Monday, May 4, 2009

Greg Doyel: Translated

I happened across CBS Sportsline, and found this precious little nugget from some columnist I've never heard of. Apparently, he's got a quite a bit of Favre Angst, something you don't usually see from a national columnist (in fact, you don't normally see this from amateur bloggers).

Oh Lord he's doing it again.

Brett Favre is coming back. Probably. Again. So we're all talking about him. Definitely. Again.

It would be hilarious if it weren't so sad, but it is sad, and my goal today is for one of you Brett Favre apologists -- just one of you -- to read everything I have to say and then, at the end, concede that you're wrong. That I'm right. That Brett Favre isn't merely another great athlete struggling with the decision all great athletes have to make, eventually, about retirement. That Brett Favre is actually a liar, a fraud, a creep who for some reason -- and I think it's a lack of intelligence, I really do -- cannot stop burning through his hard-earned goodwill any more than a chain smoker can stop burning through Camels.

Just one of you. Please. This is your come-to-Jesus moment. So come, my son. Confess that Brett Favre isn't a jeans-wearing, spiral-throwing good ol' American icon. Confess that he's a deceitful egomaniac willing to step on anyone, in any town, to get what he wants.

And what does he want? To play for the Minnesota Vikings, apparently. Makes no sense to me, mind you, but that's what Favre wants. He wants to play for the one team that his fan base back in Green Bay dislikes more than any other, short of the Dallas Cowboys. And everybody, other than people in Texas, loathes the Dallas Cowboys. Nobody loathes the Vikings, because loathing the Vikings is like loathing your kid's music recital. You can be bored at the recital. You can be unimpressed by it. Depressed by it. But moved to loathing? No. You cannot be moved to loathe your kid's music recital. Or the Minnesota Vikings.

But they loathe Minnesota in Green Bay, so that's where Favre wants to play. It's incomprehensible, but there it is. He wants to be a Viking. He wants to take those 16 years he spent in Green Bay, winning three MVPs and one Super Bowl and hundreds of thousands of loyal fans, and flush them down a purple commode.
Wow. Quite the spewing of emotion! I'm exhausted just reading that!

Now, look...I'm the first to admit I have been a Favre Fan, and have defended him for years...long before the events of last summer. And I'm also the first to admit that my undying admiration has been muted a bit given his decisions over the last twelve months.

But this line of Jim Rome-wannabe rantage from Doyel, loosely translated, is this:

"The Favre storyline has always been a sure-fire blockbuster for all of us in the media...at least until recently, where it seems more people are weary of Favre or just don't care. So, I am just going to bait the Favre supporters into becoming more vocal, which in turn, will get the Packer fans back into fighting with each other again!"

Come on. CheeseheadTV bought into it. Seriously, if you really, really wanted to get a mea culpa from former Favre defenders, this is the tone you would use to get it?

Nope. It's directly inciteful, a cheap piece of sensationalism that is designed to do one thing: keep the fans fighting and arguing. It's worked for the media for quite some time, as we all know. Favre can scratch his butt while mowing his lawn and it's been headline news.

Why? I just posted an article last week stating how much we all--Favre Fans and Favre Critics alike--need to move on and stop allowing this to clog our message boards and blogs. We needs to stop minimalizing each other with taunts and accusations and "labels".

And then, we get this from a "national journalist"? Apparently, the thought of the Packer fan base moving on scared the heck out of those who make their living off our hysteria.

Doyel is the perfect exhibit as to why newspapers and the media are in trouble nowadays. Instead of sticking to their true journalistic teachings, they whore themselves out to shock writing... whatever they need to do to illicit a reaction from the crowd. Because, as long as people are reacting to what you are writing, you can make the point that they are reading it. Right?

Journalists have the responsibility of presenting the world in an objective light. Yes, they can offer opinions and even a level of bias when they write, but this is the kind of ESPN sportutainment that lowers the bar even further. Sure, you may agree with it. You may indeed be weary of people defending Favre, attacking Ted Thompson, and ripping apart Aaron Rodgers. And I will be the first to admit that the folks attacking Rodgers are way out of line.

