Ingraham Vs. Favre And The Boys In The Blog, er um, I Mean Band!

LOL Kind of funny, I can't believe the venom I'm seeing directed at Laura Ingraham for her dissing of Brett Favre's teary-eyed goodbye.

h/t Ace to this link - but reading around I see some even worse commentary.

Laura Ingraham is dead to me. Dead. No links to her site will be put in this post.

Here’s what I have to say to Ms. Ingraham: F* you and the horse you rode in on. B****.

Gawd! In the first place, the incredible anger reminds me of the type of guy who always went nuts when someone dissed his car, as all of his macho mojo crap was wrapped up in that. Geesh! Project much?

Don't get me wrong, I think choking back a tear or two, or letting it out just a bit at a time like that is perfectly legitimate. But did you freaking watch Favre?? It was so embarrassing, I finally had to turn away. I felt ashamed for the man-boy at the mic.

I played ball when I was young - it's a fantastic game and I can only imagine how great it must be to have had a Pro career. When I finally had to turn away from Farve in disgust, it wasn't a male versus female thing about showing emotion, it was about a great athlete who was coming off looking so emotionally immature as, quite obviously, far too much of his identity as a man was tied up in throwing what in the end is just a silly freakin' ball.

Get over it, dudes. Look up some old video with Lombardi, Nitschke, Hornung and such. They played the game in everything from the mud to the tundra, few left the game even halfway whole physically. But I can't remember one who left it as some overly self-indulgent, whiny biatch! Some of you whipper-snappers better stick to Dungeon and Dragons and such if you can't take it on the chin and suck it up ... you know, like a real man would.

Save the whimpering for the quiet times with your chick when you're reduced to begging to get laid. Heh!

Comments

[SteveC]

Um, the man has done nothing but play football from the time he was a kid until now. He started every game from the 4th game in 1992 until 2007. He has been beaten up on the field more times than I can count and when it looked like the Packers would never get back to a Super Bowl during his first 3-4 years, he brought us to two straight and winning one (without having video of the opponents defense practicing) in 1997.

Cut him some slack please. I'm sure the "men don't cry" stuff outside of Wisconsin sounds great, but here it's slapping the man in the face for all he's over the past 16 years playing his guts out.

[Barbula]

"take it on the chin and suck it up ... you know, like a real man would"

Ok - now I feel ashamed - and dirty.

[BobInStamford]

Laura Ingraham is only nominally a woman. That voice is frightening.

[Dan Riehl]

"men don't cry"

Look, as I said, for me, it isn't about "men don't cry." It's about the culture of child adult atheletes we cultivate today. From the NBA, to the NFL, Baseball, etc. And I think it worth commenting upon.

[Fred Beloit]

I have a hard time imagining Bulldog Turner or Sid Luckman or Ray Nitschke or Dick Butkus bawling like Baby Tukoo. http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=218
http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=135

[Justin]

Crying?

Theres no crying in football!

He should of shortened up that farewell speech & got outta there before he started blubbering.

Thank you fans,I've done it all,had a great career...adios!

[Totally Heterosexual Conservative]

Hmm, Dan Riehl on one hand; Brett Favre on the other .... I'm just not sure who is more credible with respect to the most appropriate means of ending a storied pro football career!

[Lycurgus]

Laura's right. Brett needs to be a real man and throw some puppies off a cliff.

[Lycurgus]

Laura's right. Brett needs to be a real man and throw some puppies off a cliff.

[Bigmatty87]

You obviously don't understand the commitment and the bond involved in playing that game at such a high level for so long. The emotional toll it takes on a person simply cannot be compared to a job where you go to work and sit in front of a computer for 9 hours a day. The pain exacted by this game and its tensions put this man into multiple addictions, almost ended his marriage, and has undoubtedly done significant damage to his body. The tears aren't just because he is done, a lot has to do at examining the entire body of his career and reacting to it. How many men (and women) do you think have cried just because they WATCHED things Favre has done? This game represents bonds he has with his Father, his children, his family. Cut the guy some slack, you and Ingraham are reacting to a man who is showing you his emotions. Who are you to tell him how he should feel? And as to it only being him throwing around a ball? Let's see if you are dry eyed when you (and Ingraham) retire. Just remember at least part of that career was spent criticizing a guy who threw a ball around for a living.

[Dan Riehl]

"a guy who threw a ball around for a living."

