An End ... And a Beginning

Yesterday, I pointed out how few newspapers in New York paid much attention to the closing of Astroland, the last of the old-fashioned amusement parks on Coney Island.

But in today's New York Times, Cara Buckley, who apparently spent part of Sunday at Astroland, has written a fond farewell to the place. It deserves to be mentioned.

"[T]housands of visitors poured into Astroland for what appeared to be the last time," Buckley writes, "pushing toddlers in strollers and aged relatives in wheelchairs, and taking a final look at a park that may have seen better days, but was still widely adored."

It seems crowds were sizable as Astroland welcomed visitors for the final time.

But many New Yorkers who otherwise might have come to the amusement park may have chosen instead to stay home Sunday to watch quarterback Brett Favre lead the New York Jets to a season-opening 20-14 win over the Miami Dolphins.

That victory, admittedly, came against a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in awhile. Of course, the Jets have only three wins in the postseason in the last 20 years.

But it was Favre's presence that made it noteworthy, and the Jets held on to beat former Jets QB Chad Pennington and the Dolphins in Miami.

The Jets' next opponent is another AFC East foe, the New England Patriots, who won all their regular-season games and two playoff games before losing the Super Bowl last year.

Football fans had been anticipating the Jets-Patriots game since Favre signed with the Jets earlier in the summer. Initially, it was viewed as an opportunity to see two quarterbacks who will ultimately be enshrined in the NFL's Hall of Fame — but that matchup may never occur.

New England's Tom Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in Sunday's win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

It was an unfortunate injury. Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss claimed it was a dirty play. But, in my opinion, it was a clean hit. Unfortunate result. Clean hit.

And, with Brady out of action for the rest of the season, and Favre about to turn 39 this fall, it's far from certain that the two will meet on the football field.

That doesn't mean the Patriots won't be a challenge for the Jets this Sunday. A team doesn't go undefeated during the regular season on the strength of its quarterback alone — even one as talented as Brady.

And, while playoff wins have been rare for the Jets in recent years, this decade has belonged to the Patriots.

It's too bad that some of the lustre from Sunday's game is gone.

Nevertheless, Sports Illustrated's Don Banks says Favre gives the Jets a chance to win a lot of games this year.

Clearly, Jets fans have more reason to feel optimistic this morning than they did before kickoff yesterday.

Some Thoughts on Brett Favre and the NFL

I’ve been communicating via e-mail with a friend of mine on the subject of football.

I’ve known this person since our college days at the University of Arkansas, and we both confess to being lifelong Arkansas Razorback fans.

To borrow her own words, being a Razorback fan is part of our DNA.

When it comes to pro football, she’s been a Packer fan for the last several years, largely because of Brett Favre, who retired in March, tried to un-retire once training camp opened and he decided he wanted to play after all, and has resumed his career as a New York Jet.

I, too, am a Packer fan, although my roots go a little deeper — I’ve been a Packer fan since I was 6 and Vince Lombardi was roaming the sidelines. ("A whole lotta water under the bridge," as Dooley Wilson said upon being reunited with Ingrid Bergman in "Casablanca.")

Favre, as I pointed out to my friend, hadn’t even been born when I became a Packer fan. And Favre’s about to turn 39 this fall.

Anyway, my friend says she is no longer a Packer fan. She’s angry with the Packer organization for letting Favre go, and she’ll be watching more Jets games this year.

As much as I enjoy watching Favre play, I don’t know how many opportunities I’ll have to see a Jets telecast in Dallas, Texas — unless the Jets happen to be playing the Cowboys! (Incidentally, the Cowboys do not play the Jets during the regular season.)

But I’ll watch him when I can. As long as he is out there playing, Favre will be entertaining to watch. I wish he was still a Packer.

And I continue to be a Packer fan. I appreciate what Favre did for the team — believe me, after suffering through some of the Packer seasons I’ve suffered through, it was a real joy for me to see them play in two consecutive Super Bowls in the 1990s.

But I, along with my colleagues in the so-called ”Packer Nation,” waited 30 years to see the Packers return to the Super Bowl. If it turns out to be another 30-year wait, well, we’ve already put the first 10 years behind us.

That’s how long it’s been since Favre played in a Super Bowl. And, as he takes over the offense of a team that went 4-12 last year and has to play the New England Patriots twice during the regular season, it’s doubtful that he’s about to return to the Super Bowl.

