Tag Archives: Super Bowl
5 Crazy Ways to Fix the NFL Pro Bowl
This Sunday the Pro Bowl will be played in Hawaii at Aloha Stadium but does anyone really care? How is it that America’s favorite professional sport has the worst all-star game? The NFL Pro Bowl is meaningless as players don’t block, don’t play defense, and the game is missing some of its top-tier players because of the Pro Bowl’s pre Super Bowl format. Rather than go on and on about how bad the game is here are five crazy ways to fix the NFL Pro Bowl.
5. Cancel it altogether. Yes, even not having a Pro Bowl is better than having the game as is. Players could still be voted to the Pro Bowl but rather than play half-ass in a meaningless game just let it end with the honor of being selected. Then you don’t have to worry about injuries and Super Bowl substitutions and things of that nature.
4. Make it strictly a skills competition. Where most fans aren’t impressed with the game itself the festivities leading up to it do create an exciting atmosphere for the host city. Why not make the game a skill competition Olympic event of sorts. Wouldn’t you love to see which of the top quarterbacks could throw the furthest or lob a pass through a tire from 50 yards out? Wouldn’t it be interesting to see wide receivers in 4 man relay races or lineman in a tug-of-war? This event would be great for NFL fans and get tons of media attention.
3. Have the NFL Pro Bowl team face a Collegiate All Star team. Yes, it sounds crazy but think about. Vote for a singular NFL all-star team and have them meet a college all-star team selected by coaches. Where the game may still be just a shell of itself the thought of losing to a lesser competition would motivate the NFL players while the opportunity to show up future peers would motivate the college athletes. This definitely would be interesting for fans and players alike.
2. Play the game in the middle of the season. Part of the reason for the lack of interest in the Pro Bowl is when it’s played. For years it was played after the Super Bowl. That’s like eating dessert before dinner. Who does that? Now the NFL has plans to align the Pro Bowl with the host city of the Super Bowl. Good luck with that in 2014 when the Super Bowl will be played in New York which would put the Pro Bowl there in January. Why not make Week 9 in the NFL a league wide bye-week. Play the Pro Bowl as is, on the Thursday of the bye before continuing the regular season in what would be Week 10. There would be no Super Bowl to compete with, teams could still get some down time and the game would take on a more traditional format for professional sports all-star events as it would be conducted in the middle of the season.
1. Increase the stakes of the game: Baseball did this with their all-star game by allowing the outcome to determine what team gets home field advantage during the World Series. Well we all know that this doesn’t work in the NFL as the Super Bowl is played on a neutral field. But what about this? The team with the worst record in the winning conference get’s the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. So applying that to this year’s Pro Bowl if the AFC wins the Indianapolis Colts pick first, but if the NFC wins the St. Louis Rams would pick first. After the first pick the teams would pick sequentially according to their record, tie breakers, etc – as is done now. Yes there are flaws with this because if I’m an AFC player do I really want Andrew Luck coming to my conference? Probably not. Nevertheless, it would make for a very interesting Pro Bowl for both players and fans.
Will any of these things ever happen? Only time will tell, and although crazy, each is better than what is currently in place.
Follow Aaron on Facebook and Twitter @Da_Bear_Truth or email him at amoon@thepenaltyflagblog.com.
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It’s time for Brett Favre to fade into the sunset
Brett Favre, the former Green Bay Packer QB, is a legend. He is, without a doubt, one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever put on a pair of cleats. He’s also a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer. Favre won a Super Bowl in Green Bay, which by itself, puts him in a separate category in NFL lore – Similar to the way winning a Stanley Cup in Detroit means a little something extra. The Super Bowl he did win for the Packers was the first since Vince Lombardi was stalking the Lambeau sidelines, and helped to resurrect Green Bay from the woeful doldrums of the 1970′s-80′s, back to prominence.
The paradoxical challenge of being a legend is that there is an inherent nature shared by all deserving of the moniker, to strive for the limelight. They become addicted to the roar of the crowd – they need to be needed. However as talents fade and beards gray, a legend begins to lose that magnetic pull they once held on the spotlight and are forced – almost involuntarily- to do and say things to remain relevant. Thus sullying their own legendary status.
Fans who saw Brett Favre in his prime will never forget his greatness. They will also never forget his unabashed buffoonery in some of the most inopportune moments. The polarity of Favre’s gunslinger style of play is one of the reasons his legend grew to folkloric stature. As fans, we loved to see Favre take four unnecessary sacks, throw two ill-advised interceptions, and then miraculously find a way to rise from the ashes and pull out a victory. For the better part of two decades Brett Favre was the John Wayne of the NFL. However, as any spaghetti western worth its bootstraps will tell you, there is a time when every gunslinger needs to hang up the steel, grab his lass, and ride off into the sunset. That time for Brett Favre has officially come… About 19 interceptions and one nefarious cell phone picture ago.
