moving the pro bowl was the right move

[Daytona Fin]

i think the nfl made the right decision moving the pro bowl away from hawaii and making it an in season game. i hardly ever watch the pro bowl but now i probably will since i still have football on the brain. even though moving it to the week before the super bowl has taken a lot of the selected players out of it due to injuries and fatigue, it will get a lot more viewers than it probably ever has. having the game in feb just didnt make sense, im surprised it tok this long to get it right.

 

[DisturbedShifty]

I wouldn't get used to it. It goes back to Hawaii next year.

 

[acmeanvil49]

I think it was a dumb decision.

The best players on the best teams (Saints & Colts) aren't playing in the game and on top of that those players are required to be at the game which means they have to leave their teams to make their appearance.

Those players and their orrganizations would rather those players be with their teams preparing for the Super Bowl.


Several players have also been on record saying they dislike it as well.

The NFL is still pouring 100,000 dollars into Hawaii programs they support althought the location has now moved.

In my opinion they should move the game to American Samoa, then alternate in between Hawaii and American Samoa.

this area desperately needs the financial support and the NFL greatly benifits from the players who grow up in poverty. Did anyone see the story on 60 Minutes?

The only inductry in America Samoa is a couple tuna caneries one of which is about to close. A stadium and a hotel or two would boost the economy to land that really needs it.

They are also still recovering from a earthquake in 2009.

 

[Wetedoretu]

As a native of Broward, I naturally like that the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl in the same location has helped South Florida greatly, and I think that everyone is enjoying their stay here, regardless of the fact that Super Bowl players cannot participate.

 

[acmeanvil49]

I think it's obvious by the number of players who have dropped out what their preference is.

One thing is clear, many of the NFL's top stars are unsure about the Pro Bowl being shipped to the mainland. "I just think you take away from everything the Pro Bowl means," Lewis said Tuesday. "I don't understand it all." The Baltimore Ravens linebacker, who played college football at the University of Miami, said he would "probably not" play next year's game if selected. Lewis, making his 10th Pro Bowl trip, said many players live or visit Florida often, so playing there wouldn't necessarily be a reward. "That's no vacation," he said. "That's what we regularly do. You don't want to go to the Pro Bowl and do what you regularly do. You want to come over and do something different. You want to tour the islands and bring the kids over here to see something different." The NFL has been looking to increase the profile of the game. Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis, another University of Miami standout, said there's no question where the players would rather end the year. "This place is much better. You can go to Miami all the time," he said.

5 Reasons the 2010 Pro Bowl in Miami Idea Stinks

1. The NFL is indeed hoping the Pro Bowl can add to the Super Bowl hype. But none of the players in the Super Bowl will be able to play. Plus, there’s already so much Super Bowl hype that adding an event as major as entire game will be overkill. The Pro Bowl won’t build the Super Bowl hype, it will just make fans less receptive to the rest of the ubiquitous Super Bowl hype.

2. Super Bowl players won’t be the only guys sitting out. You’ll probably see most of the players from the losing teams of the AFC and NFC championship game pass on the opportunity, as well. Think about it. A player’s season comes to an end on Championship Sunday. Do you think he really wants to pack his bags on Monday, get on a plane and immediately endure another week of practice? And do you think he’ll want to be down in Miami, surrounded by Super Bowl hype, which constantly reminds him that he came so close but fell short? And normally the Pro Bowl is coached by the staff of the losing team from the championship game. Are any of those coaches going to want to immediately go back to work for a meaningless game?

3. On top of the Super Bowl players and championship game players sitting out, you’ll still get your usual slew of veterans and injured guys passing on the game as well. Usually a fourth of Pro Bowlers stay home. With the game being two weeks earlier, that means players will have had two less weeks to rest and heal up after the season. Don’t be surprised if more than 50 percent of players sit out.

4. Miami is not Hawaii. As Ray Lewis said: Hawaii is a vacation; Miami is where a lot of players go to work out. Everyone in the NFL has been to Miami. Not everyone has been to Hawaii. Players’ families aren’t going to get excited about Miami.

