After crafting a Hall of Fame career, it appears Brett Favre can do no wrong in the eyes of most football observers. Walter Iooss Jr./SI
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"So what are you gonna do now, make both those guys part of an E-mailer of the Week Trifecta?" the Flaming Redhead asks. Thanks, honey. Way to kick a guy when he's down. No dammit, they're not getting any awards ... not for spoiling everything. And if anyone else comes up with something really fantastic, such as, say, the '35 Bears winning, 7-0, with minus yardage, just bag it, OK?

Jason of San Diego takes me to task for good reason. Why, he wants to know, must I feel the need to throw digs at Brett Favre on every occasion? "When you take every opportunity to rip him, it seems odd and petty," he says. He's right. I've never doubted that I'll vote for Favre, without reservation, for the Hall of Fame. He's been a great player. And right now, based on my reader's precise observation, I'm reviewing the whole phenomenon of this unwarranted prejudice of mine. I think what it amounts to is a rebellion against the constant hammering of blind hype. Favre is having fun. He throws a pick. He's still wonderful. He throws another. It's the receiver's fault. Still another. Why can't they give him more help? And on and on, until I'm ready to scream for just a little honesty, and to make up for it, I lean the other way. Too much so. I'm going to get a grip on this thing, Jay, I swear, but how about firing off a word or two to those hype artists on the TV screen?

Oh yes, your wine query ... usually I save the serious stuff for when we return from a vacation trip, which always involves wine in some form. What I write serves a threefold purpose: 1) satisfies my three or four readers who crave such information, 2) allows me to deduct the trip as a business expense, for tax purposes, 3) sustains my membership in the Wine Media Guild and the N.Y. Wine Press. Last wine we had, incidentally, was an '87 Lemberger from Kiona Vineyards in Washington State. We had it Tuesday night in our regular place, Attilio's, a BYO restaurant near our house. It was the last of a bunch of wines I brought back from a tasting expedition to that state. I love what they do with this grape in Washington. Much better and firmer than the way it comes out in its native Germany and Austria. Why we had left it alone for all these years I'll never know. I expected it to be oxidizing or messed up in some other nasty way, but it was just terrific. Big and solid, with good oak, and an explosion of fruit (had to wear old clothes). If you're ever up there, load up on the Lembergers. It's the best thing they make in Washington, whatever else they might tell you.

One more wine thing, then I'll drop it. Mark of New Franklin, Mo., asks me if I've ever tried Riverboat Red from Rocheport, Mo.? Is this a curveball, Mark, or an honest question? The answer is, yeah, I know it. It's a sweet red from Les Bourgeois Vineyards and the only way I can make it work is to chill the hell out of it. Have you ever tried their Jeunette Rouge or Pink Fox? Oh, you've got a football question, too? How can I justify picking Shawne Merriman for the Pro Bowl when he did a four-game steroid bit? You mean he got caught. How about all the guys in the Pro Bowl who are on growth hormones and haven't been nailed? Don't get me started on this topic because it'll get ugly. What isn't ugly, though, is the nice thing you said about my work, and I thank you.

Alex of Gainesville, Va., points out that even though Favre's total number of interceptions is high, his percentage of picks per passes thrown is still significantly lower than the high-interception throwers of the past, George Blanda, John Hadl and Fran Tarkenton. Very true, but you have to understand that it was a different game then. These guys were down-the-field gunners. Favre is, too, but his average yards per completion is 11.4, fairly decent by today's standards but hardly in the ballpark when compared to the bombers of the past. Checkdowns, dumpoffs, hitches are part of his game. Old timers sneered at safe stuff such as this. Blanda's yards-per-completion was 14.1, Hadl's was 14.2. Tarkenton, the most recent of the three, was starting to get into the modern mode, so his ratio was lower at 12.8, but still very high by today's numbers. Add to that the fact that they played under the old rules, under which a receiver could be mugged, make that bumped, all the way down the field. Everybody's interception rate is lower now -- and their passes are shorter.