probowl: fixed (1 Viewer)

[flc735]

step 1: get rid of the game

i could stop here but i'll go on

2: replace the probowl selection process with 1st team, 2nd team, and 3rd team honors (league wide, not conference specific)

i care who the 2nd best qb in the league was this year. i don't care who the 3rd best qb from the NFC that didn't make the super bowl was.

3: hardcore skills competition! highlights include

WR vs DB - i want to see revis cover AJ, roddy and jennings, and then i want to see asomuagu cover those three

A RACE - mike wallace vs desean vs cj2k vs charles line up. 100 yards. GO!

benching competition for the lineman (also, an o-lineman/DT race would be fun to see or even a tug o war between the offensive lines of two teams. (dallas vs nyj!)

HORSE with kickers, distance or accuracy competitions

what ever else i missed

4: turn the team honors into an hour special. televise the skills comp. that's 2 shows that will pull in better ratings then the probowl

 

[Andy Dufresne]

How about a flag football game?

The linemen could have a hot wing eating contest.

 

[flc735]

How about a flag football game?

they have been playing flag football once a year in hawaii

 

[Andy Dufresne]

How about a flag football game?

they have been playing flag football once a year in hawaii

But with pads on. Just take off the pads.

 

[Reaper]

It should be more like those old Battle of the Network Stars shows...

There is no other way you are going to get anything competitive and football-like...

CHEERLEADERS from each team compete and play WR and RB....

Then they have Mudwrestling, Tug of War and obstacle coarse type stuff....

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Fastest texting competition.

 

[comfortably numb]

step 1: get rid of the game

i could stop here but i'll go on

2: replace the probowl selection process with 1st team, 2nd team, and 3rd team honors (league wide, not conference specific)

i care who the 2nd best qb in the league was this year. i don't care who the 3rd best qb from the NFC that didn't make the super bowl was.

3: hardcore skills competition! highlights include

WR vs DB - i want to see revis cover AJ, roddy and jennings, and then i want to see asomuagu cover those three

A RACE - mike wallace vs desean vs cj2k vs charles line up. 100 yards. GO!

benching competition for the lineman (also, an o-lineman/DT race would be fun to see or even a tug o war between the offensive lines of two teams. (dallas vs nyj!)

HORSE with kickers, distance or accuracy competitions

what ever else i missed

4: turn the team honors into an hour special. televise the skills comp. that's 2 shows that will pull in better ratings then the probowl

Rating were apparently 40% higher than last year.

My guess is a lot of people betting on this game are watching.

Take take the game away, no one is betting on skills competition, and thus no one watching.

 

[nipbac]

step 1: get rid of the game

i could stop here but i'll go on

2: replace the probowl selection process with 1st team, 2nd team, and 3rd team honors (league wide, not conference specific)

i care who the 2nd best qb in the league was this year. i don't care who the 3rd best qb from the NFC that didn't make the super bowl was.

3: hardcore skills competition! highlights include

WR vs DB - i want to see revis cover AJ, roddy and jennings, and then i want to see asomuagu cover those three

A RACE - mike wallace vs desean vs cj2k vs charles line up. 100 yards. GO!

benching competition for the lineman (also, an o-lineman/DT race would be fun to see or even a tug o war between the offensive lines of two teams. (dallas vs nyj!)

HORSE with kickers, distance or accuracy competitions

what ever else i missed

4: turn the team honors into an hour special. televise the skills comp. that's 2 shows that will pull in better ratings then the probowl

Rating were apparently 40% higher than last year.

My guess is a lot of people betting on this game are watching.

Take take the game away, no one is betting on skills competition, and thus no one watching.

I would bet on the skills competition before I would bet on the crapshoot that is the game.

 

[Thunderlips]

1) Get it out of Hawaii and back to the mainland.

2) Allow it to rotate yearly amongst all the stadiums.

3) Allow schools or kid football leagues to go for free or real cheap.

4) Make it more juvenille football player accessible. I'd almost make it more of a clinic with a half assed football game than a actual game.

