The Pro Bowl Is Horrific

Roger Goodell came out of to tell us that moving the NFL's Pro Bowl to the week prior to the Super Bowl has been a success. What?

I thought it was a bad idea when they announced the change (it used to be the week after the Super Bowl in Honolulu) but I was willing to give it a chance. Chance over. It sucks, it's a horrible idea and it needs to be put out of its misery.

There are three parts of rancid about this game:

No. 1 - The Pro Bowl itself is moronic. Because of the change, none of the Super Bowl participant's all stars will play in the game. And you know that usually the two teams left standing have quite a few Pro Bowlers on their roster that this really tugs at the game. So those umpteen players are replaced by alternates or second guesses. Well, maybe third guesses since several other All-Pros are deciding to take the game off and rest, party or get some surgery done. Then you get stuck with David Garrard and Vince Young as AFC quarterbacks.

It's a joke.

The Pro Bowl has run its course. This is one thing that the NFL should do as the college game does: name the All-Pro teams and leave it at that. I know they already have their "All-NFL Team", but let the players, fans and coaches vote on their All-Stars and honor them before or at halftime of the Super Bowl.

No. 2 - The players don't like it. It's obvious when nobody wants to play in it. Let's count the ways you are screwing with the players. First, they lose out on the trip to Hawaii, which is one of the top perks of being a Pro Bowler. Second, they lose out on that week of fun at the Super Bowl site. Most players, like the media, ascend to the site of the Super Bowl to bask in the glory, pitch their endorsements, make cameos at various events and just getting their name and face out there. Sure, that won't be too damaged by the Pro Bowl, but those players lose a weekend of fun to "prepare" for the game.

No. 3 - No fan likes it. Sorry, but when you have to change the rules of your game for your All-Star battle, it is lame. You don't see baseball saying "you can't pitch too fast" or "you can't steal a base", do you? You don't see basketball saying "you cannot foul", "you can't try to block any shots" or "you can't shoot threes", do you? Yet football limits what the offense and defense can do in the name of safety. Hmmm. Shouldn't this tell you that the game is pointless?

I don't watch it. I used to watch some of it as a kid just to see my Redskins who were in the game play. Now, I can't tell you the last time I sat and watched the game. It's horrible, boring and pointless. Despite my disdain for this rule change, at least the MLB game has home-field advantage in the World Series on the line. The NBA is nearly perfect ... except that I wish that the fans and coaches vote on the players to be there ... and the top two vote getters meet at half court before the game and pick players. Imagine Kobe and LeBron getting to draft a team right there.

Sorry. Another game, another time.

The NFL can't have any of that, especially since football is the ultimate TEAM game. You can't just stick 11 guys on defense together or expect an offensive line made up of guys from five different teams to work well together. It's stupid.

Pull the plug!!!