Sure, I could write about some things that actually involve the current incarnation of the Green Bay Packers. But now doesn’t seem like the best time to write such posts – better to [...]]]> As I write this, the calendar sits on July 11. That really didn’t leave me a whole lot of options for this space.

Sure, I could write about some things that actually involve the current incarnation of the Green Bay Packers. But now doesn’t seem like the best time to write such posts – better to save those for the days leading up to the start of training camp (20 days away!). After all, we’re all sort of thinking about football, but not quite yet, you know?

We had some great suggestions from you guys, the faithful OBOD readers, on some possible series ideas. But, honestly, we haven’t been able to flesh them out fully yet. Maybe soon.

That being the case, I’ve decided to give you guys and gals a glimpse into my daily life. See, I’m a Packers fan living in the dark heart of Minnesota Vikings country – Minneapolis, to be exact.

I’ve lived here, off and on, for almost five years. I graduated from college here (University of Minnesota). Some of the best experiences of my life have happened here. All in all, I love it.

But, being the extremely proud Packers fan that I am, there’s a flipside to that: I have to deal with a lot of crap from Vikings fans. If you don’t deal with these people on a daily basis, you have no idea how ridiculous they truly are.

I do, though, and I’ve decided to share some of my thoughts/experiences with you now. Think of this as a companion piece to Gene’s “How to deal with Steelers fans” post from last summer.

Consider the following:

• They think their history is right on par with ours. Seriously.

Ask almost any Vikings fan to compare the respective histories of the two franchises and they’ll tell you they are pretty much equal.

An actual recent exchange between myself and a female Vikings fan (who claimed that “Brett Favre rocks”):

Woman: “The Packers suck.”

Me: “Yeah, all those world championships are really the earmarks of an awful organization. Wait, how many have we won? 12?”

Woman: “And how many of those were won before we had automobiles or television?”

Me: “Okay, even if I give you that and take away all those early titles, my squad’s still got three. Yours has none.”

A co-worker of mine (a Vikings fan) to the woman: “Just stop. He’s got us there.”

He understands. Believe me, he’s in the minority out here. It’s like these people live in an alternate reality, one where going 0-for-4 in Super Bowls is just as good as going 3-for-4. It’s baffling.

• They believe their level of passion and support for their team is equal with ours. Dead serious.

The Packers? A team with a 30-plus year wait for season tickets, a team that has sold out each of its past 285 home games. Good times and bad, Lambeau Field is packed to the brim. We care.

The Vikings? A franchise that has had trouble selling out games, including a home playoff game, as recently as 2008 (often relying on their sponsors/television station of choice to buy up the remaining seats). They care…if their team is good. Wait – scratch that. That’s not even true.

Should I write more? Naaaaah, that kind of says it all.

• Almost universally, they all claim that they never hated Brett Favre. No, I’m not kidding.

Ever since last August, I’ve heard some variation of the following quote roughly seven million times: “I never liked Brett Favre. But I always respected him.”

That respect was shown in a myriad of ways to us Twin Cities Packers fans during Favre’s time in Titletown. And by “respect” I mean calling him a booze-swilling, pill-popping, overrated, interception-prone loser (he was no Brad Johnson, I guess). By “respect” I mean getting flipped off by passing motorists for wearing his jersey. By “respect” I mean having some lard ass in a Randy Moss jersey yell “(expletive deleted) you!” at you in a bar for wearing his jersey.  

In other words, a really healthy respect, to be sure.

What’s been really funny is to see all these people jump into Favre’s backpocket so quickly. After spending years accusing us of covering for him at every turn (guilty), it took less than six months for them to do the exact same thing. All of them – every single one – still blame Adrian Peterson for the loss to the Saints. Nevermind the fact that Favre threw yet another backbreaking pick. Nope – it was Peterson’s fault. Hilarious.

• They can’t understand why you don’t switch allegiances, even though you’re not from there. Not making that up.

Another one I hear a lot: “But you live in Minnesota. You should be a Vikings fan.”

You try explaining it to them: “Well, I’m not originally from here. I’ve been a Packers fan my whole life. I would never switch. Ever.”

They don’t get it. They really think you should switch.

