All-Star Games Need a Lot of Help: A Fan’s Opinion

The end of January marks the start of the least exciting time in sports. I’m talking about All-Star Games. The Pro Bowl, NHL All-Star Game, and NBA All-Star Game all unfold in the dead of winter. There are few things in sports I care about less than All-Star Games. All All-Star Games are terrible, but at least the baseball version takes place at a time of year when it can draw attention. These three games simply don’t work. Is there a chance to fix them? I’m not so sure. Here is a look at the three upcoming All-Star Games and what can be done to fix them.

The Pro Bowl

The NFL has already tried drawing more appeal to the Pro Bowl. Nothing has worked. As much as I love football, I can’t bring myself to watch football in the least. This event falls between the conference title games and the Super Bowl. The makes it a valley of disappointment unlike anything other in sports. The biggest reason I don’t care about the Pro Bowl is that the players don’t. It is easy to remember all of the players that passed on playing. Who can blame them? There is no real hitting and the game is watered down. Can it be saved? The first thing they should do is move it to replace the Hall of Fame game. That would be a fun preseason opener. Not only that, but after months of no football people will actually be interested in watching it. Second, make it a total exhibition. Have it be flag football. Bring in celebrities. The best thing they can do is stop pretending it is a real football game.

The NHL All-Star Game

The NHL has tweaked their All-Star game a number of times. The most recent version has two captains choosing teams. That is clever and at least draws some interest. Unfortunately, there is more interest in the choosing of the teams than the game itself. The NHL All-Star Game is nothing like a real game. There is no goaltending and once again a limited amount of hitting. I would much rather just see a skills competition. The game itself simply doesn’t work for me.

The NBA All-Star Game

The NBA All-Star weekend needs a lot of work. First of all, the Slam Dunk Contest has more than worn out its welcome. Typically we see a bunch of bench players rehashing dunks we have seen for more than a decade. I can’t think one single All-Star festivity I care about less than that. As far as the game, there’s not much more the NBA can do to improve it. At the very least, the players don’t seem to take it too seriously. That is the way it should be. The only thing I would suggest is to adopt the NHL formula of having captains select team. The whole conference versus conference thing has grown stale. Instead, it would be fun to see different players on the same team. As an added bonus, you could see teammates wind up on opposite sides in this game. That would be something to watch.


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