Goodbye, Brett

The news is out. Brett Favre is retiring from the game. I won't even bother you to send a link to any news sites because it's all over the Internet. However, if you want to get a good analysis of Favre, check out ESPN's Page 2 - I'm sure they'll eventually have something.

Coming from a die hard Packer fan, I have to say this is a sad day. But he went out as close to the top of his game as anyone could have imagined. Ok, a Super Bowl ring was imaginable, but still, during his last few games, I was on the edge of my couch, hoping Favre wouldn't have a career-capping game like Dan Marino - face down after one too many sacks and a 62-7 drubbing on the scoreboard.

Favre's gameplaying was maddeningly inconsistent. For half of last year's comeback, I opted not to watch any Packer games because whenever I watched, they were losing. Favre was throwing interceptions and making bad decisions on the field. But when he was on...wow. The game he played after his father died will go down in football lore.

Watching Favre play wasn't like watching Manning or Brady play. No matter how flawless his performance was, you always had the uneasy feeling in the back of your mind ... "don't throw an interception...don't throw an interception." It was sort of like watching the Red Sox win their first championship in 2004 - when even with a commanding lead in the World Series, you kept thinking "they're going to implode...this is where it starts - with a stupid error that results in a base run" - even up to the ninth inning.

I'll miss his interviews on Jim Rome (although he'll no doubt return, just not as a current quarterback), I'll miss his elated fist-pumping on the field and I'll miss the presence of one of the few players left in the NFL who truely seems like he would be doing this for free because he loves the game so much.

Thanks, Brett -

Let the party begin...

First off - I'm writing this with fairly drained spirits. I just saw the Packers play a very, very ugly game against the Giants. It was frigid. It was in Lambeau. And still - the Packers couldn't do it. Their defense was always a half step behind. Their penalties cost them big. And Favre, when they needed him the most - gave up the INT that lead to the Packers losing.

I'm a Packers fan - always will be. But this loss stung. All due credit to the Giants. The Packers had about 25 yards of offense in the second quarter - and somehow, the game still went into overtime.

Anyway - better news...



Today marks one year until Bush is out of office. And as for Obama - I have to admit, I am a bit worried. It looks like Florida and New York are going for Clinton. And if she gets California, it looks like she pretty much has the nomination tied up.

There are reasons to vote for Hillary. But I have to be alarmed at some of the reasons I've been hearing, just overhearing from people at some coffee houses (Blue Line and 13th St. Coffee) or even talking with my mom.

"Bill cheated on her - she deserves the presidency just for that."

Uh - no. She deserves the house whenever she decides to cut him loose, but the job of presidency?

I have the same baffled expression for some conservatives. Mike Huckabee is a flippin' minister, he doesn't believe in evolution, he's adamantly pro-life and he isn't tolerant of gays. The worst thing he's done is say we have a biblical obligation to care for the poor and defenseless. In fact, the only major difference (right now) between him and Mitt Romney is that Romney favors the one percent of the population that holds a good portion of the wealth in this country. Are you really going to vote for him just because Rush Limbaugh tells you to? You're about to enter a fucking recession. Don't you at least want someone on your side when you lose your job and suddenly you start to tone down your rants against those who leach off unemployment checks?