NFL Pro Bowl? It's More Like the Joke Bowl

It's hard to believe that the National Hockey League can do something so much better than the NFL, but they do, and that something is their All-Star festivities. The NHL's All-Star weekend has long been superior to the NFL's Pro Bowl, but then hockey found a way to make theirs better by selecting team captains, and having them draft their own teams. The NFL? They know how to make their game worse.

Now the Pro Bowl hasn't been a serious affair for a while, ever since some guy figured out "Wait, this game doesn't count, why am I giving any effort to begin with? I'm going to make some money either way. My only goal is to leave this game healthy". The recurring thought is that players love to be named to the Pro Bowl, but none want to play in it (Tom Brady hasn't played in a Pro Bowl since winning his last Super Bowl in 2005), and as last night showed us the majority of players who show up aren't bringing their A, B, C, or even D game. If you're teaching young kids tackling drills, make sure they never watch a Pro Bowl.

While the All-Star games in the NHL and NBA are every bit as meaningless as the Pro Bowl, they're both far more entertaining to watch. In both, you get to see the grace and skill of the game, while watching players that look like they actually want to be there. Here's a question. How do you have a football game where the final score is 55-41, yet you still come away bored to death? Yesterday gave you an answer. From the lob passes that were picked all night, to the defensive players who couldn't lift their arms to even attempt the appearance of going for a tackle.

The NFL has tried to fix the Pro Bowl; They moved the game to a week before the Super Bowl. How does that help? Don't ask me, but you have to assume that's why they did it. Taking the best players from the two best teams in the league out of the equation is always a positive, right? The one unique facet of the game—its location in Hawaii—was messed around with last year.

Finally, in both the NHL and NBA All-Star games, the best part isn't the game, but the skills competitions held the night before. Where is the NFL equivalent of the fastest slap-shop, or dunk contest? I know they have one, not that they go out of their way to hype up, how it is the NFL can't make theirs every bit as big as the other two is a mystery. After the NFL can get that minor issue of a new CBA out of the way, it would do them wise to make a few changes to the Pro Bowl, maybe in a way that would make someone actually care.