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I can understand your hatred of Favre, seeing as how you're a Vikings fan, but you have to realize his appeal. How many times do you see a guy at a prominent position in the NFL stay with one team, keep up a high level of play, and stay very clean and yet very human in both his personal and professional life? If Favre wasn't such an all-american guy, I'm sure his record-breaking numbers would come under fire since they come as a result of a lot of gunslinging, but he has become a role model for a lot of people, and his emotional playing style connects him to a lot of fans. We're watching the statistical leader of the NFL play some of his last football, and I think the problem you should have is with the sports media, not so much with Brett himself.

JayhawkRock | 01/21/08, 02:57 AM

Well, I think you should do something about that 7 yr old grudge. Don't forget what the Vikings did to the Giants the year prior, keeping us out of the superbowl. -- I will; there's still a hole in my wall from that day.

That being said, I do agree with some of your other points... and had it not been 5:22 in the morning here right now, I'd give you some praise.

-Fragzem

http://fragzem.wordpress.com

Fragzem | 01/21/08, 05:25 AM

Jayhawk, I don't hate Farve, I'm a Farve Hater, and there's a difference.

First "seeing as how you're a Vikings fan, but you have to realize his appeal." Ummm, no I don't. I don't deny his appeal, but it's the classic case of style over substance. Not to mention the fact that everyone tells me I have to like him, as you did, despite knowing my affiliation w/ a Packers' Rival.

Second "keep up a high level of play" - See, that's exactly what I take issue with. My profile reads "Farve is overrated" I could write pages about how and why he's overrated. That's another blog (or Throwdown for any takers).

Third "stay very clean" - I lived in Wisconsin when Brett was out drinking in Milw every night. His addiction to painkillers. I'd grant you redemption, but staying clean and sober isn't Brett's M.O.

Fourth, re: "record-breaking numbers" and being the "statistical leader of the NFL", he's in that position because of the number of games he's played. He's out lasted everybody. And this get's back to the second point about being overrated.

Fifth, and here's where my vitriol really builds up, "I think the problem you should have is with the sports media, not so much with Brett himself." No, the real problem, is MORONS LIKE YOU, who've lapped up everything the media feeds you. You quoted chapter and verse of The Legend Of Brett Farve. "All-American guy, human, record-breaking, gunslinging, emotional, last football" all words you use to describe him. If you'd only have said "he's having fun out there you'd have won Buzz Word Bingo

And by the way, we've been watching the last football of Brett Farve for almost a decade now, so you'll excuse me if I'm no longer on the edge of my seat.

MixinUpMedicine | 01/21/08, 10:47 AM

As a side note to all of this, I'm sick and tired of everybody annointing Tom Brady as the best thing ever. Yes, Brady is good, but he's not that good. It takes an entire team to win a Super Bowl. If anything, Tom Brady is overrated. The only reason that Brady has won three (soon to be four) Super Bowls is because the TEAM is that good. The Patriots are a juggernaut. I would bet that they would've still won at least some of those Super Bowls if Drew Bledsoe was still their quarterback. I'd like to put Brady behind a normal offensive line, take Randy Moss away, and see what happens. I'd bet he'd be eating turf and throwing picks the entire afternoon. You can say that the "young lion" has won three times as many Super Bowls (thus far) as the "old lion", but don't forget that the "old lion" has won three times as many MVP awards as the "young lion".

Unfortunately, my prediction is that the Super Bowl will not be a good game like Week #17. I think the Patriots will roll, and roll big. :(

bmg2008 | 01/21/08, 11:40 AM

I'm been a Packer fan all my life. Transplanted to MN from Wisc in the sixty's. I have seen great momments in both GB & MN history. I believe even without a SB win the Vikings were the greatest team from 69 to 76. And while the Packers were probably considered one of their worst periods in their history at the same time. The diffrerence between MN & GB is Packers fans still believe even in the worst times while there is nobody left on the band wagon when things go bad with Vikings. So when things are bad it's make you/Vikings fans feel good when the Packers lose a game like this. Packers will regroup and look forward to next year and you'll still be blaming Dennis Green for all the Vikings failures.

BUCKY2 | 01/21/08, 11:54 AM

I cry BS!!!!!

Don't bring MVP crap up here. It's a BIASED award, given by MEDIA MEMBERS.

