Tag football

Why I Am Sick of Brett Favre

Danny Vinik Leave a comment

This post isn’t really against Brett Favre, but it is more against the insane media coverage that hangs on every crazy rumor coming from Favre’s camp. I’m sick of the saga, of the endless waiting, of the rumors and lies. Favre stated that he was done playing football after the 2006 season. During that off season, the media spent countless hours speculating on whether Favre was actually done. They followed his every move and continued to try to predict his final decision. This dragged on for months as Favre continued to make up his mind. Why do we need to spend every waking second obsessing over a player’s decision to retire or to continue playing. Is it going to make him decide faster? Doubtful. Maybe it will influence his decision. Once again, doubtful. And that was just the 2006 off season.

Not that surprisingly, Favre chose to play in 2007. It took months for him to make up his mind, but I would expect nothing less from an NFL great on the brink of retirement. It can’t be easy for Favre to stop playing a sport that he loves and I understand that the decision must be agonizing. He can’t just make it in a day, a week, or a month. He’s not going to know in January how his body is going to feel in September. How can he make a proper decision without seeing how his body and how his mind reacts to a couple of months off. He absolutely should be able to and is able to take an entire off season to decide his future, but does the media coverage need to be so relentless? Continue reading “Why I Am Sick of Brett Favre” →

Daily Sports Roundup 1/6/08

Danny Vinik Leave a comment

Sunday is always a pretty slow day in sports, but there are a couple of interesting stories that made news today. Here they are:

Wild Card Games: The final two wild card games of the NFL Playoffs are today. The New York Giants visited Tampa Bay while the Tennessee Titans travelled to San Diego. In the first game today, the Giants defeated Tampa Bay 24-14 behind a strong outing by Eli Manning. The Buccaneers stadium was rocking, but three costly turnovers helped Eli and the Giants escape with the win. Manning completed 20 of 27 passes for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns while Bucs’ quarterback Jeff Garcia completed only 20 of 39 pass attempts for 207 touchdowns while throwing one touchdown and two interceptions. The Buccaneers chose to shut down the Giants’ running game, which they did as New York averaged only 3.3 yards per rush. Unfortunately, in shutting down the run, Tampa gave Manning the opportunity to pass. He took that opportunity and made the best of it, leading the Giants to the victory. New York will face Dallas in the Divisional Playoffs next weekend. The AFC Wild Card game takes place tonight. Vince Young will need to play a great game to overcome the Chargers’ balanced attack. If the Chargers win, they will face Indianapolis in the next round, but if the Titans win, Tennessee will face New England.

Arenas Hopes To Return This Year: Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas is hoping to play basketball again this year, but doesn’t want to risk further injury. Arenas had surgery last April and then another surgery in November to repair his knee. Though he is progressing, Arenas is still months away from returning. He wants to get back this year, but realizes that it may not be in his best interest to do so. “I have to protect the rest of my career, too, so I won’t jeopardize that for just 15 games if I’m not 100 percent,” he said Saturday “If it’s aching, if I’m out here practicing and it’s swelling up then, I’ll see you next year.” Continue reading “Daily Sports Roundup 1/6/08” →

Daily Sports Roundup 1/5/08

Danny Vinik 3 Comments

Besides actual games today, there hasn’t been much news in the world of sports, but let’s look at some stories anyways:

Brady Named NFL MVP: Not surprisingly, Tom Brady was named NFL MVP for the first time in his career. Brady had one of the greatest seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He had a single-season NFL record 50 touchdown passes, a league-leading 4806 yards passing, and only 8 interceptions. He also led the league in completion percentage and passer rating at 68.9% and 117.2 respectively. He received 49 of 50 votes with Brett Farve receiving the other vote (likely from a Green Bay reporter). Brady led the Patriots to a perfect regular season and hopes to continue into he playoffs

Wild Card Weekend: The Redskins visited the Seahawks and Jacksonville travelled to Pittsburgh in the two wild card games today. In the first game, the Seahawks led the Redskins 13-0 entering the fourth quarter when the game became a circus. 2:22 into the 4th quarter, the Redskins had taken a 14-13 lead and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. After Washington kicker missed a 30 yard field goal, Seattle drove down the field, scored, and completed a 2-point conversion to take a 21-14 lead. When Redskins QB Todd Collins threw his first interception of the year, Marcus Trufant took it 78 yards back for a touchdown. Another interception by Collins with 30 seconds left in the game ended it. The Seahawks defeat the Redskins 35-14. In the other Wild Card game today, the Jaguars have used an interception return for a touchdown and a 96 yard kickoff return to give themselves a 21-7 lead at the half. Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw 3 interceptions in the first half and he is going to need to have a great second half for Pittsburgh to stay in this game. Continue reading “Daily Sports Roundup 1/5/08” →