Brett Favre retires...a cheese state mourns

So if you somehow haven't heard the news, Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre will not be returning to the Packers this fall. It was the "news heard round the Midwest" today, seeing as the man is treated, rightfully so, as a god in Wisconsin.

The Journal-Sentinel site carried the first "official word" from Favre's agent and it crashed the site. Apparently it needs to invest in better bandwidth. It treated his retirement like a national day of mourning, encouraging fans to write about their Favre memories and featured a banner that said "Brett Favre 1992-2007." I thought at first that he had actually died and not retired. My brother and I traded frantic IM's this morning, trying to find out what's the actual story and then, when we heard, my Buccaneers-fan-brother was able to share his joy fully. Personally, I'm not a Packers fan, but rather am a "supporter." I am disappointed to see he wasn't returning, but if it was me, I'd rather go out on a successful season than come back, have a bad one and end it that way. Leaving on a high note is always the best way to go, even if that high note didn't result in a Super Bowl win.

Later on the paper's site, I saw that Packer's fans were gathering at Lambeau Field to listen to the news and "mourn." Again, did he die or retire? But to be fair, it would be hard for people within Green Bay where the town actually owns the team. That's something rare nowadays.

At the gym, ESPN was heavy into Favre-coverage, including his brief cameo in the movie, There's Something About Mary, which still cracks me up. But apparently his appeal isn't that wide-spread because a girl I work with (who I promised not to name publicly) asked me today who Brett Favre is! You can imagine my reaction (comforting) but the shocked look on my co-worker's face did make me laugh.

So in closing, let's take a moment of silence to honor this Wisconsin legend, who no matter what, will always be a hero there, much like Barry Alvarez, but on a much bigger scale.