Although it may be a joke, the Pro Bowl is here to stay for another year.
The New Orleans Saints’ Twitter account made it official on Wednesday with this tweet:
The NFL announced the 2013 Pro Bowl will be played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday, Jan. 27
Earlier in the year many reports stated that the NFL might cancel the Pro Bowl. For too long, it had failed to attract the game’s biggest stars, most of whom would rather not make the long trek to Hawaii to play in an exhibition game. Now, like many other NFL fans out there, I could care less about the Pro Bowl. Just a bunch of great players(not even some of the superstars) giving about 11% and going half-ass throughout the entire game. Now I understand why the players don’t go 100%, they don’t want to get hurt. As a player I wouldn’t want to get hurt either, but at least try and make the game entertaining. Over the years, the Pro Bowl has become to look like a basketball game. Offenses going up and down the field while the defenses just sit back and kick it. Occasionally you can get a player such as, Ray Lewis, who may bring a little intensity to the field, but to most players it is all just jibber-jabber.
The NFL has given the game a little incentive for the players this year. Like baseball, who has awarded the winning league home field advantage in the World Series, the NFL is now awarding the winning players just a bit more than the losers. The winners will receive $53,000 and the losers will receive $26,000. As a normal, everyday citizen in the Untied States of America, that money may seem like a good chunk of change. But, to NFL players, that’s exactly what it it, change. They don’t care if they get $53,000 dollars for winning, they’ll spend that that night in Hawaii on strippers and cocaine. I digress, but still, NFL players are not going to see this money as anything special. Roger Goodell and co. are trying to make this all-star game less of a joke, I’ve yet to see any progress.
The Pro Bowl is widely considered to be one of the most unsuccessful all-star events in all of professional sports. It’s often seen as a chore rather than an honor, but perhaps Goodell is out to change that. As a fan, I am ashamed to say that this all-star game is the worst of the three major sports. When you look at the atrocity that we call the MLB All-Star game, how can the Pro Bowl be any worse, and I’ll give you one reason why: The Players. The MLB and even the NBA are able to lure the best and most popular players every year to come to the All-Star game and the All-Star weekend festivities. The Slam Dunk contest is brutally bad now, the Homerun Derby is about as good as going to my backyard and playing wiffleball, and what does the NFL do? A Passing Competition, I mean come on now, the most popular sport in the U.S.A. is having trouble getting fans? That’s when you know you have a problem.
The Pro Bowl may be on for 2013, but how much longer will it stick around after that? The game isn’t gaining any popularity among fans or players, so if the 2013 edition fails as badly as the 2012 game, you’d have to think that either a new format or a cancellation will be introduced.
This could be the Pro Bowl’s one last chance… Thank goodness.
Box Seats Sports 