The Ben Zone: The Pro Bowl Is Irrepairable

As some of you may know, I work as a writer for the Vista, UCO's student newspaper. Recently, I've started writing a weekly sports column cleverly titled, "The Ben Zone" (Ben Zone, Endzone, get it? Eh...). Anyway, since this is a blog about my creative writings, it seems logical for me to post my weekly sports rants on here for everyone to COMPLETELY HATE ON. Enjoy...if you can...

 

Every year I hear the same thing, and this year was no different.

           

'The Pro Bowl sucks!' 'Are these guys even trying?' 'What happened to the Pro Bowl?' 'The Pro Bowl is broken.' 'How do we fix the Pro Bowl?' Wah, wah, wah.

           

Do you want to know how to fix the Pro Bowl? Well, you can't. Not in its current state, anyway. The NFL's All-Star Game can not be fixed because it is inherently terrible.

           

The game of football itself isn't designed to be All-Star friendly. All-Star Games are supposed to be fun for the players and the fans. It's a time to take it easy, goof off and most importantly not get injured.

           

The effort in the NBA's All-Star Game is equally as lousy, but at least there's the occasional highlight dunk or a one-on-one iso match-up that gets a little intense. Football, however, isn't a game that's easy to water down. 

           

Have you even looked at the rules for the Pro Bowl? No blitzing. No press coverage. No offensive shifts. Intentional grounding is legal.

           

The rules have been altered to the point where the game is no longer identifiable as football. It's like an advanced version of Monkey in the Middle at best.

           

Fans want to see a more entertaining on-field product, yet at the same time would be up in arms if one of their favorite athletes was injured in a game that bears not even a single ounce of significance. So because the league can't risk losing one of its prized money-makers, we're stuck with a yearly yawner.

           

I've heard a lot of people suggest playing a flag or touch football game in lieu of a full-contact Pro Bowl. That would be interesting to watch, but I would argue the injury risk would be greater in these contests than in the Pro Bowl's current form.

           

No one really hits in the Pro Bowl's current incarnation. If all of a sudden, however, you have guys running at full speed under the pretense that injury is no longer a possibility, eventually instinct is going to take over for these defensive players, and some pad-less receiver or back is going to pay the price.

           

The Pro Bowl actually used to include a flag football event. They discontinued the game, however, after New England Patriots running back Robert Edwards suffered a serious knee injury during play. Edwards was voted into the 1999 Pro Bowl after rushing fir over 1,000 yards as a rookie. 

After his flag football injury, Edwards missed four seasons of football and was never able to perform at the same level he did his first season. 

 Robert Edwards, what a G.

           

I've also heard people say that the league shouldn't even play a game. Why disgrace the competitive spirit of the game, they say. Just name honorary Pro Bowl teams and be done with it.

That's an interesting take, but one I completely disagree with. We already have these honorary, non-competing squads, it's called the All-Pro teams. A non-competing Pro Bowl team would be redundant. 

Also, the Pro Bowl, which is almost always held in Hawaii, serves as a reward to players who have had a good season. Players like taking their families on the trip and meeting with other stars from around the league. We can't take that away from them.

The Pro Bowl, my friends, isn't broken. Your expectations for it are. No one is making you watch the game. I'm pretty sure "That 70's Show" is rerunning somewhere.