Remembering Brent

Autofavrenator - Denial

Favre Automotivators

This is target rich territory. And so easy that even a troglodyte can do it.

Up yours, Brett

What a CHOKER! But he's the Vikings' choker now.

I told some Minnesota acquaintances that Favre would break their hearts. He came through. Favre is incapable of winning the big game.

Like Churchill wearing a swastika

Stephen and Andrew Hayes provide a chronology of the 2008 Favre retirement story. Much of this has been forgotten, but the facts show that Favre was intent on joining the Vikings even before he "retired" in March 2008.

On March 3, 2008, the Packers held a press conference announcing Favre’s retirement. His final season had been a successful one. The Packers went 13–3 and made it to the NFC Championship game. And though Favre had thrown a bad interception to lose that game, he had played like a quarterback a decade younger than his 37 years.

Within weeks, though, Favre changed his mind. When he told the Packers that he wanted to unretire, the organization welcomed him back and made arrangements to have one more season with their Hall of Fame quarterback. Then, just days later, Favre changed his mind again. He was done. That was it. No question. Career over.

Favre had done this before. At the end of each of his final three seasons in Green Bay, Favre had mused publicly about retirement, setting off nearly full-time media speculation about his future and the future of the franchise. But this time felt different. While he and his agent, Bus Cook, repeatedly assured reporters that he’d get around to it at some point, he refused to make it official by filing his papers with the NFL.

...

Then in early July, as the season approached, Favre tried to return to the Packers again. This time, however, the Packers hesitated. They were understandably worried that he wasn’t serious about coming back and, having named Rodgers the starting quarterback, were concerned about the damage that would be done to the team if they acceded to the demands of their former star.

So the Packers turned him down. Favre wasn’t happy. At first, he demanded his release. Sports Illustrated NFL writer Peter King, a frequent recipient of scoops from Favre, reported that Favre’s first choice was Minnesota. Wisconsin media outlets reported that Favre had already approached the Vikings.

It is pretty clear that Favre had no loyalty to the Packers, even after their near NFC Championship in 2008. He saw riding Adrian Peterson to the Super Bowl was his last, best chance to get there.

Good news for Bears fans

Jay Cutler looked like a young Brett Favre last night! Or maybe it was an old Brett Favre. You remember those games.

UPDATE:

I wasn't alone in that thought.

As veteran Packers reporter Tom Silverstein said after the game, "Brett Favre was back.'' He made those types of interceptions. Just didn't look to play with much poise, especially when the game was so close. It's one thing to make bad decisions trailing big. The Bears were never trailing big.

H/T - ACME Packing Company

Someone else thought of this one

But this was my idea.



Design your own Favre tribute jersey here.

If the jersey fits, you must wear it

bungholio

being the greatest of assholes

i am the great "bungholio" !

Help me out. Which jersey do I spend $100 on?

This works

Approved by the NFL/Reebok dirty worder filter.



Must be true.

That's how Jerry Kramer spells it

This is too nice ...

Help me come up with something really nasty.

How to deal with Favre

After his interview with Jack Buck it is pretty clear that Brett Favre is now, mentally at least, a Viking.

As much as Favre likes to retire, the Packers should announce the retirement of Favre's number on the day of the Vikings game. And like Favre, the Packers can change their mind about it later.

This can become an annual event.

Charter Cable Fails

All I get on my TV for the BCS Championship Game is a pregame freeze frame of Tim Tebow. All my other channels work, just not FOX. This is the same on two separate television sets.

A call to Charter (1-888-GET-CHARTER) resulted in me being told that it was a problem with my cable box. The problem with that theory is that I unplugged the blasted box several weeks ago after my picture kept freezing and skipping.

Then they tell me that it must be FOX's problem. Nope, I already checked with my son and the game is showing just fine on Time-Warner Cable at home.

It is still not Charter's problem. They have no other reports, so it must be me. Do I want to schedule an appointment? Click.

Just a taste of things to come with Digital Transition.

UPDATE: The picture was restored at 11:49 of the 2nd Quarter. Just after the Sooners scored. Someone else must have call to complain. I think I must have been the first to navigate through the automated help line and get to a human CSR.

