Favre Packs & Delivers Like UPS Trucks

Yes. I believe in destiny. And not surprisingly for the exact same reasons as Red Sox and Pride & Prejudice fans, both of whom endured an extensive period (maybe more so for Bostonians) of anguish, brutality, and sheer disappointment before being lavishly rewarded for their faithfulness by a championship and a marriage, respectively. Boston came back from three down to stun the Yankees en route to a World Series victory for the same reason that Elizabeth Bennet eventually ties the knot with Mr. Darcy: it was inevitable; bound to happen. Quite simply, it was pure fate. And now I suddenly realize why I’ve had to helplessly endure each and every fruitless season the New York Jets have produced since I became a fan back in 1997: the whole time I was suffering, pleading and praying for a run at the Super Bowl year after year, I was unknowingly being prepped for the arrival of something unimaginable, unfathomable. Something that would change the course of the Jets for now, and for seasons to come. Something real, and something good. Really good. Something called Brett Favre.

Last night amid a conversation with an acquaintance of mine about study abroad, I suddenly felt the brusque, subtle vibratory pulses emanating from the cell phone in my right pocket. Not to be impolite and to keep the conversation flowing, I dexterously slid my mobile out just enough so I could quickly glance down and see who was calling me. It was one of my friends from high school who I’d been meaning to call back… it could wait. I ignored it and slipped it back into the coffer of my pocket. Almost immediately after the buzzing ceased, it picked up again, only this one was short-lived suggesting that I had just received a text message. And, like any American, that couldn’t wait. I excused myself from the exchange of words to examine the message. It was from Justin and it read: “Brett Favre OMG!”

Well before I found myself at the turning point of my career as a New York Jets fan that day, all I had read or heard about that morning was that a move to Tampa Bay was imminent for Favre. “Tampa Bay?” I thought. “Arguably the NFL’s most boring franchise that has left a permanent stain on my fanhood in engineering the worst Super Bowl I ever watched? Don’t they still have Keyshawn, Warrick Dunn, and Mike Alstott? Wait… Brad Johnson, too! How will Favre fit in?!?!?” As the day rolled on, so did SportsCenter… and so did the Favre saga. Hour by hour flew by, with a deal to the Bucs going unreported. Suddenly, Chris Mortensen got on the tube, and said that the Jets were also in the running (!!!!!!). What if? I mean, could it really happen?
Then, almost as quickly as Mortensen had revealed the latest news, a bidding war was triggered by the Packers for Favre’s services: Bucs vs. Jets; Pillaging Pirates vs. Paper Planes. It was like I had more records than the KGB, and all I wanted to tell the Jets front office was: No funny business.

It was late in the evening when I last checked SportsCenter as well as SI.com, whose Peter King reported that the Jets had taken the lead in the bidding war. If this was going to happen though, I thought, it probably wouldn’t go down until the morning… so I headed out. Then, just hours later, I received Justin’s text message… but what did it mean? He was probably just letting me know that he couldn’t believe the Jets had entered the Favre sweepstakes, and had chosen to convey his sentiments in this manner. Shortly after reading the message though, the other friend who had called moments before left me a voicemail… who just so happened to be another Jets fan. I could feel the endorphins firing off inside my brain… what if? Could it really happen? Did it really happen?!?!?!
YES!!!!!! It did!!!!!!!! I called Justin back and he told me the most inconceivable, most life-changing (for a sports fan of course), most seemingly positive news I had heard since JD Van Rossum woke me up from my nap on our JV Basketball team’s way back home on a bus to inform me that A-Rod had been dealt to the Yankees (we all know how that one turned out which is why I say seemingly positive). In a summer plagued by way too much free time, a thoughtless younger brother who listens to even worse music than I do and boarding the friendship with one too many girls, the acquisition of Brett Favre into my life certainly helped, and it was an incredibly euphoric moment. And understandably, I was all smiles. The laser-armed Mississippian who I had admired my entire life had landed with the Jets.I ran into the apartment where my friends were to joyfully announce the news. I got a ton of “No way!”s, and even more jaw-drops, for, as I realized in that moment, nobody actually thought Favre would leave Green Bay, let alone go to New York’s secondary team. But there he was, and that’s all that mattered to me.
In the days that followed, I watched as Gang Green said goodbye to the fragile Chad Pennington (whose career I did in fact appreciate, just not the $65 I wasted on his jersey), and welcomed in one of football’s greatest legends. I called friends, searched online for a new Jets QB jersey, and even made the bearded star of the Wrangler jean commercials my default pick on Facebook, which resulted in numerous posts to my wall, most of them strung with feelings of indifference in that Favre was too old to make a difference; a sarcastic, “Have fun” would have sufficed.This is the bottom line: I really could not care less about what everyone else thinks about Favre coming to the Jets. After all, most of them are Patriots fans anyway, who adamantly believe that had the Packers beaten the Giants in last year’s NFC title game, New England would have intercepted Favre eleven times en route to a Super Bowl victory and the perfect season. Now we’ll get to see if they can do that… twice a year. Now listen. I’m not saying the Jets are going to beat the Patriots twice… or once… or at all for that matter. I’m not saying that Favre is the missing piece to a team that had already been significantly revamped and upgraded. And I’m not saying that the Jets are going to win the Super Bowl, let alone make the playoffs. I’m just saying that the New York Jets are better now with Brett Favre than they were before without Brett Favre. And while the Yankees struggle, the Knicks continue to debate what to do with Marbury, Randolph, Curry, etc., the Rangers try to figure out how to get out of the second round, the Giants scream in horror when they find out that Eli Manning is still their quarterback and not whoever that was who led them to a perfect postseason, and the Red Bulls continue to get kicked in the teeth by FC Barcelona, the Jets are now the most talked-about team in New York because of one man.