But those aren't "national journalists" that are doing the irrational defending of Favre, attacks of Thompson, and ripping apart of Rodgers. Those are regular schmoes, just like you and me, who have an internet connection and too much time on their hands. If national journalists were doing those sorts of things, many of us would spare nary a second in condmening them.

Just because you may agree with his thoughts, the intentional baiting and belittling is just as condemnable.

Did I ever think Favre should have come out of retirement? Nope. But that doesn't mean that I (or Thompson) have any right to prevent a man from making a living (and live with the rewards and consequences for his own decisions).

Do I think Favre walks on water? Certainly, after this past year, we all have to admit that Favre is not going to be the one to take the high road.

Is it wrong for Favre to be looking for revenge against the Packers, assuming all these "unnamed sources" are for real? What would you rather have... for it to settled on the field, once and for all, like men? Or more interviews with Greta?

If you truly wanted some sort of admission by Favre fans that their hero isn't all he was cracked up to be, would you really force them to grovel on their knees and beg forgiveness, to finally have Packer Nation come together in a tearful reconcilliation?

Doyel doesn't want that. He wants the complete opposite. I guess spite is in high supply these days.

8 comments:

Franklin Hillside said...

Condemnable? I think highly entertaining. Which I think is what it was supposed to be.

C.D. Angeli said...

Perhaps. He certainly has a way with words.

But this was intended to tick people off. It's not journalism.

If there ends up being someone who goes off on Ted Thompson as scathingly as he did, as well as characterizing anyone that supports him as complete morons, I hope folks will find it equally entertaining.

IPB said...

And Aaron Rodgers has a chance to be (what) the next Big Ben Roethlisberger. You heard it here, first.

I only care about what happens to the Packers. We used up the 3rd rounder we got for Gunslinger. That issue is dead. He could go play for Oakland, it wouldn't matter.

And, here's the thing. Didn't we see Frigid Favre at Soldier Field in 2007? Then again at Lambeau for the NFCC? How well did he handle the snow when they went to the Left Coast, in 2008? In fact, didn't the Jets lose every game they played on the Leeft Coast last year?

Only on paper do the Sports Writers show that Minnesota has the right mix to be SuperBowl bound. I just don't see it. And, Childress is very suspect.

Only the four-letter will be watching that Twin City Train Wreck - let's focus on the Frozen Tundra.

C.D. Angeli said...

Honestly, I don't see why people need to fret about this. He's 40 years old and he's not going to lead anyone to anything anymore. The amount of angst spent on this is amazing compared to guys like Longwell and Sharper, who were also sent away by the Pack and signed with the arch-enemy. I guess it proves how much people care(d) about Favre. But, in the end, it shan't matter much. If nothing else, it will make the Viking/Packer game in Lambeau the hottest ticket since 1996.

As for Rodgers, this guy has all the potential and the sky is the limit for him. It's up to him to take it, and up to TT to put a team around him that isn't going to make him have to carry the entire team on his shoulders.

unknown said...

You have really hit a big point. Nowadays most 'journal-ist' believe that having half of each side mad means you did your job.

That fair and balanced means there is no right or wrong.

That article was trash pure and simple and people who read that get exactly what they deserve.

Just as people who read here get what they deserve, and that mean that you get pat on the back and a good old fashion "atta boy"

unknown said...

You have really hit a big point. Nowadays most 'journal-ist' believe that having half of each side mad means you did your job.

That fair and balanced means there is no right or wrong.

That article was trash pure and simple and people who read that get exactly what they deserve.

Just as people who read here get what they deserve, and that mean that you get pat on the back and a good old fashion "atta boy"

Franklin Hillside said...

It was an Op-Ed piece. Definitely not journalism.

Anonymous said...

The dwindling core of Favre Acolytes should stop trying to defend this petulant manchild because their defenses only invite further attacks on his legacy.

Virtually every criticism that has been leveled at Favre over the past several years.....too careless with the ball, not a big-game QB, won't take your team to the Super Bowl, aloof teammate, self-absorbed, untruthful.....have been revealed as truths.

The Acolytes who defended him so zealously SHOULD apologize to Packer Nation for their divisivness that their blind adoration caused.