Major League Baseball's mid-summer jewel is the All Star Game. The National Basketball Association's mid-winter gem is its All Star Game. For pro nfl fans, their All Star Game is the Pro Bore (er, Bowl). Starting in 2010, pro nfl fans can snooze through the Pro Bowl earlier, just prior to the Super Bowl. This change would remedy the Pro Bowl's anti-climatic nature (honestly, who cared which conference won the damn game after we already knew who the Super Bowl MVP was, and that he'd be going to Disney World?). However, many pro nfl fans will agree that it's not a perfect solution.
Should Super Bowl-bound players participate and risk injury? Would that be fair to pro nfl fans? Even if they do play, pro nfl fans would continue to see watered-down rules against blitzing, as well as other safeguards, thus discouraging the intensity that Super Bowl players need. Who can get ready to knock opponents into the middle of next week when surrounded by sun, surf, and pineapples? Would they be able to change to a REAL game-play mentality after a day at the beach? If not, how about merely announcing the Super Bowl Pro Bowlers, and exempting them from the game? But would that really be a true All Star game after all?
Perhaps the best solution would be to admit what pro nfl fans have known all along. Because football is a violent sport, there is no way of playing a meaningful Pro Bowl without totalling eliminating the risk of injury, or of hurting a Super Bowl team's intensity. Therefore, this writer for pro nfl proposes that the game be eliminated, that Pro Bowl selections and rewards be announced AFTER the Super Bowl. That way, excellence would still be rewarded, but not at the cost of jeopardizing Super Bowl play.