 

[flc735]

Rating were apparently 40% higher than last year.My guess is a lot of people betting on this game are watching.Take take the game away, no one is betting on skills competition, and thus no one watching.

my whole point of this is i would rather watch a race for the fastest man in the NFL then the probowl game. the NFL equivalent of the slam dunk contest with the those other competitions taking the place of the 3 point contest, HORSE game, ect...the point of the 1st team honors is that i would be much more interested in that then who makes the probowl. also, it would be a higher honor for the players. its better to be named the 3rd best qb in the league rather then "one of the top 6-8 qb's" in the league

 

[Shutout]

Each player on the winning side earns $1 Million in salary cap exemption for his NFL club (AFC wins and Manning and Wayne are on the team=Colts get $2M more in cap space for next year).

EVERYONE is interested in the Pro-Bowl again (fans, owners, players)..."Money is the answer to all your questions."

 

[John 14:6]

I don't understand why people want to get rid of the Probowl. If you don't like it, just don't watch. Personally, I tuned in an thought it was fun.

The same for preseason games. People keep complaining about them, but nobody's forced to watch.

 

[Area51Inhabitant]

The game has turned into a joke. It should really put out of its misery and sooner than later. Not a good showcase for the league imo.

 

[RBM]

With the suggestions in this thread, it seems like they should just keep the game

 

[GroveDiesel]

step 1: get rid of the game

i could stop here but i'll go on

2: replace the probowl selection process with 1st team, 2nd team, and 3rd team honors (league wide, not conference specific)

i care who the 2nd best qb in the league was this year. i don't care who the 3rd best qb from the NFC that didn't make the super bowl was.

3: hardcore skills competition! highlights include

WR vs DB - i want to see revis cover AJ, roddy and jennings, and then i want to see asomuagu cover those three

A RACE - mike wallace vs desean vs cj2k vs charles line up. 100 yards. GO!

benching competition for the lineman (also, an o-lineman/DT race would be fun to see or even a tug o war between the offensive lines of two teams. (dallas vs nyj!)

HORSE with kickers, distance or accuracy competitions

what ever else i missed

4: turn the team honors into an hour special. televise the skills comp. that's 2 shows that will pull in better ratings then the probowl

:( Rating were apparently 40% higher than last year.

My guess is a lot of people betting on this game are watching.

Take take the game away, no one is betting on skills competition, and thus no one watching.

There have been articles about this before, but Nielson ratings are becoming less and less accurate. The way Nielson works is that they choose a random sample of people and send them special equipment that tracks what they watch for a certain period of time. They would then extrapolate those numbers across the entire US population. This data was helpful to advertisers because they knew which shows were more watched and which ones would therefore give them more exposure.

But that methodology is becoming problematic because a HUGE percentage of people now watch a high percentage of their shows recorded on their DVR or On Demand. Nielson doesn't measure anything except for live tv viewing. This data is still useful for tv advertisers because they'd rather have viewers watching live tv than fast forwarding through their commercials on the DVR. Of course, this hasn't really stopped Nielson from extrapolating their data across the entire US population as if so many people weren't watching recorded tv. There's reason to believe that their data is skewed heavily in lots of cases. Live programs such as sporting events and news are going to score much higher than they probably should because people are more likely to watch live events like that than record them. It's why ratings for sporting events like the NFL and MLB seem to keep shooting through the roof as well as even explaining why a show like American Idol has such stellar Nielson ratings.

 

[GroveDiesel]

I don't understand why people want to get rid of the Probowl. If you don't like it, just don't watch. Personally, I tuned in an thought it was fun.The same for preseason games. People keep complaining about them, but nobody's forced to watch.

Is there anyone complaining that they were forced to watch? I think everyone is disappointed that it's become so terrible and are just spitballing ideas that they'd get a lot more enjoyment from. I know that there some people in here that watched the Pro Bowl and the Nielson ratings apparently show quite a few people watched, but I know exactly one person personally that watched and he's a 14 year old kid that watches just about every single possible football game possible. Seems like an interesting poll though, I'll set it up.

