For Dinur and Shawn

Favre from the Taiwanese Vantage Point

From Shawn

This is not Detroit, man! This is the Super Bowl! Schadenfavre. That's what it is. Schadenfavre.

Just Had to Share

Signature Favre

From an AP article on today's NFC Championship game:

With the NFC championship game tied, the Vikings close to field goal range and mere seconds left, Favre made the kind of mistake he had avoided all season. He threw across his body toward Sidney Rice, and Tracy Porter stepped in front to intercept the pass, ending the Vikings' chances to win Sunday's game in regulation.

The Saints won the coin toss in overtime, and before Favre could take the field, Drew Brees drove them into position for Garrett Hartley's winning field goal.

Signature Favre.

GO PACK GO!!!!!

New Season's Resolution

Well, the word is out. Favre won't become a Viking. What kills me is if you look at this post this post on Cheesehead TV, where the fans have quite decent analytical skill, there are people who still want to take the motherfucker back. This is what I posted:

I respect Favre even less as a person now. Why raise all this ruckus in the first place if you're not going to play for the Vikings?

If your spouse openly investigated leaving you for someone else and then came back and said, "Nah. It was a nice fantasy, but in the end it was probably not worth it..." would you take them back?

The way this has played out, he'll be talking about playing for the Vikings in 2017 and, fools that we are, we'll still be talking about the S.O.B. My new season's resolution as a Packers fan is to get myself some self-respect. No more Favre posts.

I mean it. I don't give a shit anymore. No more Favre posts.

Hey! I Blogged Again! I Must Feel Better!

The weekend is at hand. Here's the latest:

I'm Still Looking for a New Gym

I stopped off at the much vaunted LA Fitness that's opened up over by Coulon Park. They want $70/month for Craig and me. That's way the fuck too much. The place is admittedly swank. Fine oak lockers, pristine pool, yadda, yadda. I was excited because the Boeing Employee's Credit Union is across the street. As I plan to visit this gym every day, I could do shared branch transactions there and save a little time. No can do. BECU is no longer part of the consortium. This whole neigborhood overpromises and underdelivers.

So tomorrow, Craig and I go over to Kent and see what they've got for us at the Bally's.

I'm Trying to Sell Dinur on a Project

I'm trying to sell Dinur to write the definitive piece on fan loyalty and Brett Favre. Here's the pitch:

I was reading this blog where a die-hard fan debunks Favre's entire career, and he's only on part III. And it dawned on me that if you want to get an anatomy of fan love and feel like going back to content analysis as a method, Favre 2005-2009 is a dream case.

There are three papers that cover the Packers--The Green Bay Press-Gazette, The Wisconsin State Journal and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. After each article, they get dozens of posters. Each has an identity, which means you can track their specific changing opinions over time. Moreover, each comment is linked to an article that stimulated the response. You can code the article as well as the response. The variation in stimuli is fantastic. Favre stumbled, fell, looked washed up in 2005. Everyone said he was a has-been. 2006 looked optimistic. 2007 was his renaissance and his godhood was retored. 2008 he became a Jet and the fans hated Ted Thompson for it. This year, he wants to be a Viking and the fans hate Favre instead.

Lots of emotional variation in public opinion over a short time. The project can yield obvious insight into how fans' emotions rapidly change with respect to the inconsistent ability of their hero to play the role they love him for. Trackable fans with written statements, possibly enough to allow for a LARGE-N CROSS-SECTION OVER TIME.

You do the math. Metaphorically first, then if you like the project, literally.

I honestly think it's a good project. This has nothing to do with making my favorite Niners fan write extensively about Brett Favre, the quarterback who dealt his team so many crushing blows... Nah. Nothing at all.

School Starts Up Again on Monday

Arab-Israeli for the UW. Two weeks after that, my oil class at Antioch starts. Real life, real work. But I'm still going to the gym every day, no matter what. I just need to get some writing done.

Season in Review I: Favre Again

Shawn Lee, one of the survivors of POL S 325 and a really great guy to boot, is a passionate football fan (who has developed a pronounced interest in pan-Arabism). He popped me an e-mail the other day about, well, Brett Favre. Here’s the text:

You said that you don't see how Favre could've saved the season for the Packers, but I don't know I have to disagree. Sure Favre is having a rough go now, but he has been really good for NYJ, and in spite of what happens tomorrow, the Jets are a better team with Favre than they would've been with Pennington. You don't shove a legend out the door unless you have and absolute stud waiting in the wings (see 49'ers Montana to Young transition). Now Aaron Rogers is a good and serviceable qb, and could have a good career, will it be a Hall of Fame career? Probably not. A charismatic leader behind center, even if he is old an over the hill and overrated, forces d - coordinators, not wanting to look the fool, to overemphasize ("respect") his passing game more which of course opens up the running game. This year Grant was a bigger threat out of the Packers backfield than Rogers was, allowing defenses to key on him. The year before the opposite was true, Favre was more of a threat, which allowed Grant to emerge. Simply put the NFC North might be won by a 9 win team this year, the Jets have 9 wins, and your Packers are on the no. 1 tee box with my Seahawks.

This, of course, requires some sort of response. So, point by point, then:

You said that you don't see how Favre could've saved the season for the Packers, but I don't know I have to disagree.

You share this opinion with many of the most colorful posters to the Green Bay Press Gazette’s Packers page, home to the most vociferous of the Farve fans anywhere.

Sure Favre is having a rough go now,

Let’s compare and contrast his statistical performance for this year with that of Aaron Rodgers:

Note the gap of 566 passing yards. Favre made slightly larger number of attempts and completed 2.1 percent more of his passes. That said, Rodgers averaged 0.8 yards more per pass. As much as I may resent it as on old guy, I attribute this to the “zing” of youth. Indeed, our young gunslinger “zinged” us six more touchdowns than Favre made for the Jets. Moreover, Rodgers did it with nine fewer interceptions than Favre. I think I’d have wanted Rodgers, not Favre, on my fantasy team this year.

And as far as the Packers’ future goes, I really don’t think Rodgers has peaked yet. By the by, let's compare Rodgers with Favre's renaissance year last season:

Note here that Rodgers has nearly as many yards, an equal number of touchdowns and two fewer interceptions. Rodgers, incidentally, was sacked way more often this year than Favre was last year. Rodgers performs under pressure. Plus, the kid, like Favre, isn't made of glass. He played through a shoulder injury and started 16 times. Certainly, QB injury was every cheesehead's big worry going into the season. It turned out to be a red herring. The Kid is tough. Remember when making this comparison that 2007 was an exceptional year for Favre. We don't have enough data yet to be certain that Rodgers can keep this performance up, but you have to admit the numbers are deeply encouraging.

but he has been really good for NYJ, and in spite of what happens tomorrow, the Jets are a better team with Favre than they would've been with Pennington.

Does anyone debate this? Certainly I don’t. Favre was an excellent deal for the Jets even if he retires this coming season. Jersey sales alone probably made the deal a financial success, and I think Favre was a genuine asset for the Jets offense.

You don't shove a legend out the door unless you have and absolute stud waiting in the wings (see 49'ers Montana to Young transition).

Now, I’m not a Niners fan (far from it!), but did everyone know the year Steve Young took over that Steve Young was going to be Steve Young? I’d be interested in reading the first year rhetoric surrounding the young QB and his reception on the Niners.

Now Aaron Rogers is a good and serviceable qb, and could have a good career, will it be a Hall of Fame career? Probably not.

For what it’s worth, let’s compare the Kid’s first year with Favre’s and Young’s. Since Favre didn’t start all sixteen games in 1992, I threw in 1993 as well. Likewise, I threw in 1992 for Young.

First, note that Rodgers threw for more yards this year than either of these giants did in theirs. Of course, in Young’s case, this is an unfair comparison, as he made far fewer attempts. Young's average pass was longer than either Rodgers or Favre. Moreover, his low number of interceptions put both Favre and Rodgers to shame. But note that Rodgers is far more attractive than Favre in his opening two years. I see nothing in his cards that suggests that Rodgers can’t be one of the greats. You are correct that the odds are against him are high simply because of Favre’s exceptional talent (i.e. Favre is already exceptional and has been for a long time. In contrast, it's hard to spot an exceptional player before he has a reputation), but can you see why the Packers would risk a great deal to prevent losing Rodgers to free agency? Favre certainly didn’t start his career with better credentials than Rodgers.

