Pros and Cons of The Pro Bowl
__________________________________________________________________________Is it finally time to get rid of The Pro Bowl? One of the reasons The NFL got all surgical on our asses and moved The Pro Bowl to the week before The Superbowl was to place more emphasis on the event which has become the Marlon Jackson of All-Star games.
Ironically enough, The ‘Pro Bowl before Superbowl’ formula has seemingly backfired as it has further reminded us of how meaningless this game really is. Nobody playing in The Superbowl will be featured on either of the 2010 Pro Bowl rosters, and with big names such as Tom Brady and Brett Favre opting out, this year’s Stepchild Spectacular will be filled with more alternates than UFC 108.
The homers guys on LA Sports Live were talking about this earlier today, and former Laker Mychal Thompson conveyed an interesting idea of having an award ceremony for players who were selected to The Pro Bowl. This could easily work and, at this point, might make more sense.
But there are still positives to the event, and while it still has a pulse, we must make mention of what exactly those ‘pros’ are and weigh them against the cons.
PROS
It’s SOMETHING… With The Pro Bowl being played one week before The Superbowl, that insatiable NFL appetite will be kept under control to some degree. No longer do we have to wait 2 full weeks for The Superbowl with our only taste of football being the always dry ‘Media Week’.
See, everybody DOES make The Pro Bowl.
There’s still (some) star power. Even if The Brett Favres and Tom Bradys will be out of the picture, we will still get to see the likes of big city staples such as Tony Romo and Donovan McNabb who should still be good for ratings in a residual sort of way.
Offense. America hates defense. No long does the message of the blue collar, hard hat, assembly line, lunch pail, hit you in the freakin’ mouth appeal to the common American. The common American wants points, bloodshed, flash, popped collars, and fauxhawks. The Pro Bowl gives us all that flash and more with the non-blitzes and nobody wanting to tackle a walking contract extension too hard. Get that lunch pail shit out of America’s face!
CONS
“It’s not you…it’s me” As much effort as The NFL is putting into trying to make The Pro Bowl matter (and god bless them) we just don’t care. Does anybody even know the spread on that game (NFC -2 by the way)? Does anybody even care? The Pro Bowl just doesn’t generate the interest one would expect America’s number one sport to create. What are the storylines? Where’s the buildup? No three point shooting contest, no slam dunk contest, no Dwight Howard. No thank you.
Who DOESN’T make The Pro Bowl? Keeping in mind that being an alternate/replacement in a Pro Bowl means the same thing as being selected to start a pro bowl, in terms of historical significance, there may be more legitimacy to the opinion that The Pro Bowl should simply be an annual event without the game. This would avoid diluting the significance of making a Pro Bowl as only those who were originally selected to appear would be honored.
Defense? Sure it’s appealing to the eye to see a touchdown every other play, but with The NFL having evolved into such a sophisticated sport, with its scheming and game film, the vanilla schemes we see on both offense and defense (more so on defense) are flat out embarrassing. Why even have Darrelle Revis lace them up? What are linebackers even doing field? The Pro Bowl masquerades as a legitimate football game the same way Clay Aiken briefly masqueraded as a heterosexual.
Our Verdict: Scrap it. Trash it. Burn it down. It’s a great thought and a (somewhat) distinct honor so why not keep it that way. Give out a bunch of golden footballs and a nice little bonus and call it a day.
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Tags: NFL, NFL Pro Bowl 2010, NFL Pro Bowl before The Superbowl, NFL Pro Bowl Miami, Superbowl XLIV
