Thank God, finally someone within the Packers organization is sticking it to he who must not be named.  A day after Brett Favre “threatened” to show up at Packers training camp, Mike McCarthy issued the vote of confidence in Aaron Rodgers that everyone was hoping for.  He’s the guy in 2008 for the Packers and Favre won’t be given the opportunity to compete for the job.

Take that, asshole.  I’m not sure if I can remember a more arrogant approach taken by an athlete than the one Favre is riding right now.  “Trade me or start me.”  What? How about you sit on the bench and teach Rodgers because A. you’re under contract and B. when you committed to retirement, the Packers committed to Rodgers.  I don’t know who Favre thinks he is coming back to the Packers with an honest opinion that he is greater than the organization itself.  I don’t care about his resume and I don’t care that he could probably run for mayor and win it in Green Bay, he hung it up and the Packers moved on.

I think because I’m tired of hearing this story and it doesn’t make grammatical sense, I’ll be referring to him as Farve from now on.  It clears up the questions any person has when they first hear Brett’s name and wonder why the V and R are switched.  It doesn’t make sense.  Then again, neither does his flip flopping on retirement.  Picture this: if the Packers were to let Farve come back this season and take the starting job, any hope of Aaron Rodgers resigning with this indecisive team would be thrown out the window.  Rodgers has wasted four years of his career sitting on the bench “learning” from Farve even though Farve admits he didn’t teach Rodgers a damn thing (Awesome guy, right?).  Hypothetically the Packers would play well, win their division, go to the playoffs, and inetivably be bounced by either the Dallas Cowboys or by a superior AFC team in the Super Bowl.  Brett Farve would to on to retire after the year and the Packers would then find themselves without Farve, without Rodgers, and without a chance.  But Brett hasn’t played this out in his mind because, like all other things with the Packers and him, (the bastard had his own locker room, he wouldn’t even suit up with his teammates) the focus is always about Brett.  Well, Farve, now the focus is on Aaron Rodgers.  Mike McCarthy said so.  Ted Thompson said so.  I said so.

One last thought on the issue: there’s always been a great deal of respect for players who play out their entire career in one city, especially in the modern era of free agency.  Look at guys like Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, John Elway, and Dan Marino.  With that said, have fun tarnishing your legacy in Tampa or New York, Farve.

I can honestly say that during Brett Favre’s 47 year career with the Green Bay Packers my opinions about him never went further than “he’s real good.”  Being an AFC guy,  I never particularly went out of my way to watch Favre torch the Panthers during the morning games on FOX.  Over the past year, particularly the past few weeks, my opinions have gone from “he’s real good” to “he’s a real douchebag.”

On Favre’s interview with Greta Van Susteren yesterday, he pointed out the reasons why he feels like he’s not wanted in Green Bay.

“Favre told Van Susteren that “I worked my butt off two years ago to try to get them to sign Randy Moss,” adding that he was willing to give up salary to land the talented receiver. But Favre said Thompson denied publicly that Favre had lobbied to get Moss, which Favre said was not the case. Moss signed with the New England Patriots. In a second instance, Favre said he once tried to convince Thompson to re-sign Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle, two key linemen, but the two got away and signed elsewhere. In a third case, Favre told Van Susteren he tried to convince Thompson to interview Steve Mariucci, an old friend, for the head coaching job vacated by Mike Sherman. Favre said Thompson ended up hiring Mike McCarthy instead.” - Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about players lobbying to try and improve their team in one way or another.  Favre, however, sounds like he wants to just run the Packers.  Sure, he plays quarterback, but I think he also wants to play GM too.  Didn’t this team make it all the way to one interception from being in the Super Bowl?  Oh thats right, it was Favre who threw that pick and gave the Giants the NFC title.

This is a rewind of Junior Seau playing the Chargers like butter plays toast a few years ago.  Declaring that he was ready to walk away from the game and cement his legacy only to return the following season, not welcome in San Diego, and play for the Patriots.  Favre faces the same choice, moving on to play elsewhere for a team that will only be an afterthought on his legacy when he finally decides to retire (for real this time).  In the meantime, however, he’s done his best to blow up any good relations that still remain with the Packers as well as fault the club for the entire saga despite going back on his word of retirement.  Look Brett, when you said you were going to retire, the Packers said they were going to move on.  This is on you, buddy.  Don’t try and sugar coat it.

With attention whores Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds fighting for their life in the courtroom, this summer flip-flopping has consumed hours and hours of sports talk. And to put it as simply as possible, I’m tired of it.

Before I unleash my frustration on Brett Favre, I have to admit that I’m a big fan of what he’s done on the football field. He plays the game like a kid, loves football, enjoys the game ranks as one of the best quarterbacks I’ve ever seen play. But Favre’s act has evolved from 16 weeks of bad decisions and overthrows to 52 weeks of drama and indecisiveness. The latest Favre news states that he’s reportedly asked the Packers for his release. With this news, we can safely assume Favre will be playing somewhere in 2008.

But why? Well, for starters, Favre has probably come to the realization that riding around on a tractor in Mississippi is as boring as it sounds. In his storied career, Favre has accomplished just about everything in the NFL. We know him as a Packer. If Favre somehow ends up in Minnesota, Baltimore or even Chicago (ZOMG Rivalry!!1), what’s that going to prove? That he can’t stay true to his word? That he’s indecisive as all hell? That he’s an attention whore? How about all of the above.

I admire the Green Bay Packers for staying through to their word and finally beginning the post-Favre era. Brett Favre has held the Packers’ organization ransom for enough offseasons and this team is too talented (even without Favre at the helm) to be distracted by #4’s antics. Patrick Ewing played for the Magic, Hakeem Olajuwon played in Toronto and Emmit Smith played in Arizona. None of these players did anything to cement their reputation by prolonging their career. Favre shouldn’t either.

