If you've ever been to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, you know it's mustache heaven. The stadium looks like an entire crowd of Mike Holmgren look-alikes, itching for deer season. Despite upgrades in the last few years, the field still feels like a high school stadium, complete with bench seating. The only tipoff you're at a pro game is the presence of beer and even harder stuff as the weather grows colder. All of this is to say that I feel a special bond with the Pack and everything that goes with it - public ownership, tailgating in all kinds of weather and the frozen tundra of the field itself. Even the most die-hard Bear and Viking fan would admit that there is something amazing about a professional sports team in that tiny town.

So, that puts the Favre affair in a weird light. The team has spent more than ten years building up a fan base that is as loyal as they come, much of it based on the success of the team and number four himself. And, with his retirement and unretirement, that could all come tumbling down.

I won't belabor the issue of Favre's role in this. He retired and then changed his mind, for whatever reason. What I'm amazed at is the Packers' response which seemed to be without an overall plan, almost as though they never considered Favre having a change of heart. My point is that you have to have a plan for these kinds of contingencies, especially when you're dealing with as treasured a team and brand as the Packers. Fans desert teams for far less and often it's hard to get them back.

I hope it all works out. This high stakes business play could have been avoided with a little planning by Favre and the Packers. But, sports fans get abused enough with high prices and vagabond players. What looked to be the last chapter of a wonderful story has turned into a senseless soap opera that is damaging both sides and confirming fans' darkest beliefs that they don't matter.