Journal Sentinel = Epic Fail
By Aaron Nagler on Oct 27, 2009 with 178 Comments
This is so wrong headed, so misbegotten, so OFFENSIVE, I have trouble catching my breath to find the words necessary to condemn it.
But let me try.
It seems the Sports Editor over at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, one Garry D. Howard, has taken it upon himself to lecture Packers fans on how they should behave upon entering Lambeau Field this Sunday.
And they wonder why newspapers are dying.
Let me get this straight: Howard has the temerity to tell Corey and 70,000 of his closest friends how Favre should be greeted and treated when he makes his appearance with the teams most bitter current rival but he doesn’t feign even having a cursory grasp of the facts and reasons Packers fans are upset and might just boo the hell out of Favre.
From Howard:
He has it all.
Guts and guile.
Talent and obsession.
Stubbornness and playfulness.
And that is why the divorce was so messy.
Still, from where I sit, the love on both sides is clearly evident, I don’t care what comes out of your mouth, because the numbers on my side of this business say you are ravenous when it comes to any news concerning No.?4.
Business got in the way of this relationship, that’s all – I’m on record as stating that it was definitely time to say goodbye – but it is the only reason Brett will be standing on the wrong side of the field come Sunday afternoon.
Where in the hell do you start with this?
First off, yes Gary, we are ravenous for news about #4 – mostly because we can’t wait to hear what pile of garbage will come flowing out of his mouth the next time he’s standing at a podium. Next, you say the ONLY reason Favre will be playing with the Vikings next Sunday is because of a business relationship went wrong? Man, no wonder you head up the sports beat, because you seem to know jack shit about people and what makes their relationships tick. Good thing you just need to worry about getting the box score right and making sure your guys report who beat whom and where they did it, because if readers looked to you for any kind of illumination into the human condition, we’d all be one step closer to making the movie “28 Days Later” a reality.
Look, if you’re going to have the balls big enough to tell Packer fans how they should behave, at least have an argument that acknowledges why they MIGHT be upset. But to throw out this “He was so good to the Packers, blah blah blah” bullshit is just more than I can take.
Garry, I don’t have a problem with you telling us how YOU feel about it. It’s clear you still respect Favre (hell, I think it’s pretty clear that I still do) but for you to use your platform to treat Packer fans like a bunch of toddlers who need looking after (ok, some fall afternoons at Lambeau it sure seems this might be the case, but I digress…) is an abuse of your position, plain and simple.
Yes, I wrote a piece about how much I still love the guy – but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to punch him in the face for the way he’s behaved not just over the last two years, but the last five or six. I’m sick and tired of hearing about all the good things he did and how Packer fans are just supposed to forget the fact that Favre demanded a trade and then turned around and said how he could never play in another uniform. I’m tired of hearing how he wanted to come back and play for the Packers after retiring, when it is WELL DOCUMENTED that he and Bus Cook were calling the Vikings (and other teams as well!) about coming to play for them…ONE MONTH after retiring from the Packers.
No, Gary, Packer fans have every right to boo the hell out of Favre and your ill-judged, pious piece of crap column is an affront to thinking fans everywhere.
Filed Under: Brett Favre • Wisconsin Media
Yeah. I know what you mean. I just want thisbro he over.
I’m with ya, Aaron. I almost puked when I read Howard’s column.
Just an interesting observation…
I…am a true Packers fan.
And I have never heard of Garry Howard before reading this article.
What does that tell you?
CD Angeli..I am a TRUE Packer fan, and I never heard of YOU! What does that tell you..?
I think Howard’s article is right on the money, and anyone with a little class would agree.
Everytime I think of Ted Thompson, I almost puke. He is single handedly destroying the Packers with his incompetence.
You people need to WAKE UP!
I thought this was your SUPER BOWL year?
Do you still feel that way?
haha
TED THOMPSON = EPIC FAIL
Is it okay to laugh at Pack 66 seeing as he seems to be a sufferer of schizophrenia? He rips on everything Packers, but then says statements like “I am a TRUE packer fan” and his name would suggest he is referencing Superbowl I in 1966 (not hard to guess who won that one is it)
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This is classic – (referring to TT) “Is he above .500 yet, jackasses?”. Evidently Pack 66′s mind has erased 07 like a Pats fan does Superbowl 42.
