OFFICIAL BRETT THE LIVING LEGEND THREAD

[Scott Campbell]

And now we have a Chapter 2:

A Fateful Decision

After his bitter rebuke from the gods and the savage beating he received from the warriors of The Big Easy, Favros retired to the Bayou Kingdom to bide his time. Depictions of the grieviously wounded leg of Favros were sent throughout the kingdom to show the severity of the defeat. However, as is his want, Favros could not decide whether not he should hang up his shield, spear, and leather disc for good and retire in the Bayou Kingdom, or receive the healing ministrations of Hipprocrates Andrews and mend his grieviously wounded leg. So, Favros tarried. And he tarried. And tarried some more. With an eye to avoiding as much warrior training as possible, Favros finally submitted himself to the healing ministrations of Hippocrates Andrews late at the eleventh hour.

The gods were not pleased. And they were further displeased when Favros continued to tarry about making a decision to fight another season or not. Impatient and fearful for his reign as king, Chillios the Charioteer, cognitively disabled King of the Heidi-Hairs, sent three shills to entreat Favros to return to the Land of the Heidi-Hairs. Bearing a purse of 20 million denarii and promises of Chillios' best conduct, Favros left the Bayou Kingdom and returned with the three shills to the Land of the Heidi-Hairs.

The gods continued to punish Favros for his hubris in deliberately tarrying. They smote his best receiver of the disc, Sydnios. They not only inflicted pain on Favros' leg but his elbow as well, making his hurling of the leather disc much harder and more painful. They visited him with defeats at the hands of the armies of The Big Easy and The Big Fish. When things looked their bleakest, they cursed Favros with the appearance of Jennifer the Fair (or the Face That Launched a Thousand Dong Shots). Favros had once lusted after Jennifer the Fair when he toiled in Gotham, and in his lust he sent her depictions of his Doric Column. These depictions now were circulated throughout the kingdoms and now Favros was a laughing stock, since his Doric Column--like his showings in recent battles--had come up quite short. In addition to this he also encountered the wrath of his consort, Deanna.

Chillios, fearful for his reign, acquired a new warrior to help Favros--Randall the Brain Addled--whom Favros had coveted since his days in the Kingdom of Lambos. The gods paid no heed. They smote him with a defeat at Gotham at the hands of his former troops. Then, in a crushing turn of events he was defeated and smitten at the Kingdom of Lambos. The siren song of the harpies convinced Favros that his warriors were open to receive the leather disc, but it was a ruse of the gods, and Favros gave up the disc three times. Warriror fiercely attacked his bad leg. He limped off the battle field and was then thrown under the chariot by Chillios when the battle was relived.

This, in turn was followed by another defeat--this time at the hands of the scurillous Bill the Hooded One and the wrathful exiling of Randall the Brain Addled by Chillios. Randall would prove well the adage: a million denarii talent, a five drachma brain.

The Heidi-Hair army rallied long into the day to defeat the army of the Valley of Sun, who had hotly pursued the Heidi-Hairs but lost strength at the end of the day. Now, the fateful season rests on two contests. The first requires a journey to the Land of the Windy City to fight a den of Bears and a second contest involves a rematch with the army from the Kingdom of Lambos.

How will our hero do? Will the gods continue to curse him? Will the gods relent? Will Favros ever again clutch the Trophy of Lombardos?

[hoosier]

I saw this quote today elsewhere online and I immediately thought it resembles BF and also this thread to some extent:

"It was and continues to be a Greek Tragedy. We all know how Brett is going to turn out and he is powerless to prevent the inevitable."

Then I thought - what exactly does that mean? I think this pretty much sums it up:

The philosopher Aristotle said that tragedy is characterized by seriousness and dignity involving a great person who experiences a reversal of fortune. Tragedy results in a catharsis (emotional cleansing) or healing for the audience through their experience of these emotions - in response to the suffering of the characters in the drama.

This reversal of fortune must be caused by hamartia, which is often mistranslated as a character flaw, but is more correctly translated as a mistake (original Greek hamartanein, a sporting term that refers to an archer or spear-thrower missing his target). According to Aristotle, "The change to bad fortune which he undergoes is due to a a mistake of some kind."

The reversal is the inevitable but unforeseen result. Exactly what constitutes a "tragedy", however, is a frequently debated matter.

