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.