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[Nabubrush]

Uh, no....  I am pulling for you.  I fuck*ng hate the sports at the college I go to.  Maybe if it was the national title, or if they were playing a team I hate like Miami then I would rout for OU, but as it is, go BSU.

Sorry about the confusion, Keith, given that I was out in the deep rough with my response. As I am rarely here, it may be helpful if I point out to you at this point that I am frequently deep in the bag, and as such, my postings often don't seem to make much sense.

Also, Green Bay is at this point not a terribly good football team, but it looks like they are going to allow Mr. Favre to hang on and get a few of Dan Marino's records, and also they showed astonishingly good sportsmanship against the 49ers on Sunday, which is worth a lot of credit.

[KeithHernandez]

Also, Green Bay is at this point not a terribly good football team, but it looks like they are going to allow Mr. Favre to hang on and get a few of Dan Marino's records, and also they showed astonishingly good sportsmanship against the 49ers on Sunday, which is worth a lot of credit.

A funny thing about this:  Brett Favre will also set the all time interception record, in all probability, if he comes back.


I have been up for 30 hours, in which time I, well, lets just say I am paranoid from being so "energized" and "mellow" and starting to get drunk.  I can dig.

[littlefallsmets]

Few things make me happier in a cynical kind of way than seeing washed-up athletes hang on three... four... five years too long. Perhaps Favre and Canseco could have a kickboxing match!

The general idea of someone hanging onto their fame way too long is usually funny. When someone's hanging around too long because... they blew all their money or missed out on the big money and need to catch up at the end of their careers... not funny. Sad, usually. Ditto for the guy hanging on to get to one last (non-record) milestone number.

But when a guy is rollling in cash and wanders out to hit .235 for an expansion team because he is addicted to the limelight, it is hilarity defined. Generally speaking, it makes me feel better about myself and less of a failure.

[Nabubrush]

Few things make me happier in a cynical kind of way than seeing washed-up athletes hang on three... four... five years too long. Perhaps Favre and Canseco could have a kickboxing match!

The general idea of someone hanging onto their fame way too long is usually funny. When someone's hanging around too long because... they blew all their money or missed out on the big money and need to catch up at the end of their careers... not funny. Sad, usually. Ditto for the guy hanging on to get to one last (non-record) milestone number.

But when a guy is rollling in cash and wanders out to hit .235 for an expansion team because he is addicted to the limelight, it is hilarity defined. Generally speaking, it makes me feel better about myself and less of a failure.

Hey what the fuck, I'm washed up and I keep going to work. They keep interviewing Favre and he says stuff like "well, I don't want to be the guy who retired and then thinks 'I could still play'". I'm pretty sure Marino is kicking himself in the ass right about now. I mean, Favre's going to take his records, and then here in about 5 or 6 years, Peyton's going to push him to number 3 on the list. D'oh!

[AugustWest]

I'm pretty sure Marino is kicking himself in the ass right about now. I mean, Favre's going to take his records, and then here in about 5 or 6 years, Peyton's going to push him to number 3 on the list. D'oh!

Nah.  Marino didn't have much choice.  His arm was still fine, but his legs were totally shot.  I'm a big Marino fan and of course I know he was never what you'd call mobile.  But by the time he retired he was slower than, um, who's that big slow lumbering white guy?  Oh yeah.  He was slower than me.

[littlefallsmets]

It's true, Dan Marino was Tom Beringer in "Major League" by the end of his career.

If Marino and Vick were ever to touch, they would annihilate each other and create a blackhole.

[Nabubrush]

Nah.  Marino didn't have much choice.  His arm was still fine, but his legs were totally shot.  I'm a big Marino fan and of course I know he was never what you'd call mobile.  But by the time he retired he was slower than, um, who's that big slow lumbering white guy?  Oh yeah.  He was slower than me.

