At the age of 38 Brett Favre finally called it quits yesterday. No doubt he was a great quarterback, very charismatic, and seemed like a genuinely likable person; HOWEVER, (as Stephan A. Smith would say) why does the media act as if Brett Favre was god's gift to the football world? Why are grown men (as I heard on the radio) pulling their cars over in the street and weeping? I admit when I was a teenager that I wept when Magic Johnson was diagnosed with the HIV virus but I consider that to be a little different. I thought that Magic was going to die. Favre is 38, has a good looking wife, kids, and a life after football.
MEMO TO ESPN: FAVRE IS STILL ALIVE!!!!
It actually gives me a moment to reflect on celebrity and its role in our society. Just the other day, I was invited to hear Steve Young speak. I admit, I was stoked. I was excited to hear what he had to say and what stories he might tell. It was a fund raiser and there were hundreds of people there. He was the main draw and many of them (like me) were pumped to see him and possibly shake his hand.
As he was speaking though, I had an epiphany...I had heard better and more inspiring talks almost every Sunday. Mr. Young wasn't horrible; he told some good stories, and related them to the audience but it seemed so contrived and it was obvious he was telling us the same thing he had told many an audiences before.
It left me wondering if all celebrities were basically the same when asked and/or paid to speak before a large group of people. Many get paid up to $50,000 or more just to do what Steve Young did. Tell a few of the same stories but make them fit to the group they are addressing.
I then started thinking about sports memorabilia and how much people are willing to spend for things like a Steve Young signed jersey or football. I have never been one of these people. Even though I knew every statistic of almost every athlete, I never collected baseball or football cards. I just never saw the need nor got excited about the possibility of getting someone's autograph. Maybe I'm just different in that regard. There is definitely a market for it and people make a lot of money collecting and then selling their items but to collect, save, and thirst after a certain celebrities jockstrap is a little strange to me.
Anyway, let's go back full circle. Brett Favre retires and grown men cry. People pay thousands of dollars to hear Steve Young tell a few stories he has told hundreds of times before. Others spend tons of money buying raffle tickets just for the opportunity to possibly win a signed jersey. Many wait in long lines just in hopes of getting a celebrity to sign a ball or a poster.
Why? Maybe those who are reading this post can help me out. Why is our society obsessed with celebrity? Is there a notch that you get on your bedpost when you claim that you have shaken Wally Joyner's hand? (I have by the way but that was before he got caught using HGH). :)
Please enlighten me with your comments.
By the way, I would probably wait in the longest line, buy thousands of lottery tickets, AND spend hundreds of dollars to go waterskiing with Tiger and his wife.......but that's different, isn't it?
5 comments:
Wally Joyner used HGH!!! I didnt know that, I played softball against his brother once, I think you were on that team with me Dro.
I heard on Atlanta sports talk radio, at least I think I heard this so correct me if I am wrong, that Favre was drafted by the Falcons but because of his excessive alcohol use and missing team functions that they got rid of him. But like I said I only caught half the conversation so I could have hear wrong.
We idolize these people and then they turn out to be alcoholics or drug abusers. Isn't there something wrong with that.
Noodles
P.S. Favre wife is not hot.
Dro, take a look at your blog - it appears to be celebrity obsessed. I'll leave it up to you to explain why.
There is no difference between your reaction to Magic's aids-related retirement and Favre's normal retirment. You shed tears because your favorite player would no longer play. You did not know him and his death would be as meaningless to you as thousands of others who die from aids each year if it weren't for the fact that he played for the Lakers.
The reason you did not collect baseball cards was because you can't remember a time when there wasn't ESPN. In my day, yes I'm that old and I was a better player than Benny the Jet Rodriguez, we bought baseball cards because there was no other way to satisfy a need to know more about our favorite athletes. The cards were not bought for the purpose of making money (ie. gambling), but rather to trade with friends and to put in the spokes of your Schwinn bycicle. I opened up dozens and dozens of card packages until I got a Willie Mays card (by the way does anybody want to debate the greatest baseball player of all time?). I promptly covered it with scotch tape so the card would not detriorate when I used it to play a silly baseball/marble game. I still have the card and it is worthless.
Celebrity obsessed? I don't see that at all. I bag on Oprah Winfrey, Roger Clemens, and everyone associated with the Oscars.
True, I talk about the greatness of Tiger Woods but I am certainly not obsessed.
Maybe I'm just in denial.
But yes, as a 15 year old, I cried because I would not get to watch Magic play ever again but I was only 15 at the time and he was my favorite player....plus he wasn't 38 years old.
Dro,
(Yer getting muddled. Magic Johnson made his announcement in 1992, ~15 years ago.)
The whole celebrity thing baffles me as well. I admired both Karl Malone and Magic Johnson a lot more before I heard them talk. Karl can't even squeeze out a coherent sentence. Ditto for Barry Sanders and countless others.
Stockton wasn't bright, but he had the sense to keep his mouth shut.
I can't see crying when a player retires. Heck, I don't even cry when a player dies! Why would I? I don't know them - they don't know me. It's like crying when your Nintendo breaks -- your source of entertainment is gone. (Or maybe it's because I'm socially maladjusted.)
Seems he had a great career, and I wish him well.
Jim, you are right. I was 15 when my Angels lost to the Red Sox. I was on my mission when Magic retired....I guess I was about 20 at that time.
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