In 2008, anyway. Beyond that, I’m not prepared to say.

Because Brett Favre is a freak of nature. What else can you call a man who has played the demanding position of pro quarterback for as many consecutive games as he has?

(I’ve heard sportscasters say that Peyton Manning would have to play in every game for the next six years to match Favre’s career mark. Even if the Colts didn’t make the playoffs in any of those seasons, that would still require Manning to play in nearly 100 straight games to match the mark Favre has now — and the meter is still running, if Favre plays in the Sept. 7 opener in Miami.)

For all I know, Brett Favre could wind up playing pro football until he’s 50.

But he’s going to need some good fortune to get through the 2008 season. Before it’s over, he may decide that he might have been wise to do his impersonation of Rocky Marciano and retire on his own terms — unblemished and unbowed.

By the way, the Patriots will be the Jets’ second-week opponent. It’s the Jets’ home opener — I’m guessing that one will be televised nationally. The following week, Favre and the Jets will travel to San Diego to play the Chargers on Monday night.

Welcome to the AFC, Brett. Good luck.

Anyway, I guess this is an appropriate point to offer my 2008 predictions.

• AFC East: The New England Patriots. Who else?


• AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers


• AFC South: Indianapolis Colts


• AFC West: San Diego Chargers


• Wild cards: Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins


• First round: San Diego 30, Miami 7; Pittsburgh 21, Cincinnati 17.


• Second round: New England 28, Pittsburgh 14; San Diego 17, Indianapolis 16


• AFC Championship: New England 23, San Diego 20

I’m not predicting a 16-0 season, though!

And, in the NFC …

• NFC East: Dallas Cowboys


• NFC North: Chicago Bears


• NFC South: New Orleans Saints


• NFC West: Seattle Seahawks


• Wild cards: New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings


• First round: New York Giants 20, Seattle 17; Minnesota 16, New Orleans 7


• Second round: New York Giants 21, Dallas 14; Chicago 10, Minnesota 9


• NFC Championship: Chicago 24, New York Giants 3

And that leaves us with a Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears — a rematch of Mike Ditka’s championship nearly a quarter of a century later.

But with a different result — New England 23, Chicago 13

I'll Admit It — These Are Random Thoughts

It's a hot, stuffy July night in Dallas, Texas. And my thoughts are like fireflies, darting from one spot to the next with little warning:

• I was reading an article in the Washington Post that was discussing a couple of the hottest names being tossed around lately for Democratic running mate.
  
  They are Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia.
  
  Both men are from so-called "red states" that are presently predicted to remain in the Republican column in November.
  
  But the feeling is that either state could flip sides — especially if a native son had a spot on the ticket with Barack Obama.
  
  Obama has no executive experience so a vice presidential candidate with a background as a governor would be helpful to his ticket. Bayh brings that to the table — he was governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997.
  
  In 1998, he was elected to the Senate, winning the seat his father, Birch Bayh, held for three terms.
  
  Evan Bayh received 64% of the vote in 1998 when he was elected to the Senate, the greatest victory margin ever for a Democrat in a U.S. Senate race in Indiana.
  
  I remember his father. And, in spite of the elder Bayh's accomplishments, I have to wonder about the wisdom of putting someone with his political genetic makeup on the ticket.
  
  The elder Bayh had been in the Senate for 18 years when he ran for his fourth term in 1980. Now, I know 1980 was a Republican year, but Birch Bayh lost to Dan Quayle — after debating him several times.
  
  Quayle, who was never known as a great debater, went on to be elected vice president with George H.W. Bush eight years later — after Quayle had been reminded by Lloyd Bentsen that he was "no Jack Kennedy."
  
  Of the other prospect — Sam Nunn — well, he'll be 70 years old before Election Day. Won't that kind of negate the age problem John McCain's been having?
  
  Also, how does Nunn fit in to the image the Obama campaign likes to project about how this campaign is a break with the past? I've been hearing Nunn's name mentioned as a vice presidential possibility for a couple of decades now.
  
  And he's clearly a part of the "old politics" in Washington. He was elected to the Senate in 1972 and he retired in 1997.
  
  Nunn was only 58 when he retired — many analysts have said the Democratic Party's "shift to the left" led him to leave public service.
  
  I've heard rumors that Obama will announce his decision before the start of the Summer Olympics in Beijing on August 8. I hope he comes up with a better choice.