 

[comfortably numb]

Rating were apparently 40% higher than last year.My guess is a lot of people betting on this game are watching.Take take the game away, no one is betting on skills competition, and thus no one watching.

my whole point of this is i would rather watch a race for the fastest man in the NFL then the probowl game. the NFL equivalent of the slam dunk contest with the those other competitions taking the place of the 3 point contest, HORSE game, ect...the point of the 1st team honors is that i would be much more interested in that then who makes the probowl. also, it would be a higher honor for the players. its better to be named the 3rd best qb in the league rather then "one of the top 6-8 qb's" in the league

I hear you, but when i now look at the NBA skills competition, it's people I have never heard of most of the time.The HR derby is cool...until I see guys who are not even HR hitters on the list.So the NFL fastest man may be a competition between a backup CB and a player on special teams.While yea, it may be fun to see CJ v's Desean or Revis on AJ, I think the interest level from the players would be very minimal.They barely want to be bothered with a tradition of the Pro Bowl game let alone run around doing sprints.The big knock on the NBA and MLB skills competitions is the lack of star power. It seems most of these guys don't really want to be bothered with these extra curricular activities in general.

 

[John 14:6]

I don't understand why people want to get rid of the Probowl. If you don't like it, just don't watch. Personally, I tuned in an thought it was fun.The same for preseason games. People keep complaining about them, but nobody's forced to watch.

Is there anyone complaining that they were forced to watch?

No, but this thread is about getting rid of it altogether. Why not leave it alone for the people who enjoy it and spend less time complaining about it? I mean, there are tons of shows, movies, and channels I don't like. But I don't think they should be gotten rid of, I just don't watch them...

 

[Reepicheep]

I don't understand why people want to get rid of the Probowl. If you don't like it, just don't watch. Personally, I tuned in an thought it was fun.The same for preseason games. People keep complaining about them, but nobody's forced to watch.

You've got all the league's best players assembled and it gets wasted on playing a glorified game of flag football. I enjoy watching the best players ACTUALLY play football. If they're just half-assing it, I really don't care to watch. A bunch of undrafted college players could have given us more or less the same show yesterday.I agree with the OP. I would love to see something more like a game show style thing, where there is more engagment with the players, camera face time, etc. I want stupid fun stuff like tug-of-war and QBs tossing 40 yard passes to drop someone into a dunk tank and dodgeball and gladiator-type games. With interviews and close-ups and trash talk and everything. Have them play for money to be donated to charity to give it a nice touchy-feely human interest spin. I would watch the whole damn thing, instead of changing the channel to National Treasure like I did last night.

 

[DocHolliday]

I don't understand why people want to get rid of the Probowl. If you don't like it, just don't watch. Personally, I tuned in an thought it was fun.The same for preseason games. People keep complaining about them, but nobody's forced to watch.

Is there anyone complaining that they were forced to watch?

No, but this thread is about getting rid of it altogether. Why not leave it alone for the people who enjoy it and spend less time complaining about it? I mean, there are tons of shows, movies, and channels I don't like. But I don't think they should be gotten rid of, I just don't watch them...

Good point.I have no desire to watch a fake game so I do not watch. When I was a kid, I loved watching the stars play the game and I did not really consider how little effort the stars were giving. I doubt any more folks would watch a NFL skills competition. Watching track and field events during the Olympics is boring enough.

 

[John 14:6]

I don't understand why people want to get rid of the Probowl. If you don't like it, just don't watch. Personally, I tuned in an thought it was fun.

The same for preseason games. People keep complaining about them, but nobody's forced to watch.

You've got all the league's best players assembled and it gets wasted on playing a glorified game of flag football. I enjoy watching the best players ACTUALLY play football. If they're just half-assing it, I really don't care to watch. A bunch of undrafted college players could have given us more or less the same show yesterday.

Then don't watch it, that's my point.I'm not going to say that it's actually great football. I realize it's a meaningless game, but that doesn't mean I can't have fun with it. And I don't expect others to have fun watching it like I do. I just don't understand why people complain about it like they do.

 

[John 14:6]

I don't understand why people want to get rid of the Probowl. If you don't like it, just don't watch. Personally, I tuned in an thought it was fun.