5. No matter when it’s played, the Pro Bowl will never count for anything. Teams can only run base packages offensively, and blitzing is not allowed defensively. Nobody cares who wins. No players are willing to get hurt, or even sore. In a lot of ways, the Pro Bowl is the antithesis of professional football. The league thinks it will have more media coverage because of all the reporters already in town to cover the Super Bowl. Perhaps. But if there were, say, 100 reporters covering the game before. And now say there will be 500. All that means is, there will be five times as many people unenthusiastically reporting that the Pro Bowl stinks.

The promos may talk about the NFL's best playing in the Pro Bowl this Sunday, but really it's the battle of the NFL's best replacements it can talk into playing in the game.
Thanks to the decision to play the game the week before the Super Bowl, the NFL had to announce 17 Pro Bowl replacements on Monday. The Colts and Saints each had seven players picked for the Pro Bowl so that was 14 players to replace, plus three Vikings begged out on Monday as well. Of the 78 non-specialists picked for the team originally only 51 (65 percent) are still on the roster.

The stars will not be coming to Miami. Only one of the six quarterbacks who were chosen for the Pro Bowl will be playing in the game. And it's not that the next best will even be playing in the game--AFC alternates Ben Roethlisberger and Carson Palmer turned down the invite so it's actually the No. 4, No. 7 and No. 8 choices in the AFC will be playing in the game. It's not much better in the NFC, as Aaron Rodgers is the only true Pro Bowl quarterback who will be playing in the game.

Nothing abut the change of location adds up to making it a better game, it's WORSE.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

I always watch the Pro Bowl, enough to know it's receiving at least 10x the coverage in this slot. Normally I'll mention the Pro Bowl and receive shrugs of disinterest, other than among bettors. This year I heard discussion on the golf course, in sports bars, and even at a fast food restaurant the other day. My aunt brought it up a few days ago, which astonished me.

The players may prefer Hawaii but the time zone works against Hawaii. Prime time provides a special look and atmosphere. Hawaii is always going to mean a day game in a partially filled stadium.

I think they should ship it to the Super Bowl site every year. It's a natural stepping stone. For one thing, it allows the everyday fan to have a chance at a ticket, which isn't the case at the Super Bowl. A dad can take young kids to the Pro Bowl, or a Pro Bowl function, and they'll be thrilled, no matter who the players are.

 

[acmeanvil49]

It would be in Prime Time if they played it at 3pm in Hawaii it would make it 8pm in the states.....PROBLEM SOLVED!

Nothing abut the change of location adds up to making it a better game, it's WORSE.

It used to be merely seriously flawed back when they held it in Honolulu the week after the Super Bowl and its biggest problems were: star players routinely bowing out because of ``injuries'' such as hangnails or the sniffles, and being such an anticlimactic afterthought that nobody, neither fans nor players, really cared.
Now, bad has gotten worse.
What a mess.
Worse than a mess -- an embarrassment.
The NFL rarely makes a misstep, a decision that fails so obviously, but this qualifies.
This year, for the first time since 1975, the league has moved its all-star game to Miami, and it is having it a week before the Super Bowl.
The idea was to give the Pro Bowl a more prominent stage by making it the ``event'' that kicks off Super Bowl Week, but the result has been to dilute the game's marginal legitimacy even further. The result has been to beam a bigger spotlight on all that's wrong.
The Pro Bowl has gone from being something benign and easily ignored to something begging scorn.
Kicking off Super Bowl Week with the Pro Bowl is like kicking off your vacation with rain.
Having the game in Miami (or the annual Super Bowl host city) is not the problem.

Although Honolulu -- where the game will return the next two years until the league decides what to do with its albatross -- was good because it reflected what the Pro Bowl is: a vacation for players, nothing more.

(Players should have been allowed to wear Hawaiian shirts and leis during games and sip mai tais in the huddle for all the game really matters.)
-Greg Cote, Miami Hearald

The best players on the best teams should be playing in the Pro Bowl.

 

[Daytona Fin]

even when its in hawaii the "best" players bail out just as much as they did this week. who cares if they are missing a few players from the super bowl teams. it gives other great players who got snubbed a chance to play. the pro bowl is a joke of a game anyway, the players are not giving it their all.

