Andy Richardson

My favorite sports book growing up was something called "Great Moments in Baseball History." The moment I couldn't stop reading about was "Harvey Haddix's Imperfect Masterpiece," in which he threw 12 perfect innings, but his team didn't score so he had to keep going -- and in the 13th inning, there was an error, a hit, and his Pirates team lost. Haddix's quote always stuck with me: "It was a damn silly one to lose."

I found myself thinking about that after Brett Favre and the Vikings choked away that Vikings-Saints NFC Championship Game they dominated last night, losing thanks to a slew of fumbles, a ridiculous 5-yard penalty that pushed them out of field goal range, and probably the worst decision of Favre's career at the worst possible moment. Vikings lose, Saints win, and Favre's words last week about only being as good as your last game take on new meaning. Sometimes, you're only as good as your last pass, because that's probably the one that will be remembered.

Of course, Favre didn't throw a perfect game until the end. He had a pretty good game despite getting knocked all over the Superdome, and threw a perfect pass to Sidney Rice to help the team get into range of a game-winning field goal. But then came the head-scratching team penalty and the throw he never should have made, which leaves even Favre apologists like me with nothing to say but, wow. This one will be remembered for a long time. A great year. A great first playoff game. A mostly great second playoff game. And a horrible final throw.

That's Brett Favre, and since most of us remember the 15-1 Vikings blowing the NFC Championshp Game to the Falcons 11 years ago, that's the Vikings, too. I've been a Favre fan since basically forever, but I imagine it's even worse if you've been a Vikings fan since forever, to lose a game like that. About all you can say for the Vikings is that at least you know they'll be back competing next season. About Favre, even he doesn't know.

For the Saints, I guess we have to give them their due. They're the ones who forced all those turnovers last night, and they did it all year, so even though their offense mostly struggled and their defense gave up nearly 500 yards of offense to the Vikings, they continued to make the plays that had them in position to get to the Super Bowl -- and they did. My early guess is that they'll be dominated by the Colts, but maybe that's just the bitterness talking. Certainly the Colts aren't exactly a dominant group, either.

From a fantasy perspective, the game was borderline annoying. Adrian Peterson rushed for 122 yards and 3 TDs, but he spent a good portion of the game on the sideline after fumbling 3 times (yeah, one was charged to Favre, right). Great fantasy game. Poor NFL one. Sidney Rice, Bernard Berrian, Percy Harvin: all had great moments, but Berrian and Harvin both lost fumbles, and all will have somewhat uncertain value if Favre hangs them up for good. Visanthe Shiancoe, too. For the Saints, well, Drew Brees and Pierre Thomas should be high draft picks next year. Everyone else will probably be overdrafted.

Anyway, back to Haddix. The memory I still keep of reading about his game is that he pitched his heart out but lost anyway. I think ultimately, when he finally does retire, that's what I'll take from Favre. He won a Super Bowl, which makes him more fortunate than Fran Tarkenton, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly, but the enduring memory will probably be the guy who played his heart out, but at the end you didn't have confidence that he wouldn't lose. Championship Game at Lambeau Field, or on the road with what probably was about his best team (at least close to those '96 Packers), you never knew what you'd get, but you came to expect the worst. Because all too often over the past decade, that's what you got from Favre in his last game of each postseason. And there's plenty of blame to go around, but it's the quarterback whose big plays, for good or ill, are remembered.

That's football.

As for Jets-Colts, there was also a missed opportunity there for the Jets. It doesn't feel as bad because of how much they exceeded expectations, and because their quarterback isn't 40 years old, but as history shows us, even young teams don't necessarily get better a year later. Things broke right for the Jets down their stretch and they had a nice playoff run, but can anyone say with confidence they'll even be back in the playoffs a year from now? Not me.

There's a certain inexorable quality to the Peyton Manning Colts -- the idea that eventually, no matter the score, no matter how much they struggle early, and no matter how often he looks frustrated, eventually he'll outlast you and outplay you and beat you. It wasn't the case early in his career, but it is now. He's the best, he'll probably win his second Super Bowl two weeks from now, and he'll probably hold every positive quarterback record eventually. Even when the Jets took a 17-6 lead, even though their defense was playing at such a high level, it still didn't look like they were going to win.

Some quick fantasy thoughts: what the Jets do with Thomas Jones, how Leon Washington returns from his broken leg; those things will greatly impact where Shonn Greene gets drafted next year. The Colts will use a running back committee and still won't run the ball well, so who cares about those guys. Indianapolis will still have three productive wide receivers and Dallas Clark; the only question will be if Anthony Gonzalez can return from injury to be one of them. (Probably not, unless someone else gets injured.)

Even though fantasy is what we do, it's hard not to think about the games themselves -- which is a good thing, of course. For most of the season, we care more about fantasy. In the playoffs, we look at wins and losses.

You sit there as a fan of the Vikings, or as a fan of Brett Favre, or the Jets, and watch a team lose when it appears to have a win in hand. You sit there as a fan of the Saints, and watch a thrilling winning field goal just minutes after you expected to be watching the other team attempt one. The losers say, Why Not Us? The winners say, Finally.

I take fantasy losses hard, of course, like most owners. But it's easier to say "Wait 'til next year" when you know that you have at least some control over how your team does. That's not the case with the NFL. There's a helplessness in watching your team lose, knowing they might not be back again next year -- or next decade.

Even though I've seen my favorite teams, and favorite players, win championships, you're only as good as your last game, or your last pass. The wins are great, but the losses stick with you just as acutely; sometimes even moreso.

Maybe that's why the Haddix story continues to stick with me. It's a reminder to appreciate the wins, to get all the enjoyment that you can out of them. Because no matter how high you get one week, that heartbreaking loss is out there somewhere, maybe as soon as next week. Waiting to give you a new version of a damn silly game to lose.

• Comments [3]

Readers' Comments

Add a Comment

Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.

To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.