The same for preseason games. People keep complaining about them, but nobody's forced to watch.

Is there anyone complaining that they were forced to watch?

No, but this thread is about getting rid of it altogether. Why not leave it alone for the people who enjoy it and spend less time complaining about it? I mean, there are tons of shows, movies, and channels I don't like. But I don't think they should be gotten rid of, I just don't watch them...

Good point.I have no desire to watch a fake game so I do not watch. When I was a kid, I loved watching the stars play the game and I did not really consider how little effort the stars were giving.

I doubt any more folks would watch a NFL skills competition. Watching track and field events during the Olympics is boring enough.

Exactly. Several people here are claiming they'd like to watch it, but after the first few times the novelty of it would wear off. Then the same people would be complaining about how stupid the competitions are.

 

[grateful zed]

the pro bowl is my favorite sporting event ever, dont change a thing.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

Instead of Hawaii, the Pro Bowl should be in the city of the last team that won the Super Bowl. Kind of a spotlight on the last championship city before a new champ is crowned. And if the team happens to be back, it's an even bigger party.

The game is awful, and an insult to real football. Skills games, or just about anything would be better.

 

[GroveDiesel]

I don't understand why people want to get rid of the Probowl. If you don't like it, just don't watch. Personally, I tuned in an thought it was fun.

The same for preseason games. People keep complaining about them, but nobody's forced to watch.

Is there anyone complaining that they were forced to watch?

No, but this thread is about getting rid of it altogether. Why not leave it alone for the people who enjoy it and spend less time complaining about it? I mean, there are tons of shows, movies, and channels I don't like. But I don't think they should be gotten rid of, I just don't watch them...

Good point.I have no desire to watch a fake game so I do not watch. When I was a kid, I loved watching the stars play the game and I did not really consider how little effort the stars were giving.

I doubt any more folks would watch a NFL skills competition. Watching track and field events during the Olympics is boring enough.

Exactly. Several people here are claiming they'd like to watch it, but after the first few times the novelty of it would wear off. Then the same people would be complaining about how stupid the competitions are.

Well, so far the poll I put up indicates that the vast majority of people watched very little to none of the Pro Bowl and about 2/3 of people would more likely watch a skills competition. So you seem to be very much in the minority. And that's on a fantasy football board. I bet the results would be even more stark among the average population.

 

[John 14:6]

Is there anyone complaining that they were forced to watch?

No, but this thread is about getting rid of it altogether. Why not leave it alone for the people who enjoy it and spend less time complaining about it? I mean, there are tons of shows, movies, and channels I don't like. But I don't think they should be gotten rid of, I just don't watch them...

Good point.I have no desire to watch a fake game so I do not watch. When I was a kid, I loved watching the stars play the game and I did not really consider how little effort the stars were giving.

I doubt any more folks would watch a NFL skills competition. Watching track and field events during the Olympics is boring enough.

Exactly. Several people here are claiming they'd like to watch it, but after the first few times the novelty of it would wear off. Then the same people would be complaining about how stupid the competitions are.

Well, so far the poll I put up indicates that the vast majority of people watched very little to none of the Pro Bowl and about 2/3 of people would more likely watch a skills competition. So you seem to be very much in the minority. And that's on a fantasy football board. I bet the results would be even more stark among the average population.

Like I said, I think that's just based on the novelty of the idea. Right now people like complaining about the Probowl and would take anything else. But my guess is these events wouldn't be popular for very many seasons. I may be wrong, but that's just how I see it playing out.Why not have BOTH? Have all the skill events Saturday and then the game on Sunday?

 

[comfortably numb]

I don't understand why people want to get rid of the Probowl. If you don't like it, just don't watch. Personally, I tuned in an thought it was fun.The same for preseason games. People keep complaining about them, but nobody's forced to watch.

Is there anyone complaining that they were forced to watch?

No, but this thread is about getting rid of it altogether. Why not leave it alone for the people who enjoy it and spend less time complaining about it? I mean, there are tons of shows, movies, and channels I don't like. But I don't think they should be gotten rid of, I just don't watch them...