I’ve gone so far as to turn the tables: “Say you moved to San Diego. You’re telling me you’d become a Chargers fan? Or if you moved to New York, you’d all of a sudden root for the Giants or Jets?”

One guy actually told me that he would, in fact, switch. My response: “No you wouldn’t. Shut the hell up.”

Yeah, it gets that tense sometimes. They really leave you no other choice.

In honor of Vikings fans’ newfound love of Judas – again, they never liked him, but always respected him – I’ve decided to stop at four points and move to my conclusion.

You might be asking yourself: How do you do it, Chris? How do you put up with such seemingly awful people?

Well, actually, it’s rather easy for people like myself (and Adam, who also lives out here). See, we know the truth.

We know that, in no way, shape or form, do the Vikings (or their fans) stack up with the Packers and their fans.

We have history. They don’t. We care. They only care during the good times.

And we know why they hate us so much: Jealousy. Pure, uncut jealousy.

Minneapolis very much looks at itself as the New York City of the upper midwest. It’s a great place, for the most part, but there’s an obvious undercurrent of arrogance here, too. And it drives them nuts – absolutely nuts – that they just can not hang with the football team from the tiny paper-mill town of 100,000 people five hours east of here.

Knowing that makes it really easy to brush Vikings fans off when they yell curse words at you or kick a chunk off your Packers tailgate cover (which actually happened to Adam awhile back).

And this last fact makes it really easy: In two years from now – at most – Judas will be done. Peterson will be nearing empty. The defense will be much older and completely past its prime. A Tarvaris Jackson-Toby Gerhart backfield will be led by head coach Brad Childress.

Meanwhile, we’ll have a 28-year old star quarterback, an extremely talented group of skill position players under 30, a franchise left tackle and a defense full of players hovering around their primes. All of this will be led by head coach Mike McCarthy.

Yeah, that’ll be a fun rivalry – even if the Vikings are in Los Angeles.

-Chris Lempesis

Cleveland Cavaliers fans, I feel your pain.

No matter the color of the jersey or the sport, it always really hurts to find out someone doesn’t care about you as much as you thought they [...]]]> (Before we begin: I’ve been sick all week and haven’t been able to update the site as much as I would’ve liked. Sorry.)

Cleveland Cavaliers fans, I feel your pain.

No matter the color of the jersey or the sport, it always really hurts to find out someone doesn’t care about you as much as you thought they did.

You guys learned that lesson the hard way tonight. For that, I am sorry.

Outsiders will tell you that you shouldn’t be so upset. “It’s a business” will be the line of crap that they feed you. They’ll tell you LeBron James has to do what’s best for him. Miami gives him a better shot to win, the Cavs couldn’t surround him with a similar set of talent and, in the end, LeBron had to take that opportunity.

Is that true? Yeah, maybe.

Doesn’t matter – that’s not the point.

The point is that you loved him through it all. Success or not, he was your guy. He made you proud. You supported him. You treated him like he was one of your own – which, well, he was. Or, at least, was supposed to be.

You felt like you had a special relationship, one that fans everywhere admired. He had to feel that way too, didn’t he? I mean, he said he did, so you took him at his word.

In the end, though, he didn’t really feel anything at all. The giant middle finger he showed you guys on ESPN proved that. It was a nasty sight to see, even for a guy who admittedly cares very little about the NBA.

I know that middle finger - I’ve seen it before.

I had to endure my own “Summer of Torture” around this same time two years ago (and again last summer). You can’t believe your guy is doing this to you. Has he lost his mind? What is he thinking?

You calm yourself by thinking he’ll come to his senses and remember how special the relationship is, especially with the way sports are nowadays. He wouldn’t just throw that all away, would he? Even if he goes somewhere else, they’ll never love him like you did. He knows that, right?

And surely he knows that, once that bridge is torched, it can never be rebuilt, right?

It’s at that exact moment that he drops the match on the gasoline that he himself has spent weeks pouring.

Gone baby, gone.

You’re angry. Scratch that – you’re furious.

