Pro Bowl - it's lame

The Pro Bowl sucks ass. It sucked extra ass this year, but by and large it's the pole-smoker in chief of the pro sports all-star games.

I've wasted some time to wonder why, and I think it's because it's always been at the end of the season, and last year it moved up to the week before the Super Bowl. The 2 weeks did nothing about the suckiness, and general fan apathy. Howie Long, when inducted into Canton, declared that ".....baseball is America’s pastime, but football is truly America’s passion." So how can the all star game of our passion be so damn lame?

It's anti-climactic. We've just been through the drama, and intensity of the playoffs. Every season it's the same. We live and die as our teams succeed and fail in the playoffs. Then there's an exhibition after all the emotion is spent on the part of fans and players. Who really cares? Not the players by and large judging by the 1/2 speed play in the most recent 1st quarter. The stadium is seldom near capacity. Everyone is mic'd up, and we hear no intensity. We're all wore out by the time it's played. Players have had 6 months of collisions, and the accompanying aches.

Move it. Move the game. The NFL can't have a mid-season classic the same way that MLB, the NBA, and the NHL do. Move it where? Move it to the beginning. The 1st exhibition game. Instead of 2 teams for the Hall Of Fame game when players are inducted into Canton, have that be a showcase for the previous seasons' all stars. Instead of players wore down from a seasons aches and drama, they've been in camp for a month. Instead of stars opting out because of free agency, or playoffs, or whatever, more show. Instead of fans recovering from the latest playoff drama they've been going though football withdrawl for 6 months. Instead of the Titans/Chiefs (or any 2 franchises) playing thier backups and rookies for 2 quarters the fans get A-Rod, Brees, and Brady.

The Pro-Bowl sucks. Nobody really cares about it after a season. It's a meaningless exhibition currently anti-climactic. Make it a meaningless exhibition welcoming back fans and players to the gridiron of our passion.