Culture

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/38701-why-brett-favre-is-wrong I know there has been enough written in the past week about Favre to make it its own sport on Bleacher Report, but I feel like adding my two cents. During Brett Favre's illustrious career, especially during his resurgence last year, all you heard about Favre is, "he's like a little kid out there." It was one of his most endearing features, the sheer childlike wonder in which he approached the game, even as the sun of his career gradually set. Well, we're seeing more of the childlike Brett now, only it's not so endearing. Like a child, he changes his mind with every tick of the clock. Like a child, he tattles to the principal about how he is being mistreated, in this case, Greta Van Susteren. Except unlike a child, an entire NFL franchise is depending on his whims. Let's take a step back and see if this situation could have been avoided. After the NFC Championship game, Brett Favre decided to forego the usual summer drama and announce his retirement. What choice did the Green Bay Packers have but to begin their post-Favre lives as soon as possible? As legendary as he was, the Packers are a business, and their business is about winning. So they put Aaron Rodgers into the starting spot and drafted not one, but two marquee quarterbacks from college, Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn. What was the alternative for the Packers? Hope and pray that Brett decides to come back? Draft position players? If they did that and Rodgers doesn't do well, they're screwed for the next two or three years. Now all of a sudden Favre gets the itch again, and it puts the Pack in a no-win situation. They don't want Favre to start. He doesn't want to be a backup. They don't want him to play anywhere else. What if he goes somewhere and puts a team into a Wild Card berth? What if Rodgers bombs (not that I think he will, I was actually pretty impressed with him last year) and the Packers limp to a 4-12 finish? Imagine that pressure cooker in Green Bay. bleacherreport 7/17/08

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8352562/Dungy-sides-with-Packers-over-Favre The Brett Favre vs. Green Bay controversy has officially taken over the league. One day after Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson took Favre's side on Fox Sports Radio, Colts head coach Tony Dungy backed up the Packers' front office in its handling of the quarterback's on-again, off-again retirement. In an interview in Thursday's The New York Times, Dungy — one of the most well-respected head coaches in the NFL — was not shy about siding with the organization in the ongoing retirement fiasco. "Being on both sides of the fence and seeing it both ways, I'm a little bit more on the team's side," said Dungy, who has served time in the league as a player, an assistant coach and a head coach. foxsports.com 7/17/08

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/38589-brett-favre-leaves-theater-early-contemplates-return-to-finish-movie Monday afternoon in Kiln, Miss., (un-?)retired Packers quarterback Brett Favre was seen leaving a local movie theater by himself. When asked what he was doing, Favre replied, "I just walked right out of the theater in the middle of the movie. The one other guy in there didn't seem too happy that I was walking around while he was trying to watch it." It can be assumed that Favre had been watching the movie, Meet Dave. "That was the first time Brett has ever come in here," said the theater's manager, Theodore Managerie, "We plan on retiring half of his ticket stub in the coming months." Wednesday afternoon, during an appearance on NFL Live, former Packers' TE Mark Chmura revealed that Favre had told him as recently as Tuesday evening that Favre had the "itch to return to the end of the movie". "Mark Chmura? Isn't that the guy who likes little kids?" said an angry Favre, clearly trying to change the subject. "I haven't spoken to him in several days." Thursday morning, Favre and his family called an impromptu press conference in Kiln. Both media members from Kiln attended. "Earlier this week, I made the rash decision to leave the movie, Meet Dave, prematurely," said a teary-eyed Favre. "I'd like to announce my desire to return to the theater to finish what I started. All good things...must come to an end (sniffles). I don't want this...to be over yet (bawling)." Contrary to what Favre intended, the theater's manager was not so happy upon hearing the news. bleacherreport 7/17/08

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/38493-will-the-buckeyes-live-it-down OK already. The Ohio State Buckeyes have lost the last two national championship games. In a bad way to say the least. Is the college football world being to hard on the guys from Columbus? Go ahead, mention scores and stats. Talk about bowl games. We can discuss the dominance of the SEC. It is a little difficult to grasp all this talk when the past is so easy to forget. The Buckeyes lose by a huge margin against the Florida Gators in the 2007 BCS Championship Game and then lose by 14 to the LSU Tigers in the 2008 version. Now, the past also shows a similar picture. Didn't the Sooners from Oklahoma get pasted by Southern Cal in the 2005 Orange Bowl? Something to the tune of 55 to 19. I believe that LSU beat the Sooners the season before that in the Sugar Bowl. Why isn't this being talked about? In my opinion the Sooners should never play in a BCS Championship Game again. But they could be this season. Also, we are talking about the Buckeyes being 0 and 9 against the SEC in bowl games. Virginia Tech has not won back to back bowl games ever. The ACC has not won a BCS bowl game since 2000. Even the mighty Trojans lost to Utah in a bowl game in 2001 and that was with Pete Carroll coaching. I mean, we are going back to 1978 to say that Ohio State has never beaten an SEC team in a bowl game. So, now these 9 games over a 30 year span matter more than the other 1,100 that they have played. I am fully aware of the SEC's dominance in college football. Well, we can learn a little more history. An SEC team lost to Michigan in a bowl game in 2008. The defending national champs lost to a team that Ohio State defeated. That same team lost to Appalachian State. Ohio State traveled to Texas in 2006 and beat the Longhorns. When was the last time Florida traveled away and faced a worthy out of conference opponent? Probably the Miami Hurricanes in 2003. Oh yeah, the Gators lost. bleacherreport 7/16/08