A charismatic leader behind center, even if he is old an over the hill and overrated, forces d - coordinators, not wanting to look the fool, to overemphasize ("respect") his passing game more which of course opens up the running game. This year Grant was a bigger threat out of the Packers backfield than Rogers was, allowing defenses to key on him. The year before the opposite was true, Favre was more of a threat, which allowed Grant to emerge.

I would like to see you provide some sort of evidence that this process actually happened. At the very least, I’d like to see documentation of some sort of coaches arguing that they can relax on the Packers’ passing game and focus on corking up Grant. I watched every Packers game this season except the second Bears game just before Christmas. I saw little to suggest major fault on the offense other than the size of the linesmen and the injuries on the offensive line. Moreover, recall the rhetoric in 2005 and 2006. Everyone (but me, I felt) said Favre was washed up and a has-been. Fantasy guides systematically downgraded him. His reputation is far better now than it was then. No one predicted that Favre would have a blockbuster year in 2007. I need stronger evidence to be persuaded by your theory.

Simply put the NFC North might be won by a 9 win team this year, the Jets have 9 wins, and your Packers are on the no. 1 tee box with my Seahawks.

Compare QB performance on the Packers this year with Rodgers to our even more disastrous year under Favre in 2005, when the O-line collapsed after Wahle and Rivera were lost to free agency. I feel these years are quite comparable:

Rodgers had eight more touchdowns and sixteen fewer interceptions. Favre’s reputation didn’t keep us from going 4-12 in 2005, the last time the O-line collapsed. This time we’re 6-10. Why not admit that Rodgers did a better job than Favre under the real pressure of a no-win situation? It never matters who is behind the O-line when the O-line sucks. Tip steak or filet mignion, once the meat goes through the grinder, it's all hamburger. For what it's worth though, Rodgers, at face value at least, is a greater asset when the O-line falls apart completely. Among other things, this is due to Rodgers' exceptional mobility, an attribute he has in common with Young, not Favre.

I’m so sick of everyone dumping on Aaron Rodgers. The decision at QB this year was probably the most sound decision undertaken by Ted Thompson (I sure wish he could pick a punter). Sorry, Shawn, I just don’t miss Favre. Who needs a freaking prima donna who makes you go through this "will he/won’t he" routine about retirement every fucking year? Who needs a guy who basically comes out and says, "Well, yeah, I retired. But you were supposed to come after me for the next six months, wooing me into coming back, because I'm God's gift to football. I need to feel more special than this!" To be honest, I miss Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera more than I miss Favre. When they left, our O-line died. Favre should have retired. 2007 was an excellent ending. Everything after has been pure ego.

Reading Between the Defensive Lines

Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently published an interesting article on the education of Aaron Rodgers. I think if we read between the lines, we can see some of the motivations the management had for unloading Favre on the Jets and their strategies for achieving it. Sadly, I can’t analyze football worth a damn, but I can definitely analyze institutional politics.

Analysis

Silverstein recounts what we all remember—Favre was fairly hostile to Rodgers at first

When Rodgers arrived, Favre made no bones about refusing to be a mentor to him, stating in an interview that it wasn’t his job. Nobody had done it for him, and besides, Favre’s No. 1 responsibility was to win games.

Rodgers had to accept that, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t going to watch Favre.

“The best way to describe it was we were teammates the first year,” Rodgers said. “It was a very business relationship. But I was kind of in his hip pocket. My biggest thing was if we’re not going to be friends yet, which is fine, I’m still going to be in his hip pocket until he tells me to get lost.

“So I’d stick my head in there when he’s talking in the huddle and lean in and listen to what he’s saying and listen to him in practice. I’d watch him like a hawk. This guy is one of the greatest quarterbacks to every [sic] play, so I better figure out what he’s doing.”

As far as I can tell, Brett Favre was the fucking queen of the team during the Sherman years. The problem was that the team was run around Favre’s sensibilities. Well, as any opera manager can tell you, the company will not be a success when the prima donna and not the director and conductor rule the roost. Yes, we may all “ooo” and “ah” to her lilting voice, but an opera is a play with a cast. Like football, opera’s a team effort. After Holmgren packed up and left, there was no one to reign Favre in. He always got his way. The problem was, as talented as Favre is, he needed good coaching to keep him in line. Favre the prima donna was unleashed. He frequently got cocky and was not pulled back into line. Sherman wasn’t tough enough as a coach. When Sherman got his hands on general management, the core of most of the team’s personnel rotted away. The final straw came when the offensive line broke—Rivera and Wahle were lost to free agency before the 2005 season. The team collapsed.

After the 2005 season, Sherman was fired and McCarthy hired.

All of a sudden there were new demands on Rodgers. He was required to attend off-season quarterback school, six hours of it several days a week. Then McCarthy got on him about his weight. Rodgers weighed 228 at the time and measured about 15% body fat. McCarthy wanted the body fat down to 10% to 12%.

“I fought it and I was like, ‘Why?’ ” Rodgers said. “But I think it definitely helped me out. I’m 217 right now, the lightest I’ve been before my sophomore year at Cal, and I’m a lot stronger and more fit. But I fought the system. Change has always been tough. Any type of change in my life I’ve always met with some resistance, so we butted heads the first year a little bit.”

Favre didn’t attend McCarthy’s quarterback school and didn’t make his decision to return for another year until just before the draft. When he showed up, he didn’t know any of the terminology of McCarthy’s system.

With Nall gone to Buffalo, Rodgers was the only familiar face in the quarterback room, and he was able to lean over and tell Favre which plays under the Sherman system corresponded to the ones McCarthy was teaching. It was at that point that Favre and Rodgers started to become close.

I'd always wondered how it was that Favre went from looking at Rodgers like a leper to getting all “shits and giggles” with him, at least in front of the camera. Silverstein has isolated the moment. Favre found a use for the kid when it was clear that the Packers were installing a new system and he had to learn the new terminology. It was either that, or show up to quarterback school. Favre isn’t about to get schooled. Moreover, showing up at quarterback school would undoubtedly contribute more to Rodgers’ education than Favre would like. After all, Rodgers was already spending his days following Favre around with a notepad. Favre wasn’t about to help Rodgers ease him out of his own job!

But apparently, last year, Rodgers had gotten cozy enough for McCarthy to get Favre to actually contribute—

Rodgers’ education continued into ’07. McCarthy urged Favre to spend more time mentoring Rodgers, and Favre responded.

“My first year, he was kind of like, ‘Yeah, he needs to grow up and this and that,’ ” McCarthy said. “I told Brett, ‘You need to give back now. You’re at the point now where you’re older than most the quarterbacks coaches in the league. You can give back, not only to Aaron.’ Brett really embraced that. That’s one of the things you don’t really hear about.”

In my opinion, the fact that McCarthy has gone to lengths to point Favre’s goodwill out shows just how good the Packers are at PR and team-building. It probably helped that, at least according to his retirement speech, Favre was feeling older and older as the season wore on. In his retirement speech he spoke of how little pleasure and how much stress he was feeling. He became more malleable with respect to Rodgers, probably thinking of his legacy. This was a triumph for management.

Besides continuing to study coverages and meeting with Favre on the sideline during games, in ’07 Rodgers was given a scouting assignment. As soon as the game was over, he started working on the next opponent, providing a report on Wednesday morning to the coaches and other quarterbacks.

He would watch tape on Mondays and Tuesdays and write the report Tuesday night. It started out being a report on the cornerbacks Favre would be facing that week, but it advanced into in-depth reports on schemes, tendencies and other players.

Favre used to joke that Rodgers’ presentation was his least favorite part of the week, but Clements said the work was invaluable for Rodgers. Soon he was coming up with the same evaluations as the coaches.

