Brett Favre is a Diva, But He Matters

Please raise your hand if you're sick & tired of hearing about Brett Favre - I'd like to be the first.

However, don't, for one second, think that ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports Net, or any other sports media outlet shouldn't be covering the story of his retirement.

Brett Favre is a HUGE deal in the world of sports. Let's take it one aspect at a time: the Minnesota Vikings, the NFL, and sports.

Minnesota Vikings - During Viking home games last year, 27 year attendance records were broken because of Brett Favre. Care to argue with me? Who else is breaking that record? And don't you dare say Adrian Peterson (or as I like to call him, Fumbleboy). On the football side, the Vikings are a Super Bowl contender with Favre, and a playoff hopeful without him. ESPN reported today that the Vikings have offered Favre $3 million more in guaranteed salary and an additional $4 million in incentives, making his contract ultimately worth $20 million - I'd pay Favre $40 million if he would come back for one more year.

NFL - The NFL is INSTANTLY more interesting with Favre in it. It makes the NFC North instantly a two-playoff team division (along with Green Bay). Not to mention, every single road game that the Vikings play this year will be sold out because of Favre. Whether because it could be Favre's last game, or someone wants their kid to see the infamous institution that is Brett Favre, he will help sell tickets and boost TV ratings wherever he plays.

Sports - For those of you that are interested in sports and business, I highly recommend following Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell1) on Twitter. He always brings out interesting facts/numbers regarding sports, and that's where Favre can really make an impact. Think about revenue (tickets sold, concessions, etc.) from the games itself, but Favre also has the best-selling jersey in the history of the NFL. What does this mean? He's arguably the most popular figure in the history of the NFL, and sports in general. I would argue that there are more people that could name Brett Favre as a football player than they could an actual sports team (minus college).

So there you have it. Do I think Favre is a diva? Yes. An attention-craving narcissist? Maybe. But do I think he matters and should be talked about accordingly? Absolutely.

I'm sorry, but for those of you on the other side of the aisle, saying that everyone should just stop talking about Favre, you're wrong.

T.O. & the Bengals

No, this is not an 80s cover band - it's Terrell Owens joining the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals.

There's been plenty of time to talk about the football ramifications, such as how much this improves the Bengals' receiving core, as well as how on earth to massive egos (Ochocinco & T.O.) can coexist in one locker room. Now it's time to address the business side of this acquisition.

For the Bengals, this contract and move is absolutely genius. Now I know that they didn't bring T.O. to Cincinnati to increase attendance or sell jerseys, however they have inadvertently done so. My girlfriend, someone who is so unamused with sports she'd rather watch 8 hours of Jerry Springer than watch 10 minutes of SportsCenter, has already asked if we can go to the Colts/Bengals game to see T.O.

Does this have something to do with T.O. having his own show on VH1? Or Ochocinco having a new dating show?  Yes and no. These shows have undoubtedly given more publicity to T.O. & Ochocinco, especially to those who aren't sports fans.

But the main reason why this has become such a stunt for the new look Bengals? And why everyone wants to now go see them play?

Everyone wants to be there when the ship, aka T.O. & Ochocinco, blows up and sinks.

I guess any publicity is good publicity...well, as long as more money is coming in.