My cousin, Laura, sent me an email yesterday that contained the image below. No explanation necessary. It's been my experience that the football gods are cruel. My heart aches for my Minnesota friends and relatives. The Vikings have sent the Saints home from the playoffs twice but they were a lot more merciful about it. The Vikings crushed the Saints both of those times. It was over quickly both times. That kind doesn't hurt as much. Vikings fans are a classy lot.
Why?
I feel I've been rather harsh in my commentary here about Brett Favre and I feel bad about that. I have always liked him. He has a great sense of humor and gives great interviews. His quarterback play has never been my cup of tea. Too much sandlot to suit me. The retirement-unretirement thing never bothered me. I always thought it was great, fun theater ... from here. If it had any other impact on me, I might have felt differently. That said, I'm worried about him coming back for another year for the same reasons most of his fans are worried. He can still play. On the right team, like the Vikings, he can do a whole lot more than just contribute. The guy can make plays. That's not at all why I'm worried. I'm worried because, unfortunately, he'll also be in more games like he was in Sunday night.
The QOTD kind of startles me. The game I saw was very physical. The beating Brett took wasn't just the result of a team determined to hit him hard and often, it was also because the Viking game plan chose to attack more than they chose to protect. Gus Frerotte took the same kind of beating last year against the Saints and the Saints had a different defensive coordinator then. I think the offense they run puts their QB at more risk than most other offenses. The Saints did the opposite on offense. They chose to keep their tight ends and backs in more often to protect Drew Brees from the even more fierce Viking pass rush. It limited their offense but the alternative was no bargain, either. It's a violent game and I don't know if more flags could or should be thrown. I thought one should have been thrown Sunday night against the Saints and one should have been thrown against the Vikings in overtime. I also thought one of the two that were thrown against the Saints was iffy but I'm not complaining about that. I also don't have a solution to offer. I just don't want to see guys like Brett Favre and Kurt Warner take that kind of punishment any more and they surely will if they keep playing.
- If I Ever Lose My Faith In You 4:31 Sting Ten Summoner's Tales
- Blues Power 3:11 Eric Clapton The Cream Of Clapton
- Dennis 5:19 Badfinger The Very Best Of Badfinger
- Drummer Man 4:11 Cowboy Mouth Mercyland
- Lightning Crashes (Live) 5:44 Live Live: Live At the Paradiso - Amsterdam
Quote of the Day
I've felt better. It was a very physical game ... probably more so than people think.
Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings Quarterback
Blog of the day is here.
Quote from said blog: "Um, Gregg. Listen, I know you have a reputation as a clueless pundit, and that the only reason CBS bothers paying you is because you write "controversial" crap that gets linked to by blogs like mine. But, seriously Gregg, this is pretty elementary. It's so elementary even you should be able to pick it up."
I gained a lot of respect for Favre this year. I had strong doubts about him and the way he joined the Vikes last year, but he proved himself to be a real asset to the team and a leader. That last interception he threw stung almost as much as losing the game because it was so uncharacteristic of his performance over the season.
We'll see what happens. If he wants to play another year for the Vikes I'll gladly see him back. If he decides to hang it up then I'll understand that.
Your take on the choices both teams made is spot on and my sense was that there might have been a couple of questionable non-calls on QB hits, but the Saints took what the Vikes gave them and nearly all of the hits were clean in my book. Hey, it's football. I'm surprised Favre was able to take the punishment he did.
The Vikings-Saints game was the brutal game that everyone thought the Vikings-Cowboys game was going to be.
Since the Vikes are my second favorite team, I also would like to see him back but I'm still worried about him. I think anyone asking about his future plans now is an idiot. I wouldn't say this about any other player but I'd offer him the same skip-training-camp-come-in-when-you're-ready deal he had last season if I was in charge. I had my doubts about that arrangement originally but I think his teammates, except maybe the other quarterbacks, would support it. That's all that matters.
The whole skip training camp thing irked me a lot last year, but I was wrong on how the team would perceive it and that Favre wouldn't be ready. If Favre takes the Vikes up on that again later this year then I have no objection.
I think all of the wear and tear on his body that was saved by not being in camp helped him at the end of the season. I think he can get by on even less practice next year because he knows some of the plays now. :)