Posts Tagged ‘Favre’

Saints Escape and Favre Lets One Slip Away

January 24, 2010

A couple of comments about the Vikings – Saints NFC Championship game today:

Even though I’ve been a critic of Brett Favre, and this morning I wrote, “I still think he’ll throw a few interceptions either against the Saints later today or in the Super Bowl,” I feel badly for him.  He played pretty well today despite being hit a lot.  He did throw two interceptions including one that prevented the Vikings from going for a game-winning field goal.  It’s tough for the season to end like that for him.  Twice now in three seasons Favre threw an INT at the end of the NFC championship game.

The Saints were the beneficiaries of a bad call in overtime.  When Drew Brees threw incomplete to David Thomas and pass interference was called on Minnesota, that advanced the ball from the 41 to the 29, putting the Saints in field goal position.  Looking at the replay, it looked like Thomas tripped over his own feet and Ben Leber of the Vikings barely touched Thomas.  Even if you argue that the call was technically correct, they shouldn’t have made a call like that at the end of the game (unless there was more contact before the cameras were isolated on them).  But there were a couple of bad calls earlier against the Saints.

Still, without the call, the game was a tossup.

I was expecting the Vikings to win so I was writing that the Saints didn’t use Reggie Bush enough.  You have one of the best weapons in the NFL and he only gets seven rushes and two receptions, especially after a monster performance last week?  He should have had at least five receptions.

It’s true that Minnesota dominated time of possession and you have to credit their defense.  Bush had a fumbled punt return and a dropped pass, and had a couple of other bad plays.  But you have to use Bush.  Throw him some screen passes.

It was a bad call though for the Saints to pitch it to Bush on the 29 in overtime because that almost took them out of field goal range.  Bush results in high risk/high reward plays and he lost five yards on that one.

As for Favre, and who made out better — Green Bay who kept Aaron Rodgers instead of Favre or Favre and Minnesota — even though the Vikings had more wins than the Packers, beat them twice, had a playoff win whereas the Pack lost their first playoff game, I think both teams — the Vikings and Packers — made out equally well.  The Vikings almost made the Super Bowl and Green Bay, led by Rodgers, had a very good season and will be a contender next year and for years to come.

Anyway, it’s great to see the Saints make the Super Bowl.  It should be a great, high scoring game.

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The Cult of Personality

September 27, 2009

It used to be that the stereotype of the salesman was that of the smooth, slick, fast-talking used car salesman.  The reason was that it worked.  People were drawn to someone who was outgoing, aggressive, and made a lot of promises.  In recent years, the image of the salesman has changed somewhat, or at least I thought so.  People wised up a bit, and realized that it wasn’t how loudly or authoritatively someone talked, but instead, there was a trend toward being natural and authentic.  So much so, in fact, that salespeople, as well as broadcasters, were taught to talk naturally, as if you’re talking to someone, more so than to just shout.

But sometimes, it still seems like it’s the person who uses the traditional sales approach, or more accurately, has a loud or outgoing personality, who flourishes, especially for people who aren’t quite sure what they are looking for and are therefore looking for a figure of authority.  You know the type – the person who can dazzle you with a speech and make your eyes glaze over (“Wow – this person really knows what he’s talking about.”).  Then at the end of the speech, you don’t remember what was said, just that it was said in an authoritative way.  They can do a Powerpoint presentation but aren’t always the most effective at getting the job done.  But it’s comforting to have a person tell you what you need to do.

We see the love of this personality in sports.  Look at the Brett Favre phenomenon.  He’s outgoing and emotional, so the fans and media love him.  But as good as he is, he only has one championship in a nearly 20-year career.  He also is a mistake-prone quarterback, throwing more interceptions than anyone in NFL history.

Look at tennis.  Who do you think the casual fan would say is was the best tennis player out of this group:  Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Stephan Edberg, or Boris Becker?  Hands down, people would say McEnroe, despite the fact that all of the players listed won between 6 and 8 Grand Slam championships.  It’s McEnroe’s personality – he made a lot of noise and people remember that.

I’m not saying that all loud people lack authenticity, or that all laid back people are genuine.  I’ll I’m saying is don’t be fooled by the person who talks with an air of authority without authenticity.  Don’t overlook the person who is down to earth, which is easy to do if your head is in the clouds.

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