This PSA Brought To You By The SportDork
Brett Favre retires, and I can't find a single article that mentions the fact that the last pass of his career was an interception in the NFC Championship Game that sent the Giants to the Super Bowl? Not surprisingly, it's one fluff piece after another that hails him as the greatest thing to ever step on the field. A complete and total love-fest. And you know what? For the most part, he deserves it. I'm not looking to trash Brett Favre. He will go down as one of the best quarterbacks of all time and will certainly be in the Hall of Fame. But how about a little balance?
It's now a prevailing theme in the sports world - you're either a hero or you're a monster, and there's no in between. Why engage in thoughtful, objective analysis when we can simply dump our professional athletes into one of two convenient buckets - hero or disgrace? We have created a world of extremes, one in which there are only two classifications, and neither one fits. In this case, the media has anointed Favre a hero, which apparently means there is no room for discussion of his flaws or how he could have been an even better quarterback. Somehow any discussion of Favre's flaws completely tarnishes his legacy.
Why is it so difficult for us to acknowledge his greatness AND his shortcomings? The man was a brilliant NFL quarterback. Just about any NFL fan would tell you they'd have been happy to have him quarterback their team for the last sixteen years. He also had a knack for throwing ill-advised passes at critical times that often resulted in interceptions, and when you look back at his career, for all his achievements, you also see missed opportunities. Does that mean he wasn't a great quarterback? Of course not. It means he was human. He had a few flaws. Ignoring them doesn't make them go away, and discussing them doesn't tarnish his legacy.
I've only found one guy in the mainstream sports media who had the guts to pen an objective article about Favre's career, and it is Paul Zimmerman ("Dr. Z") from SI.com. Here's a link to the article: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/dr_z/03/04/favre/index.html
Dr. Z managed to avoid the sensationalism bandwagon that all of his peers leaped on when Favre announced his retirement, providing an assessment of Favre's career that is neither overly laudatory nor overly critical. He repeatedly makes note of Favre's brilliance, but he also mentions his weaknesses. It's a balanced article in the face of an avalanche of blind love for Favre, and Dr. Z should have been praised for it. But Dr. Z's recent "Mailbag" on SI.com reminds us of why more journalists don't provide a measured, objective view when it comes to popular sports figures. It's because most of the American public doesn't want balance. They want either hero or disgrace. Acknowledging that their favorite athletes are flawed is too complicated and too difficult for them to process. So what does Dr. Z get for his efforts? A swarm of angry Favre fans who become irate at the notion that Favre may have been anything but perfect. Here's a link to Dr. Z's mailbag:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/dr_z/03/08/mailbag/index.html
Enjoy the irrationality.
And now - a brief public service announcement from The SportDork. This one goes out to all new and expectant mothers.
When traveling in a foreign country and preparing to visit an attraction such as this (Exhibit A):
With one of these (Exhibit b):
If you encounter an unfamiliar vehicle such as this (Exhibit C):
It is best not to place the former (Exhibit b) in the latter (Exhibit C) and close all the doors, particularly when these:
are sitting in the front seat and you are unfamiliar with Exhibit C's automatic locking mechanism. You will most likely end up with severely elevated blood pressure and a visit from one of these guys:
Special thanks to the people at Volkswagen Roadside Assistance and the Royal Auto Club ("RAC"), which are responsible for my sister and brother-in-law's joyful and reflective expressions in Exhibit D:
My third trip to Stonehenge was the charm!
Bwah!
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Any time a reader gets me to consult the Urban Dictionary to try and figure out what their comment means (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bwah), they automatically earn Comment Of The Week honors. Congratulations!!
By the way - it is also an acronym for Bikers With A Heart (http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/BWAH), although I don't think that's what you were going for.
Thanks for keeping the SportDork hip.
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thanks for being kind in that entry.
and now, for my B. Favre commentary (as if there hasn't been enough). first, I'm a Bears fan, and as such find any Packers QB to be the bad guy. so keep that in mind.
one thing that strikes me about Favre throughout his career is that there seems to be some disagreement about his "greatness" among the press. journalists (particularly Dr. Z) have spent quite a bit of column inches devoted to knocking Favre (not lately, necessarily). Z has repeatedly insisted that Favre is not even in his top 10 list of QBs. others have done the same, mostly in response to the overwhelming majority who simply deify the man (the most egregious of whom has to be Madden). what strikes me about this push-pull is that it doesn't seem to be true for other "great" QBs: Montana is simply deified by all; same with Brady (tho' whither now?); Marino doesn't have his greatness questioned, just his supporting cast and coaching; Elway finally got his, when he got a RB and a coach; and so on. I mean, the guy took 2 squads to the SB and won one. he's set a truck load of records. he's clearly "great" and HoF bound.
the question that springs to mind for me is: why does Favre's spectacular career require some people to point out his flaws? they didn't do that for Montana. (he certainly had flaws. he also had Jerry Rice.) they don't seem to hold anything against Brady. when Peyton throws a pick it's b/c the D schemed him so well.
some would say that the reason people nit-pick him, is Favre held the possibility of more in his hands, but decision-making and execution kept his teams from further greatness. but c'mon. his teams were only where they were b/c of Favre. they were fairly mediocre on O, only Favre made the difference.
and the reason that there's such a visceral response from the masses to Favre criticism? i think it's similar to the John Daly phenomenon. Favre is one of the people, of course. he's battled demons. had problems. suffered. Peyton suffered too, but he's lived a charmed life. hard to feel too sorry for Peyton, when his pedigree was so ridiculous. Favre, on the other hand, represents the hope that beer-swilling, mouth-breathers have a shot at the title!
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Being a huge Dolphins fan growing up and having watched Marino throughout his career, I have thought of Marino many times when watching Favre the last couple years. Much like Favre, toward the end of his career, Marino was asked to manage the game and pick his spots, since the Fish had built a solid D under Jimmy Johnson. In the end, like Favre, he couldn't do it. He consistently tried to make the throws that he could make earlier in his career, and he consistently p*ssed away games because he couldn't control himself. In that respect, I see a lot of similarities between Marino and Favre. I feel like both were victims of their absurd athletic ability, and their inability to harness it for the good of the team when necessary. When they needed to dial it down for the benefit of the team later in their careers, they couldn't bring themselves to do it, b/c it's not in their DNA. Watching Favre hurl that last interception against the Giants was like watching the end of a tragic play. He had spent the entire season playing under control and harnessing the wild man inside, but when it came down the NFC title game, and he needed to do it one more time to send them to the Super Bowl, he couldn't do it. He reverted to the gunslinger that deep down, he always was. It was sad to watch, the same way it was sad to watch Marino, toward the end of his career, hurling interceptions for touchdowns on out patterns with the Dolphins up 17-13 mid-way through the fourth quarter.
I realize none of this has anything to do with your comment, but it came to mind when you mentioned Marino.
Normally, you would have been a shoe-in for Comment Of The Week honors, based on word count alone, but unfortunately a one-word comment beat you out this week.
As they say with a delightfully cheery tone over here in the UK after they've just screwed you over: Sorry!!!!
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Hi there - I know I have not commented on this yet, but given that it is mother's day, I now feel the timing is right.
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You shouldn't feel bad about locking Georgia in the car. You've got nothing on these parents - they boarded a flight and left their baby at the airport. Good stuff.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080513/od_afp/canadaairlinechildphilippinesoffbeat
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WOW!! That's pretty bad -- I feel better, thank you very much.
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The SportDork is here to make you feel better about your own shortcomings.
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