Farve "won" one of those MVPs despite Barry Sanders running for the third most yds in NFL history (at the time, it was the second most yds) for the LIONS. THE LIONS FOR CHRIST'S SAKE. But NOOOOOO, WE LOVE BRETT, let's give him the award, for a season he had WORSE NUMBERS than the previous season 39 TD/13 INT in 96, 35 and 16 in 97. Lower rating, a few less yds, % points lower comp %. Sanders had a season for the ages, and Farve was starting to slip. NO WAY HE DESERVED THE MVP THAT SEASON.

Barry Sanders Wikipedia quote:
Barry Sanders' greatest season came in 1997. After a start in which he gained 53 yards on 25 carries in the first two games of the season, Sanders ran off an NFL record 14 consecutive 100 yard games, including two 200 yard performances, en route to rushing for 2,053 yards. In reaching the 2,000 yard plateau, he became only the third player to do so in a single season and the first since O. J. Simpson to rush for 2,000 yards in a span of 14 consecutive games. He was the first running back to rush for 1,500 yards in five seasons and the only one to do it four consecutive years. At the end of the season, Sanders shared the Associated Press's NFL Most Valuable Player Award with Green Bay QB Brett Favre.

CAN I JUST SAY AGAIN, THIS WAS FOR THE LIONS!!!!

MixinUpMedicine | 01/21/08, 12:02 PM

I'm not going to get into an argument about the '97 MVP award. Barry Sanders was a great player and a class act, and I wish he would have stayed around longer.

My point was just about Brady ...

bmg2008 | 01/21/08, 12:18 PM

Then don't use 3 MVP awards as a reason why someone is better.

Bottom line, Brett had great teams too. Reggie White was incredible, Defensive POY. GB had the number 1 defense in yds and scoring, which rarely happens (think of Baltimore and Tampa when they won the SB, their D was number 1 in yds and pts allowed.), but we remember Brett as this great SB QB.

And what has he done since Reggie left? Nothing. Give Brady credit for taking his team to the SB and winning over a long period of time. Brett was a flash in the pan that is still blinding people 10 yrs since his last SB. This was his first NFC title game in a decade, first playoff game in 3 yrs. Brady gets the most of his team, Brett doesn't, and if you wanna argue, just look at his last pass from yesterday.

MixinUpMedicine | 01/21/08, 12:29 PM

You are a small little man.

Curly Lambeau | 01/21/08, 01:03 PM

As a friend put it to me once, football is the ultimate team game -- at least moreso than basketball or baseball, where a Michael Jordan or a Roger Clemens could almost single-handidly take over a game. You need high-quality players at many positions on both sides of the ball.

In general, I am just getting sick of when people use the generic Super Bowl argument as a way to rate players. If you just looked at that alone, you would have to say Trent Dilfer 1, Dan Marino 0. Obviously, most people should realize that Dilfer had a defense. However, onto the point: Tom Brady is not better than Dan Marino just because he won some Super Bowls. It is easy to get the most from your team when you have all-pro-quality players at most key positions. For example, Dan Marino never had a Dolphin team with a running game. I would credit the Patriots successful run more to Belichick and their front office than to Tom Brady. For example, New England won yesterday in spite of the fact that three of Tom Brady's airballs found San Diego Chargers. The New England team, in general, will make up for any one player's deficiency on a given day because they have all the cogs in place.

bmg2008 | 01/21/08, 01:06 PM

This was supposed to be more about the Packers and Farve, than Brady, but I'll bite, since the Packers Fans have seen their shadow and have crawled back in their holes. Name calling Curly? when you become a man, come back and we'll talk?

The one and done format of the NFL playoffs is the toughest crucible in sports. If dynasties like the 70s Steelers could only get 4 SBs, then what does that say about Brady, MAXIMIZING his opportunities.

As to the Pats winning IN SPITE of Brady, Brady did what he needed to. He got the ball in the end zone. Rivers DID NOT, 4 FGs, 3 of them well within the Red Zone. That was the difference in the game. Brady could through 3 INTs (and really, that's what kept this game from being closer than it maybe should have been.