Damn, but they were good. Favre’s outright hostility and refusal has now become passive-aggressive snarkiness vented while providing complete cooperation. That is, of course, if Favre was even being snarky. He may have been simply referring to the pain of having to look at the next week’s challenge. I’d like to think it was the latter. Again, he did mention those feelings in his retirement speech. Either way, by the end, Favre was actively abetting in his own downfall. By November of last year, they knew what they had what they needed:

It wound up being especially valuable when Rodgers got pressed into action against Dallas on Nov. 29. When Favre got knocked out of the game, Rodgers came in and completed 18 of 26 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown, nearly rallying the Packers to victory on the road.

“The touchdown I threw was exactly what we saw on film, the exact defense we were expecting,” Rodgers said. “It was the exact play call we talked about during the week, the play I had seen on film on Tuesday. I said, ‘I hope we get this look during the game.’ And sure of enough we’re on the 8-yard line and they give us that look and I hit Greg (Jennings) and he scores.”

As the season begins, there should be many more opportunities like that one. Rodgers carries with him a Harvard degree in quarterbacking, the kind only a few have the luxury of obtaining. Rodgers won’t outwardly resemble the quarterback Favre was, but there will be subtle similarities that coaches and teammates will recognize.

Indeed, that Cowboys game was the first convincing performance we ever saw from Aaron Rodgers. Unlike his other two ugly debuts, he played beautifully. And now we know why. He studied his ass off. He’s learned to play the pro game.

Synthesis

People have been pissed about the way the Favre retirement was handled, but as far as I can see, Thompson and McCarthy won at the lowest probable cost. They had what they really needed from Favre—time for Rodgers to grow. My instinct was that TT was never going to ask Favre to leave. But the minute he was out the door, there was no way he was going to prevent the installation of his new centerpiece. Think of the lost investment they’d placed in their first round draft pick. They needed this break. Favre is simply too old to build a new team around.

But they’ve treated Favre with kid gloves the entire way. They were deeply aware that the break would have to come at some time and they definitely wanted Favre to initiate it. Once he had crossed to the other side, they promptly closed the door. Management preferred that he stay retired than to return, but if he were to return, they clearly needed to trade him. They managed to trade him to the best possible team that they were unlikely to meet. From the PR perspective, it was a triumph. If the Packers have a good season this year, the bitter fan feelings will fade. Thompson and McCarthy will have won control of their team.

It’s not that they didn’t think Favre was good. Hell, they knew he was good. It was that they stood to lose Rodgers. Rodgers was their last, best chance to have a durable quarterback for the long-haul. Rodgers contract extends to the end of the 2009 season. At that point, they’d lose him and everything they invested in him to some other team who picks up the next hot QB for cheap. They wind up training someone new, who may not be as fine an athlete and who will need a few years to hit his stride. By that time, they may start losing larger parts of the team to free agency. Kirk said it first, and I think he’s right (and should write a fucking football blog, damn it)—the team as a whole would never peak because the quarterback lag would hold the rest of the team back as they reached their peak. When the new QB started to get good, they would be trying to repair the cracks in the rest of the team.

Favre’s extraordinary talent is an article of faith for many. It has been for me. I was a believer back in the aftermath of the 2005 season when lots of people called him a washed-up has-been. And I didn’t even like him very much then, even though I wore his shirt all the time because he was a god and the legendary quarterback of my beloved Green Bay Packers. But Favre, physical god that he still is, is going to retire soon. In my opinion the bottom line is, if you are really a Packers fan, we needed for Favre to leave before they lost Rodgers. In my opinion, management made the correct decision.

Is this ingratitude? Certainly there are many who will argue this, especially those who worship exceptional athletic talent. I have previously argued strongly on this position. I do believe football players should be paid millions of dollars because exceptional athletic talent is far rarer than exceptional business talent. Moreover, it is obscene to me that the bodies of these men should be destroyed to enrich the pockets of others.

That said, I don’t think that Brett Favre has the right to hold back the whole team’s development. I believe the Packers’ rhetoric when they claim that they were okay with him reversing his retirement when he talked about it last spring, But June is too late. The train has already left the station.

It was really clear that Favre wanted to be talked out of retiring. His response was like that of the hurt prima donna. But that drama could be re-enacted on a yearly basis. The bottom line is Favre isn’t going to be a quarterback in this league three years from now. He’s going out. Management had to think of the transition. After that Cowboys game, the Packers weren’t going to try to talk him out of retiring. If he came back, they’d welcome him. There was one more year on Rodgers contract and firing Favre would he a PR disaster. They could afford one more year. But they really wanted Favre to retire. Rodgers was ready to start. And indeed, one has to imagine that they really were ready to have full control of their team again, and that includes a quarterback that they can force to go to quarterback school and who will lose weight on command (although I point out immediately that Favre has been coming to camp leaner and more fit every year—no one can fault him on that count).

Is this a bad deal for football? Actually, I think it’s a great deal for football. Favre was increasingly a bad match for the Packers, because the Packers have been rebuilding and, at this juncture, they need to install the new QB if the rebuild is to have longevity. In contrast, the Jets, while improving their offense, really aren’t engaged in a rebuilding process. They’re simply trying to upgrade the existing team. There’s no reason to think of their approach in that same “investment” framework. They aren’t thinking of the long-term. They seem to just care about winning this year. They didn’t really have any good QB options. Favre, in contrast, will this year remain among the strongest QBs in the league. Moreover, he will rally their fan base and increase merchandising sales. This is a total no-brainer for the Jets. While I’m not a Jets fan per se, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for them. Certainly, I like them way better than the Giants. Moreover, and most importantly, Favre will still play football. It’s definitely in the interest of the sport as a whole that Favre play as long as he’s able.

Reflection

When this drama began, I overreacted. I was pissed off at Favre because I wanted him to be a personal hero. Seeing him come back last year really helped me as I’ve tried to pull myself back together and learn how to be a researcher again. I wanted him to be noble. Instead, he was a prima donna. But I forgot that I never wore Favre’s shirt because he was a personal hero. I wore it because, not only was he our quarterback, but he was our legendary quarterback. That’ll never change. Sure, no doubt, he isn’t alone. In fact, Bart Starr is a hero to me in many ways that Favre could never be. But I can’t cancel what Favre has meant to me.

Favre was deeply human in the ways we like to forget when we contemplate the ways that human beings can approach perfection. His perfection as an athlete engaged in the game is not the same as is his perfection as a sportman in the sense of the best sportsmanship. Favre did what he did because he combined talent with a love of the game. How many Sundays did he make magic for me and every other Packers fan?

I wore his shirt yesterday, and I’ll probably keep wearing his shirt. Because personal hero or no, I’ll never forget the magic he made every Sunday. I came of age wearing Brett Favre’s jersey. I won’t take it off now.

Retiring My Favre Jerseys

I’m getting so fuckin’ tired of the drama surrounding Brett Favre. Yes, Favre has always been high on the drug called Brett Favre’s career. Who could blame him? God knows I’ve been high on Favre’s career for years. But enough is fucking enough! The golden age has ended! The guy retired and then waffled his way through an off-season in which the Packers would have rolled out the red carpet for him again. July is just a little late in the year to decide that you want to play football again.

A lot of people feel that the Pack has fucked up by not re-instating him. This passage is from an editorial by Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal:

Actually, the Packers missed out on the best-case scenario. They should have accepted Favre back as the starter, but made it known that he had forfeited any leverage he had accumulated as the face of the franchise for 16 years.

They should have told him he could be replaced at any time by Rodgers -- after a poor half, a poor game or several poor games. They should have told him his consecutive games streak would be no factor in whether he keeps the job. They should have told him that, like the other 52 players, his input was no longer welcome on personnel moves.

Had the Packers done that, they would have kept the quarterback who gives them the best chance to win this season. Some don't agree with that, though they apparently have forgotten the NFL is a win-now league, that Favre has won 18 of his last 22 games and that he used his vast experience to successfully alter play after play at the line of scrimmage last season. The Packers could have kept the inexperienced Rodgers interested and involved by letting him know Favre was on a short leash.

The second-best option is the one the Packers apparently are pursuing and that is to trade Favre to a galaxy far, far away. The Jets make more sense than the Buccaneers because the Jets are in the AFC and the Packers don't play them during the regular season. Getting something in return for Favre going away quietly is probably the best the Packers can do at this point.