You’re going to yell and curse. You’re going to hate yourself for getting suckered in by such an utterly despicable person. You’re going to have too much to drink and, maybe, you’ll get sad enough to cry. You’re going to want to throw away the posters, bury the ticket stubs and, perhaps, break out that jersey and do a little torching of your own.

If you think I’m going to tell you any of these actions are “wrong” or “classless,” you are incorrect. You’re talking to a guy who kept his autographed Brett Favre photo on the wall of his apartment for the sole purpose of drawing a vulgar thought bubble out of his mouth (think of the movie “Clerks” and you’ll know what I wrote). I am not above such actions.

Do it. Do all of it. You’ll be amazed how much better it makes you feel.

So far, I’ve tried to steer clear of giving you any advice. After all, everyone hates the guy who tries to throw those tired, pathetic cliches at you after you’ve just had your heart ripped out.

That said, I want to end this thing on a positive and, hopefully, this makes you feel just a bit better.

You’re down on your team now. I get that. But don’t be down forever.

In fact, when the season rolls around, go to Quicken Loans Arena as soon as you can. Sell the place out. Be louder than you’ve ever been before, even if your team stinks (and by all accounts, it’s going to). Let LeDouche know it was never about him – it was about the team. That is what really matters. It’s their building, their town, your town - he was just renting some space.

And when the traitor returns home, do NOT listen to those who tell you it’s wrong to boo him. Don’t be above that. Boo the living daylights out of him. Let him know how disgusting he really is.  

His new team might beat yours – and that’ll stink if it happens – but he will get the message. Even moronic, self-obsessed professional athletes know what 20,000 boos means.

It means that the oldest cliche of them all really is true: You can never go home again.

-Chris Lempesis

My take: Well, it’s official. He’s playing next year, and just needed the proper excuse to skip training camp. He’d be able to rehab in plenty of time, but if you hem and haw a little longer, have [...]]]> Brett Favre apparently needs ankle surgery to play in 2010, according to this report from ESPN’s Ed Werder.

My take: Well, it’s official. He’s playing next year, and just needed the proper excuse to skip training camp. He’d be able to rehab in plenty of time, but if you hem and haw a little longer, have the surgery in, say, June, he’s got the excuse to skip training camp. Now, surgery is never an easy proposition, but does anybody really believe that Favre won’t play? He’s addicted, he’s going to do whatever it takes and with this, he’s got a perfect reason to skip camp — especially since he wouldn’t talk about the prognosis or how long it might take to recover.

He also has a couple choice phrases in the e-mail he sent to Werder comparing his one year in Minnesota to his entire career in Green Bay.

This guy is a piece of work, isn’t he?

–Gene Bosling

(Quick aside: If more of you want to follow OBOD on Twitter, that’d be cool by us. Come on, guys. Please?)

While surfing around various Twitter sites Thursday evening, [...]]]> The Twitterverse was buzzing Wednesday with the news that Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had, finally, created an account. Not surprisingly, Rodgers quickly built a massive following (us included).

(Quick aside: If more of you want to follow OBOD on Twitter, that’d be cool by us. Come on, guys. Please?)

While surfing around various Twitter sites Thursday evening, we at OBOD uncovered a gem of a scoop: Brett Favre also appears to building a Twitter page.

We were only able to uncover a rough version of the page (we’d provide the link, but we’re afraid we’ll get in trouble), but amazingly, Favre already has a solid amount of Tweets up. We highlighted and copied most of what was there – his profile picture, a three-shot of a pair of Wranglers, a Hyundai and the Sears logo unfortunately wouldn’t paste on our site – and are more than happy to share it with you now.

Again, this is an OBOD exclusive (get to the back of the line, Schefter!):

14MillionFor4

Just lined up three more ad deals – Maxi-Pads, Lifetime Television and the Lillith Fair. Reeeal excited about the last 1. Clarkson’s my girl!

about two hours ago via Vikings-issued Blackberry

@EdWerder, TrentDilfer and PeterKing Guys, Im really not sure what I’m goin’ do yet. I wish y’all wud believe me. For reals.

about three hours ago via Vikings-issued Blackberry in reply to EdWerder, Trent Dilfer and PeterKing

Mowin’ the grass. Grass is long. Man, neone ever wonder y grass just keeps on growin’? I do that a lot.