Pack66 – you’ve walked into this one I’m afraid. You say “I am a TRUE Packer fan” -
so let me ask you straight up: Who do you want to win on Sunday? If you say anything other than “The Packers”, you are not a true Packer fan. Cheers.
Aaron (you brought me over here from the ‘mayor’ post). I admit, you make a good point – no one should tell the fans what they should do. How about a plea? There are many of us (maybe half; maybe a minority), who don’t hate Favre. We will also be at the game. Give us our two minutes as Favre comes out of the tunnel to thank him for what he did for Green Bay the 1st 17 years. If Favre is as evil as the haters portray him to be, he won’t care about being boo’d by Packers fans. However, it will ruin the experience for those of cheering. Please hold off on the boo’s for those few moments. Once the game starts, have at it. I’ll be busy cheering for the Pack to beat Minnesota.
backthepack4:
As has been asked many, many times – how can you cheer for a player not donning a green and gold uniform?
I would not cheer during the game, but before the game is different to me. Kind of like I cheer for any ex-Packer that I see at Lambeau (I even cheer Majkowski when I see him walking the sidelines -even though he had the audicity to play for the Lions). Don’t get me wrong, once the game starts – he’s the enemy.
backthe(former)pack4: Sorry, there’s no “on” or “off” switch here. Besides, when you spot the Majik Man walking in street clothes, what do you think are the chances he’s there with for the sole purpose of making your team look bad – for his own personal pleasure?
If you can answer yes to that question, then be my guest, cheer as loud as you want for Brent – before, during and after the game.
backthepack4, once you and the teams are in the stadium, you are either supporting the Packers or you aren’t. Having it both ways sends the wrong message to the Packers players that are going to give their all to win. If you don’t want to boo Brent, you also have the option of remaining silent when he takes first takes the field. Just my two cents…
I liked Longwell and Sharper when they were Packers. When they came to Lambeau as Vikings I cheered them when they were announced – and a lot of other people did to. I really don’t think it sends the wrong message, I think it’s a classy thing to do.
So now these clowns are complaining that booing Favre will “ruin the moment”? Give me a freaking break. Screw the moment. Screw Favre. He plays for the other team. Boo him so loudly that his ears bleed.
Not the time or place for cheers. That will happen after he retires and comes back for the ceremonies.
Favre is a big boy. He CHOSE to play with the Vikings, as did others. He will come with the intent of beating the Pack, taking the division from our favorite team. See Butler. He should expect no better than to get the treatment reserved for an opponent.
I hope the cheers will be deafening for the Pack.
here’s my levels of respect and support, from the top down, as constituted right now:
1. the packers (team)
2. current packers players (individuals)
3. current packers staff (coaches, etc.)
4. former packers players (honorable discharge)
5. other packer fans
6. other well-run nfl teams not in the nfc north
7. respectable players playing for another team not in the nfc north.
8. talentless but classy nfl players not in the nfc north
9. classless but talented players not in the nfc north.
10. 8,9, not on the vikings roster, detroit, chicago players allowed.
11. the adolescent kids that carry the coaches’ cables around behind them.
12. ironically enough, these days – tarvaris jackson
13. washed-up male models with coke habits and breath that smells of liver pate.
14. centipedes who escape my swatting.
15. jared allen
16. centipedes who are too sickly or oblivious to escape my swatting
17. ex-franchise qb’s who lie and scheme their way into playing for the vikings because they feel mistreated by the front office.
i stop cheering for anyone/anything around #5. why would anyone let applause make it all the way down to #17?
i forgot, right before jared allen: the invisible hog jared allen keeps tying up – because he apparently it’s able to keep untying himself when allen isn’t sacking a qb. that’s one talented hog.
That “invisible hog” is a calf and I can’t wait until it has been caught 6 times on Sunday. He’ll keep chasing it. Chase away Mr. Allen, chase away.
well, football aside, i think it’s pretty clear that mr. allen needs to work on tying a good tight knot, or try a different method. it may be a calf, but i think it’s got thumbs.