I really couldn’t disagree more. My view is that it’s time to figure out if we have a future without Brett Favre. QB is one of the hardest positions to train. Right now, we’ve invested three years in Aaron Rodgers. Oates is wrong. If Rodgers doesn’t start next year, he’s going to look for a new job when he becomes a free agent in 2009. It’s as simple as that. He wants the chance to play. Would Favre be around for the 2009 season? Probably not—he almost retired for this one. This basically means that we would start in 2009 with no one at all for quarterback.

Yes, I hear all the complaints that Rodgers may be injury prone. Yeah, I was as pissed off as everyone else when Rodgers made his back-up debut on a broken foot. But let’s get real—we have an n of exactly three games here, with exactly zero as the starter. We don’t know what Rodgers is capable of. The only real indicator we have is the confidence of Ted Thompson.

Well, how reliable is Ted Thompson? During the 2005 season, the Packers has a 4-12 season. Thompson canned Mike Sherman and hired Mike McCarthy. Next season, the Pack went 8-8. In 2007, we were 13-3. We went from sucking shit to playing in the NFC Championship game in three years. So yeah, I’m willing to give Thompson the benefit of the doubt. I’ll roll the dice on Aaron Rodgers. I’d rather see him start this year than Favre, not because I think Rodgers gives us the best chance of winning this year, but because I would like to see us keep on winning for the next several seasons.

I’m retiring my Favre jerseys. No more prima donna QBs for me. The guy needs to get real, retire with dignity and become a football news anchor. He’d be fucking amazing at the job. Being the QB of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is beneath the guy. But that’s the direction in which I see him headed.

Favre Retired

Wow. I’m blown away. It finally happened. Brett Favre retired. It’s the end of an era. First Yzerman and now Favre. My life as a sports fan will never be the same.

Strategic Epiphany

Okay, I think I’m beginning to see a new level to learning to prepare applications again. My problem has been that I am focused on preparing a successful round. I want to get out about 6-8 applications, because the more shots you take, the better your success rate is likely to be. That’s stupid.

I have been aware of two immediate problems: First, my new learning speed has been compromised by the disease. I don’t calculate permutations nearly as quickly and as effectively as I used to. I used to subconsciously make the calculations in my head. Well, my short term recall deficit prevents me from making effective decision trees in my head. The only way I can deal now is to physically make a decision tree so that I don’t have to try to keep the diagram in my head while I think about it.

Second, all human beings make decisions on the basis of emotion, not reason. What a rational process is supposed to do is help you figure out which conflicting emotion to suppress. Reason (going step by step through the decision tree) doesn’t make the decision for us, even if those of us who can deploy this strategy quickly feel as if it does. Reasoned analysis simply changes how you feel about the decision you are making in a useful way. But if I feel very strongly about the wrong decision, I can’t suppress the need to decide that way anymore, because I can’t suppress strong emotions outright anymore. Going through the decision tree, even if it’s written down, isn’t necessarily helpful because I can’t suppress strong rival emotions effectively. I make bad decisions and I know they are bad decisions, but often, until the emotional dilemma is resolved somehow, I still make the bad decision knowing the decision is bad because I can’t help myself.

This morning, I am aware of a third problem. My systematic problem is often not my conscious feelings. It’s the underlying identity-forming assumptions that I adopted at, say, the age of twelve or sixteen that are fucking me up so badly. I need to discard core parts of my identity (again!). The truth is that I’ve always hated incrementalism. Always. I mean what can be more insipid than crawling at a slow and steady pace? What could be less satisfying? What could better represent the rankly inferior? I can’t think of any aesthetic way of living that isn’t fundamentally immoral that I have despised more. It all goes back to that stupid story of the tortoise or the hare. I’ve never bought it’s idiotic moral—steady by slow wins the race. Indeed, it’s a stupid moral. Steady but slow may help you finish the race, but you’re going to lose the race to steady but fast every fucking time! Let’s get real. It’s not a dominant strategy.

Well, I am slow now. Indeed, I saw a cognitive therapist named Annette Coangelo and she, very brilliantly made two points absolutely clear to me. The first is that I still have extraordinary abilities and can pretty much still do everything I used to be able to. The second is that I am going to do everything that I used to do far more slowly than I used to. I can make any journey. I’m just never going to win the race. Many years ago, my friend Faedah Totah gave me the text of a poem by Cavafy called “Ithaca.” I’ve always loved the poem, but this morning, I’m thinking more clearly than usual, and its point has been driven home to me clearly. The journey is meant to be savored and one cannot savor something quickly. A journey is not the same thing as a race and God means for me to take a journey, not run a race. God has reason in the lessons he has given me. As much as I’ve hated the course, what I’ve learned has been worth the suffering. Not every course can be fun. Life takes discipline and discipline is rarely fun. Not until you’ve mastered the discipline, anyway. Then it can get really fun, because you get the job done.

I still have a problem, however. Winning the race was one of the things that made it possible for me to provide the steady performance in the journey. I loved beating the other guy (get your mind out of the gutter, that wasn’t what I was talking about, even if your smutty insinuation is completely true). I also loved the fast aspect of my steady but fast strategy. I got off on watching what I was building grow before my very eyes. It kept me motivated. The most dejecting thing about the MS experience has been living through failure after failure as I keep fucking things up.

Which brings us to the point of the whole post. I need to learn from Ted Thompson. Two years ago, the Packers went 4-12. We started the next season by losing 26-0 to the Bears. We were rebuilding. Rebuilding hurts. Well, in a lot of ways I’m rebuilding, but I haven’t realized it. To be honest, I’ve responded a lot like Brett Favre has over the past two years. I’ve completely freaked out about the loss of identity involved in my brain damage, and ever since, because I can’t live with losing, I’ve been throwing stupid interceptions. My ability to organize has been seriously compromised, just as the Packers offensive line was seriously compromised in 2005 when Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle left the Packers offensive line. Mike Flanagan but it bluntly when he said that you can’t replace guys like that. You just move on. You don’t fix the old system. You abandon it and rebuild. And rebuilding hurts. Rebuilding means losing 26-0 to the Bears but, maybe, if you’re doing it right, going 8-8 for the season. Sure, it’s nothing to write home about, but it’s better than losing 4-12 for the season and it’s the trend that matters.

I’m currently organizing my second upper-division course. What I’ve noticed is that it is much easier than organizing the first upper-division course was. When it comes to organization, I don’t have much forward vision anymore. It’s frustrating that I don’t seem to anticipate what my problems will be the way that I used to, nor do I adapt as quickly as I used to. I learn more from hindsight now than I do from foresight. That hurts. Marx said of the revolutionary of the 19^th century:

On the other hand, proletarian revolutions, like those of the nineteenth century, criticize themselves constantly, interrupt themselves continually in their own course, come back to the apparently accomplished in order to begin it afresh, deride with unmerciful thoroughness the inadequacies, weaknesses and paltriness of their first attempts, seem to throw down their adversary only in order that he may draw new strength from the earth and rise again, more gigantic before them, and recoil again and again from the indefinite prodigiousness of their own aims, until a situation has been created which makes all turning back impossible, and the contradictions themselves cry out:

Hic Rhodus, hic salta
Hier ist die Rose, hier tanze!

I’ve always wanted work to feel like that. And it did! Yeah, true, I may have often wound up much more often like the revolutionary of the eighteenth century—

Bourgeois revolutions, like those of the eighteenth century, storm swiftly from success to success, their dramatic effects outdo each other, men and things seem set in sparkling brilliants, ecstasy is the everyday spirit, but they are short-lived. Soon they have attained their zenith, and a long crapulent depression seizes society before it learns soberly to assimilate the results of its storm-and-stress period.

—but what the fuck did I care? I loved working because working was a charismatic high and I loved being high on work. It was better than any chemical. If I had to weather a hangover in the morning, so what? I’d partied all night and that was all I cared about. I had the stamina for it back then. It was a fun lifestyle. I liked living that way and I liked myself for the life I lead. There’s a reason this has hurt so much.

