Where's The Pro Bowl Love At Here?

How would you spice up interest in the Pro Bowl?

Play it the Monday of Superbowl week?

I watched a bit today - Adrian Peterson is a MONSTER. But with every carry I held my breath a bit waiting to make sure he popped up unhurt.

All the rule changes that benefit the offense, the hope that no one gets injured, etc. all make the pro bowl kinda crappy. It's a neat tradition and all, but I don't think it would be the end of the world if they stopped playing it.

But on the whole, I agree with what trotsky posted. I can't think of much of anything that would make the Pro Bowl compelling to me, and with the risk of injury I don't blame those who decide not to participate.

but since there are none to be raised, then nothing really. Football isn't really a 'friendly' sport, you can't have a game that means nothing and expect people to play such a violent sport. you can only take so many hits, so many tackles. it would be like having an exhibition boxing match, what's the point?

baseball's all star game has lost it's lustre as well, but that's due more to interleague play than anything else. since baseball is a game of long term averages, one game is just silly, and everyone knows it. it used to be fun because it was fantasy matchups, pitchers versus hitters that you never saw outside the World Series. now those matchups happen regularly enough with interleague play to make them less of a novelty for one game.

Hockey is absurd for the same violence reason as football. you're going to tell someone who is in the game in the first place because of his strong hits that he can't do it on the ice?

the only all-star game that works, imho is basketball. the players play each other enough to know each other, and it's a sport that rewards individual offensive showmanship.

At least we can answer whether its torture or not.

Some wag here at DU once called the Pro Bowl the "Honolulu Farce". You could apply that name to the expansion team, or you could call it the "Honolulu Nenes" (the state bird, similar to the Canada goose). Once they got to 0-7 or so, you could start calling them the "Ninnies". :P

a man with bargaining spirit. Then when your expansion team doesn't hit the attendance minimums they can be moved to Oklahoma City, the home of foster parentage for pro teams.

That was fun until the college all-stars beat one of Lombardi's best GB teams. Then it got cancelled.

But I don't see it happening in this era. Much more of a gap between pro and college these days - the college kids would get slaughtered, risking lots of nasty injuries and screwing over the draft class.

So, yes it would be a complete slaughter.