I'm going to do this one time, and one time only, because I promised that I wouldn't help the American media overkill any stories, and no one epitomizes media overkill more than Brett Favre.
Amazingly enough, after all the non-stop, "will he, won't he" marathon coverage, I'm still fascinated with some small segment of this epic. Specifically, to the best of my knowledge/slightly above-average memory, I cannot remember another athlete inspiring such hatred among throughout the American public without doing anything morally wrong.
This isn't OJ and his wife, or Mike Vick and his dogs, or Plaxico Burress and his guns, or even Big Papi and his steroids. In fact, the only thing Favre really did was taking entirely too long to make up his damn mind about the biggest decision of his career....
And then do it again. And again. And now, again.
Along the way there was a pinch of lying, a dash of betrayal, and a whole lot of "he said, they said." You can handle it once, maybe even tolerate it twice. But once Brett hit the trifecta of summer of soap operas, we all reached our collective breaking point and now the mere mention of his name inspires bile of the foulest degree.
I'd be lying if I said that I was above it all, but in my defense, this directly affects me. I currently work for a sports television network, so the better part of my Tuesday was saturated with Favre-a-palooza, just like a decent portion of my July, and my entire summer of 2008. A lesser man would have assaulted a supermarket cashier; I simply choose to bitch on my fledgling sports blog.
There is a silver lining to this monsoon, however. Yes, we all loathe Brett Favre...but that means that we all agree on something! Come on, that's gotta count for something right? We live in a country that's not only fragmented on virtually every important sports issue, but every important issue period.
Gun control, death penalty, abortion, stem cell research, health care, the economy, Iraq...need I say more? You probably have at least one opinion in there that not only runs contrary to mine, but would probably spark a heated argument between us.
Yet when I say Brett Favre, at least some part of you is sick of hearing about him, and rightfully so. Sure, he's a mostly decent guy who doesn't have a rap sheet, is one of the better family men in professional sports, and handled an embarrassing addiction with grace and dignity. But someone has to play the role of national pinata, and if whacking him with sticks is what it takes to bring our screwed up country together, well, it's a start.
So in the spirit of holding hands and kumbaya, YouTube Tuesday (or let's be honest, YouTube Wednesday AM) showcases a video from a guy named bradyfan83, who was hating on Brett well before it was chic. Back then, it was cruel and a little tasteless. Now? it's unifying.
Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ZBqT_H4Es
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