Comments on: Why Favre deserves to fail but Smoltz deserves to succeed

By: defazken

defazken — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:05:46 +0000

What a poor comparison; Favre vs. Rose. Granted both have egos. That’s where the commonality ends. One is a first ballot Hall of Fame entry and the other is a un-prosecuted felon who will never see the inside of Canton.

By: CoryWilson

CoryWilson — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:49:00 +0000

I know there have been comparisons to Farve and Vick and most have been unjustified. They are completely two different head cases. Farve is a narcasisstic, egomoniacal jerk, who holds planets hostage over his ever changing mind games. Vick is a sick puppy (pardon the pun to the PETA people and the dog pound folks). Vick has been given a clean slate by the NFL. Hopefully Vick will make comeback player of the year and help the Eagles soar to the Superbowl. Both of these guys, regardless of how strange they are, when they are playing great football, they will elevate the NFL to a higher level. I’m glad Roger Goddell decided to let them play this season because I am a fan of both of them. It would have made more sense for the Vikings to acquire Vick because then Vick could be Farves backup and learn to play qb properly from the great Brett Farve.

By: JessicaChevalier

JessicaChevalier — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:50:54 +0000

Jeff: Your article is right on the money. I feel exactly the same way. I’m pulling for Smoltz to succeed and I’m hoping Farve fails. As Ive said before, Farve should quit while hes ahead. Farve is beginning to feel that HE IS BIGGER THAN THE GAME ITSELF. Pete Rose once felt that way about baseball which is why Pete had no respect for baseball. That is also why baseball in turn didnt show respect for Pete either after Pete violated cardinal rules of baseball and breached baseballs trust. And now we come to Brett Farve. Farve feels he will continually lie about his retirements whether he is coming or going and we should believe him; until he pops out of retirement, the same way a clown pops through a jack-in-the-box and we are to welcome him with open arms. The Green Bay Packers got tired of his antics and told him to get lost. The New York Jets said good bye to Farve. And now the Minnesota Vikings have fallen into the Farve monster. What Farve is doing right now is actually criminal. Farve is holding the entire sports world hostage because Farve is basically calling the shots as to what story about himself will be aired each night. I wish Farve would just disappear so we dont have to deal with him anymore. Just retire or just move to the moon or something but please go away so we dont have to hear your name anymore. Farve is so insanely hungry for media attention that he will do and say anything to create chaos and disrupt the sporting world. Farve you are yesterdays news, you are a has-been and it will be revealed by the first month of the season that you are completely, and thoroughly WASHED UP.

By: National League Offers Safe Haven | Tipsheet | STLtoday

National League Offers Safe Haven | Tipsheet | STLtoday — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:40:10 +0000

[...] We sense the Red Sox will pull for Smoltz, since letting him go was somewhat painful. Those who covered Smoltz in Atlanta understand the qualities he could bring to St. Louis. [...]

By: tree rollins

tree rollins — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:52:18 +0000

I don’t see as much difference as you do Jeff. As you state, they both have huge egos. They both love the game they play. They both drive their teams crazy with their “do it my way” attitudes. And they both immediately rushed off to other teams when they felt their longtime hometown teams didn’t kiss up to them enough.

Now what was the difference again??

By: defazken

defazken — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:59:22 +0000

Don’t attempt to compare “apples” to “oranges”. The magnitude of responsibility in the equation of ownership to success for football and baseball is completely different. There is no 5 man starting rotation for quarterbacks on football teams. A football team has one starting quarterback who is the single most pivotal position on the team. He has the greatest burden of responsibility in the success of the offense.

Baseball pitchers on the other had are responsible for 20% of their team’s success.

Brett Favre has MUCH more impact with the Vikings than Smoltz does with the Cardinals. It has nothing to do with either athlete. It has to do with the dynamics of each game.

Oh, and Luke, you need to go get some anti-psychotic drugs buddy. You seem a little tense.

By: The Grinch

The Grinch — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:16:48 +0000

The one thing that makes me happy about both of them is that they’re SO freakin’ full of themselves, the stacks of cash they’ve robbed won’t even soothe them, though I could see either one wearing a diamond encrusted hubcap sized necklace that said “ME.”

By: The Grinch

The Grinch — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:13:45 +0000

The only difference between John Smoltz and Brett Favre is that Smoltz COULDN’T hold a franchise hostage every year because he isn’t relevant enough. Believe me, if he could, he would. You don’t think he’d eat up every second of helicopters buzzing around his house to catch a glimpse of him on his lawnmower and try and read his face to see if he was coming back? Or the baseball equiv. of Chris Mortensen buying a freakin’ house next door so that he could be on the lawn for any breaking news with a mic? Smoltz would give his eye-teeth for that kind of crap, where he could wander around with a troubled look on his face and give cryptic answers for three months a year about whether some team, any team of his choosing, deserved his sainted presence.

The difference is, after the first 48 hours, nobody would care. They’re both tarred with EXACTLY the same brush, and both deserve EXACTLY the same career face-plant followed by lifelong ostracism from the sports they supposedly cared about almost as much as themselves.

By: Tami

Tami — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:33:11 +0000

I hope ole’ John does well enough so he can retire the way he wants….just not against the Braves.

By: TeriBeau

TeriBeau — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:34:13 +0000

Why do I have the feeling if I looked back on your blog here, I’d find you pleading for poor ole Mike Vick to get a “second chance”? It baffles me. Sickens me. I wonder if you understand that the mentality that would drive a man to ENJOY torturing and slaughtering innocent animals isn’t that different from the mentality of a serial killer. Jeffrey Dahmer started out by torturing animals too.

But Favre, the NFL’s poster boy for sportsmanship, just needs to “go away.” Well, Gee, why haven’t y’all been RABIDLY been demanding T.O. “go away” and stop being such a prima donna? Or all those other players with egos the size of the Grand Canyon? No, it’s just Favre. When GB treated him like crap and pushed him to retire, everyone said “It a business,” but when Favre wants to play, he’s a traitor. Y’all just don’t actually appear to have any real standards of fairness or decency … just BS.

I’m real sick of the sports media, and I don’t think y’all have a clue how popular Favre is. Remember how many NY jerseys he sold?

Anyway, I’ve been pretty disgusted with the Packers since they treated the man who pulled them out of the ditch they’d been laying in for 30 years, like he was standing in their way. They wanted to be rid of him, but didn’t want him to play for ANYONE else. This, the year after he was arguably the No. 2 rated QB in the NFL, behind Tom Brady, who didn’t even play last year.

Frankly, I just can’t root for foam cheese and a color scheme, when I’ve lost respect for the team’s management. Murphy with his dirty bags of bribe money, and Thompson with all of his half-truths and outright lies. I hope someday soon, Murphy and Thompson are fired. I mean, the team sucks due to their fine judgement. I have nothing against Rodgers, but he’s just no Favre, and I think he gets hurt too much, but we shall see.

I can’t see myself wearing any Vikings jerseys though. That’s a bridge to far for me, but I will be rooting for Favre! He’s one in a million, and I’m be thrilled and privileged to watch him play another year.