I remember back in 1987 or 1988 when Lenny Dykstra showed up at New York Mets Spring Training claiming that he had gained 30 pounds of muscle in the offseason.
Back then I was a young adult and my brain was not fully formed (some would argue that it still is not) but I thought something was pretty fishy when Lenny's claims were posted on the back pages of the NY Daily News.
Now we have Bud Selig, who is something like the 5th highest paid 'player' in Baseball, playing the holier-than-thou card just because he got caught. Yes, Bud got caught just as much as A-Rod got caught because the world knows he was looking the other way when records were being broken and fans were paying for tickets in record numbers.
Bud Selig presided over the most profitable age in Baseball, but there will be an asterisk placed next to Bud's legacy just like there will be one next to the legacies of Bonds, Clemens and now A-Rod.
Bud's tough talk is just that- talk. And it's cheap talk at that. The sport has a revamped drug testing policy which Selig will take credit for, but does anyone really think he would have implemented that policy if the court of public opinion (and Congress) wasn't pushing him to do so?
Talk your talk, Bud, and sleep with your millions of dollars, but don't take your fans for idiots and insinuate that you knew nothing of this steroid mess as it was developing.
This week we got the annual proclamation from Brett Favre stating that he plans on retiring.
Chances are, in my opinion, 80% that Favre comes back next season, although not for the Jets. His tenure as a Jet was a complete failure even though he had his critics fooled for a few midseason games when the Jets looked a lock to make the playoffs and the football world began whispering about an all New York Super Bowl in Tampa.
However, the Jets imploded last season for the same reason that Favre will come back next season- Favre likes it to be all about him.
When the Jets needed him most down the stretch last season, Favre was on TV talking about the possibility of his retirement, not how he planned to lead his team to the playoffs. It became painfully obvious to Jets fans, and probably Jets players, that Favre did not care about making the playoffs as much as he did listening to his own soundbites.
Favre's love affair with himself cost the Jets their season and Eric Mangini his job. Nothing can ever take away from the legacy that Favre left in Green Bay, but he'll be judged by two legacies now, and his second one as a Jet is a complete failure. The Jets gave up a lot for him and he rode into town like a saviour only for the city of New York to watch the Quarterback who Favre replaced lead his new team to first place in the division and a playoff berth.
If Favre stays retired now and just shuts up, history will forgive and forget (but New York won't).
If he changes his mind (again) and makes a mockery of this offseason (again), Favre will be remembered as a great Quarterback that couldn't let go and let a football nation watch his physical (and mental) decline.
Favre doesn't care about all that, though, because to him, as long as his name is in a headline somewhere, or his voice is on a soundbite somewhere, everything will be just fine- for him.
And that's what Favre loves even more than he loves football- he likes it to be all about him.
1 comments:
Weak sauce. The players union time and time again, refused a drug testing policy in the mid-90s. To say Selig did not try to this roid stuff before it started is weak. As for Favre, it is disappointing how all this retirement stuff has been handled. I have not problem with someone wanting to do something they love to do for however long they want to do. For someone who is suppose to humble, sure seems like Brett likes being in interviews to be self serving. This guy will always be my Michael Jordan, I just wish it had a better ending.
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