Because competitive sports are a modern replacement for war, without all the bloodshed but retaining many of the virtues that can go with it (loyalty to and pride in one's homeland, the recognition of and sacrifice for something greater than yourself), sports fans of all stripes should find the news of Brett Favre's move to the Jets disappointing.
Growing up in Illinois in the era of the Chicago Bulls absolute domination of the NBA, my intense loyalty to the team was made possible not only by my geographical location, but by the fact that essentially the same guys came together year after year. Scottie Pippen could have easily left and been top dog in the lineup for lots of other teams, and backups like Tony Kukoc could have started for other teams. But they didn't, and they served united under the talent and leadership of Michael Jordan (not to mention coach Phil Jackson).
By the end of that run, "Michael Jordan" and "the Chicago Bulls" were concepts that couldn't really be meaningfully separated in most people's minds (especially for those like me who were overly enthusiastic kids at the time and thus took Jordan as a role model). So when he left for the Wizards, his reputation was ruined in my eyes, regardless of how well he performed with the new team. He had been a team player, and we all assumed that being a Bull had become a part of his identity. And so when Jordan, Jackson, and Pippen went their separate ways to pursue their own individual ends, the virtue that we thought we had seen in them was shattered.
As it was with Jordan, so it is now with Favre. Though I was never and will never be a Packer fan, I respected not only his talent but the way in which he became so entwined with the Packer organization. Even when he had slump years in which other observers would have called for Favre's head, or at least pushed him into retirement, the Cheesehead fan base and the Packer staff would have none of it - through thick and thin, Brett was the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers.
Rooting for the home team in professional sports will always be at least somewhat irrational, but we should still mourn the downfall of epic figures like Brett Favre who fail to recognize that the good they brought to their team and their fans was much more meaningful than championship trophies.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
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Oh, but sports aren't perfect, the situation doesn't always allow someone to stay with (or come back to) their old team (look at the Packer's dilemma) and sometimes athletes just want to play. We've seen this kind of thing with a lot of sports greats - Jordan, Willie Mays, Joe Namath come to mind right away - and it's just part of the game. Brett Favre in particular was pretty short-sighted this whole time but there are much worse, related trends to get riled up about (how about the fact that there are so few players who are actually tied to their teams anymore in the first place? My Mets made the NLCS in 2000 and 2006 and I can hardly find one man in common between those two teams).
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