This past weekend was an embarrassment for anyone who calls themselves true sports fans for having to witness the atrocity of this year's NFL Pro-Bowl and the NHL All-Star Game. For any sports fan that watched or tried to watch these two events, I feel your pain. The reason for the existence of these games is to showcase the sports best athletes competing in a game separated by conferences. The NFL Pro-Bowl takes place at the end of the regular season, while the NHL All-Star Games takes place midway through the regular season.
The Pro-Bowl is a joke to any fan that enjoys competitive play from athletes with talent. These athletes are voted in by the fans. Are the fans getting any value out of who they vote? To watch the best athletes in the game treat it as a joke in front of thousands watching and millions viewing. It is a shame people pay good money to see professional players play a game of touch football because that's exactly what it is. A defense can blitz the Quarterback but upon approaching him they lay two hands to his chest as it counts as a sack.
You can argue that it is an appropriate rule for the game is for fun and serious injuries do not need to take place, although what is the excuse for defenses only playing half speed, maybe playing 75% at best? What is the purpose of picking the best defensive players to play in the Pro-Bowl when there is no defense played? It is embarrassing to be a defensive player partaking in this game. When the two teams combine to put up 104 points it only makes you question the authenticity of the game.
The Pro-Bowl would not be such a bad game to watch if it had some minor changes. We as the fans vote for these players to participate in a game which the players of the losing team each earn $25,000. The players from the winning team each earn $50,000. They receive this pay for participating in a game of flag football essentially. Some people who voted for these players won't make that payday for one year's work. Let's give millionaires more money when the amount has little impact on their lives. No, the money they receive should be donated to a charity of their choice to help the community as well as impacting people's lives for the better. Winning this game should provide more significant meaning. Make the Pro-Bowl after the Super Bowl like it once was so the athletes that the fans actually voted in to play can participate.
The NHL All-Star game is no better than that of the Pro-Bowl. Athletes of the game are voted in by the fans to participate in a game of showboating. The difference in this game is that each captain represents the two conferences, and the captains draft the players voted in by the fans. This is a great concept, a very creative approach, but again lack of excitement takes place once the game begins. Half speed skating, light contact on the ice, and a poor display of defensive talent.
Attackers basically skate through the defensive at will without a body rub; it is no wonder goalies get lit up at will and final scores for both teams can reach double digits. The only good thing about the NHL All-Star Weekend is the skills competition. It showcases individual talent at its best in great skills categories. The All-Star Games is no different because it only displays individual talent at its finest; the aspect of "team" is non-existent.
Many fans, myself included, have simply stopped watching All-Star Games. They do not bear a resemblance to a typical game, and even though the game's elite are competing, in both cases the end product is poor. Fans want to see athletes competing at a high level. When you witness a forward splitting the defense as if they were pylons, it certainly takes some of the fun away. One solution is to have the game mean something. While this is impossible for the NFL since the Super Bowl has a host city every year, it could be achieved in the NHL. Simply propose a format much like Major League Baseball (MLB). Have the two conferences play mid-way through the season, and the winning conference gets home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Finals. Since the MLB instituted this change, its All-Star Games have been by far the most compelling. Players realize that home-field in the finals can be the difference between winning and losing. The NHL and the NFL have the ability to make positive changes...will they?
The NFL is in a unique position because the duration of the season is, in fact so short. The superbowl marks the end of the season and an all-star game after the fact would certainly lack any, if not all, "all-stars" as they will have started their off season training with rest periods. Football, much like hockey, is a contact sport where injuries can occur at any moment. The fact players do NOT give it their all is in direct relation to the fact that they do not want to injure their opponents, a sign of respect for one another. Similar to the lack of sacks or big tackles, the NHL all star game rarely sees defensemen utilize their 100+ mph slap shots.
ReplyDeleteThe all-star games are for the average fan, not the avid fan who lives and breaths the game. They are great economy boosters for the host (the NHL does it correctly and moves it from year to year, unlike the NFL which keeps it in Hawaii for a vacation for all in attendance) and enables lots of fans to interact with players in an atmosphere where they may not ever get the chance.
Players are relaxed and are there to have fun and the fans expect that.
The concept of having the winning team obtain home-field advantage in the MLB is a controversial one to begin with. To make such a drastic decision, Gary Bettman would become a further hated man. Perhaps for football, the winning team could obtain the right to decide whether to kick or receive first in the superbowl? But then again, the players IN the pro bowl won't care because they aren't playing in the superbowl!
Fact of the matter is, all star games are strictly for entertainment purposes only and to allow for players to rest from the grueling season that has been completed, and to gear up for the playoff drives to come.
Keep the all-star game. Even if the "true" fans don't watch it, the kids certainly love every minute of it.
From the NFL MVP himself about his views on this years Pro-Bowl ... http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7524660/aaron-rodgers-green-bay-packers-says-nfc-pro-bowlers-embarrassed
ReplyDeleteI think the anonymous poster made some valid points, and I don't necessarily disagree with him. I just think that for me personally who is an avid sports fan, I have nothing to gain from watching all-star games. Therefore I don't. I do watch the MLB all-star game because I see pros competing at their best. I still love the NFL and NHL, but under the current system (which may be the most reasonable system), I simply don't, and won't watch.
ReplyDelete