 

[nyjunc]

even when its in hawaii the "best" players bail out just as much as they did this week. who cares if they are missing a few players from the super bowl teams. it gives other great players who got snubbed a chance to play. the pro bowl is a joke of a game anyway, the players are not giving it their all.

There were guys who didn't play but we didn't get the amount of guys dropping out this year(inclduing the PBers from the SB teams had obviously couldn't play). The PB is always a joke as deserving guys always get passed up for name recognition guys but this yera was the biggest joke ever.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

It would be in Prime Time if they played it at 3pm in Hawaii it would make it 8pm in the states.....PROBLEM SOLVED!

I was referring to the look and feel of the game. I should have said night game on site. They've always held it in prime time for the Eastern audience but IMO it detracts from the special atmosphere of the game when it's held in the daytime and not many fans are there. Reminds me of a Canes home game.

I've been to that stadium, which is in Aeia, not too far from the Pearl Harbor sites. It's brown and bland, in fact they hold a flea market in the parking lot on Saturdays and Sundays. Dolphin Stadium is bland as well but they dressed it up last night. In Hawaii it always seems like an afterthought game, with debris literally blowing across the field.

The week prior works better than week later, that's my primary opinion. Keep in mind the NFL tried to fill the gap for a while with the Runnerup Bowl, at least that's what we called it when I was a kid. It was in the Orange Bowl every year.

http://www.mmbolding.com/BSR/The_Playoff_Bowl.htm

 

[DisturbedShifty]

There were guys who didn't play but we didn't get the amount of guys dropping out this year(inclduing the PBers from the SB teams had obviously couldn't play). The PB is always a joke as deserving guys always get passed up for name recognition guys but this yera was the biggest joke ever.

Agreed. The Pro Bowl selection needs to change.

I personally think the fans should only be allowed to vote in one player for each of the most popular postions, like QB, WR, RB, Etc. Then the rest of the roster should be decided by players, coaches and select media outlets.

The best example I can think of was the year before last when Pennington got past up for stupid as Cutler. Don't get me wrong, my opinion is rather bais, but Pennington had better numbers than Cutler that year. Plus he helped lead the Dolphins to the Playoffs. And I am sure there are plenty of better examples than that, but it's the best on I got.

 

[Kdawg954]

I have to agree with Awsi Dooger in this thread.

I mean no doubt in my mind that when you see Vince Young and David Garrard as 2 of the 3 starters in the AFC, when you have QB's like Manning, Rivers, Rothlisberger and Brady in the conference, there is a problem with the Pro Bowl. It has always been a problem with some of the choices of alternates . . . but this year it was a complete joke.

However, I WATCHED the game this year . . . and that is the biggest reason why the move to before the Super Bowl was essential . . . it gave the Pro Bowl credibility amongst the viewing audience at home.

The only way to satisfy the viewing public is to probably have the game after 10 games, make week 11 everybody's bye week and host the Pro Bowl, and resume football in week 12.

Let's face it, All star games just aren't what they used to be . . . I don't even watch the NBA all star game (I do watch the contests on Friday and Saturday). I watch the baseball one more often, but its not like how it used to be. The Pro Bowl has always been on the bottom, but I enjoyed it more than ever this year . . . guess cuz football is still on the map with the Super Bowl next week.

It is a step in the right direction for the NFL, but for a sport where the most important position is QB . . . and the top 5 QB's in the game are not playing in the Pro Bowl, that is a big problem to fix. I don't c Kobe and Wade missing any all star games . . . I don't see Pujois and Jeter missing from the all star game in baseball. U need your star players playing in a sports all star game for it to be truly successful.

It was a good move for this year, especially with the Olympics on the week after the Super Bowl . . . the ratings for the Pro Bowl would have been horrid, instead, I got to believe it was one of the higher rated Pro Bowls in recent history. Go ahead and put it in the middle of the season . . . it works in the other sports.

 

[DuderinoN703]

I'd like to take a trip to Miami for vacation. The NFL guys don't like it, I'll take their places.

 

[Bumpus]

I hated the idea of moving it up to the week before the Super Bowl.

The Pro Bowl had always been a "capper" on the NFL year ... I liked that.

IDK, maybe it's just me.

 

[GoonBoss]

I'm not watching a game where David Garrard is a Pro Bowler. I'm just not.