Gray Matter

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Brett the Jet

Okay, so it’s not the most original headline ever.

And, you may be thinking, do we really need another column about the cataclysmic events of the last few months that resulted in Brett Favre starting today as the quarterback of the New York Jets?

Well bare with me because this time, it's personal.

For, you see, I grew up in Queens, practically under the shadow of Shea Stadium, where the Jets played during my formative years.

I first began paying attention to sports the year of Brett's birth (that would be 1969).

That was the year Joe Namath and the Jets shocked the football world by defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in what is now called Super Bowl III.

It was the same year when the Amazin' Mets came from more than ten games behind the Cubs in August to win the East division, the National League and, most incredibly of all, the World Series 4-1. (Brewer fans take note.)

And then May of 1970 was when the New York Knicks of Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley took the NBA championship by beating the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers.

So my allegiance to those three teams was imprinted on my psyche at a tender age and I have enjoyed the highs and agonized over the lows common to most sports fans.

Since moving to Wisconsin nine years ago I have developed a strong affection for our local teams, especially the Green Bay Packers. How could you not appreciate the incredible history of this storied franchise? Besides, Vince Lombardi was also a New York transplant and Brett Favre himself and I share a birthday (October 10th, as if you didn't know).

How could any football fan not love and admire Brett Favre? Sure the records are impressive but to simply watch him on the field epitomizes the thrill of competitive sports. The guy just loves to play and seems to give 100 percent every single minute he’s on the field.

I learned early on that most Wisconsin sports fans care little about the teams that play elsewhere. I was still acclimating myself to the ways of the Dairy State when the Mets and the Yankees ended up in the first Subway Series of my life in 2000. Did anyone around here give a damn? Are you kidding me, it was Packer season for Chrissakes!

Honestly, I didn't want Brett Favre to leave the Packers. I didn't believe it would happen. Sure the guy has jerked the team and its fans around every offseason this century. Weirdly, I loved how he seemed to be mentally and physically exhausted each year and needed time to recover before shaking off doubt and once again recommitting totally and completely to the gruelling regimen the game requires.

I understand that the team wanted to avoid another offseason without knowing who its quarterback would be. The press conference when Favre announced his retirement was dramatic and painful. The season had been spectacular but had ended in disappointment. Obviously, he was still able to play but, if he had to choose, he couldn't see himself back, not yet anyway.

In the meantime the team had moved on and made other plans. But surely if Favre left no doubt that he was serious about returning, the team would realize it was foolhardy to let him go. This was unlike any of the other aging superstar stories of the past since he is obviously still at the top of his game and the team's other choices are so unproven.

Somehow the incredibly unlikely scenario unfolded that Brett Favre (OUR Brett) was traded to the New York Jets (MY Jets).

I don't know how this season will unfold but I am looking forward to it. I will root for the Packers and I wish Aaron Rodgers well. But I will also root for the Jets and I am insanely excited every time I see him in that Jets uniform. Who knew that two shades of green could be so different?

Today's game between the Jets and the Dolphins was tremendously entertaining. Favre threw a couple of his patented "Oh My God, How Did He Do That?" passes and lead the Jets to a 20-14 victory. The fact that Chad Pennington, who has been the Jets starter until he was displaced by the legend, is now leading the Dolphins added some drama to the game. Pennington played well but the win went to his former team.

Obviously, there are more important things in the world then football. But in a world where Milwaukee is heralded as the Nation’s Sexiest City and Brooklyn-born Henry Winkler is welcomed as the city’s greatest celebrity, is it so impossible to dream that the Packers and Jets might meet in this season’s Super Bowl?

Do you believe in miracles?

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Friday, September 05, 2008

Agents of Change?

Without question, the Republicans helped their cause this week. The Palin pick energized the base and McCain's speech tried to make the case that the maverick war hero is the true agent of change. Both were smart moves to drive up enthusiasm among social conservatives and attract support from the narrow but critical minority of voters who, somehow, are still undecided.

Of course, McCain's pledge to shake things up did not match his agenda. His policies are right out of the same old Republican playbook. And McCain missed the opportunity to distance himself from any of George W. Bush flawed record (though his distaste for the guy seeps through). He paid tribute to Bush for leading the fight against terrorism then avoided mentioning his name for the rest of his speech.

He said both parties were guilty of lapses in ethics and declared that he was a servant not of any party but of the American people. Talk about lofty but meaningless rhetoric!

But anyone who sees McCain-Palin as agents of change is delusional. The "Drill, baby, Drill" chant, the opposition to a government role in health care, and, most scary of all, the commitment to continue, even expand, a confrontational approach to foreign policy makes it more than unlikely that these two will shake things up on any critical issue facing our nation and world.

As expected, McCain's personal story of suffering at the hands of interrogators as a POW during the Vietnam War was dramatic and compelling. But the maverick McCain should have used that story to criticize the use of torture by us as well as them. Notably he didn't and other speakers in St. Paul tweaked the Democrats for suggesting that Gitmo prisoners had any rights. I don't know how any independent observer could miss that odd dissonance.

