High Noon

As the Beatles once said, it won't be long.  Yes, what other time could they possibly hold the game in which the famed ol' gunslinger makes his last stand?

It's a movie classic, just like the old joke about another aging gunslinger, one named Eternal Marshall.   He's going to be hanged on his birthday, so his girlfriend, Hope Truelove, comes to see him in jail to ask about his final wishes.  The night before he is to die, she returns, bringing with her a birthday cake for his final meal, which contains her true love's favorite ingredient, an iron file.  On the morning for which the execution has been scheduled, the headline of the town paper reads: "Hope Springs Eternal."  

But in the classic movie, Gary Cooper plays Marshal Will Kane, a man forced to face a man who hates him and is said to be arriving on the next train with a gang of outlaws.  Kane decides to confront his foe, despite the fact he had promised his Quaker bride Amy (actor Grace Kelly) that he'd retire to a peaceful life somewhere as a storekeeper.  The villain, Frank Miller (played by Ian McDonald) has been pardoned on a technicality and has avoided hanging.  The marshal, who previously had arrested Miller, discovers the whole town has abandoned him, and he must go out alone, at high noon, to meet his destiny (...well, along with Frank and all his thugs, of course). 

If you never watch this movie, you'll miss performances by Lloyd Bridges, Lon Chaney Jr., Katy Jurado, Harry Morgan, and Lee Van Cleef, but then that's your problem, and certainly not  the only one.   (Clearly, if you don't want to see Grace Kelly, there is something very wrong with you.)

And now, the great leap forward....

Return with us now from yesteryear to Brett Favre.  Despite whatever you may have heard from skeptics like Neon Deion, this is the last roundup for ol' Brett.  Will the townfolk abandon Favre and waste all their time deploying petty "Fire Chilly" signs like the cowards of Hadleyville, New Mexico would, or will they stand with the ol' gunslinger who came to bring law and order west of the St. Croix?

Don't let Favre go out there alone to kill the bad guys and then throw his badge in the dirt to spite you, just like Will Kane, while Zygi tells the team to get on board the train for Los Angeles, where there might actually be some people who will back a football team with more than just some hot air.

For the want of a nail, the kingdom was lost, so let's please nail the Packers instead.  Hang 'em high.  The twelfth man can turn the tide, if for no other reason than that some cowardly officials don't like leaving a rocking stadium alone after making bad calls against the home team.

Let's leave Aaron Rodgers lying in the dirt.   These are your Minnesota Vikings.  Let the headline in the morning paper read, "Get back to where you once belonged."