Man, the NFL isn't really doing itself any favors here. For years and years, the pro-bowl has always been held after the Super Bowl, and out in Hawaii. And even then, there were still a whole bunch of people talking about the irrelevance of the Pro-Bowl. It did, at least, seem like players actually wanted to go to that one though, and who can blame them? Hawaii is still Hawaii.
Yet this year's "experiment" by Roger Goodell seems to have lit a fire underneath a few people, and cause many other people to simply not care. Every year there are people who don't accept their invitation which seemingly defeats the whole purpose in general, but there were always some big stars, such as Peyton Manning, who never missed a chance to play in the Pro-Bowl. But this year, we're clearly missing out. The fact that it is before the Super Bowl this year is a giant mistake. Simply because we know that the people who are playing in the Super Bowl aren't going to play in the Pro-Bowl because they don't want to risk getting inured! No Manning, no Brees, no Freeney. Between the Colts and Saints, there are 14 people who will not be playing simply because they are going to be in the Super Bowl. There are many others that are saying they won't be coming because of injury, but there are a lot of them, like Tom Brady, who just make a regular habit out of not coming, as the proceedings are "beneath them".
There are larger questions Pro-Bowl. Why is it that people in the NFL find it so easy to turn down their invitation to their All-Star game? What solutions are there to try and ensure that they do come? Well, firstly, the scheduling of the game, mostly for this year, needs to be fixed. Put it back where it was. I know that a lot of people say that having it after the season is silly, especially when the NBA, MLB, and NHL all have their all-star games in the middle of the season; however, I understand the placement of the NFL game. The NFL only plays 17 weeks, through about 4 months (for the regular season). Hard to determine who is all-pro in only 8 weeks of football. Plus, if we really wanted to guarantee that the best players from each team WON'T show up, then put it in the middle of the season. I know I wouldn't want my best players to possibly get injured and miss time because of an all-star game. So I say keep it in Hawaii, and keep it after the Super Bowl.
Then there is the question of attendance. How do we keep the NFL stars coming to the game. Well, I know for a fact that the NHL had a few issues with this for a little bit, but I think they've managed to more or less solve it. There was an example where Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk didn't want to come because he was hurt. He didn't show up at all, citing injury, and ended up being suspended for 2 games. Well, Sidney Crosby was also hurt during that time period, as well. Couldn't play in the game, but still came to the event, went through the media blitz, went to the parties, made the appearances, did the whole 9 yards, just didn't play. He was not suspended. Now by this point in the season, most of the players can't be suspended, and suspending a player who is missing it because he wants to not get hurt for the Super Bowl is silly, but there are ways that the league could still solve this. Have it carry over to next year, maybe. Impose a fine on the player and/or the club. Things along those lines. I'm not going to say dock the team a draft pick because that is excessive. But still, there needs to be something to ensure that they are there. If they're injured and can't play, fine, but still have them come and do the media events. Seriously, how injured to you think Tom Brady is? Just an bruised ego from being so mediocre this year? He isn't exactly in Welker's shoes.
Those are just a couple of possible solutions to a whole myriad of issues surronding the Pro-Bowl. I know that there are a few people, this year, who have been calling for the game to be eliminated as a whole. I don't see that as a solution, and I don't think it should happen, though I do wonder what would happen if they just didn't have a Pro-Bowl one year. Might be interesting to see. At any rate, I'm interested to hear any other solutions that people may have for this problem. So post away!
No comments:
Post a Comment