Nice piece in Packer Plus by Bud Lea (a true old-timer whose coverage goes back to Lombardi) where he says there's a myth being perpetuated that most Packer fans remain in deep mourning or anger over Favre's departure and subsequent success this year with Minnesota. In truth, the population has moved on with surprising ease.

How is this possible?

I can only give you my own path of self-discovery as reference: when you disaggregate all your emotions about this whole process, you realize that you really love the Packers and that Favre was a huge part of that love for a very long time. But once gone, the guy doesn't really shift over into some opposite hatred (still got my Favre jersey, autographed football and bobble head--the last two prominently displayed in my home office). The simple truth is, you hate the Vikings no matter who's playing for them, and you still love the Packers, no matter who's not playing for them. Plus, underlying all this, you realize that you're incredibly happy with Rodgers, the first QB ever to throw for 4,000 yards in his first two seasons, while also--in unprecedented fashion--playing alongside a 1,200-yard rusher both seasons and two 1,000-yard receivers in both seasons. So what exactly are we supposed to be unhappy about regarding Favre's departure? Would we have had a better team, play-wise? Hard to see. Our fall last year was all about the D, and our rise this year was also all about the D. Our limits this year in the playoffs was also all about the D.

So yes, I wish Brett all the worst on Sunday, and if he makes it to the Super Bowl, I hope the Vikings' unblemished record will remain intact, thanks to the greatest QB in NFL history (and yes, the match-up would be priceless). Or the Saints keep playing phenomenally and the Jets surprise the world again and we forget all this.

Anyway, I will be at the Colts game on Sunday, wearing my Harrison jersey (a player I truly admired for many years--he was what I would have tried to be as an NFL receiver--many TDs and good at avoiding hits!), and then I and Vonne (she wears Manning) will return home to cheer on the Saints, which I would like to see, for historical reasons, finally reach their first SB (oh, and because I really do hate the Vikings).

Why the obsession with the Vikes versus the Bears? Just the history I've lived. It's always been very close with the Vikes since I started watching seriously in the early 1970s (yes, the timing of my birth sucked!), whereas with the Bears it's been one side or the other dominating for long stretches, to include Brett's long domination of the Bears (until that MNF game late in the season, I duly note as a Viking-hater).

In the end, you have to understand how fiercely Packer fans love their team, primarily because there's no good economic reason for the Packers to have remained in Green Bay--unless you know the history of my grandfather and the rest of the so-called "Hungry Five." Watching Favre in purple is one thing, but watching the "Los Angeles Packers" take the field (Lambeau's dirty dream that was thwarted by the Five) would be an entirely different thing.