about four hours ago via Vikings-issued Blackberry

I want y’all to know we really is just simple country folk. Oops, gtg, Deanna just got back from Gucci shoppin spree.

about six hours ago via Vikings-issued Blackberry

@JaredAllenHillbilly69 Just finished watchin POTG clip again. LOL

about eight hours ago via Vikings-issued Blackberry

Watchin’ replay of NO game. I still think I made the right call throwin to Sydney. Open receivers are for pussies.

about eight hours ago via Vikings-issued Blackberry

Just stubbed my toe on the cofee table somethin’ fierce. That’s it. I’m comin’ back.

about nine hours ago via Vikings-issued Blackberry

Got my Wranglers on, hangin by the money-filled pool. Eff football. I’m done.

about nine hours ago via Vikings-issued Blackberry

Who the heck is Barak Obama? Is he related to KGB? This is confusing. I’m comin’ back.

about nine hours ago via Vikings-issued Blackberry

@4GotMeMyExtension Chilly, I ain’t playing in no second preseason game. Its two days b4 the 3rd preseason game or nuthin. Don’t argue w/me!

about 10 hours ago in reply to 4GotMeMyExtension

So there you have it, dear readers. It looks like No. 4 just can’t let Rodgers have anything.

Oh, and sorry for the bad language. Don’t blame us – we just printed what he said.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

-Chris Lempesis

Thanks to my dad for the brilliant catch. Now, the Star Tribune has been through a host of layoffs lately, so this could be a casualty of a thinner copy desk. But I don’t know — there might be a larger, more nefarious and more delicious plot at work here.

For one, it harkens back to [...]]]> This.

Thanks to my dad for the brilliant catch. Now, the Star Tribune has been through a host of layoffs lately, so this could be a casualty of a thinner copy desk. But I don’t know — there might be a larger, more nefarious and more delicious plot at work here.

For one, it harkens back to this.

Enjoy — and spread the humor.

–Gene Bosling

–Brad Childress said he talked to Brett Favre twice this week, but couldn’t pin him down on how he feels about returning, because Favre had other things — like landscaping — on his mind.

–Childress said Favre has “earned that latitude” to essentially take as long as he wants to make a decision, possibly even [...]]]> To recap:

–Brad Childress said he talked to Brett Favre twice this week, but couldn’t pin him down on how he feels about returning, because Favre had other things — like landscaping — on his mind.

–Childress said Favre has “earned that latitude” to essentially take as long as he wants to make a decision, possibly even to skip minicamp and part of training camp again.

–He’s prepared to go into the season with Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels if Favre doesn’t come back.

Anyone who has been watching Childress since he picked Favre up from the airport last August should be surprised by none of this.

It was clear back then that Childress was ready to give up control of his team to Favre — setting false deadlines, giving Favre special treatment and putting his other quarterbacks on standby — to get a shot at having the 40-year-old on his team. Everything he did over the course of the 2009 season corroborated that, from the reports about Childress’ inability to pull Favre from several games, even though he wanted to, to Favre’s willingness to take a vengance shot down the field against the Packers by changing a play at the line of scrimmage to a deep pass, even though Childress called for a run.

If you’re Brett Favre, why would you even listen to Brad Childress this time of year? Why not wait until the first week of the season to come back? And if all it takes to get Childress to back off is a laughable line about landscaping, why would you put any stock in any of his rules during your inevitable return to the Vikings?

Childress came to Minnesota preaching about a “culture of accountability,” but has rendered that concept laughable with his repeated acquisitions of questionable characters. His kowtow to Favre is only the latest example. Maybe it benefited him financially — he got a contract extension by riding Favre to a 12-4 season before the predictable Favre playoff implosion, and he wouldn’t have gotten that deal without Favre. But it doesn’t bode well for a team that’s getting older and will have to fight off a Packers team that should only get better.

Look, we all know Favre is probably going to play in 2010. He’s going to reach 500 touchdown passes and 70,000 yards if he returns, and he seems to be obsessed with what’s becoming a Quixotic quest for an Elway-like ending. And while nobody is suggesting he needs to go through two-a-days to learn the game or room with Sidney Rice to develop chemistry, Childress is giving up even more by conceding those points up front.

