Favre Bowl II: Why I Can't Help But Care

I'm sure there's a part of every real football fan that doesn't want to care about this Sunday's Favre Bowl II: Vikings @ Packers. It's similar to why we don't want to look at the tabloids when we go to the supermarket, or how we don't want to look at the Lindsey Lohan news on MSNBC; yet for some reason we always find ourselves paying attention to this stuff. Some call it the gossip factor, others call it the shock factor; Whatever it is, it makes us watch.

Which is why it's fitting that Favre Bowl II: Vikings @ Packers, will air on Fox; only the network that brought us Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire, Joe Millionaire, and Temptation Island.

It's almost guaranteed that Fox's coverage of the event is going to be disgusting; loaded with as many shots of Mike McCarthy, Deanna Favre, and Ted Thompson that they can fit into a three and a half hour broadcast. Chances are throughout the game they'll show highlights of some of Favre's best moments at Lambeau: the day he filled in for Majkowski in 1992, Antonio Freeman's catch on Monday Night Football vs the 2000 Vikings, the improbable run after his father passed away. We can all recite another five to ten moments off the top of our heads, and believe me, Fox will show us many of them.

But if we can put all of the garbage aside, and look at the big picture, this game is impossible to ignore. Historically, this is a game that people will talk about for a long time is Favre and the Packers never meet again. Every time an important player leaves his team and plays them again we'll see highlights of this game. Future generations who are just starting to learn about Favre the way generations today are just beginning to learn about Elway, will ask about that game the way kids today ask why Elway's last game being against a Dan Reeves coached Falcons team is considered ironic. It's a chance to see the greatest player in a franchises history play that very franchise when he still has enough in the tank to make an impact.

Let's try and forget the last year and look at things historically. Imagine Peyton as a Titan vs the Colts in Indianapolis. Imagine Elway as a Chief against the Broncos in Denver. Imagine Brady as a Jets vs the Patriots in Massachusetts. Imagine Terry Bradshaw as a Raider against the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

Imagine if Michael Jordan came back in 2000 as a Knick. Imagine Derek Jeter in a Red Sox uniform. What if Tim Duncan signed with the Mavericks?

Historically, that is exactly what this game is. And we didn't get to see/will probably never see any of those aforementioned scenarios; but we DO get this one.

So let's try to enjoy it. And if we get Favre Bowl III: Return to Minnesota, Favre Bowl IV: Return to NY, and Favre Bowl V: Do We Really Care Anymore next year, then okay, this game won't be as big of a deal.

But for now it is. And there are also a lot of playoff implications in this one.

So enjoy it. It's history. I believe that the next generation is going to talk about Football History the way previous generations have talked about Baseball History. Brett Favre, whether you believe the stories or not, is more than just a football player, he's a piece of American history from 1992-2009, and it's our duty as fans of this great sport to take note of moments like this in order to preserve this sports history.

So enjoy. And try not to throw up too much at the unnecessary crowd, Deanna Favre, Packer Management, and Packer sidelines shots.