NFL Pro Bowl

[cj's dad]

This has to be the biggest joke in all of sports. A bunch of guys who don't want to tackle and don't care who wins a meaningless game. Does anyone really care about this ? I wonder what the TV ratings are; they have to be on the decline. I saw the play at the end of the game which resulted in a TD. The league office should be embarrassed as hell that this took place.

Paid vacation for league officials and players, nothing more or less.

[horses4courses]

This has to be the biggest joke in all of sports. A bunch of guys who don't want to tackle and don't care who wins a meaningless game. Does anyone really care about this ? I wonder what the TV ratings are; they have to be on the decline. I saw the play at the end of the game which resulted in a TD. The league office should be embarrassed as hell that this took place.

Paid vacation for league officials and players, nothing more or less.

Agreed.
The Pro Bowl game is a joke, and it's hard to know how to fix it.

The fact that it's played a week before SB, instead of afterwards, should be a plus. The guys who play in SB seldom made an appearance the week after anyway, and it certainly wasn't much more competitive.

Maybe, the one small thing they could do to give it more interest would be to eliminate the coin toss in SB, by letting the team whose conference won the PB the previous week, have the choice of whether to kick, or receive.
A small thing, but it would create a little incentive, and promote the SB.

[PhantomOnTour]

Agreed.
The Pro Bowl game is a joke, and it's hard to know how to fix it.

The fact that it's played a week before SB, instead of afterwards, should be a plus. The guys who play in SB seldom made an appearance the week after anyway, and it certainly wasn't much more competitive.

Maybe, the one small thing they could do to give it more interest would be to eliminate the coin toss in SB, by letting the team whose conference won the PB the previous week, have the choice of whether to kick, or receive.
A small thing, but it would create a little incentive, and promote the SB.
Good idea about deciding the coin toss, but my poor friend J. Burke wouldn't be able to make his favorite bet of the year...$100 on the SB coin toss!

[slew101]

Ratings are surging. Really. Hard to believe but true.

From USA Today
The drawing power of the NFL's laundry was proven again by Fox's Pro Bowl Sunday night. The exhibition drew a 8.6 overnight, translating to 8.6% of TV households in 56 urban markets -- up 8% from last year's Pro Bowl on ESPN and the event's highest overnight in 11 years.

That 8.6% rating is better than ratings for some BCS bowl games, isn't far from a World Series rating and is far higher than the vast majority of all TV sports events outside of NFL action. New Orleans had the highest local rating -- 21% of local households -- followed by Milwaukee at 15.6%, even though Green Bay players were held out of the game as they prepare for the Super Bowl.

[QUOTE=cj's dad]I wonder what the TV ratings are; they have to be on the decline.

[horses4courses]

I'm glad the ratings are better....even if the game itself isn't.

I thought for years that, once people got used to it, playing it the week before SB would be best. You don't get your SB players, but you get great talent on the field.

Most importantly, you get a TV audience still eager for football on the lead up to next Sunday's big game. Once SB is over, the PB means even less.

How about a change of venue away from Hawaii?

[Marshall Bennett]

I never watch. It is indeed a joke.

[cj's dad]

Thanks for the info re: the TV ratings. I am amazed that folks are watching this crap. I saw the replay of the last TD on Yahoo's home page. The plyers on the field for the NFC made fools of themselves and mocked the game of football by their very actions.

[ldiatone]

well another all star game was played on sunday. NHL. now there was an "all skate". the refs even took bets on how many calls the steelers.....ops errrrrrrrrrrrrrr who would make the first off sides. :rolleyes:

[Valuist]

I hate the Pro Bowl but actually watched the first 10 minutes or so, and by that time it was 28-0 NFC. There was absolutely, positively ZERO other options at that point on TV.

Nobody wants to get hurt so very few are going all out. And its even worse on special teams. Very few of those guys are on special teams so what are you gonna do, have a guy like Adrian Peterson try and tackle someone on a kickoff return? Name the squads but don't play the game. That would be the RIGHT thing to do.