Here’s where that will harm the Vikings coach the most: We Packers fans know all too well what erratic play an unbridled Favre is capable of. We saw it in 2004 and 2005, when Favre was essentially given free reign by coach Mike Sherman and quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell (now the Vikings’ offensive coordinator). We saw in 2007 — and unfortunately, in 2009 with the Vikings — what brilliance Favre can still conjure up when he’s at least paying some respect to a framework. But we also know that in the last stages of his career, he’s never been capable of keeping it together two years in a row. And nothing about Childress’ current approach is suggesting he’ll create the confines Favre now needs to thrive.

What does this mean for us as Packers fans? Right now, not much. The odds Favre comes back are still high, in my opinion, and the Packers have plenty of their own questions to answer before that decision comes (probably this summer). But it does increase the possibility of two games where Favre is airmailing throws off his back foot, doggedly forcing balls to his favorite targets and refusing to take the smart play when the gutsy one is available. That, coupled with an improving Aaron Rodgers and the (inexplicable) job security of Childress, means revenge could come rather quickly.

But in an objective sense, Childress isn’t doing himself any favors. The book on Favre is well-worn at this point, and Childress is flouting it, making every mistake the Packers made with Favre during the Mike Sherman era. At some point, he might be better off moving on.

Because if he can’t compete with landscaping in February, how’s he going to steer Favre away from lugheaded decisions in December?

–Gene Bosling

Oh, don’t get us wrong – we had a field day with him after his latest playoff choke job. But, after telling ESPN’s Ed Werder after the loss that it was “highly unlikely” he’d be back in 2010, we figured it’d be at [...]]]> We at OBOD really weren’t planning on writing anything more on Brett Favre.

Oh, don’t get us wrong – we had a field day with him after his latest playoff choke job. But, after telling ESPN’s Ed Werder after the loss that it was “highly unlikely” he’d be back in 2010, we figured it’d be at least another month or so until he began his annual, “I’m done…no, wait, I’m not done” dance. We would, of course, then commence another round of ripping him mercilessly.

But then I was reading Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback column this week. King ran a very telling quote from the Old Fraudslinger, uttered after he retired from the New York Jets last year. The quote sort of confirms some thoughts – or maybe fears – that I’ve had about him for quite some time now:

“I know I’m not going to replace throwing touchdown passes by cutting down three trees tomorrow. I do know this: I’ve gotten bored with everything in my life at some time. I love to hunt, but I get tired of that. I love to work on my property, but I get tired of that. We’ll see. I foresee getting the impulse to play.”

King then went on to say he’s hearing that it’s highly likely Favre will play again next season. Well, after hearing a quote like that, I can’t say I’m surprised at all (then again, I thought he’d be back in purple all along).

Anyways, what Favre said left me feeling not angry or bitter or upset; no, it left me feeling, well, sort of sad because, at a certain point last season, it dawned on me that the real reason he keeps coming back is because the man simply has nothing else in his life that provides him with any real joy. Sure, he loves his family and he’s got some stuff he enjoys doing part of the time. But since he was a kid, this is what he’s devoted himself to for such a large part of the year.

Such is the case for most athletes. The only difference is that most find something along the way that they enjoy doing outside of the game, something they can do when it’s time to hang up the uniform once and for all. For some, like Magic Johnson , it’s the business world (Aaron Rodgers is already somewhat in this world, as well, as he co-owns a record label). Others, like Larry Bird and Jack Del Rio (an odd pair, I know), get into coaching. Finally, there’s television, a great place for a former quarterback, as Troy Aikman, Dan Marino, etc. have all proven.

Favre seems to have no interest in any of these things. That being the case, he’s content to just keep throwing himself out there year after year in lieu of finding anything else. Again, ultimately that’s fine because it’s his life, after all, and he can do whatever the hell he wants with it. And it’s not like he can’t get the job done anymore, as his 2009 season proved. 

