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'Flava' Favre is king of new reality TV sports culture

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Jason Whitlock

Jason Whitlock writes about the sports world from every angle, including those other writers can't imagine or muster courage to address. His columns are humorous, thought-provoking, agenda-free, honest and unpredictable. E-mail him or follow his Twitter or become a fan of Jason Whitlock on Facebook.

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Updated Aug 20, 2009 3:56 PM ET
     
 
It won't be long before the paparazzi photograph a panty-less Brett Favre exiting a luxury vehicle, exposing the Hall of Famer's full monty for the enjoyment of TMZ gawkers. "Britney Favre" — a nickname coined by Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski — is just the latest example of pro sports' joyous descent into the reality-TV show abyss. Commissioner Roger Goodell can rename the 2009 NFL season "The Flavor of Favre." ESPN has run the pilot episode on a constant loop since Favre's last fake retirement in February. Chris Mortensen, Ed Werder and Peter King were the potential brides eventually stiffed by Favre and his handlers, who surprisingly flirted with Jay Glazer in the Episode 1 cliffhanger. The World Wide Leader and Sirius NFL Radio quickly booked confessional-style interviews with Fran Tarkenton to talk about Favre's season-opening shocker — his decision to join the Vikings at the conclusion of training camp. "I really think the whole Brett Favre saga of retiring, unretiring," Tarkenton said on NFL Radio, "it's a circus. It's an absolute circus, and it takes away from all the other things that are going on with the Vikings, with the NFL. We're getting ready for football season and this is a circus and I just have no interest in it." Take those words and whiny attitude for exactly what they are — the ramblings of a 69-year-old man who is loathe to come to grips with what television and money have done to professional sports. It's not Favre's fault. Television and money corrode values and ethics. Sportsmanship, individual sacrifice for the benefit of team and integrity had no chance of survival once television and money took over professional sports. I don't want to make too much of this, but everything you see playing out in the world of American sports is also playing out in our society at large. America has become one massive reality-TV show and all its citizens are vying to be contestants. No one is satisfied being part of a team. We all want to be the star of our own show, free to create the rules as we go. We're not mad at Brett Favre. We're jealous. He skipped the offseason conditioning program and training camp and still signed for $12.5 million, the starting position and the opportunity to embarrass Packers general manager Ted Thompson. Hell hath no fury like a scorned diva quarterback. Favre is spoiled, petulant, narcissistic and irresponsible. He's no different from Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan. Wealth and fame ruined Favre at a young age, and now we're fascinated by the flaws they created. We complain that we're tired of hearing about Britney Favre. But we google him and tweet about him incessantly. We click on the stories with his name in the headline. We anxiously anticipate Peter King's next ode to John Madden's favorite quarterback. And when we're not watching "Flavor of Favre," we're a couple of channels over being captivated by (Michael) Vick Doggy Dogg's performance in "I Love Philadelphia." Or maybe we tune in to Plaxico Burress' latest in "Countdown to Lockdown." Seriously, what's happening on the field doesn't matter all that much anymore. It's the story behind the story, the story away from the field or court that captures our imagination. And it's the story the athletes want to tell. Shaq has a reality show on ABC. Terrell Owens is on VH-1. The Bengals are on HBO's "Hard Knocks." Warren Sapp, Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice danced with the stars on ABC. When an athlete can't get a network to pick him up, he takes his reality skills to the Web. Stephon Marbury live streams his life and credibility away. Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett held the black-on-black racist "Black Olympics" on MartyBTV. The NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball all have their own networks. They're foolishly missing the boat. Why are they allowing the other networks to cash in on the athletes they turned into stars? The networks owned by the leagues need original programming. Maybe if Chad Johnson was provided the opportunity to bojangle for dollars on a reality show, he wouldn't find it necessary to bojangle on Sundays. You think people wouldn't watch Roger Goodell's version of "The Apprentice" or "CourtTV?" His sit-down meetings with Pacman Jones would be must-see TV. John Madden could break out his telestrator and diagram Pacman's make-it-rain technique. How about Josh Hamilton as the star of "MLB Rehab?" Darryl Strawberry could co-star as his accountability partner. Come on, let's quit the charade. Pro sports jumped the shark more than a decade ago. The circus Tarkenton is crying about has been in town for a long, long time. The games are an afterthought. They're vehicles to promote fame and the leverage to negotiate a contract for more money and less responsibility.
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You blame the players and their agents. I blame the rules makers, the owners, the grown men with billions who should've seen this coming and implemented rules to safeguard the integrity of their games. Too much of the money in pro sports is tied to individual fame, and not nearly enough cash is tied to the win-loss record. When fans care more about winning and losing than the players in the locker room do, it's impossible to deny the foundation of the games have been damaged. The LeBron James reality show will focus all next season on whether he'll dash for New York cash rather than will the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals. We've all been a witness to money and fame's transformation of King James into Drama Queen James, the sore loser, the dunk-video thief. Brett Favre used to be king of the NFL, known for his childlike passion for the game. Now he's Britney Favre. And oops, he's unretired again. You can e-mail Jason at BallState0@aol.com or find him on Facebook at facebook.com/jasonwhitlock.
Tagged: Terrell Owens, Brett Favre, Michael Vick, Jerry Rice, Vikings, Martellus Bennett, Giants, Bills, Bengals, Eagles, Cowboys, Plaxico Burress

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