[Relwob Owner]

I hate the Pro Bowl but actually watched the first 10 minutes or so, and by that time it was 28-0 NFC. There was absolutely, positively ZERO other options at that point on TV.

Nobody wants to get hurt so very few are going all out. And its even worse on special teams. Very few of those guys are on special teams so what are you gonna do, have a guy like Adrian Peterson try and tackle someone on a kickoff return? Name the squads but don't play the game. That would be the RIGHT thing to do.

Couldnt agree more about naming the team and not playing. With non guaranteed contracts(yes, their bonuses help many guys do just fine) I cant say I blame players for not going all out and not putting themselves at risk.

[NJ Stinks]

I'm guessing here but my thought is that 25 years ago and earlier the players played hard in the All-Star game because they wanted to pick up the winning players share as opposed to the losing side's players share. Now these guys make so much money, they could care less about the chump change involved by winning versus losing the game.

Going a step further, a lot of the dumb penalties taken today in regular season and playoff games - no matter how critically damaging the penalty is to a player's team - is another illustration of how much money these guys make. In essence, they make so much they can afford not to care.

At any rate, I just tried to google how much money the winning players and losing players received in yesterday's NFL All-Star game. I couldn't find a reliable answer. Does anyone know the answer? :confused:

[newtothegame]

I'm guessing here but my thought is that 25 years ago and earlier the players played hard in the All-Star game because they wanted to pick up the winning players share as opposed to the losing side's players share. Now these guys make so much money, they could care less about the chump change involved by winning versus losing the game.

Going a step further, a lot of the dumb penalties taken today in regular season and playoff games - no matter how critically damaging the penalty is to a player's team - is another illustration of how much money these guys make. In essence, they make so much they can afford not to care.

At any rate, I just tried to google how much money the winning players and losing players received in yesterday's NFL All-Star game. I couldn't find a reliable answer. Does anyone know the answer? :confused:

40G's winners and 20g's for loser

[NJ Stinks]

40G's winners and 20g's for loser

Thanks!

[bigmack]

Say around '90 I was in HI during the ProBowl. I came walkin' out of the hotel and some kids came running up axin' for my autograph. I said, Sure kids, who would you like for me to be?

Turns out their mom's figured I looked like a ball player and sent 'em over to grab ink.

After I spilled the beans I wasn't, I felt like a regular schmoe again. But dammit, I had a fleeting moment of bein' somebody.

I hang on to that moment to ease the pain of the ride on my one way ticket to Palookaville. :cool:

[dav4463]

The Pro Bowl ratings were higher than some BCS games and equal to the World Series.....I guess sports fans are just as dumb as those who make Oprah a huge success, watch Jerry Springer, Maury Povich, and Dancing with the Stars.

Wow! We are starved for entertainment I guess!

[cj's dad]

Ratings are surging. Really. Hard to believe but true.

From USA Today
The drawing power of the NFL's laundry was proven again by Fox's Pro Bowl Sunday night. The exhibition drew a 8.6 overnight, translating to 8.6% of TV households in 56 urban markets -- up 8% from last year's Pro Bowl on ESPN and the event's highest overnight in 11 years.

That 8.6% rating is better than ratings for some BCS bowl games, isn't far from a World Series rating and is far higher than the vast majority of all TV sports events outside of NFL action. New Orleans had the highest local rating -- 21% of local households -- followed by Milwaukee at 15.6%, even though Green Bay players were held out of the game as they prepare for the Super Bowl.

[QUOTE=cj's dad]I wonder what the TV ratings are; they have to be on the decline.

After further thought, I think the reason for the ratings jump is that Fox is an over the air network as opposed to ESPN which is cable only. There are still many households in the country without cable, therefore last year the PB was not accessible to many.

[Valuist]

http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/no-one-shows-up-for-pro-bowl,18994/