Well, building a football team isn’t like that. Sure it takes passion. But it also takes perspective. It takes patience and quiet work in the face of all the bullshit that everyone is throwing at you. Ted Thompson hasn’t given a shit about what anyone has said about his strategy. He doesn’t run around justifying himself to people. People get pissy and ask why he didn’t pick up any new offensive players over the off-season and he replies, “Yeah, kinda strange that I didn’t do that, isn’t it? It’s not my usual approach.” Favre throws a hissy fit, and Thompson just quietly papers over the glaring breach. Last week, when asked about the failed trade, Favre said

Favre said. “I think Randy’s doing what I thought he would do. I mean, I’m not surprised. They throw it up to him in triple coverage and he catches it. I mean, he’s done that I don’t know how many times against us. Could he be doing that for us? Sure he could.

“But what our guys are doing is outstanding. A different style of play, but outstanding. What we ask our guys to do, we probably wouldn’t ask Randy to do and vice-versa. But we’re having a lot of success here right now, we hope it continues, and a big part of that is because of our receivers.”

This is a different style of play for me. It will have to lack dramatic effects and sparkling brilliants. I have to learn slowly now. So I’ll do the application that matters the most this term and realize there will be a lot of emotional stuff I’ll have to cope with. I’ll learn from that. As I start getting the hang of it, I’ll be able to add more on. I’ll get a feel and a rhythm for the work again and I’ll eventually learn how to do rounds of applications, just as I learned how to design a course. Yeah, it will probably be a losing season. But I’ve got to suck before I get better, because I’m learning this from scratch. I can’t replace the skills that were integral to the old system. I need to learn a new system. Rebuilding hurts, but I can do this.

But not tonight. Tonight is the Packers-Cowboys game. I couldn’t be more pumped.

The Week in Review

Dave’s Been Awarded a Purple Heart

The latest breaking news is that my friend Dave Huntoon has been injured in combat and has been awarded a Purple Heart. Here’s his report:

My injuries are as follows: Two shrapnel wounds to my right rear flank. One piece of shrapnel is deep near my hip, and too small and deep for remove. One piece of shrapnel removed from my back tricep, straight through the arm. One piece of shrapnel that went in my back right shoulder and next to my lung, also too deep and small to remove. I guess I wasn't a pansy, and my doubts were wrong...every medical professional was absolutely right to get me out quickly, and knew something might be bad. My lung was bruised as well.

My body armor had saved my life (I still want to see what it looks like), and the shrapnel had only managed to penetrate me in the gap where my arm came out of the armor.

I’m deeply grateful that he’s alive and that the wounds are not serious. I’m very deeply aware that this happy result is by no means guaranteed. George Bush, meanwhile, is meditating on his post-presidency. Here’s a blurb right out of the Guardian:

“I can just envision getting in the car, getting bored, going down to the ranch,” he says. He also has big plans for making money. “I’ll give some speeches, to replenish the ol’ coffers,” says Mr Bush, who is already estimated to be worth $20m. “I don’t know what my dad gets - it’s more than 50-75 [thousand dollars a speech], and “Clinton’s making a lot of money”.

Swell guy, ain’t he? Bush, “feet up on his desk, munching on low-fat hotdogs, tells Draper of the loneliness of the US commander-in-chief.” What noble sacrifices our president makes on our behalf. How can I emulate such a worthy role-model? I know! I'll play more Civ!

Back in Civ World

My 1956 victory over China has left me in quite a bind. That bind goes by the name of Babylon. No, I’m not talking about the gay nightclub in Queer as Folk or the Texas town of phantom miners in Carnivale. I’m talking about the Babylonians, ruled by Hammurabi, depicted above in his striking post-modern attire. Usually, the Babylonians are no problem at all. They tend toward perfectionistic development and, as a result, lack a powerful military and can easily be annexed. But, if they are far enough away that I can’t deal with them early on and if they don’t have many hostile neighbors, then they can grow to be an economic and technological powerhouse with the military to match. They went nuclear in the mid-‘70s. It’s 1992, now and I’m just learning the secrets of fission. I’ve spent most of my time since the China war retooling my military to keep me from being vulnerable and trying to drag my new Chinese provinces out of the medieval age.

My situation is further complicated by Babylon’s recent completion of the United Nations. Whenever Hammurabi feels like it, he can call an election for Secretary General. Now, I’ve never broken a treaty and have sold lots of luxuries to the little AI nations. Knowing this, the minute the UN was completed, I started making gifts to everyone, including the remnants of China. So far, Hammurabi hasn’t called an election. My guess is the AI’s strategy is to go for a space race victory.

My northern ex-Zulu provinces are nearly industrialized now. The completion of my Forbidden Palace at Jugular Thrust Big Bear has guaranteed a highly productive north. I am fortunate that both the Chinese mainland—

—and the oilfields of New Beijing—

—are relatively near both of these capital cities, making possible, eventually, a moderate decline in their corruption. I don’t know how much that can really pay off in real terms, however. In fact, at the present, in an empire of 72 provinces, I am losing only 537 gold pieces a turn to corruption, out of a total income of 2,629 gold pieces a turn. Shockingly, a corruption rate of some twenty percent is actually negligible by Civ standards. In contrast, some 47 percent of all revenues are being funneled into research. I divert some 70 percent of actual tax revenues to research, paying for things like my military “off-budget” by selling luxuries to the decadent AI players. My little luxury tax on the AI pays out nearly 70% of the cost of my military, which is the second most powerful on the planet. I routinely deny such pricey exports to my own whiny people. Such pampering just makes them weak. Work and war are the only true salvation. Pass the low-fat hot dogs, please.

So, bearing all this in mind, do I annex Egypt? It’s a small, but choice territory and that bitch Cleopatra can get on my nerves with her laughable invasion attempts. It’s like dealing with pesky mosquitoes. Perhaps it’s time to demonstrate how to really invade someone else’s empire to her. It would be great fun to tutor her in war. On the other hand, the may make me unpopular enough to swing a UN vote to Hammurabi’s side. The Chinese already despise me and still, laughably, get to have a vote. I can’t be sure of the Vikings, but the Americans rather like me. Moreover, Hammurabi may be building spaceships while I fight. Egypt is too small to get me up to the 70% of the world I’d need to gain a domination victory. I don’t think I’d have time to conquer more in time for the end of the game.

On the other hand, I can make a last minute push for technology. The mainland has several fully industrialized cities. I can begin to divert their productive power to generating new revenues, which could allow me to increase my research prowess significantly. Perhaps I’m not too far behind Babylon to win the space race. That solution sounds to have a better chance of victory, but has none of the panache of annexing Egypt. If I’ve already lost the game to Babylon, shouldn’t I at least have the satisfaction of this brilliant new war? If I must lose, shouldn’t I lose with classic neo-conservative panache? Think of all the artificial men and women who can die at my whim. I need to get some low-fat hot dogs, damn it. How better to relish the loneliness of being emperor?

Football’s Back!

The Pack won yesterday, although it was a really ugly win that highlighted the fact that we have no offense. Our leading scorer this season is Mason Crosby, our new kicker. Ted Thompson, the Packers general manager did absolutely nothing to bolster the offense this season. Nothing, nada, the big zero. All evidence suggests that we’re going to suck this year. It’s kind of hard to make do without a running back.

So why doesn’t Ted Thompson give a shit about the offense? My theory is that he wants Brett Favre to go away. Some of you may recall Kirk’s analysis back in February of the Packers’ rebuilding situation. To quickly summarize his point: The Packers offense has much potential but needs about three years, after which it might well be a contender. Favre, in contrast, is declining and is going to continue to decline. Favre can’t run that show, because he’ll have delined too far when the team has peaked. But how much less will it be worthwhile to have a rookie Aaron Rodgers calling the shots three years from now? QB is among the hardest positions to learn. Rodgers needs experience now to be ready then. From Thompson’s viewpoint, Favre needs to get out and Rodgers needs to go in, or the Packers will have to acquire a QB via free agency. That will be pricey and Thompson isn’t really in the mood to shell out for talent. He seems pretty committed to growing it at home.

