I'm obsessed with football and yet can't stir up more than a casual interest in the Pro Bowl. I predict a barnburner with zero blitzes and five plays where Julius Peppers yuks it up with D'Brickashaw Ferguson rather than rush the passer. I'm hoping that something memorable comes of the game. If not, we'll always have this ridiculously over-the-top hit from the late Sean Taylor.
I keep hearing the media bash the probowl but I don't hear any suggestions on how to make the probowl work. All star games in general seem to appeal to the casual or unsophisticated fans. Kids love love them. Adults don't. How can sports (not just football) make these games interesting? A couple of suggestions:
ReplyDelete(1) Love that NHL allows players to pick teams.
(2) Attach some significance to who wins - a la MLB
(3) Play the probowl after the superbowl so you don't have the two best teams in the league withdrawing their players
(4)Incentive the players to play hard - or at least pretend to play hard.
Any ideas Pete?
I think they should do away with the pro bowl... BORING and who cares?
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteAgreed that they need to make changes to the Pro Bowl.
1) I loved the NHL player draft as soon as I heard about it. Plus it inherently appeals to all the fantasy geeks out there.
2) Even with a draft, the game won't be interesting unless there is some significance to it. I can't think of a "home field advantage in the World Series" equivalent for it, but at least give a bigger monetary incentive to the players. The winning players currently get an extra $25,000, but apparently that's not enough to make them get their jerseys dirty.
3) I'm not sure playing the Pro Bowl after the Super Bowl makes a difference. They've done that for years and it doesn't make the game more exciting.
4) See #2.
If I could make two changes, I'd do the player draft and then give the players some ridiculous monetary incentive (like $300,000 for the winning players, $25,000 for the losers--James Harrison could use it to pay all his fines for dirty hits). The league will be reluctant to make that change because it's shelling out more cash to the players with no ROI except the potential of increased viewership and ad dollars. But I think the extra incentive would stop the top players from withdrawing from the game with a stubbed toe and convince the participants to actually put forth some effort. If the league is scared of such a radical change, then just do it on a one-year trial period and see how it goes(like it did when it moved the 2010 Pro Bowl to Miami last year).
Mary,
ReplyDeletePeople have said that. But I'd like the Pro Bowl to stick around because Hawaii embraces it so much. All reports I've seen say that the locals love the game, and it actually sells out every year:
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/10540742