Favre in St. Louis yardage record game.This article was originally written January 15, 2007.  In light of Brett Favre's retirement from the Green Bay Packers we felt it was appropriate to run again. 

Brett, thank you, we'll miss you as much as we cherish you, in an alive, not dead yet way.  Deanna, Brittany and Breleigh, thanks for sharing him with us.

This article orginially ran as "Brett Favre An All-time Great: Let Us Not Count The Ways Just Yet."   

A couple of springs ago, I was killing time before a Brewer’s spring training game at a casino in Arizona (and of course breaking even). I had beaten up on a particular player during a friendly 3-6 limit hold’em game when that player started making fun of the Packers- he had noticed the belt to chin green and gold “G” on my black t-shirt somehow. He was about that observant in his card playing as well, so I guess I knew where he was going to go with his football chatter. He laid into Brett Favre- what a surprise.

Somehow he thought that would throw me off my game, and as much of a Brett Favre fan as I am, he didn’t know that I have long since gotten over the twenty or so percent of football observers who just don’t have a clue about anything football or even sports related (was I light on that percentage). He told me how vastly over-rated Brett Favre was and how virtually every QB in the NFL was better, including John Kitna, Michael Vick and Jake Plummer (good players no doubt, but come on). At Jake Plummer I just had to laugh at him, tell him how funny a guy he was and let him know that he was about to lose some more money.

I didn’t bother to give that guy many of the thousand or so statistical reasons why Brett Favre is an All-time Great player. I know most of those stats, including the winning percentage, touchdowns, touchdown to interception ratio, completions, yards, etc. etc. etc… You see, statistics don’t make great players that we remember; great players make statistics that we remember. Statistics are like trees, the types of stats let you know that you are in a particular realm of performance, like the type of tree lets you know what kind of forest you are in. All the numbers can let us know is that Favre is somewhere in the forest of greatness.

What I mostly talked to this card competitor about was Brett Favre, the guy. How Favre in so many ways is just somebody who could be your neighbor- the rich one- but your neighbor nonetheless. A guy who you’d be happy to let into your house when he knocked, or heck, even if he just strolled in. I told him about how Favre had, while in the public eye, dealt with some pretty harsh life realities. Favre dealt with work, fame, pressure and most importantly family issues, with a class and nature that was, in an era of T.O.s and Leons, refreshing at least, and admirable to most. His trials and tribulations were not that different from many of ours, other than he was under the watchful eye of millions of people when he dealt with his. No, Favre will never need to do a reality TV show, he’s already done it.

I’m not going to canonize the guy; he did fall to some temptations. A dependency problem was the one our erstwhile knucklehead card competitor brought up, which I pointed out was somewhat understandable due to the level of physical stress and pain he experienced, but was yes, still a fall. Here’s where I always get confused. People who want to argue that Favre isn’t the player he’s cracked up to be, always seem to come back to non-football arguments. I’m a little tired of it, but really, I guess it is what it is- negative people being negative people. I have yet to see one of those people driving in anything particularly nice or living somewhere fantastic or hear them talk about how lucky they are to have good friends or how great their family life is- the way Brett does. So, I can only think there is some envy going on. I guess some envy is understandable though. I envy Brett for being better looking then me, a better athlete, making a ton of money, and probably being better spoken.

Brett Favre, like all people, I’m sure has his faults. I don’t really know what his faults are, so I don’t bring those things up. I have seen Favre be human in the face of personal and professional troubles and adversity. I have seen him withstand pain. I have seen him donate time and money to people he did not know. I wonder how many “non-likers” of Favre can say they have given like Brett Favre has, even on a relative level?

I have also seen Brett Favre play a game with a level of desire and performance that really epitomizes what sport is supposed to be about and can be; only Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Tiger Woods in my lifetime appear to be on the same level. I have seen a guy who has performed near the top of the NFL for a period longer than all but a few players in any sport ever. What I have heard from player after player after player, coach after coach, experienced commentator after experienced commentator, and really almost unanimously by people who are more knowledgeable about football than I even dream to be, is that Brett Favre is one of the ten or so Greatest Players Of All-time. No exceptions, no caveats.

Anyway, back to my card game, because I know it’s on your mind. On my last hand before leaving for the Brewer’s game, as the naysayer was smilingly calling my cap raise of six more dollars then proudly flipping over his two pair, I reflected on how happy I was to have been witness to all of Brett Favre’s career to this point. Then I flipped over my straight, took the pot money and smiled back at my friendly rival. I’m not sure if I convinced that guy of Favre’s stature as a football player or normalcy as a person. I suspect he’s really a Favre fan. How can you not be? I think he’s just not a fan of losing at cards and probably either a Cardinals, Bears, Vikings or Lions fan. When I did leave that day, four of the other players, none from Wisconsin, did take the time to say that they too were fans of Brett Favre for similar reasons as I am.  Plenty of man-crushes to go around as it turned out.