So Thompson wants Favre to retire. Problem: he can’t say so. Why? Because Thompson plans to keep on living in the state of Wisconsin. Everyone loves Favre in Wisconsin. So far, precious few love Ted Thompson. So Thompson can’t fire Favre. Indeed, firing Favre before Favre wiped Dan Marino’s name off the record books would be monstrously unjust in anyone’s eyes. So what does he do? He ignores the offense until Favre gets the picture and gets out of the picture on his own. We’ve all seen how well that’s been going. But I bet Favre retires at the end of this year. This year, maybe when Vernand Morency comes back, things might pick up a little. Maybe we don’t suck as badly as last season. I mean, we didn’t lose to the Bears 26-0 as our season opener this year. But the Packers will not trade for a running back, at least not until Favre retires.

See, Dinur? Ted Thompson is your hero. And George Bush the Younger is mine.

Not that I’m bitter about any of this, mind you. 'Cause we all know that I'm the paradigmatic example of detachment. I wonder if we have any low-fat hot dogs in the fridge?

Magic Doors

Kirk sent me a really good letter a few days ago in response to some of the stuff I blather on about here. His letter has really set me thinking. There were a lot of very personal parts that, obviously, he wouldn’t appreciate me reprinting here, but I’m rather hoping he won’t mind me reprinting the more philosophical parts. It’s really good stuff.

> It’s funny. I don’t miss sexual innocence at all. I miss
> being able to dream without thinking about what dreams cost.

I totally understand this. I certainly don't miss sexual innocence but then again I lost my virginity in high school, which seems like a long, long time ago so I barely remember the innocence at all. I think the dreaming part coincides with the idea I mentioned above about how I just don't have anything to talk about any more. When we were younger we could talk all day because much of what we talked about involved our dreams. When you have what looks like an entire unknown future ahead of you there is a lot to think of, ponder over and dream about. It seems once you get into your 30's, especially your mid-30's, your future starts to shrink and become somewhat known, or at least predictable. All of a sudden you are making 10-year, 20-year, 30-year commitments with student loan payments, mortgages, 401(k) plans, new cars or other expensive toys. You start saving long-term, planning a family and raising children. There is no more dreaming because you now know what the future holds in store for you. Sure, life is unpredictable and you may wildly go off on some tangent, but for the most part you start to see the most likely path you will follow and your future becomes mapped out. In many ways this sucks, but there are some positives. Life is generally more stable, you will generally have the means to actually realize some of your dreams from your 20's, you begin to develop new dreams that actually are attainable. I would imagine one of the best of all positives is the satisfaction from raising children. I certainly miss the innocence but I am definitely enjoying this next stage in my life.

Wow. You really nailed that, brother. It’s harder to talk because we’re plugging away at making dreams a reality and not dreaming anymore. That perfectly defines the moment when youth ends and middle age begins. You can tell by the pattern of the conversation. When I was young, I hated routine. I hated it because the repeating pattern wasn’t my own. It took me from my dreams and chained me to a reality I found hateful. I began to develop a passion for work when childhood ended and youth began, when I started being able to shape work toward my own dreams. I started to love work. But it’s one thing to throw yourself into work with passion. It’s another to actually learn to work with skill. It’s so goddamned hard to build something worthwhile, to make a dream come true. The struggle to learn how to do that under the constraints of my illness has broken my youth. I am a man now. The word “man” now means something different. It means being someone who builds patiently—a slow boring of hard boards. It takes passion and perspective. A young man has passion. The point of middle age is to temper it with perspective.

I thought that the reason I can’t see into the dream world anymore is because I now know what dreams cost. I was passionate when I was young, but I lacked perspective. I’d do anything to make my dream into reality. I now know just how deep that anything can run. And while I believe that if I knew what my dream would cost me when I started, I’d still probably have followed it anyway (God help me), I now know that I have limits. I won’t do just anything. There is a point where I will give up the quest.

I don’t think I could have said it before you wrote me, but I realize that I believed that the reason I no longer see into the dream world is because I had lost that purity of intention, that willingness to sacrifice everything. That’s a boy’s fear. The answer is simpler. I can no longer see into the dream world because I am no longer searching for a dream. I found my dream. I’m not looking anymore.

I have to believe that when the day comes to gaze into the dream world again, that, even knowing what dreams can cost, I will have the courage to dream again and walk through that magic door. And, Kirk, I think I trust myself that much. Maybe learning to do that is the whole point of growing up.

I like Brett Favre coming back because he is entertaining, but I have my doubts about how well this affects the Packers long-term. Favre is obviously a fading (some would say already faded) athlete surrounded by some very promising young talent. He is a very, very average QB statistically which is sad because of how spectacular he was ten years ago. I believe he threw for 18 TD's and 18 interceptions last year, which is pretty bad in an era in which a QB is expected to throw twice as many touchdowns as interceptions. In the 80's and early 90's throwing 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions was considered a good year, nowadays a good year would be 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. At the very least you want your QB to throw 20-25 touchdowns and 10-12 interceptions.

Beyond his statistics, think about this logically. Quarterback is probably the toughest position to learn for an incoming rookie. The Packers have some good young talent on the offensive line and in parts of the defense. They need a running back and some receivers but they definitely have a solid young base to work with. As long as the team continues to draft well they could be a contender in a few years. By that time, however, Favre will be eligible for social security and given his decline in effectiveness over the last 3 years or so you can expect him to be pretty bad. What you really want is to find a younger quarterback now and have him develop along with the team so they all peak at the same time. What you don't want is a team where the quarterback is on his last legs while the rest of the team is peaking. What you also don't want is a brand new rookie quarterback when the rest of the team is peaking. That's a recipe for disaster! The Chargers went through a somewhat similar situation this year - a brand new quarterback surrounding by a team full of talent just reaching its peak. Fortunately for the team, however, the new quarterback turned out to be pretty solid. This is the exception, however, as most first-year quarterbacks struggle to reach the "sucky" effectiveness level. I think the best idea long-term for the Packers is for Favre to retire and allow the team to bring in a younger quarterback who will be around 5-10 years.

The one other solution is to keep Favre until body limbs start to fall off, then bring in a proven veteran via free agency. This option is rather expensive, however, and may cause the team to dump some of its talent simply to fit under the salary cap. This could work, though. Still, I think the best long-term solution is to get an effective young QB to take over and allow Favre to ride into the sunset as soon as possible.

And writing like that is why I keep getting on Kirk’s case to start a football blog. He’s an excellent analyst. Normally, I’d dig in and fight, pull up some numbers, discuss scenarios, do the routine. I mean, the gauntlet’s been thrown. But this blog began nearly a year ago with a long letter defending Brett Favre to Kirk Anthony. Fuck it, anyone who wants to can read that again. I won’t write the same letter twice.

Truth is, Kirk, I could give a flying fuck if Favre retiring is the best thing ever for the Packers. I need to see Brett Favre lead the Packers to a victorious season one last time. I’ve worn his shirt for nearly ten years now, but I didn’t wear it because he was a hero. I wore it because he was the all-powerful quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. He was our boy. And he was damned good. And he won, game after game. Two years ago, that ground to a halt and he had to look at his illusions and what meant something in life. I got a lot of ribbing when Favre cried during that interview after we beat the Bears, but in my opinion, that was one of the most important moments in his career. Favre finally appreciated what he’d had.

In 1998, I reached the acme of my strength. By 1999, I was broken. I lost in every single way I can imagine. Quarterbacks hit old age early because of the demands of the sport. It’s rough to reach the acme of your power in your twenties and then have the rest of your life as an epilogue. I got sick. I know what it’s like for your life to be over and to have to build a completely new life in your mid-thirties with way lower expectations. Favre will be in the Hall of Fame and will wipe Dan Marino’s name off most of his records next year. I’ll never do the equivalent. I’ll be lucky if I get a tenure track job somewhere.

I’d like to see Favre do it one more time. For me, who’ll be an eighth year grad student. I need to see him do it with you and everyone else ragging on him. No one says anything to me, but I know how it looks. Seeing him win again would help me believe I can make it.

Kirk was surprised I watched Fight Club. I’ll write about that next time.

