Brett Favre

As a boy growing up in Worthington, Minnesota, I loved watching the Minnesota Vikings. There was hardly anything I enjoyed more than watching the “Purple People Eaters” stomp the competition. Fran Tarkenton was my favorite athlete, followed closely by Chuck Foreman and Alan Page. To me Bud Grant was the quintessential Minnesota man.

Some of my worst memories of growing up were the four Super Bowl losses. All four are so etched in my memory that I could talk at length about what I did on those January days in 1970, 1974, 1975 & 1977.

I still watch and root for the Vikings, but I lost my passion for them a long time ago. I’m not sure when this happened, but I came to this conclusion when the Vikings were booted from playing in the playoffs on a last-second, 4th down pass play in Arizona in 2003. My response to that was not to scream, but to laugh. For some strange reason I thought that was funny.

Like any other casual fan I have an opinion on whether the Vikings should sign Brett Favre. Yesterday afternoon I talked to the famous Commissioner of our fantasy football league at Hy Vee North in Rochester. He is a pure Vikings fan—hates the Packers, never has thought Favre is any good, and definitely doesn’t want to see that green and gold nemesis in purple.

But the all-consuming media attention to whether Favre will sign with the Vikings is illustrative of the over-the-top, soap-opera, style of media attention that sports receives.

Every tiny bit of new information is shared with the sanctimony of God handing Moses the Ten Commandments.

Oh-my-gosh—Favre sent his X-Ray of his injured arm to the Vikings
Oh-my-gosh—Favre thinks he can rehabilitate his injured arm without injury
Oh-my-gosh—NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, says that Favre never sent in his retirement papers.

There must be some hidden meaning in these very important incidents, right?

It wouldn’t surprise me if someone sneaks into Favre’s house to look at his tooth brush to see if he uses purple toothpaste.

I don't need the hype--just tell me when Favre makes his decision.

There are many more important events happening in the world than this long saga of whether Favre will be in purple this fall.

I preferred the days of watching the game on Sunday and then going back to my life for the rest of the week.