Good point.I have no desire to watch a fake game so I do not watch. When I was a kid, I loved watching the stars play the game and I did not really consider how little effort the stars were giving. I doubt any more folks would watch a NFL skills competition. Watching track and field events during the Olympics is boring enough.

Times have changed from when you were a kid.If you could watch any football you wanted anytime, watch any youtube clip of any player you wanted, as many times as you wanted, when the probowl rolled around, it was have less meaning for you back in the 60's, 70's 80' or 90's.

 

[Reepicheep]

I don't understand why people want to get rid of the Probowl. If you don't like it, just don't watch. Personally, I tuned in an thought it was fun.

The same for preseason games. People keep complaining about them, but nobody's forced to watch.

You've got all the league's best players assembled and it gets wasted on playing a glorified game of flag football. I enjoy watching the best players ACTUALLY play football. If they're just half-assing it, I really don't care to watch. A bunch of undrafted college players could have given us more or less the same show yesterday.

Then don't watch it, that's my point.I'm not going to say that it's actually great football. I realize it's a meaningless game, but that doesn't mean I can't have fun with it. And I don't expect others to have fun watching it like I do. I just don't understand why people complain about it like they do.

And my point is they have a bunch of star players together in one place for a few days and they waste it playing a boring game of "don't get injured!" It's a wasted opportunity, and I would like to see something better done with it. Not sure how else to say it.

 

[Premier]

I said it in the other thread and I'll say it here. There are 21 weeks of super-serious football if that's what you're looking for. The Pro Bowl is the complete opposite of that, and doesn't try to sell itself as anything otherwise.

 

[John 14:6]

I don't understand why people want to get rid of the Probowl. If you don't like it, just don't watch. Personally, I tuned in an thought it was fun.

The same for preseason games. People keep complaining about them, but nobody's forced to watch.

You've got all the league's best players assembled and it gets wasted on playing a glorified game of flag football. I enjoy watching the best players ACTUALLY play football. If they're just half-assing it, I really don't care to watch. A bunch of undrafted college players could have given us more or less the same show yesterday.

Then don't watch it, that's my point.I'm not going to say that it's actually great football. I realize it's a meaningless game, but that doesn't mean I can't have fun with it. And I don't expect others to have fun watching it like I do. I just don't understand why people complain about it like they do.

And my point is they have a bunch of star players together in one place for a few days and they waste it playing a boring game of "don't get injured!" It's a wasted opportunity, and I would like to see something better done with it. Not sure how else to say it.

So if they didn't get together at all then there'd be no problem?

I said it in the other thread and I'll say it here. There are 21 weeks of super-serious football if that's what you're looking for. The Pro Bowl is the complete opposite of that, and doesn't try to sell itself as anything otherwise.

 

[B Maverick]

Rating were apparently 40% higher than last year.My guess is a lot of people betting on this game are watching.Take take the game away, no one is betting on skills competition, and thus no one watching.

my whole point of this is i would rather watch a race for the fastest man in the NFL then the probowl game. the NFL equivalent of the slam dunk contest with the those other competitions taking the place of the 3 point contest, HORSE game, ect...the point of the 1st team honors is that i would be much more interested in that then who makes the probowl. also, it would be a higher honor for the players. its better to be named the 3rd best qb in the league rather then "one of the top 6-8 qb's" in the league

I hear you, but when i now look at the NBA skills competition, it's people I have never heard of most of the time.The HR derby is cool...until I see guys who are not even HR hitters on the list.So the NFL fastest man may be a competition between a backup CB and a player on special teams.While yea, it may be fun to see CJ v's Desean or Revis on AJ, I think the interest level from the players would be very minimal.They barely want to be bothered with a tradition of the Pro Bowl game let alone run around doing sprints.The big knock on the NBA and MLB skills competitions is the lack of star power. It seems most of these guys don't really want to be bothered with these extra curricular activities in general.

