Sean's Take:
The sports junkie in me demands to watch any sporting event of any significance. And not just in American sports, but there's no reason for me to miss out on Cricket, Rugby, Curling, Hurling or Buzkashi if I get the chance to view it.
But something about the Pro Bowl makes me sick. Perhaps the purpose is to showcase all of the top players in the game at one time, but when ESPN saunters on religiously about each one of them throughout the year, the event transforms from a nice get-together into a circle jerk. It certainly doesn't help that nobody playing or watching cares either. It's not as though other all-star games have traditionally been much better either, but the Pro Bowl feels the most like it spits on the intensity and passion that make sports into spectacles.
Are all-star games really on their way out though? And should we as intelligent sports fans be urging them to step off the ledge? Probably.
I haven't always been such a grinch when it comes to this subject. As a kid, I weasled my way into Spartan Stadium in San Jose to watch the 2001 MLS All Star Game, in which the arrogant and immature teenage sensation Landon Donovan scored 4 goals for the Western Conference in a 6-6 draw, the last of which was on a horrendously shady penalty kick (Donovan was playing in front of his home crowd, after all). Landon topped the day off by ripping off his shirt to reveal a sports bra underneath (ala Chastain 1999). Youtube somehow lacks video evidence.
These days, MLS offers an event slightly less scripted: the best players in MLS take on a famous team from the world of Soccer. This is mostly good, as American audiences get a chance to see the best local players take on the top talent of the world. Unlike the Pro Bowl, at least one side cares while the other gives about 60% (until two years ago, when Manchester United took out the frustration of losing to a 10-man Kansas City side on the hapless MLS All-Stars). On the zero-to-care scale, the current MLS All-Star game gets a CAR...
What may be even more compelling is the new NHL All-Star game, whose 2nd edition begins tonight (8PM EST, 5PM PST, NBC Sports Network) with the crown jewel of trivial sporting events: the Fantasy Draft. Two all-stars serve as captains, and each takes turns picking from the pool of All-Stars to fill out their lineups (think schoolyard politics). Last year's draft was a brilliant way to get a sense of the personalities involved. Alex Ovechkin laughing with his teammates while taking camera phone pictures of last pick Phil Kessel might have been my favorite television moment of 2011, especially since Kessel got the last laugh when his consolation prize was a new car.
Is there a point here? I suppose it's this: sports fans should be working to kill any and all All-Star games that don't add something interesting to the sport. I completely accept the fact that no all-star game will truly excite me with it's play, but if it contributes something memorable (which neither the NFL, MLB or NBA games do outside of the dunk contest)I may as well watch. Conference vs. Conference or North America vs. the World are dead ideas; innovate or get out. And no, giving home field advantage in the World Series to the winning league doesn't count as innovation.
Not that any money making event will just die quietly.
Tom's Take: Wow. So much of this article was spent talking about Soccer, I almost nodded off. Time to bring it back to REAL football. The American one. The NFL makes a point of honoring the best players at their positions by naming them to the Pro Bowl, making up the all-star AFC and NFC teams, but does an actual football game need to happen? I think in theory, the Pro Bowl game is a brilliant idea. Seeing the league's top QBs throw to the league's top WRs while the league's top defensive players try to stop them, sounds like a really great football game. But in practice this isn't what happens. For one thing, none of the players in the Superbowl play in the Pro Bowl, so right there you inevitably rule out several pro-bowl players people would want to see. For another, players aren't going to try their hardest in the Pro Bowl since it doesn't really matter. It's pretty much a pre-season game with a lot of fun names.
Even with all that said though, I think complaining about the Pro Bowl or any other All-Star game is a waste of time. If the game is boring, don't watch, but it's really the sports equivalent of an awards show anyways, so I don't think it's all that big a deal.
Sean's Final Word:
Tom, if you're going to complain every time I write about soccer, we may as well just shut this site down. I won't tolerate any more of that, we are not a haven for anti-intellectualism. This is a site about dedication to the fine craft of sport in any and all cases (at least my part of it anyway).
As for your award show comparison, that's actually quite a good one. Unfortunately, the Pro Bowl has no Ricky Gervais to shake everything up. Instead we'll get John Gruden or some other talking head that won't say a bad word about any player. Give me a drunk Chris Collinsworth, or at least someone who is fully aware of how terrible the event is. Of course, there's no way the NFL allows for that. But some lightheartedness wouldn't hurt. Acknowledging how arbitrary and useless the all-star game might actually make for a more fun atmosphere. As long as all-star games exist, I'll be there to complain about them.
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