Fear and Loathing in Titletown, USA?

I watched the interview on the internet(s) -- I couldn't commit to it 100% at its original airtime because it conflicted with a new Bordain episode, and I love me some Bordain.

I actually think Brett came off very well in the interview -- and I also know it was a controlled environment, so he wasn't ever going to come across any other way than exactly as he wanted to, so this was actually a good thing.

He understands they've moved on (my hope is that in tomorrow's episode he comes out and says he doesn't want to mess things up for Rodgers). He certainly seems to feel that he wasn't given due time to think things over -- and I think that's a valid complaint, really. Not that I would have let him vacillate until July either, but at least it's a concrete point of divergence. I'm not going to critique the man's argument, ferfucksake -- as has been stated before, I'm a bit of a fan.

We've now heard from both parties, more or less directly. Blood is still being spilled. The question now is who will come in with the salve. If I was Brett, I think I'd want to be That Guy. I'd say that even though I felt rushed, I understand that I set things in motion with my retirement that can't be undone. I'd say that I think Aaron Rodgers has the potential to lead the Packers for many years to come, and that I absolutely wish him well.

Then I'd say that I still want the option to lead a football team, and I'd request face-to-face negotiations to see how we could make that happen, for the best interests of everyone involved.

That's what I would do.

When all of this is over, we'll get to the Cubs. Pray that it drags out.

Let's try something new: A little Sunday Sports talk.

I'm trying to come up with a little strategery to spur myself to do more writing. Of note, I just recently read Hey Rube, by the esteemed Dr. Thompson. I enjoyed it immensely, of course; I've never found anything he did that I didn't enjoy, so that's the first bias at work on this Sunday morning. It's a collection of columns he did for ESPN.com's Page 2, so ostensibly it's sports-related. And he in fact does discuss the items of note in the world of sports (though admittedly from a gambler's lens), but as always there's plenty of political and 'hard' news content thrown in for good measure.

So I says to myself: Self, maybe that's a thought. Do a weekly 'column' of sorts on the ole HSO -- focus on sports, since you like sports, but if there's a good tangent to follow, a silly concept like clarity or focus shouldn't stop you. I mean, this whole thing is really an exercise in hubris, anyway, so why not go whole hog here and assume that the four or five people reading this thing are interested in my views on the events of the day? If this idea isn't rubber stamp material, I don't know what is.

So I'm going to give it a go. What was the straw that broke the back of my internal resistance? I'm glad you asked -- he goes by the name of Brett Favre.

Bias number two: I'm a Packers fan. A huge Packers fan, since 1974 or so, when I announced to my family of Bears fans in Rockford, IL, that I didn't care to root for the Bears. Nope, I was a Packers fan. For the next 18 years, I came to understand that being a Packers fan meant enduring shame, pain, and the very real possibility that I would know no other emotion when it came to my team.

But then came Brett. I remember the game well: The Magic Man had gone down, crushed by the latest in a line of bloodthirsty thugs to crush the Packers' hopes, and in came this young hillbilly we'd picked up in a trade with the Falcons. I remember watching him play the rest of that game, and I remember coming away from that game with three thoughts: He had no idea what he was doing out there -- that bastard was just winging it. Jesus, I hope Majkowski's not hurt too badly. I have a sick feeling that psycho's going to be our next starting quarterback.

In the years since, he's been there. Always Brett -- sometimes thrilling me, often infuriating me (it got to the point that my friends actually enjoyed it when he'd throw one of his patented, "Hey, I wonder what'll happen if I just chuck this thing up?" passes, because it meant I would freak right the fuck out -- I mean just go all to pieces, howling at the television and threatening all sorts of hideous physical torture), but eventually winning me over. He was good. He was great -- hell, a person could make a good argument that he's the best ever. And he was human. I still think that, to the last play in last year's disastrous NFC Championship game, my first impression of Brett Farve was correct -- he was just winging it. But let me be very clear on this final bias: I loved that guy, and aside from Walter Payton and Barry Sanders (I played a little halfback in my youth, you see) he's my all-time favorite NFL player.

But. Did I mention that he's human? Yeah.

For those who live in small holes in even smaller rocks, and therefore might be unaware of the story, Brett has decided he really doesn't want to retire, and would like the Packers to release him. So he's waffled on this issue. Again.

Predictably, the loyal (and, to be completely honest, mentally unstable) Packer fans have begun eating each other. It's just the latest battle in a war that's been going on the last 3-4 seasons, between those fans who love Mr. Favre and love the Packers by extension, and those who love the Packers first, but also love Brett because of what he's done for the team. It seems like a small distinction, doesn't it? Yeah. Well, I can assure you that it most certainly is NOT small. There is blood on the streets of Packerland these days, and the forecast is truly grim. This will not end well.

So, then. Here's where the HSO stands on this one: Given what has thus far been brought to light (and let's not fool ourselves: this is not the full story, and anyone who thinks we'll ever get the full story is terribly deluded), I think Brett Favre will never play another down of football for the Green Bay Packers. And I think that's as it should be. The man has had one hell of a time deciding if he wants to play football for -- what is it, 5 years, now? And to be fair, other than last year -- in which he broke a ridiculous number of passing-related records and had, statistically, the best year of his career -- other than last year, one could rightly have wondered whether or not his many 11th hour decisions to come back weren't actually mistakes.

And as for last year, there's a reason I specified that it was statistically his best year. Because there were at least two times that I saw something I'd never seen before, something that, though it didn't register in my mind at the time, leads me at least partially to my opinion that Brett needs to stay retired. It was his face. Two times -- that horridly frigid game in Chicago, and the afore-mentioned NFC Championship game in Green Bay -- I saw a look on his face that was the look of someone who had absolutely no desire to be out on that field playing football. Do Not Want.

So now, to those 'facts' we've been given thus far. I rather think that if he truly did waffle again (per the story, he asked to come back in March, and the team was all for it; they set a date for his return announcement and chartered a plane, only to have him tell them two days prior to the event that, yeah, he really didn't want to come back after all) on the issue prior to this latest batch of events, it's hard to blame the team for deciding that enough was enough. Football shouldn't be a business -- hell, sports shouldn't be a business, but that's a rant for another time -- but it sure as hell is. Thompson and company have to move forward; for good or ill, it's time for the Aaron Rodgers era to begin. Hold on tight, kids, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

And the bumps are beginning already, thanks to Brett's (and until he stops letting his agent talk for him, I'm going to assume this is what he wants) apparent desire to butt back in line, no matter what he fucks up by doing so.

There is one small glimmer of hope: In his July 11 column, Peter King states, "What he does not want to do is ruin his legacy in Wisconsin and prevent his three-year backup Aaron Rodgers -- who Favre does not want to screw -- from taking his rightful place as the Packers starting QB in 2008." If that's true, and if Favre would be willing to come out and go on record saying just that, and if he and the team can figure a relatively painless way out of this mess, then maybe we can stop the bloodshed in Packer Nation, or at least curtail it a little bit.

If you ask me, he should just stay retired -- he's got a legacy very few professional athletes can touch, and the law of averages is hiding in the bushes, just waiting to send one of those steroid-crazed beasts to snap his left femur like a brittle twig. But maybe he wants to try something new; drag some new team out of the muck and into Glory -- who am I to say no? The Packers, however, need to move on without him.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I think I hear the Favre-Firsters bearing down on me, and I need to go find my musket.