Some of that is because the NBA/NHL games are midseason. The ProBowl is at the end. If someone pulls a hammy, they arent missing time. You may be more inclinded to get CJ vs DJ in the 100 yard dash since they have time to heal. Problem with the on the field stuff is that people dont want to tear an ACL or anything that risks next year. Also, the rules are so watered down: no blitzes, zone only, no shifts on offense, etc. No one really is there to play hard.Put the game back to after the SB, keep it in Hawaii, and do more of a skills contest weekend. Someone on Twitter even suggested a Soph vs Rookie game instead. Would give some younger guys the spotlight: Sanchezx vs Bradford, Best vs Greene, etc.

 

[PatsFanCT]

I always watch it, but it sure is a ##### to bet on.

I like what the NHL did this year. Let the pro bowl be a fantasy draft. That could be fun.

 

[flc735]

skills comp was actually my "B" idea. i thought the 1st team honors would be the main draw here

I don't understand why people want to get rid of the Probowl. If you don't like it, just don't watch. Personally, I tuned in an thought it was fun.

The same for preseason games. People keep complaining about them, but nobody's forced to watch.

You've got all the league's best players assembled and it gets wasted on playing a glorified game of flag football. I enjoy watching the best players ACTUALLY play football. If they're just half-assing it, I really don't care to watch. A bunch of undrafted college players could have given us more or less the same show yesterday.

Then don't watch it, that's my point.I'm not going to say that it's actually great football. I realize it's a meaningless game, but that doesn't mean I can't have fun with it. And I don't expect others to have fun watching it like I do. I just don't understand why people complain about it like they do.

i woke up today, turned on espn and realized i missed and forgot about the probowl. when my friend asked me if i was watching the probowl yesterday, i thought she was talking about hockey.in the sport i love, i should plan my day around watching the best of the best compete, not completely forgetting about it.

Put the game back to after the SB, keep it in Hawaii, and do more of a skills contest weekend. Someone on Twitter even suggested a Soph vs Rookie game instead. Would give some younger guys the spotlight: Sanchezx vs Bradford, Best vs Greene, etc.

i'd be on board with that idea too. the young guys are not quite at the stage where they have to take care of thier body's to the extent that the vets have to. that, and bragging rights could turn this into a competitive gameto go a step further with this idea, why not a rookie vs pre-rookie game? the rookies of 2010 vs the rookies declared for the 20011 draft. team bradford vs team newton!

FF would love this, scouts get a chance to compare the incoming class against real NFL talent. same concept as the senior bowl, right?

would this be allowed though?

 

[Adebisi]

How about a flag football game?

Robert Edwards thinks that's a bad idea.

 

[Premier]

The pro bowl had bigger ratings than game 3 of the World Series.

So in other words, don't expect to see guys racing and QBs throwing footballs through tires next year.

 

[Ice Cream Man]

Like I said, I think that's just based on the novelty of the idea. Right now people like complaining about the Probowl and would take anything else. But my guess is these events wouldn't be popular for very many seasons. I may be wrong, but that's just how I see it playing out.

Why not have BOTH? Have all the skill events Saturday and then the game on Sunday?

I think you've missed the implicit point to many of the comments in this thread: the Pro Bowl, due to it masquerading as real football, but doesn't actually deliver the goods, has a negative effect on the image (or in some sense, integrity) of the game. I don't know how true this is, but it's probably one dimension to at least consider [and one more likely to be considered among serious fans of the sport].So, to the degree that the Pro Bowl is a farce, it really doesn't matter if a hypothetical skills competition lost fan interest after a while -- at least such an exhibition wouldn't serve to reduce the game's image.

Of course, the NFL has great ratings today so they can afford to have this potential drag [i.e., the Pro Bowl] on their image [i.e., big companies can often afford stupid policies]. But if the NFL approached this "exhibition" in the same way 30-40 years ago, I suspect the league would have suffered in a more tangible way. This is likely one of the reasons why the game was played much differently back then. Put another way, 30-40 years ago the Pro Bowl was a platform to push the popularity and credibility of the sport. Today, the Pro Bowl is an entirely perfunctory matter of fulfilling an important practice of the past.

 

[Reepicheep]

So if they didn't get together at all then there'd be no problem?

That's correct. In an imaginary world where there was no Pro Bowl at all, I would not be complaining about the Pro Bowl being stupid.