First of all, I’m a born and raised Packer fan transplanted by employment to Texas in 2002. I grew up with Lombardi for his whole stint in GB, went through the dark ages of the 70′s and 80′s and here is my take on this whole Brent issue. In my opinion Favre had better fall on his knees and give thanks every morning for Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren. Here’s why. I absolutely believe that if it were not for Wolf putting him next to Holmgren in 92, Favre would have been out of the league by 2000. Holmgren is fully responsible for reining in that cocky, drunken, undisciplined player and taking him to the Superbowl. When Holmgren left the Packers, Favre did not win one more thing, he just rode his Gunslinger image, thanks in great part to the media. Favre is a media delight, because he is polarizing. But Favre is no where near the caliber of winner like Starr, Unitas, Montana, Elway, Brady, and even Peyton Manning. He’s a player whose ego is greater than his talent. All that BS prior to the last MN game that Favre had beaten every team except the Packers. BS. He beat the Packers many times over the years. How many seasons did he end with his gunslinging to the opposing DB’s? I lost all respect for him years ago, when his ego reared it’s ugly head. He cost Sherman his job, (granted Sherman sucked as GM but he was a decent coach), he cost Mangini his gig last year. Unfortunately he will cost Childress his job this year as well when the Vikes crash and burn the last half of the season as usual. Childress is such a stupid and arrogant and lousy coach the Vikes might actually hire someone talented to replace him and that wouldn’t be good.
Ahhh..you’re post is full of horse****, and doesn’t smell as good, AustinPackfan…
And just what did Holmgren win after he left Green Bay eh? Did he win a Superbowl?
I don’t think so…
It cuts both ways, Homer…
Austin,
This is the kind of crap that makes America hate the Packers and their fans.
Their sour grape bull****, and twisting the facts to write their own bitter re-visionist history regarding Brett Favre and the Packers..
You guys are so twisted that you can’t stand a player who gets National attention. You turn on him, even before he left, because of your self-loathing and hatred of anyone in the lime-light.
Favre isn’t a winner?
He has the NFL RECORD for winning the most games as a starting QB? What do you call that?
Don’t get all “moralistic” on us. Hornung, McGee, and others were drunken louts, womanizers, and profligate gamblers to the extent that they make Favre look like a choirboy. The only difference is that you didn’t hear about it.
That’s what I hate about Packer fans. Their “holier-than-thou” attitudes towards everyone else.
That’s why I hope Favre gives you the beat down that you deserve this week, so you can have your serving of humble pie, which you desperately need..apparently.
Packk66 – so your answer to my question above is “The Vikings”. So you are not a Packer fan. Got it.
i smell a turd in sheep’s clothing. or rather, a viking fan with a packerfan’s moniker.
Pack66. It’s amazing how completely you’ve missed the point. First of all, you talk about Pack fans as if you weren’t one, so why do you pretend to be one. Next, let me explain why were mad at Brent. When the Pack said that Brent would not be playing for them anymore, any QB-lacking team would have been happy to have him, but Brent demanded to be traded to the Vikings just so he could get “revenge” on the Pack. The reasons that you stated simply don’t make any sense. Why would we hate someone for being famous?
Anyone who will be at the game boo Brent for me.
Packers..
It is not I who “missed the boat”, but you, and everyone who thinks like you.
How can you not see that you, TT, and all the Packer brass didn’t want Favre anymore. Ok..fine. Misguided and wrong headed, but fine.
So, Favre still wants to play football. What is supposed to do? Go to the K.C. Chefs or some other losing franchise to make YOU and Ted Thompson happy?
I don’t think so.
He wanted to go where he could “win” football games and a place that was familiar. That would be Minnesota..
The fact that you guys are acting like a bunch of whiny babies is hysterical…Especially when Favre beats you.
And yes, I want the PACKERS to lose just like a fan might want his team to lose when they have bad record, to get a higher draft pick so his team can get better.
Well, I want the Pack to lose so that they can FIRE THAT INCOMPETENT SNAKE, TED THOMPSON, so that my team, the GREEN BAY PACKERS can get better and start to heal…
No. The Packer’s management didn’t want Favre back anymore because when he finally decided that he eanted to play, the team had been working with Aaron Rodgers for a month. What kind of meessage would that send to the team if they suddenly backed out on Aaron and set the team’s preparation back just so they could accomodate one player. A football team is not made by one player and Ted acted with the team’s future in mind, not it’s present. In a few years, Brett will be retired and Aaron Rodgers will only have improved. Who do you think will be at the top of the NFC North then?
The message would have been that the team “wanted to win”….not be mediocre.
In a few years, Brett Favre will be retired, and Ted Thompson will be out of football…
The sooner the better..!