Some legends are indelible enough to hang around the periphery of their sport even after their time has come. The John Elway’s and the Wayne Gretzky’s of the world can try their hand at ownership or even coaching, because they will be forever revered by fans as “Good for the Game.” Favre conversely, is too polarizing of a player and a personality to have that luxury. He can do all the Wrangler ads, and Southern Miss games he wants, but for NFL fans, the immediate legacy Favre left behind is one of a guy who didn’t know when to say when. Shut up, Brett, for your own well being – for that legacy you worked so hard to create. Shut up and let your greatness speak for itself instead of working so hard to remind everyone how great you once were.
I understand that this may be an easier said than done scenario for Ole’ #4. It’s hard for every man to remember his not-so-distant prime without a little pride and self-promotion. But in the case of Favre, he has no need to refresh the memories of adoring fans who want nothing more, than for him to go away long enough to be able to remember him fondly.
Shut up, Brett. Don’t take an unnecessary jab at Aaron Rodgers for taking SO long (3 years) to eclipse your shadow. The guy is absolute nails! Rodgers is one of the NFL’s elite signal callers and has one more Super Bowl MVP trophy on his mantle than #4 ever will. Plus, ask guys like Cliff Stoudt, Brian Griese, and Quincy Carter what it’s like replacing a living legend. Though you may resent the kid for forcing the Packers to choose between his upside and your legacy Brett, your time is over and Aaron Rodgers time is now.
Todd Coshow is the Packers blogger for ThePenaltyFlagBlog.com. He can be reached via email at tcpackersblog@gmail.com and follow Todd on twitter @TC_Coshow
Ben Roethlisberger is going partying: Hide the women, children
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The Pittsburgh Steelers are headed to the Super Bowl and if the Steelers are victorious that means one thing, Ben Roethlisberger is going out partying and we should hide the women and children.
I am a dedicated believer that everyone deserves a second chance, but Ben Roethlisberger has already had his. Big Ben has been involved in three high-profile incidents, including a nearly fatal motorcycle accident in 2006, a sexual assault allegations in Lake Tahoe in 2008, and in Milledgeville, Georgia, in 2010. Neither allegation resulted in charges being filed.
On July 17, 2009, a civil suit was filed in Washoe County, Nevada District Court accusing Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting Andrea McNulty, 31, in June 2008 in his hotel room while he was in Lake Tahoe for a celebrity golf tournament.
The woman said Roethlisberger struck up a friendly conversation at her desk during the golf tournament last July.
The next night, she said he telephoned her to tell her his television sound system wasn’t working and asked her to look at it. She said she was unable to find a technician so she handled it herself because she had been told it was important to please the celebrities.
In Roethlisberger’s room she said she determined the TV was functioning properly but as she turned to leave, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound quarterback blocked her exit, according to her suit.
While many friends and co-workers turned on McNulty, who says they weren’t paid off to do so? I don’t have too many friends that $100,000 cash wouldn’t change my mind about them.
Ready and willing to move on, Roethlisberger would be accused of sexual assault for the second time inside the woman’s restroom of the Capital City nightclub. The accuser, a then-20-year-old student at nearby Georgia College & State University, told cops that the NFL star approached her “with his penis out of his pants” and followed her into a bathroom, where “he had sex with me” in spite of her objections.
In one of two handwritten police statements, the woman recalled that she told Roethlisberger, “No, this is not OK, and he then had sex with me. He said it was OK. He then left without saying anything.” After the woman reconnected with friends, they left the club and “went to the first police car we saw,” according to one statement.
The medical exam after the alleged assault did not provide definitive proof of rape. However, the medical exam did reveal a “cut, bruises and vaginal bleeding,” reports ESPN. Some DNA evidence was seen, but the quantity of it was insufficient to determine who it belonged to.
One witness, Ann Marie Lubatti, told investigators that she saw one of Roethlisberger’s bodyguards guide the alleged victim to a side door. Lubatti said that she immediately approached another bodyguard and said, “This isn’t right. My friend is back there with Ben. She needs to come back right now.” Lubatti, who described Roethlisberger as “noticeably intoxicated,” said she was rebuffed by the bodyguard, who remarked, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
In a March 17, 2010 a letter to prosecutor Fred Bright, a lawyer for the woman asked that the rape probe be dropped. Is this another possible payoff by Big Ben?
Roethlisberger was suspended in April for six games for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy, but Goodell said at the time that he would review the quarterback’s behavior over the next few months. Goodell was satisfied that Roethlisberger has followed the league’s guidelines and stayed out of trouble; his suspension was reduced to four games.
Questions still remain as to why Roethlisberger would not appeal the suspension by the NFL when he repeatedly has stated he did not assault the woman.
Some may choose to look past the events of the last few years for Ben Roethlisberger and celebrate his appearance in another Super Bowl but these acts will not be overlooked and will be front and center during the two weeks leading up to Super Bowl 45.