Is the MAC taking applications?

Big Ten 145
Bowl Opponents 210

It is time to admit that the Big 10 is no longer a college football Major Conference. 1 and 6 in bowl games is more than enough proof. Demographics and population drain to the South and West have caught up with these teams and the result is ugly.

The Big Ten is now nothing but a very good mid-major football conference.

No need to guess this number ...

22

Interceptions thrown by 2008 NFL leader Brett Favre.

It would not have been much better had Favre remained in Green Bay. He just throws a lot of interceptions. He threw 15 or more in each of his last 12 seasons.

That touted idiot Ted Thompson just could not start a QB who turns it over with that frequency. Aaron Rodgers threw 13 picks this season, still too many, but not Favre-like by any measure.

There is no other explanation

My virtual friend believes that the QB change had nothing to do with another loss.

My jock sniffing nemesis thinks it is the playing ability of these quarterbacks that made the difference.

Wrong, both of them. The Curse is all that matters.

Quantities are limited ...

Just in time for Christmas for the Favre jock sniffer in your life (hint, hint Mrs. Fischer).

Just between you, me and Vincent T., only a crucifix in urine may be more sacrilegious than this.

The Curse of Brett Favre

Until today, I have been a naysayer of those criticizing Ted Thompson's decision to trade Brett Favre to the New York Jets for a 2009 draft pick. By my logic, the drop-off in quarterback quality with Aaron Rogers was not exceptional and the Packers will end up with a potential future star with that high draft pick from the Jets. I analogize the trade to getting something for a used car that would otherwise not be driven again.

I have also been hard on Favre jock-sniffers Kevin Fischer and Huckleberry Dumbell. They are focused on the quarterback position where statistically Favre and Rogers have been a toss-up, 94.1 to 90.5 QB Ratings following last Monday night's fiasco in New Orleans. The reality is that Aaron Rogers is not losing any more games for the Packers than Favre normally did. It has been the Packers defense this year that is losing games. Fischer's and Dumbell's comparisons to the 2007 Packers also ignore the fact that the team was incredibly lucky with injuries last year.

I've been of the same mind as Jib, who said this week.

1. Think back on how many shootouts the Packers won with Brett over the years. Having trouble coming up with more than a few, aren't you? That's because the ultimate gunslinger wasn't actually all that good in shootouts. He was undisciplined and made a ton of errors when games seemed to be spinning out of control. Like you, I was hoping for Favre-like big plays in the second half from Rodgers. Unfortunately, even Favre did not make those plays very often in games like last night. He was more prone to toss 5 interceptions in games like last night.

2. You all are right. The Packers do miss the pass rush that Brett brought last year. And he was a stout run stopper, too.

3. You all are right. The Packers do miss the blanket-like pass coverage Brett brought to the secondary of this team.

But earlier today I learned of The Curse of Bobby Lane. The parallels are troubling.

In 1958, after leading the Lions to 3 NFL Championships and providing Detroit nearly decade of Hall of Fame play, the Lions traded Bobby Layne. Bobby was injured during the last championship season and the Lions thought he was through and wanted to get what they could for him. According to Legend, as he was leaving for Pittsburgh Bobby said that Detroit "would not win for 50 years".

For nearly 50 years the Lions have searched for answers and each time they think they have one, it gets foiled and they have to start from scratch all over again. The team is constantly in a rebuilding state with an ever constant Quarterback controversy (Ala Munson/Landry, Peete/Ware, or Harrington/Garcia).

And.

Upon his retirement in 1962, Bobby held the NFL record for most career pass attempts, completions, passing yardage, and touchdown passes (since broken). However, it was his leadership and will to win that, to this day, separate Bobby Layne from his quarterback contemporaries. He willed three average Detroit Lions teams to championships in 1952, 1953, and 1957.

Layne and Favre were cast in the same mold.

"Bobby Layne never lost a game. Time just ran out. Nobody hated to lose more than Bobby."
-- Doak Walker

How many time has that been said of Favre?

