Brett Favre festivities mark rare night in Augusta GreenJackets history

Monday night's Augusta GreenJackets contest was no regular weekday game at Lake Olmstead Stadium. The GreenJackets, never too shy for a wacky promotion, honored Green Bay's former/possibly current quarterback with a Brett Favre Night during the game against the Savannah Sand Gnats

It was only fitting that the GreenJackets won with four runs on a night when the legendary No. 4 was the butt of jokes every half inning. The team retired the number in a a pre-game ceremony and will reinstate it before tonight's game. The first 100 people through the gates received flip-flops with Favre's number on it.

Of those first 100 people, about half a dozen wore cheeseheads (and received a free bratwurst because of it) and at least twice as many donned Favre jerseys (good for a free upgrade to box seats).

Just before the game, the ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by Aaron Rodgers. No, it wasn't Packers other quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but a local man who, for one night, got his 15 minutes of fame out of an advantageous coincidence. Some fans watching the first pitch may have thought it really was the young Packers quarterback, but that possibility was quickly ruled out when the throw was successfully caught.

The Favre festivities didn't end once the game started. The GreenJackets gameday staff put on between-inning games for the football-minded fans. The first event was the Strahan Sack Race in which three children hopped around the infield grass in sacks. The race rules required the first jumper across the finish line to flop on the ground similar to the way Favre flopped near the end of the 2001 season to help Michael Strahan break the season sack record.

The ironic humor during the race was that the child who crossed the finish line first forgot to flop. The second-place kid, with persistence Favre would be proud of, continued his effort and properly flopped at the end of the race. He was awarded the first-place prize for completing the race requirements.

The next Favre-related game was a display of why democracy could ruin the NFL. Five fans were paraded onto the field, each wearing a different NFL team's jersey. Voting with their cheers, the Lake Olmstead Stadium crowd was supposed to indicate where they hoped Favre would end up. The Bears, Ravens and Buccaneers received little fan support and were immediately eliminated. That left the Vikings and Augusta Colts (semi-pro indoor football) as the two remaining options, and the crowd voted in the Vikings in a run-off cheer.

Next up, the Lambeau Leap event pit three local fans against each other in a contest to see who could jump into a crowd of adoring fans (and the safety of a mattress) with the most Packer-like passion. The first two attempts lacked heart, but the third and final leap, a fully-extended belly flop from a Favre jersey-wearing, lineman-sized gentleman named John received a unanimous nod of support from the fans.

At the end of the night, the announced attendance of 1,980 topped the average attendance for a Monday night game in Lake Olmstead Stadium by over 500 fans. In the middle of all the Favre fuss, a minor league baseball game was also played. The GreenJackets earned a 4-1 win, and their 63-49 overall record is the second best in all of full-season minor league baseball.