Professional all-star games normally are something to
behold. They are a showcase of each leagues most remarkable players. Major
League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League
all have phenomenal events that pit the best of the best against each other to
the supreme benefit of the fans. One league however, can’t seem to find the
right formula to bring the same amount of interest as the others. The National
Football League just doesn’t bring the heat when it comes to all-star games.
The NFL Pro Bowl has the talent and it is the most popular sport in America so
it comes as a real surprise that no one seems to care about the game.
I mean its football! It’s easily my favorite sport to watch,
but for some reason I couldn’t care less about the Pro Bowl. To me it’s simply
filler in the two-week hiatus between the conference championships and the
Superbowl. During this time everyone is gearing up for the big game, picking
out chip and dip combos, and finding the right sized cooler for the beer they
have bought. No one is thinking about this meaningless game that has no weight
on the outcome of the season. It’s
all about funny koozies, hot wing sauces and determining which of your friends
has the biggest TV.
This year I forced myself to watch the game and I was pleasantly surprised. It was high scoring and highlight filled, just what every sportsfan is hoping to witness in an all-star game. The final score was 59-41 in favor of the American Football Conference. It was a great showing, I enjoyed it thoroughly, that being said, if a new episode of Family Guy was on I probably would have been hard pressed to not change the channel. I’m sure the players selected feel a certain amount of pride when chosen to the team but it doesn’t seem to translate to the field. I noticed right away that nobody really wants to play defense. Quarterbacks would just huck the ball up to their receivers, 50-60 yards in the air, and the defenders would hardly bat an eye at it. The players know the actual game has no barring on anything, so why put forth the extra effort.
The game takes place in Hawaii; the players who get selected
use this chance to take friends and families on vacation. The game is literally
a tropical escape. It would amaze me if any of the players were truly jacked up
for a game like this. Picturesque sunsets, pig roasts and hula skits aren’t
really conducive to a hardnosed and gritty football contest. I feel if the fans don’t care, and the
players don’t care the NFL has got to do something about this game or else
scrap it entirely. It just seems like a big waste.
Totally on point with this post. The Pro-Bowl was pretty excellent this year, at least what I watched of it, but the defense was, as you pointed out, lacking. Even the tackles seemed a little... backyard, to me. The offensive game was fun to watch, of course.
ReplyDeleteI wish there was something to make the game have some sort of impact, so that the players would go full throttle. Seeing the best talents in the game play on the same teams, and seeing them at their best... now THAT'S something I'd want to watch. And I'm dying for more football every season; there just aren't enough games in the year!
Go Pats!