04/20/24
April 26, 2012
Per unnamed league sources: Pro Bowl game likely to be stopped: "Many players who will be selected during the league's NFL draft are regarded as future Pro Bowlers but the Pro Bowl game itself likely will be suspended this season and beyond, according to league sources."
No . here, good riddance.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:39 AM on April 26, 2012
I'd been to a couple of Pro Bowls when I lived in Hawaii, not long after they started playing at Aloha Stadium. Maybe it was from a kid's perspective at the time but the Pro Bowl was a pretty exciting experience then, and played as if it did mean something even if it didn't. That aspect seems lost now.
I'd still go to it if I still lived there and they kept playing it. But if they got rid of it altogether I wouldn't exactly miss it either.
posted by NerfballPro at 11:55 AM on April 26, 2012
When they stopped inviting the best players from the two teams competing for the Super Bowl, it stopped being even remotely interesting.
posted by grum@work at 12:16 PM on April 26, 2012
Okay.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:30 PM on April 26, 2012
I can't remember the last time I watched the Pro Bowl.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 12:55 PM on April 26, 2012
This last Pro Bowl was an embarrassment to all involved. The players (wisely) don't want to risk injury by playing all out so the game has all the excitement of a half-assed game of flag football at a company picnic.
If it is important to the fans or to the league that we have some sort of system for identifying and rewarding the top players in the game, perhaps we can still have a Pro Bowl vote except instead of playing against each other, they just recreated this video again and again.
It would certainly be more entertaining than the Pro Bowl.
posted by Joey Michaels at 04:15 PM on April 26, 2012
If the Pro Bowl is not going to be tied to a meaningful prize, (like baseball's WS home advantage for winning the All-Star game) the NFL might as well get rid of it. The game has degenerated into a football laughingstock, with its only purpose at this point being cash and TV ratings. The game is not even football; it's a joke.
posted by roberts at 05:43 PM on April 26, 2012
Good move. A decade or two too late, but better late than never. Now the poor players will have to pay for their own vacations where they hang out in the sun and do nothing, which is basically what they did.
posted by dyams at 06:07 PM on April 26, 2012
I remember loving watching the skill challenges. I liked Favre (until he made it impossible to do so) based on how he interacted and reacted when he messed up one of the skill challenges. Maybe they should just keep that stuff and do it once again in the off-season. Moving it to the week before the Super Bowl was a mistake.
posted by bperk at 06:29 PM on April 26, 2012
As much as I love football I won't miss it. Haven't watched a Pro Bowl in years. Just announce the list of who made it and then be done with it, the players get beat up enough during the regular season and playoffs.
posted by steelergirl at 06:57 PM on April 26, 2012
Pro Bowl? Isn't that the bowl where they kept the prophylactic devices next to the sign-out book in the company office in the Army? The reminder was to preserve one's health when on liberty, and not to overcrowd sick bay later on in the week.
I really won't miss it a bit. There's usually a hockey or basketball game on that's more worth watching.
posted by Howard_T at 09:27 PM on April 26, 2012
.