Right now, I can only think of two things before I click save and send. I hope Brett knocks on the door one, or maybe two, more times as a player. And more importantly, regardless of if I see him play again: Thanks Brett.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016 12101
National, state, and local governments are paying close attention to Samsung's handling of its Note 7 debacle, taking notes on how to handle dissatisfied customers and employees. The consumer electronics giant that developed exploding phones has sent pizza to all of the stores in South Korea that have to take returns of the faulty devices, and it seems to be working. Therefore, government agencies in America are planning on similar freebies in order to smooth over policies. Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin was the first national figure to use the pizza pill, sending out Little Caesar's pizzas to all teachers and university staff this week. The state educational system has had trouble hiring and keeping competent employees after the unprecedented budget cuts to both K12 and university public education in the state, but Walker hopes that extending the olive branch with one-topping pizzas will force the teachers to realize that the cuts were to their benefit. "How many times did unions provide a nutritious pizza lunch for those who paid dues?" Walker asked. Similarly, the Obama Administration will be providing pizza to employees of the insurance companies that administer Obamacare plans. "This pizza is a reminder that together we can become a healthier nation. Together we can ensure the human right of health insurance is administered to all. Together we can enjoy a meal in every slice." Obama has taken heat for the use of supreme and specialty pizzas from more expensive pizza chains instead of the $5 pizzas offered by Governor Walker. However, Obama stressed that nothing is too good for the people who help Americans fulfill their dreams of healthy living.
Tuesday, November 07, 2017 10951
Real Wisconsin News is real good, but if you're looking for real news that's not in Wisconsin, not fake, and not actually news, then New Jax Witty is our little friend in Jacksonville, Florida. The news is in the form of researched opinion. And it has nothing to do with Milwaukee or Wisconsin or anyone there, except for the references to the area by a former Wisconsin resident who will be collecting his WI retirement money somewhere else. That doesn't make him a bad person. There's also some useful information for Wisconsinites on New Jax Witty, like whether or not a person who lives in Jax is called a Jacksonvillian or Jaxite or what. Here's a list of some of the search terms that are getting people to find the new website about Jacksonville, along with an analysis as to why: fort caroline georgia - Fort Caroline is in Jacksonville, but some people think it's really in Georgia fort caroline history - There's a well-researched article about the history on the website, but the writer is no professor of antiquities arielle nixon action news jax - Go ahead and check her out if you want to see why an article mentioning her is getting some action hoarder cleanup kingman - this has nothing to do with anything from the website, but Google seems to think it does florida has the worst drivers - actually, no, which is proven here giant pickup truck - there's an article talking about why guys buy these, and it's as obvious as you think arielle nixon - and there's the reason guys buy giant pickup trucks pappy boynton - some confusion about the spelling of a famous war veteran in an article jacksonville 102.9 - the alternative station that's more like mainstream 90s brooklyn cyclones hats - not for sale here, but mentioned brooklyn cyclones t shirts - yes, there's an article about hats, but not t-shirts 102.9 jax - more people trying to see if their favorite radio station is cool jacksonville lizard kings - the old hockey team in Jax brooklyn cyclones hat - New Jax Witty should just sell these hats arielle nixon husband - she's not interested in you, so don't go all looking to see if she's single jacksonville mabl - the Cyclones hat is for this league adt abilene tx - there's an article about perceived crime and listings of cities with more crime wittygiant - someday, perhaps brooklyn cyclones fitted hat - honestly, there's a market for these hats giant pick up truck - there is no evidence Arielle or any other newscaster likes these trucks, but apparently women in general do witty.com - no, that one was taken x102.9 jacksonville jacksonville fl hip hop radio station - anyone who types that much as a search phrase is not crunk x102.9 jax gis - one article discusses features the Jacksonville GIS map should have fort caroline indians - the article about Fort Caroline talks about the Indians who lived in the region witty - generally, it is action news jax - for those not searching specifically for Arielle 102.9 jacksonville puff nightclub jacksonville fl - we know nothing about this nightclub, but if it gets people to visit the website, then so be it brooklyn cyclones cap - really, we should own stock actionnewsjax - one word = more action jacksonville ice hockey - yes, there's a team

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