Less and less do I believe in "momentum." I think it's a phenomenon that everyone sees because everyone else sees it. If it exists, it's only because it's a self-fulfilling prophecy in the minds of the players themselves. It has nothing to do with, say, any known law of physics.
"Nonstopdrivel" wrote:
You mean like centrifugal force? A force that the laws of physics tells us is fictitious from an observers point of view, but feels pretty darn real every time you take a turn in a car. Funny that you call momentum a self-fulfilling prophecy, which I feel is a great definition, in the same statement that you question its existence. The power of positive thinking may be a bunch of hooey to an outsider, but ask someone who went to one of the positive thinking self-help brainwash camps and you will see that they very much believe it and typically have stories illustrating it in action.
Of course you can't physically see the big MO in football. The ball won't magically bounce your way, nor will passes seek out their intended target on their own. Momentum is without a doubt in the eye of the beholder, but wouldn't you rather have our guys believing they can win even if it's due to some silly, nonexistent momentum as opposed to going out and doing their jobs and just hoping to come out on top. One of Brett's qualities that elevated him to legend status was that you could see his fire. He felt it, his teammates felt it, coaches felt it, fans felt it, and even the opposing team felt it. Call it what you want (momentum, intangibles, leadership, the infamous IT, etc), but Favre was unique in the fact that his emotions were obvious and he shared them freely. That is what what I was against losing this summer and what I miss now.
I haven't posted a lot lately because the discussions are typically pretty binary. On or off. 1 or zero. Love Favre or hate Favre. Rodgers the scapegoat or Rodgers the blameless. The truth for me is that Rodgers has displayed many qualities that I didn't think he posessed, and at the same time he's fallen short in other qualities that I feared may be absent. QB's do require some growth (although sitting/learning behind a HOFer for 3 years and starting with a team with 5 legit recievers is about as ideal as you could hope for), but they also require confidence. Aaron shows that he is the iceman. He's as cool as cucumber, which is great, but I don't think we've seen the true Aaron yet. All year, I've felt that he's held back his natural emotions or felt the need to contrive emotions he thinks he should exhibit. I hope that in these last two games, all the pressure to win, to replace a legend, to prove his bosses right will be removed and Aaron will be allowed to come into his own, have fun, and take the chances that he wants to take. Interceptions be damned. Keep going for the win. Keep the fire burning in your belly and it becomes contagious.