MixinUpMedicine | 01/21/08, 01:26 PM

I think that speaks to the greatness of the Patriots as a whole and Bill Belichick, rather than to some great individual triumph by Tom Brady. I think that it is the coach who truly gets the most out of his players and maximizes his opportunites. It is nice for Brady that he was there, on the Patriots, when those opportunities arose. He was in the right place at the right time.

I wonder how much of San Diego's failure in the red zone can be attributed to New England's defense? A lot has been made of the Patriot offense, but their defense was 4th in the league this year in both yards allowed and points allowed. With all the weapons that the Patriots have on offense, not to mention that offensive line of theirs, I would expect almost any QB to be able to put up a sizable number of points. In a way, I wish that Brady would have sat a game this year, just to see how much offense New England would have put up with their backup. I would be willing to bet that the Patriots still would have won most games.

Brady could throw three interceptions and get away with it yesterday because his team is that good. The defense didn't let San Diego into the end zone, and the offense as a whole generated enough points to win convincingly. I think Maroney had something like 122 yds. rushing. If you put Brady on any other NFL team, he doesn't come out with a victory yesterday. I doubt that he wins nearly that many, if any at all, Super Bowls, either.

bmg2008 | 01/21/08, 02:16 PM

SD was 5th in pts allowed, 1 behind the Patriots. They were 14th in yds, but they struggled early w/ a whole new coaching staff, and giving up 296 to Purple Jesus didn't help their rankings, but 5th in Pts Allowed isn't a fluke.

Point being, SD has a PRETTY GOOD DEF TOO, and that didn't keep Brady out of the end zone. Again, you've got 2 good Defenses, 2 good O lines, good skill players, the DIFFERENCE WAS AT QB.

MixinUpMedicine | 01/21/08, 02:26 PM

Purple Jesus?!?

I realize by the 296 rushing yds. in a game stat. that you are referring to Adrian Peterson, but still ... ;)

In my opinion, while San Diego does have some good skill position players, they don't match the Patriots superior offensive line and wide receiving corps. They might have had an advantage at running back, but that went away with Tomlinson being injured. Their advantage at tight end also disappeared with Antonio Gates being hobbled. They were clearly overmatched.

bmg2008 | 01/21/08, 02:40 PM

And Maroney did most of that running in the second half, w/ the Pats already leading. Maroney had 5 rushes for 8 yds (1.6 avg) at HALFTIME. EIGHT. His first half TD was a 1 yd plunge. The score at the half was 14-9, Patriots.

You really gonna credit Maroney for generating those 14 pts?

MixinUpMedicine | 01/21/08, 02:45 PM

SD had 2 Pro Bowl O linemen, C Hardwick, T McNeil, last yr, plus FB Lo Neal. Both those OLinemen have been hurt this yr, and didn't make the PB, Neal did, but G Dielman did make the PB.

That's 3 Pro Bowl O Lineman, matching NE's 3 Pro Bowlers, Logan Mankins made his first and this might be Koppen's first too.

Yes, SD's skill guys were banged up, but Michael (the Burner) Turner is going to be the most sought after FA RB. He's no slouch. Chris Chambers is no slouch either. Pro Bowl WR in Miami, and that's after Dan Marino retired, so it's not like his QB put him in the PB.

Purple Jesus is a nickname that came up for Peterson when he started blowing up Fantasy Leagues. I think it's a great nickname, blasphemy aside.

MixinUpMedicine | 01/21/08, 02:57 PM

As far as the Patriots first half scoring goes, I'll credit seven points to a nice 65-yard drive by the Patriots ( including Randy Moss' 14 yards rushing ;) ), and seven points to Phillip "Big Mouth" Rivers.

bmg2008 | 01/21/08, 02:59 PM

During the regular season, New England's offensive line gave up 21 sacks, compared to San Diego's 24. Not much of a difference, but then if you factor in the fact that New England attempted 586 pass plays versus San Diego's 471 pass plays, the result is that the Chargers allowed a sack percentage of 5.1% versus New Englands 3.5%. It's not night and day, but it does give New England somewhat of an advantage.

bmg2008 | 01/21/08, 03:15 PM

Chris Chambers is a good receiver, but certainly is not Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and company...

bmg2008 | 01/21/08, 03:17 PM

Being a Viking fan, do you still have any ill feelings toward Randy Moss, or is that all "water under the bridge" now?

bmg2008 | 01/21/08, 03:18 PM