Bigmatty - if this were Rome, he'd be a gladiator - I get it, dude. And it's an adolescent attitude that invests in "sport" this way. Been there done that when I was young. It's a shame so many otherwise fine Americans just don't want to see how things like this undermine our culture. We idolize insignificant nonsense - a freaking game. Don't try to sell me on the idea it's a good thing to let "games" grow out of perspective.

[Bigmatty87]

"Don't try to sell me on the idea it's a good thing to let "games" grow out of perspective."

I think this is where we have our disconnect. Why does the fact that he cried automatically mean that his reaction or emotions are out of perspective? He also cried when he admitted his addictions years ago. I find, in his emotional display, only that he was sad to be ending a significant portion of his life - while also reflecting upon it. I think people may be reading too far into his tears when they automatically set Favre's priorities based on their witness of his reaction to one facet in his world. Either this or they are just reacting to his crying as "something men shouldn't do" which really is a sexist and close-minded approach. I cried when my dog died, but that doesn't mean that I thought it was the biggest concern or most important thing in my life.

[Dan Riehl]

Matty - I'm not adverse to men showing some emotion. But I think the word "appropriate" has it's place. And I took all of Farve's past into account:

"The pain exacted by this game and its tensions put this man into multiple addictions, almost ended his marriage, and has undoubtedly done significant damage to his body."

Sorry, I just don't see the decisions above (and they were decisions) as those of some tremendous "man." He was a tremendous athelete, certainly. But the case could be made that, ul until now, he has been a failure as a man. It amazes me that we can look at a guy like Spitzer and criticize him for what he did to his family, yet a man-boy who places his life, his family and everything else at risk to play a game is more noble somehow?

There have been plenty of great players who saw the game in perspective. Sorry, based upon his retirement, I cam away feeling Favre isn't one. I came away thinking this is a man still very much out of balance when it comes to being whole, to being a "real" man - which is not the same as being macho and simply not crying. Favre was crying for himself, for what "he" is losing - and that's assuming he doesn't come back. I hope he has shed some tears for what he has cost his family and others along the way. That might be more like what a real man would do in his position.

[Dar]

Oh, c'mon! Didn't we already go through two dress rehearsals of Brett's teary-eyed retirement declarations at the end of the Packers previous two seasons? This bawl-fest was beginning to become routine!

This was the third time in three years Brett's been bawling about retirement in front of the cameras. The first time I was moved. The second time, I was still moved a bit but not as much as the first time. The third time, I really didn't give a crap. Been there, done that...

[Bigmatty87]

[Sorry, I just don't see the decisions above (and they were decisions) as those of some tremendous "man."]

I made no assertions as to the quality of man Farve is or was. I think the fact that he is walking away while he can still play is hopefully a step in the right direction of becoming a better man. Everyone has to live their own life and face their own demons. Favre, whether right or not, meant a lot of things to a lot of people, and again whether that is right or wrong it will weigh on a person and affect their choices (ie: taking a lot of painkillers to be able to throw a ball). You see a guy crying as he retires from a game. You judge him and call him a "boy" crying for himself. I see a man, who like all of us is flawed, reflecting on what the game meant to him and what he did, right or wrong, for it and the people who watched him. I see a man greatful that he had finally found it in himself to quit one last addiction, and make the decision to be alone with his family now while he still has their love. I won't make fun of him for it, and I won't be so ashamed of him that I have to turn away.

[A Smart Person]

What an idiot! Who the hell are you to judge anyone? You are nothing more than a small person who tries to make themselves feel better about their small lives by belitting those who have achieved greatness. The shame is yours.

[joeb]

A lot of these guys cry when they quit sports. A lot of them cry when they are inducted into the Hall of Fame.
It may seem uncalled for to you but maybe you and others need to spend some time thinking of why he is so emotional. What are the reasons?
There is no crying in football. But there is crying after football.
I get your points. It does look like a kid crying that his childhood is now over. But he may be crying for many reasons. Crying because his career is over and he knows he won't play again and get those great feelings ever again. Maybe that is why so many of them unretire. I think Sugar Ray Leonard retired and unretired about 4 or 5 times.
Musicians like the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan are lucky they dont have to retire. But the time comes for men who play little boy's games and they have to give it up for good. So then they Boo Who. So what? I kind of like it. It shows the iron men are human.
Just remember all the arm chair quarterbacks couldn't take one hit on the field like he took for 17 years without missing a game without crying their way off the field. Or being carried off with many broken bones after ONE play.

[Plenty of Legends Turned On The Faucets]

http://www.620wtmj.com/sports/16518616.html

Bulldog Turner or Ray Nitschke might not have bawled publicly. But their bosses did. So fan Favre, an all-timer like those legends.