We Beat the Fuckin’ Bears (and That's What Counts)

Now and then you need something that’s good for your soul. And on New Year’s Eve, we beat the fuckin’ Bears. That was good for my soul. I watched the game on my brother-in-law’s 42-inch TV screen. He’s got a pretty cool sound system hooked up to it. The Pack dominated the game. Rex Grossman, that limp-dicked loser, got pulled and Brian Griese threw the Bears’ only touchdown. The Packers offense came alive. Donald Driver hoisted Brett Favre—a moment that perhaps defines our season, as the Packers are becoming a real team again. And Favre cried in the interview at the end. I hope he comes back, but you know, I’m okay with it if he doesn’t. And it's not that I won't miss him.

It’s funny. For the first time I feel like the bastard is grateful for having been Brett Favre. He’s beginning to be likeable to me as a person. Yeah, I’ve worn his jersey for years. He’s Brett Favre, after all—legendary quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. I admit it. I’m in awe of him. But he’s been an asshole for a lot of his life. For the first time, he appreciated what he had. It did my heart some good. At least, if he retires, he sees clearly what he’s taken for granted and can be grateful before it’s over. He’s only a year older than me. Maybe, just maybe, he's begun to learn what football has to teach him about life. And if he has, then it hasn't been a waste and it was good that he came back. Because life is more important than football.

I’ve been dealing with something of a personal crisis over the past two weeks. That particular Arab-Israeli class was one of the hardest classes I’ve ever taught. You see, the evals weren’t good by my standards. I mean, I got an average of 4.1 out of 5 points on all the indicators—the numbers were fine. The statistical breakdown made it fairly clear that there were only one or two students who really hated my guts. That’s certainly acceptable—my guts are not there for them to love. But, basically, the general consensus on all the written eval sheets was “This class is really interesting, but it’s too damned hard.” That evoked a great deal of bitterness in me. I did tell them after all, that the course was hard. It’s the Arab-Israeli Conflict. There’s nothing easy about it. That said, their course mean was strikingly normal. The class clearly wasn’t too hard for them to handle. It was simply harder than they wished to work. And between their complaints and their numerous personal problems, they drained the soul out of me. That left me resentful, because they didn’t match my commitment to them. They just whined and bitched and killed any affection I had for them.

Of course, Craig would say to me (and he’s right) that I have to match their level of commitment. One cannot expect them to match mine. Jamie Mayerfeld once gently reminded me, “Talal, this is the most important thing in our lives, not the most important thing in theirs.” And he’s right. My emotional response to this course is a direct result of a failure in discipline on my part. My guts are not there for them to love. I try to leave them with the joy that can only be found in a genuine encounter with knowledge. But ultimately, Plato is right that education is about turning a person in the right direction and praying that they see what they need. I’m better at it than most, but at the end of the day, it's they who have to see, not me. More than just my will is at work in this process. And, ultimately, and what’s more to the point, whether they like me is not is not material. I can’t be hurt because we didn’t connect. It’s great when it happens (and has happened often enough that I know that I don’t suck at this), but ultimately my guts are not here for them to love.

Like Favre, I have a deeply rooted need to believe that I can be the difference maker. The last two seasons have taught Favre that football is a team effort. Now don't get me wrong—Favre was never the sort of asshole that Terrell Owens or Randy Moss are—Favre’s a genuine leader. He doesn’t have delusions that he doesn’t need the team. But he used to believe that no matter what went wrong, he could always make the difference. The past two years have been a sharp lesson to him that for a man to be Brett Favre, you need more than raw talent and discipline. You need a supporting cast. Yeah, Favre has made the difference for the Packers for a whole decade. But there are no-win scenarios. And some seasons, you can’t win for losing. Yes, I made errors last term. But ultimately, if any class makes it to the next level, it relies on more than my will and skill. I worked goddamned hard last term. But that isn't enough. They’ve got to want to go there. And now and then, you get a bunch that just aren’t that interested in working that hard, just like sometimes, you’re rebuilding.

I need to remember the victory over the Bears. Even in a lackluster season, there are golden moments. And there were golden moments in that class. I’ve got to remember my love of the game. Favre seems to have learned to be grateful for being Brett Favre. I need to remember to be grateful for being me. I’m a pretty lucky bastard. I get to teach stuff like the Arab-Israeli conflict for a living. And I need to get the head straight about that last course. Life is a slow boring of hard boards. I can’t lose my passion or my sense of perspective.

A Defense of Brett Favre

I wrote this to my friend Kirk a few days before Christmas:

I don't know about Dudley's article on Favre. The only thing that I agree about is that I really think he should have retired last year. It might have done him some personal good. It's hard for me to love Favre. He's always been something of an asshole. I've worn his jersey for years, because fuck it, he's the star quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, and he's a fucking god. I think dealing with his father and brother-in-law's death, his wife's sickness and his hometown being leveled have done a lot to humanize him. The season has sucked, and believe it or not, I actually feel bad for him on a personal level, and not just for myself because my team sucks. I'd rather he retired last year and and everyone blamed Aaron Rodgers for the big suck.

So yes, we come to the point. The Packers would have sucked this year without Favre and I don't think Favre's the reason our season's sucked. I'm not just being a queer little fanboy. I think you'll recall that I've been very hard on Favre in the past and have often whined and bitched about the game slipping away due to his cockiness. I whined and bitched about it when he was football god and the galaxy went our way and we had winning seasons every year. I've bitched about it since we lost the goddamned Superbowl to the Denver Motherfucking Broncos (to whom, after years of therapy, I am now able to refer by name, rather than choking out "That Team From Colorado"). I call on you to witness that. Just as everyone was willing to shield Favre from criticism when he was winning, so I argue that your John Dudley is ready to lay it on like peanut butter on toast, because there's nothing the media likes better than to frenzy like sharks when someone famous is bleeding. That's one way that sports, politics and Hollywood are covered in the same way.

Let's look at the facts of his career and the structure of this year's Green Bay Packers team. First, Favre has always thrown a somewhat high number of interceptions. I have the stats for 22 QBs in my draft spreadsheet. Averaging their career averages is admittedly not the cleanest statistical move, but I don't have time to do anything more sophisticated at the moment. I should be working on my prospectus rather than self-indulgently writing football letters. But damn it, you can talk such a wonderful amount of shit about football, whereas with politics, because real lives are in the balance, it just hurts too much. I miss that sort of bar-room banter with my buddies. That's been really the only way in which marriage has been a little hard. I don't get to have as much non-sexual male bonding.

Anyway, that admittedly lackluster stats move suggests that the average competitive QB (I tracked the careers of last year's top 30) throws 10 interceptions a year. Favre throws an average of 16. So he's higher than average. Moreover, in his career and has only thrown fewer than 12 in one year: his first with Atlanta. Four years in his career he's thrown over 20. But is that a problem? Not if you throw way many more touchdowns. Doing that same, admittedly poor stats move of taking the average of the averages has our average QB throwing 14 TDs a year. Brett Favre's career average is 27 TDs. Peyton Manning, by the way, has somewhat higher average for interceptions and TDs: 17 and 31 respectively. My theory is that a great quarterback is simply a QB who can maintain pass accuracy while making more attempts. I didn't take career averages on attempts per season for each player when I was preparing for my second abortive fantasy season (I lasted longer this time, though! I'm not a COMPLETE limp-dicked loser. If I can do a little better each year, I might get to finish a season by the time I graduate), but both are on the higher end of the spectrum for 500+ attempts. After all, everyone decent has a rating in the 60s. It's a matter of if you can increase your attempts and maintain that level of accuracy. The good ones can.

There's the rub. Passers don't have unlimited control over their accuracy. Receivers are involved. This is a problem for the Green Bay Packers because WE HAVE NONE. Donald Driver (whose potential, you recall I heralded when he was just a benchwarmer) is good, but he does not an offense make. Receivers are not like the Highlander--there must be more than one. Javon Walker practically died in the first game of the season. Run the ball, you say. There are, after all, other options for scoring in football. Well, fuckin' A, we don't have any running backs either. Ahman Green went out at the start of the season, and between you and me, he's not as young as he used to be. Najeh Davenport went out. Goddamnit, even Gado, our Nigerian Miracle Worker who was doing such an awesome job of just popping out of a clump of defensive players like a young Ahman Green, got injured on Monday night. THERE'S NOBODY LEFT.

