Jason Whitlock Is A Funny Man » Brats & Beer

September 9, 2006
posted under: Brett Favre, Jason Whitlock, Packers

In his Page 2 column on ESPN.com the other day, Jason Whitlock delves into the mind of Brett Favre and concludes that the three-time MVP desperately wants to be traded out of Green Bay. His “analysis” takes as evidence Favre’s annual back-and-forth regarding retirement and his comment to Bob Costas that he’d consider playing for another team. Later in the column, Mr. Whitlock, the Jay Leno of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, opines on the greatness of Jeff George, so the whole thing is meant to be funny, right? It’s all just another Page 2 gag. Hilarious.

Actually, all the rambling this past week about Favre’s appearance on HBO’s Costas Now is symptomatic of what’s wrong not just with the national sports media, but with journalism in general: Favre does an interview with Mr. Costas, HBO releases a couple juicy quotes from the interview out of context, then everyone else jumps in to comment on that soundbite without having seen the whole interview, without talking to Mr. Costas, and without talking to Favre. And here I thought journalism had something to do with facts. Other than getting a paycheck and media credentials, what separates these mainstream scribes from us bloggers?

But all this Packer bashing is just everyone piling on because they can, because they haven’t been able to for the past decade and a half. Mr. Critic at Nietzsche or Nitschke? is right when he points out “They hate the Shirley Temple image of GBP, the fairy tale that Lambeau is Shangria-La, the exemption we claim for ourselves from the Hobbesian round that is The Rest of the World.” Packer Nation has been shoving its story of community ownership, Favre mania, and Ron Wolfian divine intervention down the throats of the rest of the world for 15 years because we could, because the team won games and made it to the playoffs year after year, so the backlash is inevitable. And the only way to change that is for the Packers to win.