He vaguely referenced ethical excesses by both parties and pledged to seek common ground but failed to give a single example of an issue appropriate to compromise. His litany of priorities were lower taxes and less government, i.e. more of the same.

My friends, Americans want change this year and Senator McCain realizes he needs to appeal to that zeitgeist. But Americans know what change looks like, what change feels like, what change sounds like.

Sen. McCain, we know change and you ain't it.

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Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Country First?

John McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate calls his judgment into serious question.

Let's start off by stipulating, as Barack Obama has, that family issues like her 17-year-old daughter's pregnancy and her decision to give birth to a Down syndrome baby are personal and should not be open to analysis.

And too much is often made of vice president choices. You have to go back to 1960, when JFK's pick of LBJ provided the margin of victory by bringing along Texas (that and the shenanigans in Illinois allegedly employed at the behest of the elder Richard Daley). More often, even the lamest picks seem to have little effect on the outcome of the election (think Spiro Agnew and Dan Quayle).

But with both candidates competing for the narrow group of voters who somehow have managed to remain undecided their choices may have a more than usual effect this year.

Barack Obama's choice of Delaware's Sen. Joe Biden leaves little to criticize. McCain backers are asserting that Biden's long experience in Washington casts doubt on the Democratic ticket's promise of change. But Obama has already so strongly linked his campaign to change that that dog won't hunt. Plus Biden promises to bring valuable expertise on many issues, foreign and domestic, that can only give the Obama administration a greater chance of success.

As for McCain's choice, what can you say? Where do you start?

He apparently wanted to choose his friend, and fellow Iraq War hawk, former Democrat and current Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut but all signs suggested that a messy floor fight, possibly even challenging McCain's own nomination would ensue. So his fallback was to go with a "fresh face" who would appeal to the social conservative base of the party, never all that comfortable with McCain, and possibly appeal to disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters and other women.

The idea that a pro-life, pro-oil industry, pro-NRA female would win over Hillary backers implies a radical feminist demographic that defies logic. Palin's appeal is to people who weren't going to vote for Obama anyway.

What's actually scary is the way this choice suggests that McCain relies on his gut instincts, a tendency that may not always lead to the best results in the Oval Office. Heck, he met Palin a mere two times.

McCain's slogan is "Country First" but this pick seems to put electoral considerations, however bizarre, ahead of governing priorities.

Perhaps a better McCain slogan would be "WTF?"

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Saturday, August 30, 2008

Bruce and Barack Rock Milwaukee

What a weekend!

If the roar of choppers wasn't enough to get your blood bubbling then maybe the music blasting from stages all over town might do the trick.

Miller Park, Milwaukee Street, North Avenue, MLK Drive and Locust Street were all bursting with music and, of course, the lakefront featured headliners Foo Fighters on Friday and the Boss himself, none other than Bruuuce Springsteen tonight.

But the nation's number one celebrity du jour, Barack Obama promises to outshine them all when he hits town on Monday. Republican candidate John McCain has poked fun that Obama's popularity is nothing but a trend a la Britany or Paris. But anyone who has heard the man speak knows that there's plenty of substance to the Illinois junior senator.

So if you're in town on Labor Day you will definitely want to check out Obama at the Marcus Amphitheater.

How often do you get a chance to witness something truly historic?

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Friday, August 29, 2008

A Good Week

Is it possible that the Democrats have actually pulled off a flawless convention and nominated a terrific team that offers passion, experience, vision and conviction?

Each night seemed perfected choreographed to convey a particular message designed to unify the party and demonstrate to the nation that Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the right choice on Election Day in November.

And the news today that John McCain has chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, a social conservative, apparently to bolster his support among the party's base who have little love for the former maverick, adds piquancy to the strength of the Democratic ticket.

The Ted Kennedy/Michelle Obama show on Monday, followed by Hillary's terrific performance on Tuesday, and then Bill and Joe's one-two punch on Wednesday were all impressive raising the stakes for the main event on Thursday.

And Barack Obama did not disappoint.

He hit all the right notes, delivering a great speech with all the poetry his supporters have grown accustomed to while also providing plenty of specifics that his critics have charged he has glossed over. Never mind that his standard stump speech has always been chock full of policy specifics that have been essential to his appeal.

But most importantly, Obama took the fight directly to Sen. McCain, leaving no doubt that he is ready to take on the War Hero on the question of who has the ideas, the determination and the fortitude to deliver on the challenges facing our nation at this critical juncture.

Even the roll call had a dramatic, cathartic and even entertaining quality to it. When the Illinois delegation ceded its time to the New York crowd allowing Sen. Hillary Clinton to call on the convention to nominate Obama by acclamation, policy wonks everywhere were breathless.

Granted McCain deserves some credit for seizing the media's attention by naming Palin, the little known, self-described former "hockey mom." But after the buzz caused by the surprise announcement dies down independents and other undecided voters will most likely wonder why this choice should convince anyone that the nation's future is best entrusted to this team.

Wow. Whatta week. I'm still kinda breathless.

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