Is the Pro Bowl the worst game in pro sports? (1 Viewer)

[Football Critic]

I dont mind it. If you dont like it, then maybe don't watch it? It's great for NFL fans in Hawaii, it's fun for the players and their family, and it's not meant to be a serious game.

Meh...every year people complain about the Pro Bowl as if they are forced to watch it. The NFL doesnt try to market it as anything more than an exhibition game with a different rule set, are people expecting something more?

Hawai'i, who cares about Hawaii...they have a vacation year round, boo hoo if they dont get to see live football.Make the game have meaning or something....then this game will matter to the real fan, cuz the real fan knows the probowl is crap.

 

[Masked Vigilante]

If you don't like it don't watch it. Plenty of other things to watch on television.

 

[Football Critic]

If you don't like it don't watch it. Plenty of other things to watch on television.

Yes your right, you dont have to, but not the point. The point is, as fans, we are the ones they are suppose to attract with this game...are they succeeding?

 

[VTjkru]

If you don't like it don't watch it. Plenty of other things to watch on television.

Yes your right, you dont have to, but not the point. The point is, as fans, we are the ones they are suppose to attract with this game...are they succeeding?

12.3 million viewers last year. Im sure the numbers will be similar this year.

 

[comfortably numb]

All star games will never really be what you grew up watching.

All star games used to be a showcase of the best players in the league on 1 night.

The importance of it was that you were hardly able to see a player from outside your market.

This allowed you to see the great players your read or heard a lot about.

Now you can see any player any time whether via highlights or a sports package that gets you any game you want

24/7/365

The owners/coaches don't really care anymore as they don't want to see their assets get damaged.

The players don't really have any pride in beating the other side.

Before when players played on the same team for decades, you could see you wanting to represent your conference.

Now...who cares, next year you will be playing with 16 new faces, and the year after that you may be gone.

The All star game is basically becoming obsolete.

If there was no gambling, I think PBS would have a hard time taking the time slot.

 

[Bri]

Robert Edwards' injury didn't help the game. I think there were enough guys skipping it, he got hurt and it just sorta snowballed from there.

I like the voting by the fans. You can't do anything about the types that like to complain and then NOT offer their opinion in a vote. Politicians have been trying to get those people to vote for forever.

I'd like a weighted system that included coaches and their peers too. Again, significant involvement would be key.

I don't get the feeling that the NFL feels their system is broken with the Pro Bowl so...I figure nothing changes.

The current way, there's guys like Arian Foster that I feel good for. It does feel like an accomplishment that he made it.

I'm not saying it's right when Brady, Manning, or Favre have a bad year and still get in, but guys like Foster it must be pretty sweet for.

I used to watch the NBA all-star stuff with excitement. Slam dunk, three-point, rookie game and then the all-star game. It was fabulous. About five six years later, it seemed to be new players doing the same dunks and wow it lost it's steam real fast. I don't even watch any of it anymore.

Every now and then on NFLN or ESPN I catch a competition with some NFL QB throwing through a tire or ...I don't know. I don't even remember, but it was fairly entertaining.

I think the NFL can make up some skills contest that don't risk injury at too concerning of a level and entertain us each year. For the game, they gotta get the voted guys to play. I don't care if it's two hand touch or flag football but I don't want to watch the 3rd string bowl.

I remember reading one guy's rant where he was furious that 8 million people voted that they wanted this guy to play and he had the gall to not play. He started off writing about being picked on a playground and carried on and on. It is another angle of thought to all this. If people did take their voting seriously and "their guy" got in, they do have some right to be angry that the guy doesn't play. IIRC he ended that article saying how if a player knows he's not going to play then he shouldn't be on the ballot. That I definitely agree with.

All-star games are for the fans. They are to declare the best players and then 100% for the fans.

Suppose there was a 40 yard dash competition to decide who was fastest and some of these guys didn't want to do it. There's no cutting so suppose they whine they don't want to pull a hamstring. That would annoy me.

If the voting were taken seriously, the player that spouts off "it's my right to not play, I don't have to, it's my right blah blah blah"- he wouldn't get in again. We're calling him one of the best pumping up his ego and feeding his pride. Do we really need to also get a lecture about his rights? Some of this stuff gets to be a bit much.

This Pro Bowl attitude is often replicated in preseason as well so the NFL needs to do something.

 

[dharmapunk]

Let's throw this out there -

They move the Pro Bowl to week 8. Every team gets a mandatory bye week. Throw out all the dumb rules and make it a regular game.

Winning conference gets home field in the Superbowl, a much much bigger deal in football than baseball.

The only downside is the injury issue, but this would be a great concession for the Player's Union to avoid an 18 game season. I guarantee we'll all tune in for a midseason Pro Bowl that matters.

 

[TobiasFunke]

Let's throw this out there -

They move the Pro Bowl to week 8. Every team gets a mandatory bye week. Throw out all the dumb rules and make it a regular game.

Winning conference gets home field in the Superbowl, a much much bigger deal in football than baseball.

The only downside is the injury issue, but this would be a great concession for the Player's Union to avoid an 18 game season. I guarantee we'll all tune in for a midseason Pro Bowl that matters.

Here's another downside- let's say you're a player for the 2007 Jets (1-7 at the break) or 2007 Dolphins (0-8 at the break). Do you really care if the 8-0 Patriots, who seemed unstoppable at the time, have home field in the likely event that they reach the Super Bowl? Wouldn't your incentive be to actually lose the game to hinder your rival?

Same thing would apply in varying degrees every year in every division where there's actually bad blood between the teams, which is to say all of them except maybe the two South divisions and the NFC West.

