Brett Favre Chosen Sportsman of the Year - Poster Boy For Middle Age

Tomorrow's issue of Sports Illustrated is going to be a "must-have" for Brett favre adulators such as myself as he has been chosen Sportsman of the Year. This afternoon I will have to get out and hunt down a green and yellow frame because it sure is gonna look sweet up there at the shrine of Green Bay in my office.

Personally, I think old man Favre should also be getting the Most Valuable Player of the Year Award and I understand that there's a good chance that second year coach Mike Murphy will be chosen coach of the year.

All well and good, but we all know that the award that both Favre and Murphy want most is the one with Vince Lombardi's name on it, and although last Thursday's game dimmed their chances somewhat, we all know that hope and desire is burning hot in both their hearts!

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I have a Packer fan who lives in Minneapolis (handle: mplspckr) who reads my blog and occasionally drops me a comment.

first of all, my condolences to you, my friend, for being a Packer fan in Hell.

I can't imagine the shit that you have to deal with on a daily basis over there just becauses of the football team you cheer for -- but then again, wait -- yes, I can imagine how much shit you are handed -- because I have, in the past, attended games at the Meto-windbag and I won't do that anymore!

Viking fans are boors and most of them have no idea what the true meaning of "fan" is. I think my favorite football joke of all time is: "Why don't Viking players jump into the stands like Green Bay Packer players do?" "They are afraid they would break their ribs on the empty seats."

Point of fact: The Vikings players have taken to jumping into the stands upon scoring and last Sunday I heard the TV announcer say" "And he does the Metrodome leap!" I cringed. These guys are so brain dead they can't come up with something of their own?

At any rate, a sincere thank you to mplspckr for tipping me off to a newspaper article in a Dallas newspaper after last week's game, which I feel a need to reprint (without permission) here:

A win's a win, but Packers put on better performance
By Randy Galloway
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
IRVING -- How easy was this going to be? So easy, at one point in the second quarter Thursday night, Tony Romo had thrown three touchdown passes while taking a mere eight snaps.

And once the Cowboys' lead had climbed to 17 points, where was Brett Favre?

The ancient one had both feet planted on the Packers' sideline, his right elbow and left shoulder damaged, his evening over real early. Actually, it appeared to be a mercy injury.

Favre was helpless against furious Cowboys pressure, although in a bit of irony, the exit blow on his elbow was delivered by the smallest player on the field, backup cornerback Nate Jones, who had blitzed from the corner.

So, game over, right?

Not exactly. And even once it was over, and the Cowboys had survived what was eventually a 37-27 decision, this wasn't exactly the kind of performance that stamped the Wade Phillips gang as the class of the NFC, a conference with minimal class.

Home field in January is possibly the biggest advantage the Cowboys gained Thursday. Otherwise, hold off on those hotel reservations for Arizona in early February.

Even at 11-1, the Cowboys separated themselves from the 10-2 Packers only in the standings, not on the Texas Stadium turf in this showdown of NFC leaders.

Frankly, the Packers were overall more impressive, considering they lost Favre early, and didn't have two of their best defensive players suited up. The decision was made an hour before kickoff that cornerback Charles Woodson and defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, both injured last week, would be a no-go.

Then, early in the second quarter, it appeared the Packers were going to be run out of Irving. The Cowboys were scoring at will.

To suddenly regroup and rally on both sides of the ball, particularly behind backup quarterback Aaron Rodgers on offense, says something about both Green Bay and the Cowboys. And for the Cowboys, it was a worrisome message.

Plus, there were 10 somewhat tainted points for the Cowboys, including a field goal on the first possession of the game, and a much-needed breathing-room touchdown with just under eight minutes left in the game.

To start with, Green Bay cornerback Al Harris made a clean steal of an Eldorado Owens catch on Romo's first throw of the evening. One official signaled Green Bay had the ball. But in a strange ruling, the final zebra decision was that Owens' forward progress had stopped. No way.

And then with the Cowboys holding only a 27-24 lead in the fourth quarter, Romo went deep for Miles Austin. His feet became tangled with cornerback Tramon Williams'. The pass fell incomplete, and there was no flag. At least, not yet.

In a decision that could have gone either way (incidental contact or interference), a yellow hankie finally dropped. Again, it was a strange delay. But the call set up the Cowboys at the 5-yard line. Romo threw his fourth TD pass of the night on a third-down toss to Patrick Crayton, who ran a good post route to beat Harris in coverage.

The Green Bay story will be the Cowboys received 10 "gift" points. It's hard to debate that version.

The good news for the locals?

Coach Phillips now has 10 days to address his 3-4 failures and examine exactly how Rodgers tore this defense apart.

Against Favre, there was an awesome display of pressure, forcing two picks that resulted in 14 points. Give the unheralded Stephen Bowen, and the equally unheralded Jones, credit for the hits that caused those interceptions.

Rodgers, however, was more elusive and presented different problems. Despite heavy pressure at times, this was Rodgers' best moment for the Packers, as he still waits for the retirement of Favre.

For the Cheese-headed lovers of Mr. Favre, and there was a large contingent on hand Thursday night, they've got to admit The Man's departure, and the entrance of Rodgers, was a very positive development in this game.

Offensively, the Cowboys also went into a troubling lull after the early schooling of what appeared to be an outmanned Packers defense.

It seemed in the first half that Eldorado Owens was headed for 200 yards-plus on the receiving end of Romo's arm, but that same Eldo, despite an outstanding game, ended up with the season's ugliest muffed pass.

Early in the fourth quarter, with the Cowboys' lead down to three points, Eldo showed his iron claws can surface at any time. A perfect TD throw by Romo went clang, bounced in the air, and Harris picked it off in the end zone.

Only a huge sack of Rodgers by DeMarcus Ware stemmed the next threat by the Packers, and that was followed by Romo finally figuring out he needed to get Jason Witten involved. Tony did, and the offense started to move again.

Back to that bottom line:

Cowboys win. It's the only thing that matters.

But the W didn't come without assorted worries and warts.

And the truth rides with Green Bay, despite the final score. Under the circumstances, the Packers were more impressive. Come January, and the playoffs, that will be something to consider.

Randy Galloway's Galloway & Co. can be heard weekdays 3-6 p.m. on ESPN/103.3 FM.

rgalloway@star-telegram.com
Randy Galloway, 817-390-7760
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mplspckr: Thanks for the tip!!!