All Star Games: Are They For the Fans or the Players?

Favre Dollar Footlongs

Everyone got their beer and wings ready for their Pro Bowl Party?  Didn't think so.  Most people couldn't tell you what time the game is starting, let alone be throwing a party for it.  Sunday at 7:20 PM if you really were worried about it.  The Pro Bowl is just one of those things that no one cares about.

It's almost amazing to me that no one cares though.  Most of us love the NFL and yearn for anything football related 365 days a year.  Not the Pro Bowl though.  We can blame this year's Pro Bowl on the Super Bowl and say all we are looking forward to is the big game and all the best players aren't participating, but it's been after the Super Bowl in years past and our demeanor hasn't changed.  The only difference this year is the coaches won't be wearing their Hawaiian shirts.  I'm not pro-Pro Bowl either.  I'd rather rewatch the NFL combine from last year and see Andre Smith's pancakes flopping on the 40-yard dash then to watch this meaningless game.  Why's the game meaningless though?  It may seem meaningless to us, but it could mean a lot to the players participating.  So I'm wondering?  Are all star games for the fans or are they for the players?

Can anyone tell me the final score of any all star game last year?  I bet some of you could tell me who won the MVP of the game or who won one of the skills contests.  That's what we watch for.  We aren't at the edge of our seat with our hands clasped praying that the East beats the West or the National League finally gets an all star victory over the American League.  We'd much rather watch skills competitions like the home run derby or the dunk contest.  That's the problem with all star games; competition.

They're not competitive, or at least not in our sense of thinking about sports competitions.  We are watching players that we see give it their all everyday go up against fellow greats and not care to win.  They would rather pull off a trick play then to show they are the best in the league.  Maybe they don't want to get hurt or maybe that's just how the all star games have evolved.  Either way, they're not too much fun to watch.  No sport has a good all star game.  Baseball probably has the best just because like a got a ridiculous clause installed to give it a little meaning, but when we see 10 different pitchers come into the game it just doesn't feel authentic.

So if we as fans don't enjoy the games then why doesn't any sport change the process up?  The only thing any organization has done is give us the chance to vote so we can see who we want, but even that interest has waned in the past five years.  Give us what we want; skill competitions.  Forget the all star game and just get Kobe, Lebron, Dwayne Wade, and Dwight Howard to do the dunk contest.  Let’s have some more creative competitions at the Pro Bowl and let us witness these great players' talents in an event that we haven't seen before.  We've seen them on the field; now let’s see who is the fastest in the league.  Lets see what quarterback can throw the farthest and hit the most targets.  It's tough with football to get solid competitions because it's so team related, but there has to be something they can do to grab our interest.

Why do we have all star games?  Are they for us as the fans or for the players to be recognized?  Are they for us to see these extraordinary talents or for the players to get some extra bonus money and contract leverage in the off season?  Each league may say it's for us, but I know it's not something I care to watch.