How about those devastating comments on this year’s Pro Bowl by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who said he would just as soon put the event out of its misery.
“I really didn’t think that was the kind of football that we want to be demonstrating for our fans,” Goodell said. “And you heard it from the fans. The fans were actively booing in the stands. They didn’t like what they were seeing.”
Goodell said something has to change.
“We’re either going to have to improve the quality of what we’re doing in the Pro Bowl or consider other changes or even considering eliminating the game if that’s the kind of quality game we’re going to provide,” Goodell said.
Booing from the stands?
I don’t recall that described as a possibility in all the silly Pro Bowl pre-game hype.
Looking back, I did see Ferd Lewis’ column in the Star-Advertiser after the game that described “the intensity and frequency of the boos” as “remarkable.” Again, the column in another behind the S-A pay wall. I would quote more of it here, but once again the S-A security isn’t letting me log back in to that back issue. I hate their software set-up! It fails, and rejects this subscriber, far more often than any other publication out there.
In any case, I noticed a column in Yahoo!Sports also picked up on the idea of killing off the game, as I’m sure others did.
At this point, killing the Pro Bowl is the right thing to do. There’s nothing wrong with just accepting that some sports aren’t conducive to entertaining, meaningful all-star games. The NFL is one of them.
Players might complain if the Pro Bowl gets the axe, but they’ll be the same complaints we heard when they moved the Pro Bowl out of Hawaii. Guys just want their all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii. Myself, I’m not going to lose sleep over where Brandon Marshall gets to vacation and who pays for it. I may have some sympathy for the Hawaii department of tourism, but for the players themselves? I can muster none.
You can probably tell that I don’t follow football. But I did follow the flap over Governor Abercrombie’s off-the-cuff comments that the $4 million in state funds spent on the Pro Bowl could find a better use in fiscally-challenging times. The gov ended up having to eat crow, as he likes to put it. Perhaps that’s not the end of the story.
I don’t have the stomach to go back over the advance hype for the Pro Bowl to see whether criticism of the nature of this game, and the skepticism over whether it can be fixed, were substantially reported amidst the “isn’t it just great!” hometown glee. Certainly the Star-Advertiser’s lineup of good sports reporters were well aware of it all. But did it manage to slip into the reporting on the Pro Bowl issue? I hope so.
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The quality of the Pro Bowl has been a complaint magnet for some time among fans; other than junkies who would watch your cats if they had helmets and shoulder pads, most knowledgable football fans say it’s not worth the time to watch. It hasn’t helped with the move to the week before the Super Bowl, guaranteeing that many of the top players will not be there. Even Green Bay’s quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, chewed out some of his Pro Bowl teammates in the press for a lack of effort. I can’t speak for the Hawaii papers but I imagine it’s typical hometown boosterism, just as the Indy Star had all week for the Super Bowl. (Then again, the NFL is willing to throw its weight around – when the NFC championship was held in Green Bay in 1996, I wrote a story about new sod being put in, with the headline “It’s a sod situation” and got a call from a very grumpy NFL PR guy.)
Hooray, it’s Green Bay Ray!
Didn’t know I was that popular…
Of course the Governor was right about the Pro Bowl. But let’s not forget that the merits of his argument had nothing to do with the “flap” he created over the Pro Bowl. It was his sophomoric antics and most-un-governor-like behavior. Nobody wants their Governor to be gratuitous and self-indulgent.
One point to consider is that no NFL player wants a career ending injury happening in the pro bowl. Thus you are not getting a “real” game and it sounds like the fans are finally figuring it out.
The Pro Bowl is not much of a football game but the photos and video of Hawaii being broadcast during the game is worth every penny of the money spent. I always get the “you lucky dog” comments from freezing folks on the continent.
Although hubby and I were at the opera instead of watching the Pro Bowl, I still think the game is good for Hawaii’s tourism. There are more advantages than disadvantages for keeping the Pro Bowl in Hawaii.
Sorry….this year’s Pro Bowl had great tv ratings so yes the game might be tweaked to improve the quality but kill it? Fat chance. Yes, the SA sports guys wrote several columns on the lack of quality play. As for the paywall complaint, it’s behind a paywall for a reason. They want paid. It’s the American way….
bottom line:
Hawaii has no
1) pro football team
2) pro basketball team
3) pro baseball team
As such, some are desperate for the Pro Bowl. That’s what it comes down to.
I agree with those who say this is not a matter of whether the Pro Bowl is good football, but a question whether it is a good investment for the State to subsidize the Pro Bowl in order to attract it here. And on THAT question, I have not been persuaded either way.
The state was involved in negotiations with the Pro Bowl owners when Abercrombie expressed his frustrations. As the song say, “You gotta know when to walk away” from the table. Some of the criticisms of Abercrombie’s remarks come from football fans or tourism boosters who are so eager for the game to be here that they are willing to sign onto a bad deal. Some of the criticisms come from Republicans looking for any opportunity to attack Abercrombie and saw they could use fans loyalty to the game as a chance to hurt Neil.
For myself, I do not know if the Pro Bowl owners were being unreasonable in their demands on the state or not. If others more knowledgable can speak to THAT point, it might elevate our consideration of the matter.
Kolea,
From my perspective, Guv’s comments were not appropriate period. Not from our Governor. Classless. Harsh. Leaves no room to talk. I’m not a football fan but just making an observation of Neil and his propensity to say whatever.
Norm,
True, but then what about pre-season games? They play in those and they don’t count either. When you start playing to not get hurt, you get hurt. It’s like playing not to lose, you almost always do. What about other sports, they have all star games and players play hard or at least 75%. Going at 25% is the problem. Also, agree with some other posts that NA’s comments were bush league at best.
What we need is a gay marriage fashion show. That’ll bring in the tourists.
Bottom line: I don’t care if Hawaii no longer has the Pro Bowl. Such a waste of focus!
The level of play has always been lackluster, that’s a given.
But, it had a decent TV audience, Hawaii looked good on the tube, the cutaways and video extras with Hawaii as a backdrop were worth many times the money invested by the state. If this thing costs $4 million dollars from the taxpayers and they get $3 back right away in taxes back. So, the actual balance of $1 mil helps hold in place $28 million in direct visitor business for our economy and untold future business because of the national exposure. That’s such a good ROI that we shouldn’t even be debating it.
Compare it to an extra $million throw into the DOE…what do we get back? Nothing.
it’s not just one day of coverage either. they blanket sports media all week with stories about guys trying out surfing, going to luaus, hiking, you name it.
could it be the best $4 mil HTA spends all year?
and it features figures people admire in the soft pitch of news vice some cheesy advertisement during the dead of winter. that has to be a marketers dream…
As a lifelong football fan at all levels, this game has deteriorated and changed so negatively it is hard to watch, even for free.
Goodell has it nailed: Fix it it or throw it away. (Of course, he is a part of the problem by rescheduling it before the Super Bowl.)
However, quality of competition was not the root of the governor’s confusing if not conflicting comments.