While the exact nature of tragedy is debated, one element that the playwright Arthur Miller shares with Aristotle is the idea that the tragic hero must recognize his mistake - often thought of as a mistake of pride or arrogance. Think of Oedipus, who insists on knowing the truth, confident he can (paraphrasing Jack Nicholson's character here) handle the truth.

In terms of Favre, his fatal flaw is that same sense of arrogance - that the rules (rules about monogamy in marriage, rules about Father Time catching up, rules about blocking someone's legs) don't really apply to him.

However, if Favre never recognizes his character flaw, then he's not a tragic hero. He's just ignorant.

The play in merely entering the third act.

My favorite literature class at college was taught by a professor who believed, with some evidence at hand, that the notion of hubris and its role in Greek tragedies was overstated and misunderstood. The word itself, Hebrew in origin if I remember correctly, was not well known to the Greeks at the time many works were created.

Greeks, in his reading of their literary development, were interested in the notion of arete, a literal and metaphorical effort to bring forth and to make known, to come from the unknown. To come out of hiding and reveal oneself. In today's terms, to make yourself and your goals known publicly and accept all challenges that result.

Odysseus, already suffering the wrath of Poseidon for his actions in the Trojan War and its aftermath, consistently puts himself in harms way, to the point a modern reader thinks Odysseus has suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. To escape or be rescued, in each case, Odysseus' true nature and name are at first hidden, literally (in leaves) and figuratively (false name) from the people he encounters, including a Queen named Arete. Eventually, in each case Odysseus must leave the shadows, announce his presence and reveal his true self, in some cases to his immediate detriment, but usually to his eventual salvation.

A somewhat modern equivalent might be James Bond.

And that would make Jenn Sterger either a Siren or Ms. Moneypenny.

And so this Greek tragedy may not end until Odysseus/Favre has tempted fate and the Gods a few more times and survives using his own skills and the help of impressed friends and benefactors, until he return home to the island plantation of Ithaca/Hattiesburg to drive off his wife's suitors.

Who gets to play Tiresius in this modern (melo)drama?

As for hubris, it originally meant arrogance in the sense of having god-like aspirations. Arete, the striving for excellence or fulfilling potential, might be kind of a precursor to hybris as a kind of arete run amuck.

What is the modern cognate of arete? I think it has to be something from the virtual world. The croc shot?

[Cheesehead Craig]

To be completely honest, he makes some throws that I wish Rodgers would make but somehow doubt he'll ever attempt let alone complete... Rodgers treats defenders backs almost like they were facing him.

A falsehood. Rodgers threw some very ridiculously good passes to Finley in the middle of the field when he was blanketed this season with defenders backs facing Rodgers. We've all seen the back shoulder throws as well where the defenders backs are facing him. Just because he hasn't done it as often as you like, don't portray it that he hasn't at all.

[Fritz]

I think Favre played well in that game because he reined himself in (I won't give Chilly credit for that) and played within the system. He allowed AP to be the focus and I think most of Favre's passes were fairly safe and short. In short, the swashbuckling Favre was gone.

Let's see if he continues this way of operating.

Well, is he a surgeon or a pirate?

He's a pirate when he's slinging the ball all over; he's a surgeon when he's operating within the system and doing what's asked.

[Cheesehead Craig]

I think Favre played well in that game because he reined himself in (I won't give Chilly credit for that) and played within the system. He allowed AP to be the focus and I think most of Favre's passes were fairly safe and short. In short, the swashbuckling Favre was gone.

Let's see if he continues this way of operating.

Well, is he a surgeon or a pirate?

He's a pirate when he's slinging the ball all over; he's a surgeon when he's operating within the system and doing what's asked.

And he's a pimp off the field and has a pimp-cane!

[CaptainKickass]

OMG - Scott

The Captain finds that shit frickin' HILARIOUS!

Favros, Chillios, the trophy of Lambos...Bwahahahahaha

[Scott Campbell]

From NFL Fan House....the Favre's have joined the blogging revolution! In the most recent post, Deanna, Brett's wife, writes that her husband isn't a vindictive jerk, which should come as news to Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy, and the sports media (obvious exclusion: Peter King, BFF Esq.)

Via the Family of Favre:
"... [M]ost hurtful are those media reports who would like you to believe that Brett is eaten up with bitterness over his split with the Packers. Still feeling some grief, sure... but not bitterness. Yes, in the beginning, Brett was angry and hurt with the way things ended, but how could he not be? Brett gave most of his career (and his adult life) to the Packers. ...