It’s been a hell of a ride hasn’t it? After 17 long seasons, Brett Favre has decided to hang up the cleats and retire. The icon of Green Bay sports has forever established his legacy as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, quarterback of all-time over his nearly two decade career with the Packers, doing everything from title runs to MVP’s and unforgettable comebacks. Like him or not, Brett Favre was the best quarterback of our generation.

253 straight starts (273 if you count the postseason). 442 touchdowns. 61,655 career passing yards. Brett Favre epitomized dominance throughout his entire career. His flare for the dramatic couldn’t be rivaled. Give me the choice now and I’ll still take Favre with less than two minutes left in the game over any quarterback ever to play the game. Montana was great at playing Captain Comeback. Favre was better.

You want to talk about grit? You better include Favre’s bulldog mentality in the discussion. Brett didn’t miss games despite injuries. Broken fingers, broken ribs, death within his family, and even cancer affecting his wife couldn’t keep Brett from missing a game. The guy was tough as nails; the epitome of a football player. His ability to ad-lib a play and make something incredible happen was, at times, unbelievable. Even at the age of 38, Favre was playing the game like he was 18; full of energy and giving it everything he had on every single play.

I’ll never forget the stories of Brett breaking the fingers of his receivers with the velocity that he put on his passes. I’ll never forget the way he was able to stake Lambeau as his own, and any opponent who dared come into Lambeau, especially during the winter months, faced a demon of a quarterback in Favre and a hell of a battle with the Packers.

Finally when he says retirement, he means it. It’s Aaron Rodgers turn! Remember him? That Cal quarterback that the Packers used their first round pick on four years ago in anticipation of Favre’s retirement? For Rodgers, the time is now. For Favre, it’s back to the bayou to make more Wrangler jean commercials and play quarterback for pick-up football games. Thanks for a hell of a career Brett. Though I’ve spent many a time cursing you for not retiring or for beating my team, it’s truly been a pleasure watching you systematically dominate the NFL for as long as you have.

How about that for a championship Sunday? Finally we are down to just two teams who will be playing in Glendale, Arizona for the Lombardi Trophy. Most of us saw the Patriots making it this far; none of us saw the Giants making this improbable run. But before I digress onto the Giants win over the Packers, let’s go back the noted Pats.

18-0 huh? The Patriots are on the verge of making some serious history. When the discussion of greatest teams ever arises, certainly 19-0 is a good place to start for the Pats. They’ve manhandled everything thrown their way in a variety of fashions which, as we saw yesterday, extend beyond Tom Brady and include the often forgotten Laurence Maroney. Maroney was in full beast-mode yesterday, carrying the Patriots while Brady struggled his way through a surprising three interceptions. Give credit to San Diego, they played this Patriots team about as tough as humanly possible and if it weren’t for a few mistakes in the red zone, the Chargers could have very well won this game. In the end, however, it was the Patriots who were triumphant. I’ll go ahead and say it right now; this team isn’t beatable. There are frankly too many weapons at Brady’s disposal for this team to slip up.

On the other side are the unheralded New York Giants. The G-Men have fought their way through the entire playoff run, beating Tampa Bay, Dallas, and Green Bay all on the road. Yesterday’s game at Lambeau was one of the coldest ever played with temperatures dipping below zero. It was so cold that, halfway through the second quarter, I found myself reaching for a sweatshirt because I was getting cold just watching the game. God knows how all those Packers fans sat through that entire game in the stands. That seems like it might have been the most miserable situation ever; sub-zero temperatures and a heartbreak loss in overtime after the Green Bay God throws a pivotal interception. This Giants team is feisty. Eli Manning has come into his own; not making mistakes that he so often made earlier in his career. Ahmad Bradshaw has been a pleasant surprise at running back for the Giants and certainly made his impact in yesterday’s game with a few key first down runs. And how about the fact that the Giants have done all of this without their homophobic loud mouth tight end, Jeremy Shockey. Pretty impressive.

So the table is set for the final showdown. Will it be the unbeaten Patriots or the underdog Giants? Whatever the result, it should be a good one.

Yesterday’s game between the Seahawks and the Packers had more to it than a spanking and Brett Favre slinging snowballs. Granted it was amazing to watch Favre and the Packers surgically dissect the Seattle defense after spotting the Seahawks 14 points in the first five minutes of the game. What might have been worse than the performance of the Seahawks defense was the banter that was going on between Tony “Goose” Siragusa and Darryl “Moose” Johnston in the booth. In between points where Siragusa’s fat ass was weighing down the snowplow and Johnston talking about why Ryan Grant should have been a fullback instead of a running back was the slinging of nicknames between the two that got to a point of confusion.

“How loud is it down there Goose?”
”I can hardly hear you up there Moose it’s deafening.”
”Sounds like it Goose.”
*Sound of Tony Siragusa eating the microphone*

I’ve had my issues with Fox in the past about that stupid robot that dances around on their screen after commercial breaks or the Star Wars sound effects they use when a team scores, but this had to take the cake. It got to the point where I sacrificed Kenny Albert’s wisdom and the volume on the television so I didn’t have to listen to Goose and Moose talk about snow and other pointless rambling.

Outside of the announcer’s nonsense, you have to tip your cap to Brett Favre. Be assured that every media faction in the country is going to jerk it to that pitch he made to Donald Lee in the second quarter and the notion that he’s acting like a kid on the field even though he’s 38. We get it. I suppose I should just be thankful that John Madden wasn’t announcing the game.