Something else that surprised me was that this game was not the Favrefellation fest I was expecting. Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth did focus overmuch on the quarterbacks, as commentators are wont to do, but all things considered it was a balanced presentation relatively free of hyperbole. This pleased me immensely. Maybe the commentating team (Collinsworth in particular) was subtly dissing Favre, maybe they were instructed to be a little more objective, or maybe (as I hope) Favre's sun is gradually setting. Maybe we're starting to see the beginning of an era in which his name isn't the first word that pops into commentators' mouths the moment they start groping for words.
One can dream, right?
"Nonstopdrivel" wrote:
Just wait until the ESPN crew covers a Favre game. Payback is going to be a bitch--for all of us. But yes, now that you mention it, Michaels and Collinsworth were not that bad.
You're right about Favre's facial expression. I've noticed that more and more over the past few years. He doesn't look like he's having a lot of fun. I think football is an addiction for him, rather than something that is truly fun. It's fun when he makes a great play, and he loves the praise and the press conferences, but the actual grind of the game, play-in and play-out, no longer seems to be enjoyable for him.
RedSoxExcel is right about the New Orleans stuff. I get sick of it too, but when a team wins a Super Bowl it's pretty much inevitable, so I just try to tune it out. Hardly anybody mentions that the Saints are the most scandal-ridden Super Bowl champ in recent years. There was that coach who obtained some sort of drug illegally, then Reggie Bush of course, and some cheap shots on Favre during the NFC championship game, which they were lucky to get away with.
Props to Chris Collinsworth, by the way, for pointing out how the Saints shut down Visante Shianco in the second half by putting a different DB on him. That was a very helpful bit of analysis. It's the sort of thing that's hard to keep track of when you're watching a game. Some other posters here may have noticed it before it was mentioned by Collinsworth, but not me. I mostly just follow the ball.