NFL - Are you Ready For Some Football?! - Wild Card Round!

[-Jrabbit]

The Pro Bowl is a joke. No one wants to play in it. No one watches it. Expecting millionaires to fly to Hawaii on the league's schedule in order to risk their careers is pure folly. It used to be a reward, now it's just a pain in the butt. It's crazy.

Just name the squads, give everyone a medal or trophy and be done with it.

[snoopy369]

Imran, I think the point is to give the pro bowl MORE relevance. Taking the best players out of it (assuming, on balance, super bowl teams have more pro bowl players than average) just demeans the game further...

[Imran Siddiqui]

I think the point is actually to give it more visibility, by making it, somewhat, part of the season instead of a tack on. It will NEVER be relevant at all. Especially when players will never play hard during the game.

Instead of having no football between the Championship Games and the Superbowl, there is an exhibition of the Pro-bowlers... it'll probably do far better in the ratings due to football hungry fans who watch it for their football fix before the season ends (after the climax that is the Superbowl).

[-Jrabbit]

Creating the "Best Players Who Didn't Make The Super Bowl" Bowl??

Relevance -- YOU'RE DOIN' IT WRONG!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Who said they want relevance? That's your words.

They just want more people to watch. Easier to do it when the game is "in season" rather than "out of season" (ie, a week after people consider the season over).

[SlowwHand]

It's just a chance to encounter a freak accident.

[-Jrabbit]

I can only assume that this game supports NFL charities or funds old timers pensions. Because there is certainly no logical reason for it to exist.

The only reasonable explanation is: money.

[Ming]

Well... since they aren't going to shorten the period between the League Championship and the Super Bowl, this is a good idea. At least something football related will be happening. Personally, they should cut that time down to a single week to limit the Pre SB boredom. As far as the Pro Bowl goes, I kind of like the idea of just handing out the awards and being done with it... but what the hell, the league makes money on the game so I can see their reason to keep it.

[Imran Siddiqui]

And if they have it at the same place the SB is, then the people who show up for the SB may decide to go to the PB as something fun to do while they are there.

[-Jrabbit]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Who said they want relevance? That's your words.

They just want more people to watch. Easier to do it when the game is "in season" rather than "out of season" (ie, a week after people consider the season over).

First, that was snoopy's word. I'm just in the chorus.

Second, I agree that more people would watch under this system, which is supposedly locked in for 2010. So that would make whatever network is stuck with the game, a little happier.

Third, it will not improve the quality of the game.

Fourth, it will not improve the level of participation.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I agree that more people would watch under this system, which is supposedly locked in for 2010. So that would make whatever network is stuck with the game, a little happier.

That is the only relevant part for the NFL (and ESPN)

[Tuberski]

Instead of the Pro Bowl a week before the game, have the conference championship losers play a consolation game the week before the Super Bowl.

Still pointless, but at least them teams would have something to play for.

Sorta.

ACK!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Naw, not really .

They used to have one in the NFL before the merger:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playoff_Bowl

Vince Lombardi referred to it as:

the '**** Bowl', ...a losers' bowl for losers.

[Ben Kenobi]

As for the tragedy that has been the Bears QB situation -- that started after Ditka left and was caused by bad management (Michael McCaskey) and indecisive coaching (Wanny). It has sucked, but -- it is hoped -- has now been rectified with the semi-emergence of Kyle Orton. We shall see.

Fact is the Bears had probably the best QB of his generation under contract and failed to develop him.

He never should have spent one year in the CFL. He was simply too good for the league. Now if the Bears had the foresight to keep him, they would have had a much better QB situation. The fact that their talent evaluators let him go speaks everything about their staff.

The man only won a Heisman, and the Bears ditched him after a year?

[Ben Kenobi]

Ben... I just checked out DS's odds for the playoffs.

So far, he has only posted odds for three of the games.
He has yet to post the spread for the Indy/SD game, probably waiting to see what the injury situation is.

Interestingly enough, all the Home teams so far are the dogs

We shall see what he posts, and what the injury situation is.

I've seen ranges from -1 INDY to push, so we shall see. Things seem rather volatile atm.