• While we're on the subject of the vice presidency, The Economist mentions — albeit briefly — a subject that has been discussed tentatively on both sides — picking a running mate from the other party.
  
  It's not as outlandish as it sounds. It has been done before — and successfully — by no less than Abraham Lincoln, the Republican president who was re-elected with Democrat Andrew Johnson on his ticket. (Of course, let's not forget that Johnson became president when Lincoln was assassinated and then became the first president to be impeached.)
  
  And the vice presidential prospects make sense — to a point. Especially if the objective is to appeal to voters from the other party. But not particularly if you want to strengthen your own party's base — except on the issue of the war.
  
  For McCain, the prospect from the other party is Sen. Joe LIeberman — the Democrat-turned-independent from Connecticut, as well as Al Gore's running mate eight years ago. "The senators are seen so often in each other’s company that they might be Siamese twins," says The Economist. But, aside from Lieberman's support for the Iraq War, there isn't much for a garden variety Republican to like about him.
  
  For Obama, the prospect is Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam War veteran who has been a very vocal critic of the Iraq War. But, like Lieberman, Hagel brings a voting record on social and economic issues that wouldn't necessarily appeal to most people outside his party.
  
  The Economist advises both McCain and Obama to "err on the side of caution." I'm inclined to agree.


• Back in March, when Brett Favre retired, I was saddened to hear the news, even though it was something I had been expecting for awhile.
  
  This week, with the news reports that Favre wanted to return to action, I guess I've grown accustomed to the idea that his career is finally over.
  
  As a Packer fan, I'm not looking forward to the losses that I believe will come in the early stages of the "post-Favre era," but I'm prepared for them.
  
  It's a part of the natural cycle. Teams struggle when their star player retires, whatever the sport may be.
  
  As much as it pains me to say it, it's time for the Packers to move into their future, and it's time for Favre to move into his.


• I recently learned that my high school class will be holding its 30-year reunion in another week.
  
  I won't be able to attend, but I wish I could. I know that a couple of my classmates have died recently, and it would be good to be able to see the ones who are still around and find some comfort from being with them for a few hours.
  
  Life, as George Carlin was fond of saying, "is a zero sum game."
  
  (By the way, my high school class graduation was held on Carlin's 41st birthday.)

So Long, Brett

Nearly two months ago, as Brett Favre and his Green Bay Packers teammates were preparing to meet the New York Giants in the NFC Championship game, I wrote a little about Favre's career and how ridiculous it was to wait until his career was over to induct him into the NFL's Hall of Fame.

Turns out, his career was just about over. We just didn't know it yet.

That Sunday, Favre and the Packers lost to the Giants in overtime. New York went on to the Super Bowl two weeks later and upset the previously unbeaten New England Patriots.

And today, Favre called it quits.

My immediate response was, "Oh, no!"

I'm a Packer fan. I've been a Packer fan since I was a boy and Vince Lombardi was walking the sidelines.

That, by the way, was a couple of years before Favre was born.

And, as a Packer fan, I've been through many difficult seasons with many subpar quarterbacks -- years when Terry Bradshaw and the Pittsburgh Steelers were dominating the NFL, years when Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers were the best team, and all the other years, when the championships went to Griese and the Dolphins, Staubach and the Cowboys, Stabler and the Raiders, McMahon and the Bears.

About a quarter of a century passed between the last time that Lombardi walked off the field as coach and the first time Favre walked on the field in a Packer uniform. And, in most of those years, the Packers were terrible.

Suffice to say that, when Bradshaw, Griese, Staubach, Stabler, McMahon and Montana were winning Super Bowls, the Packers were being led by quarterbacks who were completely forgettable.

You won't see their busts in Canton, Ohio. Although you might see some of them on the NFL's blooper reels.

So, like most Packer fans, I've gotten a little spoiled with Favre at the helm for nearly two decades. The guy's never missed a game. He's rewritten most of the NFL passing records. He played in two Super Bowls and he won one of them.

I knew this day would come. I was just hoping it was still a couple of years down the road.

It seems that mere words can't do justice to what Favre has done in his career. But that hasn't stopped the nation's sportswriters from weighing in.

Rick Morrissey writes, in the Chicago Tribune, that Favre's departure is "our loss."