What is the cause of this? Well, we started the season with a gaping hole in our offensive line. We lost both Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle to free agency. Sadly, the line has improved a little over the season, but not before we lost two of our top RBs and one wide receiver to injuries. The damage was done. Now this is the heart of the problem. Well, unlike hockey, football is a sport that creates heroes. In hockey, the whole team gets the goal. Yeah the guy who's a leading scorer gets laid, but the truth is most players other than goalies do score occasionally, moreover, the really good players (like Stevie Y) are the ones who know that more assists and more games won is way more important than his or any players' scoring record. Moreover, no one player is pivotal to hockey. A hockey team is a network, a little like the Borg on Star Trek.

Everyone says that Favre works the magic, and its true, he does. But football is fundamentally unfair in that no matter how good your passers, receivers and runners may be, if the line sucks, they're all ground meat. But, ironically, the line can be great and if the backs and receivers all suck, it doesn't matter. So a good O-line is a necessary condition for victory, but it's hardly sufficient. When the action happens, the camera centers on the backs and runners, so either way they get blamed or get the glory. Offensive linemen are just as necessary to victory as a star QB, but they don't get credit or blame. I hope they get laid. Recent team antics on the Minnesota Vikings suggest that isn't a problem. I don't know what everyone is so upset about. If a bunch of teammates want to hire some hookers and have an orgy on a boat, it sounds good for bonding and morale. The only thing I'd do differently is forget the boat and hookers and just get right to it in the locker room. The good stuff's already there.

Anyway, the point is this: No matter how many players it takes to make a successful team, the QB is the ultimate hero. Accordingly, Favre has an ego the size of a Buick. His ego makes him believe that he can make the difference in every game. He doesn't have an ego of the sort that Terrell Owens has--Owens doesn't need the team, doesn't need the line, doesn't need anyone. Owens is an asshole. Favre is a genuine leader. But he believes that no matter what goes wrong, he can compensate. The line goes, no problem, he can handle it. The RBs all die, no problem, he can adapt. No one but Donald Driver to throw to, great, he'll throw Donald a Hail Mary and be back home in time to crack open a beer and throw a steak on the grill. Psychologists call this having "positive illusions." We all have illusions that we believe in to great effect because believing in them helps us adapt when hardship comes along. Try remembering me at USAID or you at that shithole company when that bitch who flashed her rack everywhere left you holding the bag. We both suffered due to our positive illusions, illusions that had previously helped us adapt. It sure sucked ass, didn't it? I LOVE my positive illusions--they're better than weed. And once they're gone, they're gone. You can't buy a nickel bag of positive illusions no matter how good your connections are.

Well, evidence is pretty good that Favre has always had his illusions. He's always tried to pull the miracle out of every bad situation and, often enough, it's worked. But the truth is that his miracles are quite delicate and require a host of talented supporting players. I don't remember if you remember me comparing Favre to Steve Young before he retired. Favre is a fancy player. Young would just do anything to get the ball downfield, even run with it himself if he had to. Favre has actually improved on that front and has shown more practical resourcefulness in recent years. But the truth is he's about the fancy, high tech passing. Just like Liz Taylor can't be Cleopatra without sumptuous wardrobe changes in every scene and a cast of thousands, so Brett Favre can't be THE quarterback without a quality O-line, good receivers and some good RBs to help spread it around (how fucking gay is that analogy... I guess I have changed a little over the past few years, eh?).

But just because you and I know that, it doesn't follow that Favre knows that. So instead of conservatively grinning and bearing it, saying "OK, we have no prayer of winning under these conditions, how do I stoically bear it, making sure we don't look so bad" he tries to pull a miracle out of his hat several times a game. Remember when I said the top QBs are the guys who can increase the number of attempts while maintaining accuracy? Well, he's trying to increase attempts, but there's no way to be accurate with so few passing choices. Favre needs his quality receivers and he's only got Driver. He's trying what's worked in the past, but he's facing his Kobiyashi Maru. He can't win under these circumstances, and he really doesn't know how to play like a respectable loser. He's never lost before. So he throws more hoping to make the magic play and because there's no one to catch the fuckin' ball, he racks up interceptions.

Favre, like many of the assholes who follow him in the media and write articles like the one you forwarded, has always believed that he could work the magic and that he was the magic ingredient. Give him his due--yeah, he is a legendary quarterback. But great quarterbacks don't win games on their own. A team with a great O-line and shit at QB may never be a force to be reckoned with, but a team that has a great QB and no one else in the offense still isn't going to win many games. In all fairness, most of our losses this season have been close. Our defense actually improved from total shit to moderately shitty over the course of the season. And Kirk, I saw almost all the games: my boys went down fighting. Even though we lost, there were some great moments there. They fought a good fight.

But myth is only a myth; legend only a legend. Even drunk Bears fans have to admit that Mike Ditka can't take on a whole football team all by himself. One man versus a team? Fuckin' A, Kirk. Even drunk Bears fans on Saturday Night Live have to admit that's complete bullshit. No, I don't think that Brett Favre and Donald Driver can somehow carry a shitty O-line with no other offensive players, especially with a crummy defense. That sort of miracle is the domain of God alone. Don't think I haven't asked for His help.

Bottom line: Favre is the same guy he's always been. There's no variation at QB. If our O-line and our best receivers and RBs were all out ten years ago, he'd have lost like this ten years ago and probably have been a much different man for the rest of his career. Bottom line: Favre is still a go-to guy. If you want to find blame for the disaster that is this year in Green Bay Packers football, you have to look elsewhere.

Where do I look? Well the first person I blame is Mike Holmgren. He fucking lost the '98 Superbowl and then goes off to become the coach and general manager of the fucking Seahawks because he had to get all of the action into his big, strong hands. He gives up what he openly admits is the best job in football to move to Seattle. And how does he do here? For the entire time he had both jobs, he sucked. I laughed harder and harder every year. Now that he's no longer the GM and has been just the coach for a few years, he's had enough time to work the magic that is by right ours. I have to sit here and goddamn bear it. Even worse, my friend Nimah, who's a Bears fan, can tell me that he's hoping to buy playoff tickets to see the Bears play the Seahawks this winter. This, in my Packers' bar, while I have to watch the Bears score defensive touchdowns on my team's ass. It's just beautiful. The Bears are in the playoffs and the Seahawks dominate the NFC. Gorgeous. My football karma keeps getting better every year.

If Holmgren had stayed and waited two years, he could have been our GM, sucked with us, given up the being GM with us, gone back to just coaching with us and WE'D be back to dominating the NFC. And we'd have loved him for it, because while he might have been a prima donna bastard, he was at least OUR prima donna bastard. And he can win at football.

The other person I blame is Mike Sherman. For most of the years after Sherman left, we still had a superior team. Fuck, we still had a good team last year. And yet there has been no victory.We haven't been back to the Superbowl since Holmgren left. A lot of times the Packers lost because they were cocky. They needed good coaching to regulate that ego. No one was better at holding that in check that Vince Lombardi. Sherman doesn't have Lombardi's gifts, but admittedly, that's an unfair example. Plus, I can hear you saying that in the era of free-agency it takes someone like Belichik to win. I'm not disputing that having a superior sense of value, of finding a way of finding quality, non-star players and molding them into a machine isn't a dominant strategy in today's league. That said, I'd put emphasis on the last element: molding players into a team (I'm not dissing finding good values, mind you, just stressing leadership). If a team is not to be eroded by free agency, it's because it has dynamic leadership that can compensate for that process. Ultimately, that's a rare gift, which is why it is so difficult to form dynasties in this era. But Sherman is not a great coach and our team has been eroded by free agency and our day has passed. If I'm lucky, the Packers may have another rise to glory before I die, but seeing how long passed between when Lombardi won Superbowl II and 1997, I've got to say the odds are against me.

But yeah, I don't think Favre has changed. The team and the times have changed. Except for a little grey hair, Favre hasn't faded. Come on, he threw 30 TDs and 4088 yards last year. Over the past three years he's come to camp leaner and more muscular every year. The difference is that Favre had a team last year and this year, he doesn't.

Your pal,

Talal