As all-star games go, the National Football League's Pro Bowl is without question the worst. Don't get me wrong, I love football just as much as the next dude, but anytime you remove the physicality from a physical sport, the final product suffers exponentially. The same rule applies to hockey. I watched the NHL all-star game yesterday. At one point, I saw a three on zero breakaway. How the hell does that even happen? Basketball is a little better, though you'll never see any hard fouls, and then at the top of the heap is baseball. Almost nothing changes for the baseball all-star game except the players are better, it occasionally ends in a tie and people don't normally run over the catcher unless they're a baseball god like Pete Rose. As such, it's no surprise the Pro Bowl ratings were lower than a regular season contest.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, only twelve million people watched this year's contest, though that was up eight percent from last year and bested the last ten telecasts. The numbers could change slightly since it was aired live, but don't expect the figures to soar too much.
Someone else might use this third paragraph to question the mere idea of a football all-star game, but I know why it still remains popular among many of the players. A selection means a trip to Hawaii. What player's wife is going to vote against that?