 

[dgreen]

The pro bowl had bigger ratings than game 3 of the World Series. So in other words, don't expect to see guys racing and QBs throwing footballs through tires next year.

It had been a while since I watched much of the Pro Bowl, but I really enjoyed watching it this year with my sons. They loved watching it, identifying players, learning about players, and seeing all the different helmets. Once they fell asleep I flipped around to other channels. But, I watched the end of the game because I knew they'd ask me in the morning who won and what the score was.It is what it is and I don't think there's any realistic way to make it a great entertainment value for most adults.

 

[dgreen]

Like I said, I think that's just based on the novelty of the idea. Right now people like complaining about the Probowl and would take anything else. But my guess is these events wouldn't be popular for very many seasons. I may be wrong, but that's just how I see it playing out.

Why not have BOTH? Have all the skill events Saturday and then the game on Sunday?

I think you've missed the implicit point to many of the comments in this thread: the Pro Bowl, due to it masquerading as real football, but doesn't actually deliver the goods, has a negative effect on the image (or in some sense, integrity) of the game. I don't know how true this is, but it's probably one dimension to at least consider [and one more likely to be considered among serious fans of the sport].So, to the degree that the Pro Bowl is a farce, it really doesn't matter if a hypothetical skills competition lost fan interest after a while -- at least such an exhibition wouldn't serve to reduce the game's image.

Of course, the NFL has great ratings today so they can afford to have this potential drag [i.e., the Pro Bowl] on their image [i.e., big companies can often afford stupid policies]. But if the NFL approached this "exhibition" in the same way 30-40 years ago, I suspect the league would have suffered in a more tangible way. This is likely one of the reasons why the game was played much differently back then. Put another way, 30-40 years ago the Pro Bowl was a platform to push the popularity and credibility of the sport. Today, the Pro Bowl is an entirely perfunctory matter of fulfilling an important practice of the past.

Is that what people are saying here? I didn't read the whole thread.I find it very hard to imagine that anyone thinks the NFL is any less awesome because of the Pro Bowl.

"I refuse to watch this Week 10 match-up between two division leaders because of the Pro Bowl!"

 

[John 14:6]

So if they didn't get together at all then there'd be no problem?

That's correct. In an imaginary world where there was no Pro Bowl at all, I would not be complaining about the Pro Bowl being stupid.

Why waste the time and energy complaining about it?

I find it very hard to imagine that anyone thinks the NFL is any less awesome because of the Pro Bowl."I refuse to watch this Week 10 match-up between two division leaders because of the Pro Bowl!"

 

[Reepicheep]

So if they didn't get together at all then there'd be no problem?

That's correct. In an imaginary world where there was no Pro Bowl at all, I would not be complaining about the Pro Bowl being stupid.

Why waste the time and energy complaining about it?

. . . because I think it could be better? What is wrong with wanting to improve something? This isn't the best analogy, but - If I go to a restaurant and the food is amazing but the service is crappy, I don't think to myself "Oh well, I'll just pretend that restaurant doesn't exist and I'll never eat there." I go and tell the manager that the food was good but the service was crappy, and if they improved the service I would come back again. In the case of the NFL I have 0 chance of getting an audience with anyone who has any sway over that sort of thing. So that leaves trying to sway public opinion on FBG I guess.

 

[John 14:6]

So if they didn't get together at all then there'd be no problem?

That's correct. In an imaginary world where there was no Pro Bowl at all, I would not be complaining about the Pro Bowl being stupid.

Why waste the time and energy complaining about it?

. . . because I think it could be better? What is wrong with wanting to improve something? This isn't the best analogy, but - If I go to a restaurant and the food is amazing but the service is crappy, I don't think to myself "Oh well, I'll just pretend that restaurant doesn't exist and I'll never eat there." I go and tell the manager that the food was good but the service was crappy, and if they improved the service I would come back again. In the case of the NFL I have 0 chance of getting an audience with anyone who has any sway over that sort of thing. So that leaves trying to sway public opinion on FBG I guess.

