Where We Missed It

Too often those of in the media assume that because our opinion is educated, it is always correct. Here are few “truths” that we hear on a daily basis and aren’t even really fair, much less accurate:

• Brett Favre jerked the Packers and Jets around and now he’s doing the same to Minnesota. The truth of the matter is that Green Bay (and more specifically Ted Thompson) pushed Favre out. They’ve admitted it. The exhausting part of Favre’s decision-making  is the coverage, not Favre himself. Brett’s done nothing that Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Mark Martin haven’t already done. Heck, Tiger Woods is in the prime of his career and decides which tournaments that he deems worthy of his appearance and no one dares question his dedication. Imagine if Favre decided that he would only play home or conference games. Contracts in the NFL also aren’t guaranteed, which means that virtually every player in the league is getting jerked around by their team. If Favre were taking advantage of his situation, the league would rather have it coming anyway.
• A suspension for Michael Vick will cause teams to shy away from signing him to a free agent deal. It is not going to take a lot of guaranteed money to sign Vick, so he’s not much of a financial risk. The risk with Vick is on the public relations end of the spectrum. There will be an outcry from PETA and other animal rights advocacy groups when Vick signs. With a suspension on top of the prison sentence,  a GM can make the case that Vick served his debt to society and to the game. More teams will at least pick up the phone to call Vick’s agent now that it looks as if he has been punished even more.
• Omar Gaither barely contributed at Tennessee but starts in the NFL. This is an argument that media members and UT fans alike made to show that Phillip Fulmer’s staff lacked in the area of player development. While Gaither’s play did once convince the Eagles that Jeremiah Trotter was expendable, Gaither was moved to the outside when he couldn’t beat out Stewart Bradley for the MLB job. He was relegated to the bench when 2^nd year player Akeem Jordan of James Madison won the starting job on the weak side. Joe Mays is even the first reserve off of the bench going in to the season.