But by doing so, he’s setting himself up for one of two things to happen: either he suffers a horrific, career-ending injury or, perhaps more likely, he just keeps going until the NFL, as a whole, tells him it is done with him. A lot of people seem to think Minnesota is his last stop, no matter what. I disagree. If things with the Vikings were to flame out, say, after next season, and Favre can con someone else into giving him a shot, he’ll go there. I’ve never been more sure of that.

At this point, those are about the only two ways this thing can end. And both would be tremendously sad in the sense that both could have been avoided had he just simply known when to step away from the table. As my friend Nathan said after the NFC Championship Game, “It didn’t have to be like this.”

But for Favre, it can’t be any other way than this.

In his younger days, he struggled with addictions to painkillers and alcohol. He fought those demons off. Now, the game is his addiction and he can’t shake it. Doesn’t really seem like he wants to shake it, either.

And like any recovering addict will tell you, when you’re hooked on something, you go until you drop. There’s a good chance that’s his fate. One day it will happen and we’ll all be worse off for experiencing it.

-Chris Lempesis

Assuming — and this is a big assumption — that Brett Favre finally retires to his tractor, when do you retire his number?

Hunt suggests two years, or one for every time Favre beat the Packers [...]]]> Just wanted to throw this out there after reading this solid piece by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Michael Hunt this morning:

Assuming — and this is a big assumption — that Brett Favre finally retires to his tractor, when do you retire his number?

Hunt suggests two years, or one for every time Favre beat the Packers this year. He cleverly points out it would then coincide with the end of the Mayan calendar (I already checked on the date, and Dec. 21 is unfortunately a Friday that year).

But I’m honestly at a loss on this. There are Packer fans who looked at this with more aplomb than me this season — I was so mad at Favre, part of me wanted them to trot out an emergency quarterback for that Nov. 1 game and give him No. 4. I’d probably feel different in two years. But if you give Brett Favre two years, he’s proven he can do a lot of bridge-burning, and who knows what will happen?

What do you think, dear readers? When should the Packers mend fences and put No. 4 alongside Nos. 3, 14, 15, 66 and 92? Or should they not do it at all? Leave your suggestions in the comment section, and help me with this conundrum.

(Side note: I fully expect Favre back next year. And we’ll be ready for him.)

–Gene Bosling

Well, well, well – it looks as though there’s a little lover’s spat going on here [...]]]> (Please note: I was originally planning on writing my Christmas list for the Green Bay Packers as my usual lighthearted Tuesday post. But then Sunday night happened in Charlotte, North Carolina. And, well, that’s just too good to pass up.)

Well, well, well – it looks as though there’s a little lover’s spat going on here in Minneapolis, doesn’t there?

Seems Minnesota Vikings’ head coach Brad Childress and Judas aren’t getting along.

(No, you know what? Scratch that. It’s the holidays. I’m in a giving mood. For just this once, I’m going to refer to him as – gasp! – Brett Favre.)

Childress and Favre got into a verbal sparring match on the sidelines during Minnesota’s blowout loss to Carolina on Sunday night. Apparently, Childress wanted to bench Favre – who had been taking a pounding at the hands of the Panthers’ defense – even though the Vikings held just a 7-6 lead at that point. Favre, as per usual, was having none of that. He got his way, stayed in the game and continued to take a beating. The result? The second loss in three games for the previously 10-1 Vikings.

An argument between a coach and player – even one as massive as Favre – doesn’t make for much of a story. This is the NFL; things get heated.

Now, though, we’re finding out that Childress unleashed a “profanity-laced tirade” at Favre in private well after the game Sunday night and that Childress actually tried to bench Favre for changing a play call in the first game against our beloved Green Bay Packers on Oct. 5.

Now, we would seem to have a story…until you consider that what’s happening between the two was inevitable. Both men have massive egos and both have won their share of public battles in the past.

Childress first came to public knowledge when he, as offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, got into a heated argument with Terrell Owens after a practice in 2005. Philly head coach Andy Reid stood by Childress. The team de-activated Owens for the rest of the season, essentially ending his time in Philly.

Then, as one of his first acts as head coach in Minnesota, Childress got into a public war of words with then-star quarterback Daunte Culpepper over a multitude of factors. Childress again was victorious – Vikings’ ownership took his side – and Culpepper was pretty much done in purple.

