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Jim Rueda

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December 16, 2009

Favre's snub of Mankato was big non-story

Starting on Dec. 27, The Free Press will begin running its annual Top 10 stories of the year. After stories were nominated by reporters and editors, the balloting was conducted throughout the newsroom and the final tabulations were tallied this week.

One story that did not make the Top 10, but is probably worth revisiting, happened this past summer. It was sort of news, but it really wasn’t. Let’s call it the Top Sports Non-Story of the Year.

It started way back last spring when rumors began that the Vikings were trying to convince Brett Favre to come out of retirement and play for Minnesota. Even though Favre’s initial response was no, it seems every week or so there was a new development and the story took on new life.

As training camp neared at the end of July, things really got intense. Vikings head coach Brad Childress was said to have flown down to Mississippi on owner Zygi Wilf’s private jet to try to coax Favre into signing with the club and showing up in Mankato for preseason practices.

Again, Favre’s answer was no. On the first day of camp, Childress basically said the courtship was over and that it was a dead issue.

That did not stop the rumors from flying. About a week into camp I was told by someone I consider to be a pretty reliable person that he had just seen Favre driving around town in a black Escalade. When there was no announcement in the next day or two, I assumed he was mistaken.

A few days later, we started hearing that Favre was in Lake Crystal. He was staying at Justin Morneau’s house until he and the team could finalize the contract and then he would show up to camp.

Again, no ensuing announcement.

All the while, the media was in a feeding frenzy. In the weeks following the NFL draft and leading up to training camp, ESPN, the Star Tribune and, yes, even The Free Press ran stories consistently that Favre’s arrival seemed imminent.

We asked fans what it would mean to the team, we asked hotels and restaurants what it would mean to their businesses, we asked Minnesota State officials if they were prepared for the influx of additional fans that Favre’s arrival would trigger.

We filled a lot of pages but it turned out to be a non-story. Favre never set foot in Mankato. He signed halfway through the exhibition season and ...

Well, you know the rest.

So that’s it. That’s the Top Sports Non-Story of the Year as far as the Mankato area is concerned.

The Free Press hopes you enjoy the recaps of the top 10 “real” stories starting next week.



Jim Rueda is the Free Press sports editor. To contact him, call 344-6381 or e-mail him at jrueda@mankatofreepress.com.

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