All Star Games: Does Anybody Care?
2/13/2009 | Posted by
Scott Lunn
It's that time of the year again, over the course of a few weeks we get 3 of the 4 major sports renditions of their All Star games. The NHL held theirs in late January and the Pro Bowl just wrapped up last weekend. This weekend brings the NBA All Star weekend as well, and it also made me ask the question, "Does anybody really care anymore?" Personally, it depends on the sport involved, as I think certain sports lend themselves better to an All Star atmosphere.
Devin mentioned in a recent article how the NFL Pro Bowl is being moved in an attempt to attract more attention to what has become a virtually meaningless game. Football simply doesn't work well in an environment where defense is largely ignored and most players are trying to go half speed. Injuries are always a major concern in football and nobody wants to see the league's best go down in a game where nothing is on the line. Quite simply put, trying to remove the aggressive aspects out of perhaps the most physical and violent of the 4 major sports makes for something just short of awful to watch. It's nice for the NFL to recognize the league's best players and send them to Hawaii (though that idea is now out the window) to relax a bit at the end of the year, but the competition is what makes football the most popular sport in the United States, and once it's removed, there's little reason to watch. Next year's move to have the Pro Bowl the week before the Super Bowl in the host city is only going to further weaken the game. It seems fairly natural to think that the teams in the AFC and NFC championship games are going to have a large number of the best players on their rosters, and now you're taking them out of the equation with the placement of the game. Essentially, you're further watering down a very bland game, so I'm not quite sure how the NFL feels it's going to re-energize the Pro Bowl in this manner.
Other sports seem to have better success with their showcases though, and a variety of reasons could have something to do with it. The biggest difference is that all 3 of the other major sports hold their contests in the middle of their season. Clearly this won't work for the NFL as again, there is simply too much risk of injury in football and they don't want their stars going down halfway through the year. Taking a break in the middle of the year when people are already bound to be more interested in the sport lends itself naturally to people actually looking forward to an All Star game as well.
In addition, each of the other sports helps build the attraction to the game with various competitions that are paired up with the All Star game itself. For instance, look at Major League Baseball. I would dare say that the Home Run Derby held the night before the All Star game has become the bigger attraction. I know I generally have little interest in the actual game since it's hard to have any flow when you're constantly changing players at every position and trying to juggle a roster full of pitchers, but I almost always watch the Home Run Derby. People love home runs, it's really just that simple, so people are always going to tune in to the Home Run Derby. Even when the big names don't want to participate, people tend to check out the competition to see some up and coming talent try to smash the ball as far as humanly possible.
Similarly, the NHL has it's skills competition the night before the All Star game each year and it too seems nearly as popular as the game itself. The NHL has a far smaller audience base in the United States than the other sports, but that could be a whole article itself. Still, I think many regular NHL fans tend to watch the All Star weekend festivities, and while they know there will be no defense and no hitting in the game itself, hockey can still get away with it at a higher level than the NFL can. The pure skill of NHL players is on full display during the All Star break and the offensive wizardy of some of the league's best players can be quite fun to watch.
Finally, we have the NBA's All Star weekend, which is now upon us with the Rookie/Sophomore Challenge taking place tonight, the Slam Dunk and 3 Point Shootout Competitions tomorrow, and the game itself this Sunday. If any sport was made for an All Star celebration it is basketball, and the NBA in particular. The league's biggest draw is it's star players. While surely there are many fans out there that live and breathe for a team in particular, I think there are also a great many people like myself that are fans of specific players more so than of any one team. The NBA in general has become more and more focused on individual efforts on a nightly basis than it has on team basketball, which means people love to tune in to the All Star break and see those superstars shine.
In recent years, the Slam Dunk contest and the 3 point shootout had seemingly lost some of it's luster for a variety of reasons. Gone were the days of the top players battling out with matchups like Jordan vs. Dominique, or Larry Bird dominating the competition. The NBA's top players continually declined invites to participate in the dunk contest for fear of injuries, which furthered hindered the success of the contest. However, last year, much of that seemed to change as Dwight Howard brought the contest back to full national prominence with a fury. He'll look to defend his crown this year as well, so perhaps it will attract many viewers. As for the game itself, basketball without defense can still be rather entertaining and the All Star game essentially turns into a back and forth, can you top this?, sort of excercise featuring the most talented offensive players on the planet. Even though the NBA tends to be towards the lower end of my list of favorite sports to watch, I regularly check out their All Star Weekend because I rarely find myself not being entertained.
All Star games still have some relevance in today's sporting world and I don't think they are going to disappear anytime soon, but some just work out better than others. The NFL's Pro Bowl seems to be continually heading towards obscurity and if one of these events does eventually go away, that would be my pick as the first to vanish. At their basis, these games are meant to be a showcase for the fans more than anything else, and despite the grumblings of a few, many fans will continually check out the games year in and year out. The key is to remember not to take it so seriously, so sit back this weekend and enjoy watching Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, and many others do their best to put breakaway rims to the test.