We all know Favre’s history. In short, the man slayed everyone who dared stand in his path ever since Mike Holmgren bolted for Seattle. Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy and Mark Murphy were the first to stand up to him in quite some time. Well, we all saw how Favre reacted there, didn’t we?

(But his behavior was, and still is, okay to some “Packers fans” because Favre plays the game like a little kid and he seems like someone they’d know.)

In other words, it was only a matter of time before the two turned on each other in some sort of weird, “Who has the biggest ego?” contest. The team was winning week-in and week-out and there was only going to be so much credit to go around.

In Childress’ mind, he likely can’t stand that Favre got ALL the praise for the Vikings’ great start. After all, Minnesota won a division title last season without Favre. Plus, if you look at the team’s progression with him as head coach, winning more than 10 games this year was a possibility, anyways (the Vikings have gone from six wins to eight wins to 10 wins in his three previous seasons heading into 2009).

And, hey, didn’t Childress just get a long-term contract extension from the team? Why would the team do that if the wins were all on Favre?

In Favre’s redneck noggin, it’s the same old song and dance. He makes this offense go. He allows them to score points in a way Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels could never dream of. He puts the defense in a spot to pin its ears back and rush the passer. It’s not about anyone else. It’s all about him. Hell, he probably believes that roughly half of Childress’ new money should go directly into his bank account.

Neither man is right, really. Both have acted like idiots, again and again. But if you’re asking the question of who is most to blame for things ending up this way, you have to point the finger directly at Childress. He’s the one who has repeatedly let Favre get away with pretty much whatever he wanted.

He set deadlines for a decision last summer. Repeatedly. Favre laughed those off. Repeatedly.

Favre said he was done. No comeback in purple. Childress said the door was closed. The team had moved on.

Favre changed his mind. He wanted in. Not only did Childress accept him with open arms – essentially throwing Jackson and Rosenfels under the bus in the most public of ways – he picked Favre up at the airport!

Before Favre had even taken a practice snap, he KNEW this organization was wrapped around his finger. And when Favre started winning games at an insane pace – causing every Vikings fan that had spent the previous 15 or so years cursing his name to run out and buy a purple No. 4 jersey – Childress really had no shot to reign him in.

That was never going to change, good times or bad. If Childress thought losing two of three would, all of a sudden, allow him the opportunity to get tough on a now struggling Favre, he was a fool. Favre is way sharper than he ever gets credit for, publicly. And in his mind, once he owns you, you’re there forever.

(Can’t you just see Childress screaming profanities at Favre as he sits there with a blank look on his face, Childress’ voice sounding similar to that of the teacher on “Charlie Brown” in Favre’s head?)

It’s not just Childress, either. The Minnesota Vikings are entirely Brett Favre’s team now. They’ll follow his lead – straight to hell or otherwise.

-Chris Lempesis

You know how when Judas threw that touchdown pass last week, everybody* was talking about how it was Greg Lewis that made the play possible the Vikings brought him in for EXACTLY THIS REASON? To give [...]]]> OK, one more bit of Favre-debunking this morning before we get on to things having more to do with the game.

You know how when Judas threw that touchdown pass last week, everybody* was talking about how it was Greg Lewis that made the play possible the Vikings brought him in for EXACTLY THIS REASON? To give them some of that Favre Magic he’s bestowed on us so many times over the years? How Jared Allen was sitting on the sideline whispering, “Be Brett, be Brett, be Brett,” not knowing that “being Brett,” in those situations, usually means throwing an interception?

*everybody=ESPN

Then they throw out the stat about all of Judas’ 4th-quarter comebacks, and you’re thinking, “OK, I remember the one against Cincinnati. I remember the one in ‘93 against Detroit in the playoffs. I remember the three against the Raiders, Vikings and Bucs in ‘99. I remember the Jennings touchdowns against San Diego and Denver in ‘07. But…uh…that’s about it.”

Well, somebody else–make that somebody at ESPN, even!–thought this was fishy. So he did some research, which I’m only too happy to pass on to you in this Week of Supreme Favre Hype.

Here’s the link. Read, and be enlightened.

–Gene Bosling