Think of the quest for immortality in the course of the NFL as a five act Shakespearean drama. The preseason was all Prologue. Act 1 was the regular season, giving us straight up details about characterization and setting. Now, we arrive in Act 2, and we are quite familiar with our protagonists. Aaron Rodgers is a noble prince. Charles Woodson is a crafty sage. Clay Matthews is all freight trains and progress, and Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, and Ryan Grant provide a bevy of knights; and a weak link to the kingdom even lurks in the shadows of the goal post, in the shape of kicker Mason Crosby. The players we know, but the conflict is refreshingly new. For the first time in two years, this team will not be measured against the feats of Brett Favre's arm. The fact that the Packers made it to Act 2 without number 4 is proof that there is a balm in Gillead. For Aaron Rodgers, this week is not about whether he is fit to lead or measures up to a single legend; this week is all about the field of battle. This week comes down to action; one team versus another. This week is not about revenge or analogies to past lovers. The score will decide who is victorious, and the simplicity of that is enough for a Packers fan to think the future is very bright indeed.
Of course, the continuation of this plot, should the Green Bay Packers win today and next week against New Orleans, could bring us to a day of reckoning in Minnesota, proving that the future is never truly devoid of yesterday's tragedies.
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Then should the warlike Rodgers, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire
Crouch for employment. But pardon, and gentles all,
The flat unraised spirits that have dared
On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth
So great an object: can this cockpit hold
The vasty fields of France? or may we cram
Within this wooden O the very casques
That did affright the air at Agincourt?
O, pardon! since a crooked figure may
Attest in little place a million;
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt,
On your imaginary forces work.
Suppose within the girdle of these walls
Are now confined two mighty monarchies,
Whose high upreared and abutting fronts
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder:
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts;
Into a thousand parts divide on man,
And make imaginary puissance;
Think when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth;
For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings,
Carry them here and there; jumping o'er times,
Turning the accomplishment of many years
Into an hour-glass: for the which supply,
Admit me Chorus to this history;
Who prologue-like your humble patience pray,
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Then should the warlike Rodgers, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire
Crouch for employment. But pardon, and gentles all,
The flat unraised spirits that have dared
On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth
So great an object: can this cockpit hold
The vasty fields of France? or may we cram
Within this wooden O the very casques
That did affright the air at Agincourt?
O, pardon! since a crooked figure may
Attest in little place a million;
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt,
On your imaginary forces work.
Suppose within the girdle of these walls
Are now confined two mighty monarchies,
Whose high upreared and abutting fronts
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder:
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts;
Into a thousand parts divide on man,
And make imaginary puissance;
Think when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth;
For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings,
Carry them here and there; jumping o'er times,
Turning the accomplishment of many years
Into an hour-glass: for the which supply,
Admit me Chorus to this history;
Who prologue-like your humble patience pray,
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.
10 comments:
absolutely heartbreaking
January 10, 2010 at 8:24 PMFirst half was brutal. Second was entertaining. OT was garbage.
January 10, 2010 at 8:45 PMI'm not going to blame the game on it because I just don't think a game like that comes down to one call, and there were two plays run after it...but the holding penalty in OT against Green Bay was BS. Rodgers was clearly hit with a helmet to helmet. At worse, those are offsetting. Anyway, I'm devastated.
January 10, 2010 at 9:52 PMGreat comeback, terrible way to lose. And Teach, maybe you should blame it on the refs. On the final play of the game, Aaron Rodgers was grabbed by the face mask. A penalty that would have taken back the fumble/interception, and gave them a first down.
January 11, 2010 at 10:16 AMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZCbmc0IIM4
And it's exactly why they should allow coaches to challenge missed penalties using replay.
My neck hurts just watching the video. Aaron and the pack got hosed.
January 11, 2010 at 10:22 AM"The Packers just ran out of gas" aka the Packers got hosed down the stretch.
January 11, 2010 at 11:04 AMhttp://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_/id/8729/packers-run-out-of-gas
Well, just to clarify, I wasn't even talking about the last play, but what happened two plays before that. terrible...just terrible
January 11, 2010 at 6:30 PMWhen your thinking about how much they got jobbed, remember at least your not this guy.
January 11, 2010 at 8:15 PMhttp://deadspin.com/5445785/this-little-packer-fan-cried-all-the-way-home
Seriously Langston, best link of the New Year, by far.
January 11, 2010 at 9:31 PMyeah, that was pretty good, and i found that man to be admirable for being so open with his emotions
January 11, 2010 at 9:34 PMPost a Comment