The NFL heads to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. Plus, put your questions to Super Bowl stars
Welcome back to the NFL Talkboard. It's still a little early for our Super Bowl predictions, and as nobody's seriously suggesting that we pick the Pro Bowl, this week's blog is a slightly different format to the usual. Instead of listing the games to be picked, instead what follows is a few thoughts on the all-star game's viability in its present format, along with a look ahead to our planned Super Bowl coverage.
First though, a quick note on the Pick The Playoff competition. The list of people who correctly predicted both games last week is probably a bit long to include here, so instead let's have a loud "woohoo" for jonb76, who sits alone atop the overall standings having nailed nine out of 10 picks so far this postseason. Full standings coming up below the line shortly.
The Pro Bowl
Every year the Pro Bowl rolls around, and so every year do the same conversations regarding it's worthiness as an event. Players, much as they might be enthused about a holiday in Hawaii (and they are reportedly lobbying right now to keep it there) are less keen on playing an additional game at the end of a tough season ? one in which, even if everyone is going easy, the risk of injury does exist. Many stars even find reasons to pull out (in 2010, 29 withdrew from the game).
Fans, in turn, get a diminished spectacle: a game contested often between the players who weren't quite the best in the league (even more so now that the game has been moved before the Super Bowl) and whose main priority is making sure they don't get hurt. The NFL has tried to jazz things up this year by allowing players to tweet from the sideline (though only one at a time, from specially prepared booths) ? but would that really influence your likeliness to watch?
If not, then what would? ESPN's Scoop Jackson offered a few thoughts this week ? noting the lack of an equivalent to MLB's Home Run Derby or the NBA's Slam Dunk contest. Could there be, he asks, an equivalent pass-throwing tournament, or one-on-one running back v linebacker contests?
As for the game itself, would it benefit from ? as CBS's Will Brinson suggested last year ? doing away with the tackling altogether and making it a flag game in which players might actually compete harder? Brinson did also suggest that players should drink Mai Tais after touchdowns, so perhaps it might be wise to take that with a pinch of salt.
Or is the best fix really just the one suggested by the former Patriots lineman Ross Tucker, writing for si.com back in 2010: "just scrap the game"? As long as the game is making money (and it certainly does), you can be sure that last option will receive less consideration in league headquarters than even Brinson's Mai Tais.
Super Bowl XLVI on the Guardian
Our coverage of the game you do care about will begin in earnest next week, with a series of blogs and features in the build-up to the main event ? both from me and the rest of the Guardian US Sports team. Look out for pieces throughout the week on guardian.co.uk/us-sport.
I will be in Indianapolis from Tuesday attending Media Day as well as the various other press conferences/player availabilities. The media are afforded exceptional access to both teams during the week of the game, so if you have any questions for an individual player then post them below the line here and I will do my best to get you some answers. Please be aware, though, that your chances are far better with an offensive tackle or defensive back than they might be with a star running back or QB.
On Super Bowl Sunday we will pregame coverage and a live blog of the game itself. Then after the game we'll have reports, comment and more. If you're on Twitter, you can stay abreast of all of it via @GdnUSsports.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/jan/27/nfl-pro-bowl-superbowl
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