Devin mentioned in a recent article how the NFL Pro Bowl is being moved in an attempt to attract more attention to what has become a virtually meaningless game. Football simply doesn't work well in an environment where defense is largely ignored and most players are trying to go half speed. Injuries are always a major concern in football and nobody wants to see the league's best go down in a game where nothing is on the line. Quite simply put, trying to remove the aggressive aspects out of perhaps the most physical and violent of the 4 major sports makes for something just short of awful to watch. It's nice for the NFL to recognize the league's best players and send them to Hawaii (though that idea is now out the window) to relax a bit at the end of the year, but the competition is what makes football the most popular sport in the United States, and once it's removed, there's little reason to watch. Next year's move to have the Pro Bowl the week before the Super Bowl in the host city is only going to further weaken the game. It seems fairly natural to think that the teams in the AFC and NFC championship games are going to have a large number of the best players on their rosters, and now you're taking them out of the equation with the placement of the game. Essentially, you're further watering down a very bland game, so I'm not quite sure how the NFL feels it's going to re-energize the Pro Bowl in this manner.
Other sports seem to have better success with their showcases though, and a variety of reasons could have something to do with it. The biggest difference is that all 3 of the other major sports hold their contests in the middle of their season. Clearly this won't work for the NFL as again, there is simply too much risk of injury in football and they don't want their stars going down halfway through the year. Taking a break in the middle of the year when people are already bound to be more interested in the sport lends itself naturally to people actually looking forward to an All Star game as well.
In addition, each of the other sports helps build the attraction to the game with various competitions that are paired up with the All Star game itself. For instance, look at Major League Baseball. I would dare say that the Home Run Derby held the night before the All Star game has become the bigger attraction. I know I generally have little interest in the actual game since it's hard to have any flow when you're constantly changing players at every position and trying to juggle a roster full of pitchers, but I almost always watch the Home Run Derby. People love home runs, it's really just that simple, so people are always going to tune in to the Home Run Derby. Even when the big names don't want to participate, people tend to check out the competition to see some up and coming talent try to smash the ball as far as humanly possible. Similarly, the NHL has it's skills competition the night before the All Star game each year and it too seems nearly as popular as the game itself. The NHL has a far smaller audience base in the United States than the other sports, but that could be a whole article itself. Still, I think many regular NHL fans tend to watch the All Star weekend festivities, and while they know there will be no defense and no hitting in the game itself, hockey can still get away with it at a higher level than the NFL can. The pure skill of NHL players is on full display during the All Star break and the offensive wizardy of some of the league's best players can be quite fun to watch.
Finally, we have the NBA's All Star weekend, which is now upon us with the Rookie/Sophomore Challenge taking place tonight, the Slam Dunk and 3 Point Shootout Competitions tomorrow, and the game itself this Sunday. If any sport was made for an All Star celebration it is basketball, and the NBA in particular. The league's biggest draw is it's star players. While surely there are many fans out there that live and breathe for a team in particular, I think there are also a great many people like myself that are fans of specific players more so than of any one team. The NBA in general has become more and more focused on individual efforts on a nightly basis than it has on team basketball, which means people love to tune in to the All Star break and see those superstars shine.
In recent years, the Slam Dunk contest and the 3 point shootout had seemingly lost some of it's luster for a variety of reasons. Gone were the days of the top players battling out with matchups like Jordan vs. Dominique, or Larry Bird dominating the competition. The NBA's top players continually declined invites to participate in the dunk contest for fear of injuries, which furthered hindered the success of the contest. However, last year, much of that seemed to change as Dwight Howard brought the contest back to full national prominence with a fury. He'll look to defend his crown this year as well, so perhaps it will attract many viewers. As for the game itself, basketball without defense can still be rather entertaining and the All Star game essentially turns into a back and forth, can you top this?, sort of excercise featuring the most talented offensive players on the planet. Even though the NBA tends to be towards the lower end of my list of favorite sports to watch, I regularly check out their All Star Weekend because I rarely find myself not being entertained. All Star games still have some relevance in today's sporting world and I don't think they are going to disappear anytime soon, but some just work out better than others. The NFL's Pro Bowl seems to be continually heading towards obscurity and if one of these events does eventually go away, that would be my pick as the first to vanish. At their basis, these games are meant to be a showcase for the fans more than anything else, and despite the grumblings of a few, many fans will continually check out the games year in and year out. The key is to remember not to take it so seriously, so sit back this weekend and enjoy watching Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, and many others do their best to put breakaway rims to the test.
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