Sigh. anyone else would have done. Yet I'm not sure anyone else would have be able to do the job that he is currently doing. Let's start from the beginning.
17 years with the Packers, 7 division titles, 3 time MVP, 2 Super Bowls appearances, winning one of them. There is no doubt that he is a remarkable player and I have the utmost respect for him. But he accomplished all of this against my Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings- Packers rivalry is easily one of the greatest rivalries ever. Red Sox- Yankees, Ali- Fraser, Lakers- Celtics, Hamilton- Burr(short lived), Martin Luther- Roman Catholic Church. All huge throw downs. And being able to be a part of the Viks- Pack rivalry my whole life has been the cause of much anguish and jubilation. So at the root of that hatred of everything green and yellow comes a distaste for those who represent those colors. Mike Holmgren, Bubba Franks, KGB, the late Reggie White, Sterling Sharpe, Shannon Sharpe (through osmosis), Antonino Freemon, and chiefly Brett Farve.
Now that he is the Captain of my Vikings, I find myself torn. I like Tavaris Jackson. I think he has shown lots of potential when Brad Childress and Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell call plays within his strengths. But would he have helped the team to a 7-1 (should be 8-0, if it weren't for lucky ass Pittsburgh) record. Probably not. 5-3, maybe even 6-2, with the weapons we have (Rice, Peterson, Harvin, Shiancoe) and a still stellar defense. But 7-1, and arguably a top 5 team in the league right now. No. This is where the biggest conflict comes from.
Farve being the leader of our team is like General Lee moving to the North, Magic Johnson throwing alley oops to Kevin McHale, Babe Ruth playing for the Red Sox... wait, skip the last one, you get the point. I can't help but love how efficiently the offense is being run this year. Rice looks amazing under Papa Farve, but I can't shake the looks from Wisconsinites saying that we had to take their quarterback to be successful. Or that this all amounts to some sort of revenge tour from Farve. I even heard someone say it is Farve actually sabotaging the Vikings from the inside like Leonardo DiCaprio in the Departed. Farve should hope that situation doesn't play out, or he, Tavaris, Childress will all be dead, with only Rosenfels left to run the team into the ground.
I'm trying to get used to it. Fourth quarter theatrics don't help. Ultimately the best case scenario involves him just handing the ball off to AP, so I don't have to directly root for him. But as has been seen, he is needed to make this team great, which they have certainly shown flashes of. Sigh. Maybe I would feel better about it if it hadn't been such an ordeal to get him here, between the year with the Jets, where they would have to lose draft picks if he came here, to him being on tv practicing with high schoolers in Mississippi, to his eventual arrival via O.J. Simpson style Bronco cam.
I guess murder scenarios aside, I will continue to swallow my pride and root for the team I've followed since before Farve was a Packer. But Just know Cheeseheads, I not overly happy about it.
17 years with the Packers, 7 division titles, 3 time MVP, 2 Super Bowls appearances, winning one of them. There is no doubt that he is a remarkable player and I have the utmost respect for him. But he accomplished all of this against my Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings- Packers rivalry is easily one of the greatest rivalries ever. Red Sox- Yankees, Ali- Fraser, Lakers- Celtics, Hamilton- Burr(short lived), Martin Luther- Roman Catholic Church. All huge throw downs. And being able to be a part of the Viks- Pack rivalry my whole life has been the cause of much anguish and jubilation. So at the root of that hatred of everything green and yellow comes a distaste for those who represent those colors. Mike Holmgren, Bubba Franks, KGB, the late Reggie White, Sterling Sharpe, Shannon Sharpe (through osmosis), Antonino Freemon, and chiefly Brett Farve.
Now that he is the Captain of my Vikings, I find myself torn. I like Tavaris Jackson. I think he has shown lots of potential when Brad Childress and Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell call plays within his strengths. But would he have helped the team to a 7-1 (should be 8-0, if it weren't for lucky ass Pittsburgh) record. Probably not. 5-3, maybe even 6-2, with the weapons we have (Rice, Peterson, Harvin, Shiancoe) and a still stellar defense. But 7-1, and arguably a top 5 team in the league right now. No. This is where the biggest conflict comes from.
Farve being the leader of our team is like General Lee moving to the North, Magic Johnson throwing alley oops to Kevin McHale, Babe Ruth playing for the Red Sox... wait, skip the last one, you get the point. I can't help but love how efficiently the offense is being run this year. Rice looks amazing under Papa Farve, but I can't shake the looks from Wisconsinites saying that we had to take their quarterback to be successful. Or that this all amounts to some sort of revenge tour from Farve. I even heard someone say it is Farve actually sabotaging the Vikings from the inside like Leonardo DiCaprio in the Departed. Farve should hope that situation doesn't play out, or he, Tavaris, Childress will all be dead, with only Rosenfels left to run the team into the ground.
I'm trying to get used to it. Fourth quarter theatrics don't help. Ultimately the best case scenario involves him just handing the ball off to AP, so I don't have to directly root for him. But as has been seen, he is needed to make this team great, which they have certainly shown flashes of. Sigh. Maybe I would feel better about it if it hadn't been such an ordeal to get him here, between the year with the Jets, where they would have to lose draft picks if he came here, to him being on tv practicing with high schoolers in Mississippi, to his eventual arrival via O.J. Simpson style Bronco cam.
I guess murder scenarios aside, I will continue to swallow my pride and root for the team I've followed since before Farve was a Packer. But Just know Cheeseheads, I not overly happy about it.