I'd just go to a different restaurant...There's nothing wrong with throwing out ideas on how to improve something, but the subject of this thread is getting rid of it altogehter.

 

[Adebisi]

If I go to a restaurant and the food is amazing but the service is crappy, I don't think to myself "Oh well, I'll just pretend that restaurant doesn't exist and I'll never eat there." I go and tell the manager that the food was good but the service was crappy, and if they improved the service I would come back again.

Would you really do that? Seems kinda dooshy.

 

[Reepicheep]

Why waste the time and energy complaining about it?

. . . because I think it could be better? What is wrong with wanting to improve something? This isn't the best analogy, but - If I go to a restaurant and the food is amazing but the service is crappy, I don't think to myself "Oh well, I'll just pretend that restaurant doesn't exist and I'll never eat there." I go and tell the manager that the food was good but the service was crappy, and if they improved the service I would come back again. In the case of the NFL I have 0 chance of getting an audience with anyone who has any sway over that sort of thing. So that leaves trying to sway public opinion on FBG I guess.

I'd just go to a different restaurant...There's nothing wrong with throwing out ideas on how to improve something, but the subject of this thread is getting rid of it altogehter.

To extend the analogy, in this case the food sucks, and the service sucks, so the best thing is for the restaurant to go out of business and hopefully a better one will open up in the same spot. But the problem is some people think the food and service is tolerable.

If I go to a restaurant and the food is amazing but the service is crappy, I don't think to myself "Oh well, I'll just pretend that restaurant doesn't exist and I'll never eat there." I go and tell the manager that the food was good but the service was crappy, and if they improved the service I would come back again.

Would you really do that? Seems kinda dooshy.

Really? If you get crappy service at a restaurant you just take in on the chin, or what? If I was running a restaurant I would want to know if people thought the service sucked. I know a few people who do own restaurants and they have said the same.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

If I go to a restaurant and the food is amazing but the service is crappy, I don't think to myself "Oh well, I'll just pretend that restaurant doesn't exist and I'll never eat there." I go and tell the manager that the food was good but the service was crappy, and if they improved the service I would come back again.

Would you really do that? Seems kinda dooshy.

It's actually something the manager would appreciate.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

The pro bowl had bigger ratings than game 3 of the World Series. So in other words, don't expect to see guys racing and QBs throwing footballs through tires next year.

That's a bigger indictment on baseball than it is praise for the Pro Bowl.

 

[dgreen]

The pro bowl had bigger ratings than game 3 of the World Series. So in other words, don't expect to see guys racing and QBs throwing footballs through tires next year.

That's a bigger indictment on baseball than it is praise for the Pro Bowl.

He's not praising the PB. He's just arguing against the idea that a skills competition would get better ratings.

 

[Adebisi]

Would you really do that? Seems kinda dooshy.

Really? If you get crappy service at a restaurant you just take in on the chin, or what? If I was running a restaurant I would want to know if people thought the service sucked. I know a few people who do own restaurants and they have said the same.

I wouldn't "take it on the chin;" I would just leave little or no tip.But I do have to admit that you're making me rethink this.

 

[John 14:6]

Why waste the time and energy complaining about it?

. . . because I think it could be better? What is wrong with wanting to improve something? This isn't the best analogy, but - If I go to a restaurant and the food is amazing but the service is crappy, I don't think to myself "Oh well, I'll just pretend that restaurant doesn't exist and I'll never eat there." I go and tell the manager that the food was good but the service was crappy, and if they improved the service I would come back again. In the case of the NFL I have 0 chance of getting an audience with anyone who has any sway over that sort of thing. So that leaves trying to sway public opinion on FBG I guess.

I'd just go to a different restaurant...There's nothing wrong with throwing out ideas on how to improve something, but the subject of this thread is getting rid of it altogehter.

To extend the analogy, in this case the food sucks, and the service sucks, so the best thing is for the restaurant to go out of business and hopefully a better one will open up in the same spot. But the problem is some people think the food and service is tolerable.

Yeah, and for me... I mean, those people, they want the place to stay open

 

[Insein]

Who would fix the pro bowl? I can't imagine many people betting on it.