I now understand that it is not the quality of the quarterback's play that is losing games this year. It is the bad mojo that the Packers now carry from Thompson's treatment of Favre. The lesson of the Lion's treatment of Bobby Layne bodes ill for the Packers chances of success for decades.

How long until we can add the Favre Curse to this list of famous sports curses?

Cross posted at The Curse of Brett Favre blog.

Does the spirit of Bill France live on in Bud Selig?

What I witnessed last night was the equivalent of that conveniently discovered debris that seems to always cause a yellow caution flag with seven laps to go in too many NASCAR races. Bud Selig has demonstrated a need to manipulate baseball games rather than to let them be played out by the rules. He threw away the Official Rules of Baseball last night, just as he did at the 2002 All Star Game.

Why was completing Monday's World Series game so important that baseball's rules were ignored and the Phillies put at a substantial disadvantage? Was it for the Wednesday pregame Obama infomercial?

The Phillies were screwed by Bud Selig on Monday.

Bud outdid himself this time. This was worse than the 2002 All Star fiasco. Especially considering the All Star Game is a exhibition and last night the Phillies had the 2008 World Series won until Selig intervened.

In this case the Umpire-in-Chief could and should have suspended play after five innings, but that would have made it an official game. And also would made it a Phillies' victory if they could not resume play. Bud said that was a no-no.

"I would not have allowed the World Series to end this way," Selig said late last night, at a Citizens Bank Park press conference that was crowded and uncomfortable.

Unfortunately for the Phillies, in the top of the 6th the conditions were so bad that a routine ground ball third out becomes an "infield hit" and then the tying run. Once the score was tied it was acceptable for Bud to suspend the game. The final three and one-half innings are now scheduled to be played immediately following the Obama ad on Wednesday.

What do the Phillies get when they come to bat in the bottom of the 6th following the Obamamercial? The Rays get to bring in a fresh pitcher, almost certainly their top available starter. The field will then be dry and the fielders, too. And the Phillies Ace is not available to complete the game. The Phillies got screwed by Selig, the Rays play the bottom of the sixth inning with a substantial advantage.

If this game was played using the Official Rules of Baseball, the Phillies win the World Series* on Monday. A rain-shortened game? Yup! Those are the rules for 162 games of the season, but not for Bud in the World Series. He throws away the rulebook and waves the yellow caution flag.

What if they had played by the Rulebook?

First, chances are the game never starts. It is the home team's call whether or not to start, not Selig's excuse to get Obama the maximum audience on Wednesday.

By the fifth inning the field was a mess and the game should have been suspended and replayed on another day. But by then Bud had to keep it going.

In the sixth inning it was a crime to make Cole Hamels pitch in that crap. His effectiveness was lost to the wet ball and his defense was crippled by poor vision and wet hands. Selig bent over backwards to give the Rays a chance to score, then he suspended the game with the weather no worse than in the top half of the inning.

Selig said that he wanted a full nine inning game, but the Rules of Baseball give the umpires that sole discretion. Per the Rulebook, Selig has no say in the matter.

The Rules say:

4.01(d) As soon as the home team’s batting order is handed to the umpire-in-chief the umpires are in charge of the playing field and from that moment they shall have sole authority to determine when a game shall be called, suspended or resumed on account of weather or the condition of the playing field.

According to JSOnline, here's what Selig said.

By scoring a run in the top of the sixth, the Rays prevented Selig from making a difficult decision. With Philadelphia leading, 2-1, entering that inning, the rules allowed for the Phillies to be given a rain-shortened victory and therefore the World Series title.

But Selig said he would not have allowed the crown to be settled in that fashion. No World Series game ever has been started and not played at least nine innings (three ended in a tie).

"I have to use my judgment," Selig said. "That's not a way to decide the World Series."

Wrong Bud. That is the way baseball is played. You are the Commissioner, not an umpire. What's next, is Bud going to call balls and strikes from the Commissioner's box?

*There is my asterisk. The Phillies are the 2008 World Champions in 5 games.

Who won the debate?

Seth McClung won the debate I was watching.

How could you be watching anything else?