The Sports Nut

It was the fiercest contest to come out of Super Bowl Sunday, and not a single competitor was on the field in Miami.

Yes, once Peyton Manning threw his devastating interception, the race was on. You may have entered it yourself, chasing the same goal as so many others.

Be the first on your block comparing Manning to Brett Favre.

For all we know, the winner was Favre himself. After all, the guy’s gotten pretty good at self-deprecating humor these days, right Hundai? So… how would Favre have played it?

Jim Nantz: “Picked off. Look out.”

Favre: “Shucks. Ah could’ve done that.”

But if Favre was in a joking mood, he had plenty of company. The comparisons flew on Twitter and at sports bars, on talk radio and surely at your neighborhood Super Bowl party.

The most memorable from my Sunday Twitter feed…

“Manning totally Favre’d up that play.”

And the headline on Mike Lucas’ column at Madison’s Capital Times…

“Did Peyton Manning morph Into Brett Favre?”

Even Sports Illustrated’s Peter King brought up Favre’s name while naming Manning his Goat of the Week.

Has this become Favre’s legacy now? A punch line to be delivered whenever someone throws a pivotal interception?

Don’t get me wrong. Favre has earned his spot in the Pantheon of Pickoffs, particularly those that come at crucial moments in games. That’s part of the reason he wasn’t delivering Drew Brees’ line in the latest Disney World commercial. If Favre doesn’t throw his late-game interception against the Saints two weeks ago, it’s quite likely Favre’s Vikings are in the Super Bowl. And if the Saints could beat the Colts, then certainly the Vikings could beat the Colts. So as Brees hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, you can picture what was running through Favre’s mind.

“Shucks. Ah could’ve done that.”

Indeed, the interceptions are Super-glued to Favre’s résumé. And yet, to depict Favre with such a one-dimensional brush is like remaking the Mona Lisa with finger paint.

We have so much more to choose from. His 16 glorious years in Green Bay spent rebuilding a franchise. His high-water mark of returning the Lombardi Trophy to Lombardi’s town. His indisputable status as the NFL’s Iron Man. His uncanny ability to win the blind loyalty of so many fans, a loyalty so strong that those fans would disown their favorite team.

Oh yes, we’ve got the nasty Packers divorce, too. And the blood feud with Ted Thompson, the dalliances with the Jets and the Vikings, the me-first prima-donna attitude – be it real or perceived – that has dogged him in recent years.

And despite all those choices, is this what we’ve settled on as Favre’s calling card? His interception-driven choking?

You hope that’s not the case, that it’s simply a function of the latest memory being the freshest.

You hope that eventually, when a player takes an impossibly brutal hit and still drags himself back to the huddle, somebody Tweets that the guy is “really Favring it out.” And when some quarterback threads a pass, ill-advised or otherwise, to a receiver at the back of an end zone, he’s lauded for his “Favrian moxie.”

Yes, Favre earned the interception part of his legacy, no doubt. But don’t forget, he earned the rest of his legacy, too.

Bud Getting Bronzed

Bud Selig is getting a statue at Miller Park, to which I say this.

What took so long?

You don’t have to like what Selig has done as commissioner of Major League Baseball. You don’t even have to like how he or his family ran the Milwaukee Brewers, especially in the cost-conscious wilderness of the 1990s.

But all of that is just window dressing compared to one overriding, all-encompassing fact.

If there is no Bud Selig, there is no such thing as the Milwaukee Brewers.

Every time you enjoy a brat at Miller Park or cheer a Prince Fielder homer or recall a Robin Yount goosebump moment or laugh at Bob Uecker’s jokes, you do so because of Selig. His single-minded mission of bringing big-league baseball back to Milwaukee is worthy of far more than

But for now, the bronze statute at Miller Park is the least Milwaukee can do. Not everyone will like it, but they should all respect it.

Bucks Becoming Stack’s House?

Caught the Bucks’ Sunday win over the Indiana Pacers, who may be the laziest basketball team I’ve seen this season. When Carlos Delfino has enough time to make a sandwich before taking a 3-point shot, that doesn’t say much about your defense.

Anyway, as the sellout crowd witnessed first-hand (if you build Brandon Jennings bobbleheads, they will come), Milwaukee’s been on a bit of a roll lately. The Bucks have won six of their last eight games to climb back in playoff contention. The streak started with a 113-107 win over Toronto, which happens to be when veteran Jerry Stackhouse joined the team.

And the Bucks say Stackhouse’s arrival and the team’s improved play aren’t simple coincidence.

“I wouldn’t sell Jerry’s contributions short, that’s for sure,” said coach Scott Skiles. “He competes. He’s not afraid of big moments.”

Nor is he afraid to tell teammates what’s on his mind.

“He knows when to speak up and get on guys, he knows when to encourage guys,” said Andrew Bogut. “We encourage that. We don't have a lot of vocal leaders on this team. He’s come in and filled that role.”

Stackhouse, who shows no signs of his year-plus layoff from the NBA, played nearly 30 minutes against Indiana, netting 14 points and six rebounds. He says he’s encouraged Milwaukee’s younger players to learn from their mistakes by watching more game tape, and they've been receptive to his input from the start.

“From a vocal standpoint, I tried to do that right away. Talking is a good thing,” Stackhouse said. “When I met with Scott, that’s something he wanted me to do.”

Stackhouse’s contract for $422,460, according to ESPN’s Trade Machine, is the smallest on the team. But he may be having one of the biggest impacts.

Blog of the Week

Many in the sports media business shun sports blogs, or at least those that aren’t written by fellow media folks. I think that’s a big mistake. In today’s multimedia landscape, blogs have earned a place in the national sports dialogue. They may not serve the same purpose as traditional media – beat reporting, access-driven stories, etc. – but the good ones have plenty of value, offering everything from information to commentary to entertainment. Sports teams are realizing this, too. For the second straight year, the Milwaukee Bucks held a 6th Fan Blogger contest, with the winner becoming the team’s official blogger.

Back in Milwaukee Magazine’s October 2008 “Best Of” issue, I put together a Best Sports Blogs section. And let me tell you, the hard part wasn’t finding good Wisconsin-centric sports blogs, it was narrowing down the field to 12, which is all we had space for in print.

I freely admit to scanning blogs when I get the chance, and I often link to their content here in Sports Nut territory. But it occurred to me that readers may enjoy reading the ones that I frequent, so I thought up this Blog of the Week idea.

Each week, I’ll link to a sports blog – usually one that’s Wisconsin sports-centric – with a few words about the site. And if there’s one out there that you think deserves some attention, let me know.

This week, the spotlight is on CheeseheadTV.com, a collaborative effort spearheaded by Cory Behnke and Aaron Nagler, two Wisconsinites who immigrated to New York. They bleed football, in the shade of green and gold, putting all their efforts into all things Green Bay Packers. And as the name implies, yes, they dabble in video.

But just because the season’s over doesn’t mean their blogging is. Nagler tells me there are plans for wall-to-wall draft coverage, as well as stuff on OTAs, minicamps and training camp practices. He even has designs on attending the NFL Scouting Combine. (Get help, Aaron, before it’s too late).

No ballgame to watch? No problem. Check out our new TV Guru column to get the lowdown on your remote control options.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter, where I tweet as howiemag. And tune in every Tuesday morning at 6:25 when I join Doug Russell and Mike Wickett on SportsRadio 1250 AM for Tuesdays with Howie. You can also find the segments in their Audio Vault.