Is it Over Yet?

The NFL Pro Bowl provides a relaxing week in gorgeous Hawai'i for the league's best, most notable performers and their families. For the viewers, however, it has become an uninteresting, mundane afterthought. There are certain formation and pressure restrictions that are instituted to simplify the game for the coaches and protect the players from injury.

While these safeguards are great for obvious reason, they indirectly create a game that can be painful for the fans to watch. I will give the NFL credit though, they recognize that there is a problem with this contest and they have looked into a few solutions.

Last year they implemented two changes. The first was moving the game from its usual place in Hawai'i to Miami, the site of last year's Super Bowl. The second change was to move the game up to a week before the Super Bowl instead of the week after in order to maintain fan interest.

They wished to cash in on fan anticipation of the Super Bowl and attempted to ride the wave of media attention and piqued consumer interest. This hope turned into fruition, as the game received nearly a 40 % ratings boost from the previous year's game. While this is a huge boost, there still seems to be the sentiment that there is something missing in the Pro Bowl in comparison to the other major professional sports.

The National Basketball Association has a whole All-Star Weekend including the Skills Competition, Slam Dunk Contest, and 3-Point Shootout. These "sideshows" help to encourage fan involvement until the main event takes place. The game itself is usually a high scoring, yet competitive event  which features a faster pace and incredible dunks.

Major League Baseball has also recently altered its All Star Game guidelines. The league has made it mandatory for at least one player from every team to be on a team. While this is great for generating interest even in the lowliest of markets, it directly contradicts another addition to the game. Recently, it was decided that the winner of the game would determine which league gained home field advantage in the World Series. Even though baseball has tried to bring intrigue to it's "Midsummer Classic," there are evident flaws in its system.

Even the much maligned National Hockey League has an advantage of the NFL when it comes to this game. Similar to the NBA, they also have a set of competitions that showcase the skills of their superior athletes. This year, they even had a pick-up style fantasy draft in which two team captains were chosen to pick their respective squads.

The NFL could take just one or two elements from any of these other leagues and their product would be instantly improved. However, with the NFL focused on ironing out a new work agreement between the ownership and the players, it does not look like these improvements will come soon. Well, at least we have the Super Bowl to look forward to.