suit up in the beautiful green and gold.
Granted, Rodgers wasn't horrible last night, but I don't see how we could be better than a .500 team this season. I hope that I'm wrong, but I don't believe that I am. The defense looked really good, but that wasn't really a question - there are a lot of issues on offense - not the least of which is at running back with Grant injured and, of course, back up QB.
Furthermore, how much impact can ONE player make? I'm referring to Favre at the Jets. They're still basically the same three win team from last year. I asked former QB, Jay Barker (who I have a huge amount of respect for as a brother in Christ) that very question this morning. He brought up a great point about the fact that there is now automatically more stability with Favre in the huddle which can make a huge impact immediately. I agree with him, but I'm still not convinced that it's enough to make them an instant success...better maybe, but if they win four games it's better. People's expectations are way out of control. I'm a fan, but I'm also a realist.
If some crazy miracle happens that some people have incorrectly predicted and the Jets meet the Packers in the SuperBowl while Favre is still starting for the Jets it will not be a conflict of interests for me. Please quit asking me and the other Packer fans this question...it was asked of a fan last night during the game. The answer is the same - we're Packer fans FIRST and Favre fans second. We will ALWAYS pull for the Pack no matter who is traded or playing for the other team...even someone who ended up larger than life for us for 16 years in a Packer uniform. Again, thanks 4 the memories, but GO PACK GO no matter what!!
Showing posts with label Monday Night Football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monday Night Football. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Thursday, October 25, 2007
The "Amazing" Sports Media...
The sports media never ceases to amaze me! ...not in a good way though. I just read an article about Brett Favre about how people are asking him and Coach McCarthy if he's lost "his fast ball" based on his game against the Redskins ten days ago that was less than stellar. Now, far be it from me to take up the defense of my favorite QB to ever play the game, but this is ridiculous. They can't leave the man alone!
I believe that the media is getting to the point now that they are looking for anything that they can to prove that he's getting too old to play. Most of the time they go further than that and practically stalk him to find ANY story angle they can to have something about him. I realize how the media works - I used to sell broadcast television. They know how popular he is as a player - even people who aren't Cheeseheads love the guy and at least respect what he's done for the game so they hang on to anything they can to get a story about him. Why else do you think that they've had him retiring for at least 3 years now and hyped that up every year?
I'll make my case with the following experience - I went to the last Packers pre-season game this year against the Titans since it was only 3 hours north on I-65 from the 'Ham (otherwise known as my native Birmingham, AL...where American Idols are born). Again, just as a reminder, this was a Titans home game...which they won by 16 points. I was sitting about 12 rows up behind the Packer bench around the 50 yard line wearing my #4 Favre lady's jersey and cheesehead. I look over toward the aisle and there are dozens of people (not all in Packer gear) with cameras and camera phones in the air trying to get a pic of Favre. I walked down and struck up a conversation with another lady in a #4 Favre jersey with a camera and said, "Isn't this crazy? You'd never know we were the visiting team losing by 16 points". She laughed and we proceeded to discuss the fact that all the television cameras were over at the bench where Favre was sitting and trying to carry on a conversation with another player. He was the one that the tv cameras followed off the field into the tunnel...he creates a media frenzy everywhere he goes without asking for it.
I think the sports media has ended up like the paparazzi in Favre's case mainly because we as fans continue to watch anything we can on him and that begins the vicious cycle...fans watch = ratings...ratings = advertisers...advertisers = money. I would dare say that the Packers' franchise as a whole has made more money off #4 than any other one player for over a decade. Just watch the game against Denver next Monday night and count the Favre gear you see compared to anyone else - it's insane!
Look, in closing, I love a Favre story as much as anyone, but after reading the article mentioned above - my response is "CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE?" Do you agree that the sports media goes too far? He's an incredible player and fun to watch - we are all privileged to have been able to watch him throughout his career, but every player has a bad day. Don't pick him apart just to get a story...trust me - you don't want to mess with the Packer Nation...or this red headed cheesehead either!
The sports media never ceases to amaze me! ...not in a good way though. I just read an article about Brett Favre about how people are asking him and Coach McCarthy if he's lost "his fast ball" based on his game against the Redskins ten days ago that was less than stellar. Now, far be it from me to take up the defense of my favorite QB to ever play the game, but this is ridiculous. They can't leave the man alone!
I believe that the media is getting to the point now that they are looking for anything that they can to prove that he's getting too old to play. Most of the time they go further than that and practically stalk him to find ANY story angle they can to have something about him. I realize how the media works - I used to sell broadcast television. They know how popular he is as a player - even people who aren't Cheeseheads love the guy and at least respect what he's done for the game so they hang on to anything they can to get a story about him. Why else do you think that they've had him retiring for at least 3 years now and hyped that up every year?
I'll make my case with the following experience - I went to the last Packers pre-season game this year against the Titans since it was only 3 hours north on I-65 from the 'Ham (otherwise known as my native Birmingham, AL...where American Idols are born). Again, just as a reminder, this was a Titans home game...which they won by 16 points. I was sitting about 12 rows up behind the Packer bench around the 50 yard line wearing my #4 Favre lady's jersey and cheesehead. I look over toward the aisle and there are dozens of people (not all in Packer gear) with cameras and camera phones in the air trying to get a pic of Favre. I walked down and struck up a conversation with another lady in a #4 Favre jersey with a camera and said, "Isn't this crazy? You'd never know we were the visiting team losing by 16 points". She laughed and we proceeded to discuss the fact that all the television cameras were over at the bench where Favre was sitting and trying to carry on a conversation with another player. He was the one that the tv cameras followed off the field into the tunnel...he creates a media frenzy everywhere he goes without asking for it.
I think the sports media has ended up like the paparazzi in Favre's case mainly because we as fans continue to watch anything we can on him and that begins the vicious cycle...fans watch = ratings...ratings = advertisers...advertisers = money. I would dare say that the Packers' franchise as a whole has made more money off #4 than any other one player for over a decade. Just watch the game against Denver next Monday night and count the Favre gear you see compared to anyone else - it's insane!
Look, in closing, I love a Favre story as much as anyone, but after reading the article mentioned above - my response is "CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE?" Do you agree that the sports media goes too far? He's an incredible player and fun to watch - we are all privileged to have been able to watch him throughout his career, but every player has a bad day. Don't pick him apart just to get a story...trust me - you don't want to mess with the Packer Nation...or this red headed cheesehead either!
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