Hope everyone had a pleasant holiday weekend. I myself am coming off two fantasy drafts and am looking forward to the first NFL Sunday, my favorite day of the year.
You know that feeling when you're five and you can't really fall asleep because it's Christmas Eve? That's how I'll be this Saturday night. Maybe I should seek help.
Anyway, Mariotti's column from today irks me on so many levels I don't quite know where to begin. How about the beginning?
"So this is what we're doing in Chicago, laughing at his clownish blooper throws and mocking his stubby gray hair. Sorry, but I refuse to revel in the demise of Brett Favre, a folk hero who transcends silly civic grudges. Many of you will spend the week dancing on the man's grave, wanting him to feel the pain he inflicted on the Bears back when he and the Packers won 18 of 20 and turned a rivalry into a 209-mile waste of time."
Typical "I'm a better, more sophisticated human than you" Mariotti condescension. I think most Bears fans understand Brett Favre and what he has meant to football. That said, after watching Favre treat the Bears as his own personal highlight reel for so long, finally seeing the tables turn is cathartic. I'm not going to apologize for reveling in the fact that the Bears might finally win a few. And neither should you.
Now Jay steps in with his almighty opinion:
"Me? I'll be immersed in regret that Favre didn't retire last winter, allowing him to avoid the misery of a swan song doomed to resemble a dead quail."
Oh, great! Another Favre should/should have retired column! I haven't read 12,000 of those in the last two years! I'm so excited I can't stop using exclamation points!
Any informed football fan knows the deal with Favre: He still has some juice left and his team is awful, but it's tough to leave somelpace when you're a cross between Superman and Jesus in the eyes of your fans. Do I think he probably should have retired? Yes? How much do I think he cares? About as much as he cares what Mariotti thinks.
Why do sportwriters feel like they're performing some kind of sacred duty in determining when athletes should retire? Sure, I wish Jordan's ill-fated Wizards comeback had never happened, but when I catch old Bulls highlights I don't think "this is all tainted because he played for the Wizards." What athletes do at the end of their careers doesn't erase or tarnish a spectacular beginning and middle. Transcendent athletes have the right to determine when it's their time, simple as that.
Personally, I'm not ready to bury Favre just yet. A lifetime of being a Bears fan has left me too scarred to be comfortable against him, not matter what happened last year. I'd even expect to have a nightmare about him Saturday night, but I won't be able to sleep anyway.