Well, to be fair, the same was true of Joe Namath (when he played for the Rams) and Unitas (when he played for my beloved Bolts). Dan Marino was never mobile, at all. They never expected him to move around back there, they just asked him to throw it to one of the Marks. Also, remember that Dan won a playoff game his final year in the league. Do you think anyone would fault a player coming back after a season where his team not only made it to the playoffs but won a game? Everyone remembers the brutal beating they took from Jax, but they did beat Seattle in the Wild Card round.

Sure, it looks pretty probable that the Packers won't make the playoffs this year (although with the NFC, who knows) but if they did, who wouldn't want to see what Favre could do next year? He'll be here for awhile yet, is my guess.

[Sub_Topical]

Guys like Robert Smith and Tiki Barber get plenty of money and have the type of mentality that leads them to want to explore other fields fulfilling to them outside of sports. They can look at their accomplishments and it's enough for them.

Other guys, and Farve is a good example, man they are just ballplayers. They got the money and the fame and don't need or particularly want more of either but there ain't nothing in their life to replace GAME DAY. They hang on for that fix 'cause looking forward to not having it is just a black fuck*ng void. [Insert tawdry tale resulting in mug shot in 10 years]

Like Nabu said, the guys hanging on to make the bills are sad, and I kinda root for them not to leave the arena w/o something.

Only a very few of these dudes hang on for the adulation of joe fan, and yeah, mock 'em. But there's a wistfull and sad thing to a dude having to quit his whole life at age 30ish and find something new to do that has meaning and happiness behind it. I don't blame a dude who makes 'em yank the jersey off him and throw his ass outta the locker room, not one fuck*ng bit.

I mean shit, I get to do what I like 'till I croak.

[Nabubrush]

But there's a wistfull and sad thing to a dude having to quit his whole life at age 30ish and find something new to do that has meaning and happiness behind it.

I think that's a good point, especially as a guy who makes it in the NFL has basically been groomed to do so since probably the age of six or something. All through every level of school, they are told that the only important thing is to get it done on the field of play, and it's a rare athlete at that level who really thinks about what else they're going to do, when they can't play sports anymore. (This is the same reduction of life to a single goal that results in so many college athletes doing whacked-out shit, like taking a crap in a student's laundry hamper, or ramming multiple cop cars with their vehicle . . . and former pro athletes doing the same sort of whacked-out shit like, oh, killing people.)

If you've ever seen Favre talk about his dad, it's instructive and a bit chilling. It clarifies why exactly he's got such an almost disturbing drive to succeed. If he was still playing with a talented team around him, they'd be doing much better. He's not the weakest part of the team, despite how much his abilities have slipped. But I think you're right, and he's not going to have as much of a fall-back plan as Tiki does, or Steve Largent, or the other exceptions to the rule. However, listening to him talk on Sundays and listening to his extended fan-club talk about him (Madden, Steve Young, et al), it's pretty clear that as soon as he hangs up the cleats he'll be in a booth.

[Nabubrush]

I know it's an old bump, but I didn't want to do it in the Super Bowl thread. Jesus, Norv Turner. It's taken this long for me even to stomach the thought. Who's next, after Marty and Norv? Shanahan?

[melack]

Wait, who did what in the what now?

[Nabubrush]

This was mostly for Ash.

[jaydub]

To mix in a dreadful metaphor: Norv Turner makes a fine bridesmaid.  Time will bear this out once again.  Bolts go 10-6 under him first year, then slip back to 7-9 next year.

[Nabubrush]

To mix in a dreadful metaphor: Norv Turner makes a fine bridesmaid.  Time will bear this out once again.  Bolts go 10-6 under him first year, then slip back to 7-9 next year.

I'll go ahead and hate you now, and then when this comes true, I will hate you more.

[Lister]

I would be outraged about this, but I am still not yet used to having a local sports team and thus do not truly identify with them.

Quite frankly I'm more disturbed by the fact that Bill Cowher is not going to be the Steelers coach, and may in fact be the coach of some other team later.  That is not right.