 

[comfortably numb]

Let's throw this out there -They move the Pro Bowl to week 8. Every team gets a mandatory bye week. Throw out all the dumb rules and make it a regular game. Winning conference gets home field in the Superbowl, a much much bigger deal in football than baseball.The only downside is the injury issue, but this would be a great concession for the Player's Union to avoid an 18 game season. I guarantee we'll all tune in for a midseason Pro Bowl that matters.

What do you mean home field advantage?So if the AFC won,week 8 Pit would get to call the coin toss this year?

 

[Bri]

Here's another downside- let's say you're a player for the 2007 Jets (1-7 at the break) or 2007 Dolphins (0-8 at the break). Do you really care if the 8-0 Patriots, who seemed unstoppable at the time, have home field in the likely event that they reach the Super Bowl? Wouldn't your incentive be to actually lose the game to hinder your rival?

I'd like to think that the very best wouldn't form such a thought

 

[TobiasFunke]

Here's another downside- let's say you're a player for the 2007 Jets (1-7 at the break) or 2007 Dolphins (0-8 at the break). Do you really care if the 8-0 Patriots, who seemed unstoppable at the time, have home field in the likely event that they reach the Super Bowl? Wouldn't your incentive be to actually lose the game to hinder your rival?

I'd like to think that the very best wouldn't form such a thought

I'd like to think they would. I like it when the players on one team don't like their rivals. And so do most people. As a Redskins fan, I've seen players immediately endear themselves to the fan base simply by saying something negative about the Cowboys.Even if they wouldn't form it consciously, you could at least say that the players whose teams were basically eliminated from playoff contention at midseason would be incentivized to avoid rough contact. It's in their and their teams' best interest to be healthy, not to win a game to give a conference foe home field. It works for baseball only because playing baseball is mostly a skill, and effort plays only a minor role and also doesn't cause injuries very often. A guy can play to avoid injury and still play well. That's not an option in football.

 

[Instinctive]

Let's throw this out there -They move the Pro Bowl to week 8. Every team gets a mandatory bye week. Throw out all the dumb rules and make it a regular game. Winning conference gets home field in the Superbowl, a much much bigger deal in football than baseball.The only downside is the injury issue, but this would be a great concession for the Player's Union to avoid an 18 game season. I guarantee we'll all tune in for a midseason Pro Bowl that matters.

What do you mean home field advantage?So if the AFC won,week 8 Pit would get to call the coin toss this year?

Perhaps the Pro Bowl IS the coin toss? Winning conference will get to choose ball, direction, w/e in the Super Bowl.

 

[Cenobite]

Let's throw this out there -They move the Pro Bowl to week 8. Every team gets a mandatory bye week. Throw out all the dumb rules and make it a regular game. Winning conference gets home field in the Superbowl, a much much bigger deal in football than baseball.The only downside is the injury issue, but this would be a great concession for the Player's Union to avoid an 18 game season. I guarantee we'll all tune in for a midseason Pro Bowl that matters.

What do you mean home field advantage?So if the AFC won,week 8 Pit would get to call the coin toss this year?

Perhaps the Pro Bowl IS the coin toss? Winning conference will get to choose ball, direction, w/e in the Super Bowl.

That is not nearly enough at stake to sacrifice your body on a play.

 

[Instinctive]

Let's throw this out there -They move the Pro Bowl to week 8. Every team gets a mandatory bye week. Throw out all the dumb rules and make it a regular game. Winning conference gets home field in the Superbowl, a much much bigger deal in football than baseball.The only downside is the injury issue, but this would be a great concession for the Player's Union to avoid an 18 game season. I guarantee we'll all tune in for a midseason Pro Bowl that matters.

What do you mean home field advantage?So if the AFC won,week 8 Pit would get to call the coin toss this year?

Perhaps the Pro Bowl IS the coin toss? Winning conference will get to choose ball, direction, w/e in the Super Bowl.

That is not nearly enough at stake to sacrifice your body on a play.

I wasn't saying it is or isn't, was simply trying to clarify what I thought the poster was asking about.

 

[cr8f]

Let's throw this out there -They move the Pro Bowl to week 8. Every team gets a mandatory bye week. Throw out all the dumb rules and make it a regular game. Winning conference gets home field in the Superbowl, a much much bigger deal in football than baseball.The only downside is the injury issue, but this would be a great concession for the Player's Union to avoid an 18 game season. I guarantee we'll all tune in for a midseason Pro Bowl that matters.

What do you mean home field advantage?So if the AFC won,week 8 Pit would get to call the coin toss this year?

Perhaps the Pro Bowl IS the coin toss? Winning conference will get to choose ball, direction, w/e in the Super Bowl.

Or the winner gets to choose the Super Bowl refs? Who are they BTW?

 

[Premier]

How about everybody just realize it's a meaningless exhibition and take it as such? There's 21 weeks of meaningful, important football if that's what you're looking for.

 

[John 14:6]

How about everybody just realize it's a meaningless exhibition and take it as such? There's 21 weeks of meaningful, important football if that's what you're looking for.

Like I posted in the other thread,

 

[DoubleG]

To the OP:

Your poll is broked.

But "YES" it is the worst. And to the posts just above this one, "Yes, it is the worst meaningless exhibition of the major sports" (which was the OP's original question).

We're not looking for meaningful. We're looking for mildly entertaining. I haven't watched the Pro Bowl in years. I would sooner watch any other of the big 3 (heck, I'd even rather watch hockey's - in fact last night I was at a TGIF's and had my eyes glued to the NHL skills whatever it was instead of the Pro Bowl...and I don't even follow hockey!!!)