My favorite football team is relevant again. And that’s good enough for me.

USA Basketball Liveblogging

The USA versus China Olympic Basketball Game is going to be one of the most watched basketball games of all time, so why not at 10 EST in the morning live blog it. There are over a billion people in China and roughly 20,000 people in Watertown, Massachusetts, so there are going to be mad viewers.
President Bush and President Hu are in attendance and as I begin writing four minutes have passed in the first quarter with China leading 11-9. The game started with a Yao Ming 3-pointer and China has continued to shoot well from outside. Dwight Howard and LeBron have been outstanding for the US with Howard getting the US on the scoreboard with a vicious dunk over Yao. LeBron is taking it to the basket and finishing difficult shots and just pinned the ball on a fast break, too. Kobe looks weak, as he has hit the side of the backboard and gotten blocked by Yao already. Jason Kidd has been subbed for already, thankfully, as I trust Chris Paul and a very good Deron Williams to carry the US at the point. Another thing of note, the announces are Mike Breen and Doug Collins – who is wearing very ugly prescription sunglasses inside – instead of the two ridiculous dudes that were commentating the tune up games. Too bad we won’t hear that dude say things like “sick, dude, sexy, baby, etc.”
Chen Jianghua breaks down the US team impressively, getting to the basket and now a Wang Zhu Zhu appearance. Yi Jianlin has been disappointing so far as he has done nothing and the US on defense keep hacking and going for every possible steal ever. The game has been exciting so far with a tie score of 16-16 although we know Chris Adams-Wall isn’t watching as he hates it and is probably watching “21” the movie about counting cards in preparation for his 21st birthday!!
The first quarter has come to a close with the US leading 20-16 and the last minute was quite entertaining with Yi trying to draw a foul on Howard and ending up throwing the ball way out of bounds, but China somehow getting the ball back on a weird call. Carmelo Anthony grabbed a board with one hand and brought it in and yelled, “Ooooooohhhh!!!” even though no one was competing for it with him. And there was a shot of LeBron on the bench biting his nails like he for some reason always does.
US leads 31-29 halfway through the second quarter, I had to take a typing break so I could eat some breakfast man. Some more meaningless things I observed, Yi Jianlin looks putrid getting destroyed on both ends, Nets fans are pumped if there are any! LeBron is proving he is the best player in the world as he has made another spectacular play by blocking a Chen Jianghua shot with two hands and then throwing a Kevin Love outlet pass to Dwyane Wade for the dunk on the other end. Kobe made his first significant play by dunking on some dude with two hands after earlier in the quarter saving a ball on the China end and giving them a lay-up. China is hitting everything from 3 keeping them in the game, maybe the US should contest at least a couple of these shots.
Wow! a magnificent sequence, Jason Kidd with a one handed long pass to Wade who threw up a lob to LeBron, who of course finished on a dude and got the foul, then proceeding to miss the free throw. The US is so bad at free throws as mainly Howard and LeBron seem to be taking them, that’s a problem. The US has quickly extended the lead to 13 points with a minute or so left in the half, scoring mainly on transition buckets. US leads at the half 49-37, and the China team Hyperdunk shoes are all red and quite ugly, weird that every country has the same shoes and tight fitting jerseys. Nike is dominating the world, and Dwight Howard is on the outside as he is the only non-Nike member of the US team and he gets no notoriety because of it. Howard is the best big man on the planet and played pretty much the entire first half, shutting down Yao, and gets no love because he rocks Adidas. I guess that makes sense as Adidas sucks newayz.
I am going to listen to “Green Light” by John Legend featuring Andre 3000 and “Lost!” & “Lost?” by Coldplay on repeat throughout halftime. Then I am going to make “Lost?!?!?!?...” on GarageBand. And eff the Netherlands for scoring a goal in the 93rd minute on a lucky but sick free kick!
It’s the second half baby! Yi Jianlin is 1-8 from the floor now and the one is a put back dunk on a missed Yao Ming 3-pointer over Carmelo Anthony. Now Dwight Howard got blocked on a fast break, what is going on?!? LeBron barrels through the lane and dunks, he is mad good yo, believe dat! A very boring third quarter is over with the score 74-48 , US ahead. China only scored 11 points this quarter and saw Yao Ming go down with an ankle injury, not really that good for China or the Rockets! Dwyane Wade has 19 points on 7/7 shooting and 5/5 from the free throw line, that’s cool. The US can’t hit open 3’s especially Kobe and that could serve as a problem later on, Redd hasn’t played much at all, but this game is pretty much O.V.A. I got my mojo back baby, oh behave!
I stopped watching in the fourth quarter, I got bored and browsed the Internet instead. The US probably wins by thirty or so, but I saw this Sonic commercial last night and thought it was extremely funny. Peace friends and just because I’m losing doesn’t mean I’m lost!!