Forgive me for not actually believing all the speculation that Brett Favre would sit out tonight. My Facebook status all day today was "Brett Favre's not playing tonight and I'm starting in his place." So, I was basically saying that there was no way in hell I thought he would sit out. I half anticipated him starting, handing off to Adrian Peterson three times, then letting Tavaris Jackson take over on the Vikings' second series. Needless to say, it was a little weird to see Jackson come out on the first series of the game. But, with all the crazy crap that's gone on with this Giants-Vikings game (in Detroit, where else would they play it?), it's almost fitting that this is the day Favre's streak came to an end.
For starters, the video is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. If you haven't seen it yet, crawl out from under that rock you've been hiding under for the last two days and check it out.
OK, gotta ask: Who builds a roof out of teflon? I'm shocked this hasn't happened at the Metrodome before. Although, the one good thing about it is that this certainly helps the Vikings' case as they look for a new stadium (suddenly the Twins' open-air Target Field doesn't look like such a bad idea). They're scheduled to host the Monday night game again next week, and I don't see how they can play that game at the Metrodome. The University of Minnesota has a new on-campus facility that looks like it might be hosting Monday Night Football next week. Only problem is that the stadium has already been closed down for the winter! They've said that they need four days to get it ready. Well Gopher grounds crew, you'd better get started.
This game led to all kinds of quirky things other than Brett Favre not starting. Or the fact that Joe Webb, the Vikings' third-string quarterback actually got a chance to play. Who saw that coming? It was the first game moved from Sunday to Monday night in five years. Who was the "road" team in that game? The Giants, who played the Saints at the Meadowlands after Hurricane Katrina. And Detroit finally gets a Monday night game, but the Lions aren't playing in it! It was also a very classy move to give away the tickets for free, giving a lot of people a chance to see an NFL game and many others the chance to see an NFL game that didn't involve the Lions!
Now back to Favre. I was just a wee 10-year-old tyke when he made the first start of his ironman streak, and I don't think I'm the only person who's shocked to see it end. He unretired three separate times to keep this thing going, and the only reason he kept at it was (probably) to get to 300. I, for one, wanted him to get there. I was as sick as anybody else of this constant retirement dance, but I think we can all agree that this is it. This season was probably actually going to be his last anyway, but it's sad to see it end like this. Godspeed Brett, we'll miss you. Now the active leaders in consecutive starts are the brothers Manning. Peyton has never missed a start in his career (205 regular season, 223 including playoffs, and counting). Now there's at least a target number out there that won't keep increasing.
In other news, the idiot Jets coach who intentionally tripped that guy on the Dolphins was suspended without pay for the rest of the season (including the playoffs). Good. That's the appropriate punishment. And the Big Ten came up with the names for its divisions, "Legends" and "Leaders." These are possibly the dumbest division names in the history of division names. I thought there were so-called "smart schools" in the Big Ten, and this is the best they could come up with! Not to mention the fact that "East" and "West" would've been too easy. (I've got an idea, let's put the easternmost school, Penn State, and the westernmost school, Nebraska, in the same division!)
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