Our Long National Nightmare Is Over

yes! praise the baby jesus, my fellow americans. we can now rest at ease....

the insanity. the grueling back and forth...

the constant waiting. the not knowing...

it's come to an end.

and so has brett favre's time in green bay, wisconsin.

yes, my lovelies, late wednesday night the packers traded brett favre to the new york, jets...who, after six years of chad pennington, can definitely use the help. (apparently favre was leaning more towards the buccs, but hey - anyone is better than him becoming a turncoat and playing for the vikings.)

the greenbay press gazette declares the "end of an era" and writes:

So ends a 16-year relationship between the Packers and one of their greatest players, in a manner that would have seemed unfathomable until recently — with an extended public feud leading to a parting of ways with the three-time NFL most valuable player.

Favre started an NFL-record 253 consecutive games at quarterback for the Packers and has played in 255 consecutive games, the longest current streak in the NFL. He led the Packers to two Super Bowls, winning one. He holds most of the NFL's major passing records. He was riding the bench with the Atlanta Falcons when the Packers acquired him for a first-round draft pick in February 1992.

personally, i have mixed feelings. i love favre. i think he's one of the greats. and i have strong feelings about players who become known and successful at a certain team who go off and end their careers (usually abysmally) with another team. (please see: arizona cardinal emmitt smith of prior dallas cowboys fame or the immortal michael jordan...who, let's be honest... will always be a chicago bull and not a washington wizard.)

and the pack probably should have welcomed brett back and made him their starter. why wouldn't you after his performance last season?

but i also know he's been jerking around the team for the past couple of years with his on-again, off-again retirement.

at some point...a team needs to move on. and green bay was doing just that.... after favre's emotional retirement earlier this year, all of wisconsin went into mourning. there were primetime specials airing nightly in wisconsin marking this sad departure.

and then...just a few months later...he's back?

you can't toy with our emotions, brett. we can only take so much!

the packers team is owned by the fans. being owned by the people is a big deal up in union-strong wisconsin. woodman's grocery in janesville (where my parents live) is proudly "employee owned."

so, yeah... it's a bit more personal up there than most places.

and while this may not ultimately be the best outcome... it's an outcome. and it's over. the team can move on and start working with aaron rodgers.

and the greatest nightmare of all? before the NFL season has even officially begun, i've just forced my friend steven to read an entire blog entry on football.

sorry, puppy.

and, hey! go texans!

e.

Notes From All Over: Football Edition

it's become a very distressing topic to many of my gay friends. but buddha help me: i fucking love football.

this past thursday i attended the houston texans game as they hosted the denver broncos. it was a perfect night for football.

the temperature was in the 50's. the retractable roof was open. i'm a big fan of the open air ball games....

my friend vicky and i had seats in the endzone... 12 rows up from the field. i was lined up behind the left hashmarks... directly behind the QB. (good thing david carr wasn't lined up in front of me... i may have fainted. although - jay cutler: not a bad ass.)

we were surrounded by the insane, drunken fans that you always see on t.v. we had some beers. cheered on the cheerleaders. screamed until our throats went hoarse.

not to sound too gay when talking about football but...it was a fabulous night.

13-31

the texans stomped the broncos 13-31 to return...once again....to .500 for the year. and makes ending the season...if not with a winning record...but possibly an even one.

sage rosenfels looked great... my boy owen daniels made some plays. but the story of the night was mario williams. 3.5 sacks in one game... a record for the texans.

peter king named williams his defensive player of the week and made the following statement in his "monday morning QB" column:

his 3.5-sack effort against denver helped the texans get back to .500 with a 31-14 [NOTE: i keep seeing this incorrect score, but i digress...] win over the broncos on thursday night. if you watch williams now, you see a rusher playing with the confidence of a michael strahan. with 13 sacks in 14 games, williams ranks second in the NFL in that category, behind only patrick kerney.

it's a young team.... and king even put the texans in his "fine fifteen" this week - tied with the eagles. with the simple tag: 2008 playoffs. here they come.

from your column to whoever's ears, peter.

the curse of jessica?

i don't care if it was jessica simpson's beautiful breasts distracting him or the jammed thumb... but romo sucked on sunday and the cowboys' loss was the highlight of my day.

the boys are now 12-2...identical record with the green bay packers. what i'm hoping now is that the pack can win the remainder of their schedule and the boys lose at least one more. that way - when green bay and dallas meet up in the championship - it will be played in green bay... end of january.

brrrrr.... chilly.

brett favre

favre now holds all the QB records. this weekend he broke marino's record of total career passing yards.

congratulations, brett. i'm so happy you're having the fucking phenomenal year and that you decided to come back and not retire after that awful 2006 season.

quick hits

(to steal from peter king, again)

1. the ravens have lost 8 in a row... what the fuck? and they almost beat new england?

2. the miami dolphins FINALLY won a game. so much for going 0-16. who did they beat? ummmm.... the baltimore ravens.

3. tampa bay returned their first punt return for a touchdown in the team's entire 32 year history. kinda groovy... kinda pathetic.

4. what is up belichick's ass? the man looks like somebody shot his puppy.
5. i used to feel uncomfortable looking at cheerleaders... i kinda liked it thursday night. i'm worried.

6. giants lost to washington.... could new york have any more of an uneven year?

7. the talk continues about williams being a better choice over bush and young. however, young looked pretty good on sunday.

8. i'm happy i was at the game on thursday.... the nfl network is a great idea... but bad for football and the fans.

9. i had three bud lights at the game in honor of my friend nolan's job with budweiser. on an empty stomach...i even got kinda drunk.

super bowl

smart money would have me predict a new england/dallas super bowl. at this point - i think the pats will go. but i can still hope for indy.

i'm not quite ready to pick dallas, however. i would love to see green bay go.... and if the championship game between dallas and green bay is in the tundra - i'd say green bay.

for now...i'm predicting a green bay/new england super bowl.

i need to sleep with a man

when i was at the game on thursday.... i found myself fully pleased after an impressive series and another houston score. my arms were crossed over my chest and i was absently nodding my approval/happiness.

i looked around to see if others shared my fulfillment. my eyes were met by another man. his arms were crossed over his chest. he was nodding.

i looked around some more.....

all over... men had their arms crossed. nodding their approval/happiness. then i was hit with a thought:

"fuck me i need to have sex with a man.... i'm turning straight!"

i'm frightened, auntie em....

i'm frightened.

e.