Brett does not, in any way, hold a vendetta against his former team ... But that has not stopped some from scrutinizing his every move and blaming him for so many things that simply are not true. ... Because of this, lately, my heart has been so heavy. It is very hard to watch the daily toll this has taken on Brett."

This was from right around the time that ole Bert was sending pictures of his penis to Jenn.

Enablers are funny.

[Fritz]

"Greeks, in his reading of their literary development, were interested in the notion of arete, a literal and metaphorical effort to bring forth and to make known, to come from the unknown. To come out of hiding and reveal oneself."

I don't disagree at all. I do believe, however, that Greek tragedy suggests that the hero must bring forth and make himself known not only to others, but to himself. Your lines above seem to imply - to me - that one knows one's self and arete is a matter of making that self known to others. I would argue that it is equally the quest for self-knowledge that is central to Greek tragedy. It is the search for and the gradual unfolding of self-knowledge that is, after all, the driving force behind the plot of Oedipus.

As for Herr Favre, I don't see him as hungering after self knowledge at this point. In that regard, he is like Hamlet, who, in my estimation, is a fucking idiot.

[HowardRoark]

"Greeks, in his reading of their literary development, were interested in the notion of arete, a literal and metaphorical effort to bring forth and to make known, to come from the unknown. To come out of hiding and reveal oneself."

I don't disagree at all. I do believe, however, that Greek tragedy suggests that the hero must bring forth and make himself known not only to others, but to himself. Your lines above seem to imply - to me - that one knows one's self and arete is a matter of making that self known to others. I would argue that it is equally the quest for self-knowledge that is central to Greek tragedy. It is the search for and the gradual unfolding of self-knowledge that is, after all, the driving force behind the plot of Oedipus.

As for Herr Favre, I don't see him as hungering after self knowledge at this point. In that regard, he is like Hamlet, who, in my estimation, is a fucking idiot.

I will make mysthelf known not only to othersth, but to mythelf too.....now hand me my damn sthell phone buttmunch!

[Scott Campbell]

Re: Favre

YO FAVRE SUPPORTERS

IDEA

No rub it in your face threads.............ok ??

No need to. Every person who claimed Teddy made the right move and that it was time to get rid of Favre have been proven WRONG. Not by any opinion, but by FACT. They should be feeling pretty stupid about now.

And if things keep going the way they are now, the national media will start putting a lot of pressure on one Mr Thompson to explain what will go down as one of the top 5 GM dumbest moves in sports history. That will end up being the Thompson legacy............

Bump.

[vince]

I bumped into a post of ol' Packnut's on another board awhile back. He's still incessantly bashing other posters who support Thompson with the same rhetoric.

[Bossman641]

Thought this was a good video

http://www.nfl.com/videos/green-bay-packers/09000d5d81bfc814/The-Season-Favre-s-Return

[Bretsky]

Re: Favre

YO FAVRE SUPPORTERS

IDEA

No rub it in your face threads.............ok ??

No need to. Every person who claimed Teddy made the right move and that it was time to get rid of Favre have been proven WRONG. Not by any opinion, but by FACT. They should be feeling pretty stupid about now.

And if things keep going the way they are now, the national media will start putting a lot of pressure on one Mr Thompson to explain what will go down as one of the top 5 GM dumbest moves in sports history. That will end up being the Thompson legacy............

Bump.

Wow; my post must have been from years ago. I didn't know I was ever good spirited in this thread

[packerbacker1234]

Thought this was a good video

http://www.nfl.com/videos/green-bay-...Favre-s-Return

neat seeming some view points from fans outside of the forums. Clear people are still torn on him, and a lot of packer fans do still respect what Favre does on the football field and what he did for our team for so long.

Doesn't mean they want him to win, but it was cool seeing a little appreciation for his onfield performances versus his off field drama.

[Scott Campbell]

Thought this was a good video

http://www.nfl.com/videos/green-bay-...Favre-s-Return

neat seeming some view points from fans outside of the forums. Clear people are still torn on him, and a lot of packer fans do still respect what Favre does on the football field and what he did for our team for so long.

Doesn't mean they want him to win, but it was cool seeing a little appreciation for his onfield performances versus his off field drama.

It's a small and ever dwindling group, thanks in part to his league leading 13 interceptions. That, and he's a creepy pervert. You could say they're loyal to a fault.