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Favre receives too much love from ESPN

Dave D'Amore

Dear Worldwide Leader in Sports,

My name is Dave D'Amore and I'm a huge fan. Since my days in kindergarten, my mornings have started with an episode of SportsCenter. This continues today as your network is, without question, the most watched channel in my house.

I still think Stuart Scott is "as cool as the other side of the pillow" and fondly remember the days where Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann anchored "The Big Show."

Every NFL Sunday starts with me watching NFL Countdown. I continue to watch Pardon the Interruption on an everyday basis and still laugh when Tony Kornheiser makes a joke about the planet Uranus.

I've even have gotten used to Jim Rome and his phenomenal, incredible overuse of four-syllable words. I think I've made it pretty clear that my love for ESPN is strong and that I am committed to your network.

Therefore, as a devoted viewer, I have one simple request: could you please stop with the constant Brett Favre stories?

First, let me clarify some things. I think Brett Favre is a great football player. He is arguably one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game and should start making his plans to Canton and the Hall of Fame as soon as possible. His level of play at this age is remarkable.

I am in no way diminishing what he is accomplishing on the field. That being said, does your network really need to devote hours of time covering every little thing the man does?

ESPN's love of Favre is certainly nothing new. During last football

season, Chris Berman was calling a Packers highlight when he said "rooting for the Favre is like rooting for America." Um, what? What does that even mean? Rooting for Favre is like rooting for America? Does this mean Osama Bin Laden roots for Tom Brady?

Last spring, SportsCenter covered literally every moment of Favre's retirement decision and press conference. I had no problem with this. Reporting major sports stories are exactly what ESPN is all about.

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Then, into the summer, your network started reporting murmurs that Favre might want to come back with the Packers. These murmurs turned into the whispers, and the whispers eventually turned into shouts as SportsCenter became all Favre, all the time.

Reporters Ed Werder and Rachel Nichols covered Favre so closely this summer, I wouldn't be surprised if they rented a guest bedroom in Favre's home. Your shows were pretty much unwatchable as each day turned into a saga of 'if Favre would come back' and who he would play for.

After being traded to the New York Jets, I optimistically hoped the Favre stories would stick to his play on the field. This week, those hopes died as I logged onto ESPN.com and read the second headline on the page. Usually, the top headlines are reserved for major or breaking news.

This news usually includes player injuries, trades, suspensions and things of that nature.

However, what was the major breaking news your website just had to inform me of? "Favre calls injured (Dallas Cowboys QB Tony) Romo, offers encouragement and advice."

That's breaking news? What story did this beat out, 'Peyton Manning wakes up, has omelet for breakfast?' The article goes on to say that Romo could not be reached for comment. What comment could he possibly have? Unless Favre told him a secret formula on how to not lose in the playoffs, this is not newsworthy.

Therefore, I respectfully ask that when covering Favre, stick to stories about his play on the field. Throwing six touchdown passes in a game is certainly a story worth caring about. Phone calls? Not so much.

This being said, my mind could be persuaded otherwise. If ESPN decides to put Erin Andrews in charge of all Favre news, then I demand at least one Favre story per day.

Sincerely,

Dave D'Amore


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