"I know that's probably heresy to most hard-core Bears fans," Morrissey says, "but it's true. Anybody who enjoys football, who likes flair and emotion and effort, liked Brett Favre. The NFL just became a colder place with word of his retirement ... He looked like a kid who was enjoying a game, and even the most cynical among us had to appreciate that, especially in a sports world in which greed and self-absorption seem to be the most prevalent natural attributes. "

That's the thing that always appealed to me about Favre. It was always so much fun to watch him play. And I will miss that very much.

But kids don't stay kids forever. They grow up. And growing up brings with it new issues.

Another season just wasn't worth the grind for Favre, writes Peter King in Sports Illustrated.

But that doesn't mean that Favre doesn't love the game.

And football fans love Favre, says Pete Prisco of CBS Sports.

"We loved watching him play," writes Prisco. "He was fearless. He was daring. He was the every man, the Southern kid with the aw-shucks, down-home attitude who happened to have a rocket for a right arm. He also had flaws, which we all do. ... Maybe that's why so many loved Favre so much; fans saw themselves in him."

Without Favre, says John Clayton of ESPN, the Packers may still be a playoff team, a team with loads of young talent and a quarterback in Aaron Rodgers who has been groomed to succeed Favre.

But without Favre, Clayton says, the Packers won't be the same team. "[I]t's hard seeing the Packers back at that Super Bowl level this season without him. They are just another NFC team that has a chance."

Clayton says the Packers are going to miss Favre's magic.

And so will I.

So long, Brett. Thanks for the memories.

Avoid the Rush

As Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers prepare to face the New York Giants in Sunday's NFC Championship game, all Jim Baumbach of Newsday can say is that Favre "could have -- maybe even should have -- been a Jet."

If Baumbach is correct, the Jets had a deal in the works with the Cardinals that would have given them the draft spot two positions ahead of Atlanta, the team that drafted Favre in 1991. But the deal fell through, Atlanta drafted Favre, things didn't work out, and he was traded to Green Bay.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Really.

In fact, Favre's career has been so historic, so legendary in nature that, when you see things like the Packers' overwhelming triumph over Seattle in snowy Green Bay on Saturday, it's tempting to ask, "Why not suspend the rules and just go ahead and induct Favre into the NFL's Hall of Fame?"

We all know it's going to happen. We all know that, when we see Favre playing on TV, we're watching a Hall of Famer near the end of his career who is still playing well and clearly having the time of his life.

With a lot of players, you need to wait until their careers are over and then assess what they did. But that's not Brett Favre. We know he'll wind up in Canton, Ohio. The question is when.

Why should we wait until a few years after his career ends -- whenever that turns out to be?

We probably could have gone ahead and put him in the Hall of Fame four years ago, when his father died and Favre played maybe the best game of his life the next night against Oakland. In that now fabled Monday night game, Favre threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns.

Or we could have done it three years ago, when Favre, at the age of 35, led the Packers to a winning streak that wrapped up the division title before the other teams knew what had hit them.

Mark Craig of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says Favre is an "ageless wonder." He reports that a young woman in a bar ("young enough to be carded") observed, while watching the graying Favre on TV last Saturday, that "He looks like he's 58."

"Actually, Brett Favre acts like he's 8, throws like he's 18, plays like he's 28 and understands football like he's 68," Craig writes. "But in reality, he was born Oct. 10, 1969, which makes him too young for those who feel the need to help him across the street or lay a blanket across his lap."

This year, the guy has practically rewritten the NFL's passing record book. He already held the record for most consecutive games started -- a streak that continues to this day. Think of any great quarterback who ever played in the NFL, and his name now comes after Favre's in just about every passing category. Whether it's touchdowns, completions, completion percentage, yardage, you name it. Whether you're talking about Dan Marino, Fran Tarkenton, Johnny Unitas or John Elway.

The one exception is total Super Bowl victories. Favre has one Super Bowl win to his credit. I think the most for a starting QB is four, held by Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana. So even if he wins this year's Super Bowl, Favre would need to win the next two as well to match the record.

In the process, of course, Favre would set a couple of other standards for future quarterbacks. He would become the oldest quarterback to start in a Super Bowl and the oldest quarterback to win one.

If you're wondering about Tom Brady, he can join that elite group if he wins this year's Super Bowl. But he might have to get past Favre to do it.

And defeating Brady and preventing the Patriots from finishing the season with a perfect record would certainly be another memorable chapter in Favre's Hall of Fame career.