The third of the "big four" sports played their all-star game over the weekend, when the NBA ballers played their annual classic.
As usual, no defense was played in the 152-149 West win, showboating was the rule and not the exception and fun was had by all. Winning the game, as usual with the NBA all-star game, seemed secondary, and I think most fans can tell that. I have an idea that might change the way the game is played and make the all-star game more competetive and more like a "real" NBA game, and I will get to that in a bit, but first....
What was up with the uni's??? The Eastern conference all-stars wore what looked to be almost navy blue uniforms, while the West wore what appeared to be dark maroon colored uni's. Did someone fail to tell someone that there is supposed to be a "home team", even in the all-star game? For a blind guy like me, who has enough issues to deal with watching a game, not having one of the teams with a traditional WHITE uniform made things even tougher. I couldn't tell who had the damn ball half the time!
While I'm at it, who was the genius who decided to start the game at 10 pm eastern time? An all-star game is supposed to help build the game for young fans. What good does it do to start the game at a time when most youngsters are going to bed on a school night? Even die hard adult fans were probably dozing off when the fourth quarter was ending after 12:30 am!
I will give some props to the skills competition though. It is still the best of all the major sports. The dunk contest is a formula that works. They still have a problem getting the players that everyone really wants to see though. Blake Griffen should have defended his title. One of these years, LeBron James should enter. All in all though, it is still pretty entertaining, and this year in particular, it was nice to see Chase Budinger disprove the notion that white men can't jump. Holy Rex Chapman, he almost won the thing!
The three point shootout, the point guard skills competition and the team contest are all pretty entertaining and easy to follow. They don't mess with those events from year to year either like the NHL seems to, which is good for consistency sake.
Now, as to how to improve the game itself, the answer is simple....MONEY. The NBA should use one of its big sponsorships to increase a prize fund for the winners. I don't know what the winners and losers share is now. That is hard to research, but I have a hunch that whatever it is is not enough. They should pay the winning team $100,000 per player and the losing team gets no more than five or ten grand. I think that might cut down on the silly showboating and force players to play some serious D.
As for the other sports all-star games, you take that idea and use it for those games too. In the NHL all-star games, add something else in: elect four of the best defensive minded forwards in the game to each team. Guys like Sean Avery in his prime, Patrick Kaleta and Scott Nichol. Guys with less talent, whose primary skill is getting under the skin of the stars and hard hitting checks. This will add some grit to the game, and make the snipers skate around with their heads up a little more.
You fix baseball's all-star game by eliminating the silly rule that everyone who gets selected has to play in the game. Hey, you got selected! Take that as an honor, and you get a free trip and some applause when you get introduced, but don't plan on actually being put in the game. The best players should get the most at-bats and innings plain and simple. I don't think any fans would be complainging if Albert Pujols or Jese Reyes gets 5 at bats or Justin Verlander pitches six or seven innings if he is going strong.
You fix the NFL pro bowl by getting rid of it entirely. Playing the pro bowl the week before the Super Bowl is ridiculous, as all the players from the two best teams can't play in the game. That's just asinine. Playing the game the week after the Super Bowl is just as bad because it's completely anti-climactic and no one cares about winning.
If the NFL wants to do anything at all, just have a skills competition of some kind. I think fans would love that. Who is the most accurate passer? Who can throw the ball the farthest. Who can do both the best? What players are the fastest? Who can jump the highest? What linemen can do the most bench presses? Put up an obstacle course, like on the old Superstars competition, and let the running backs and wide receivers tackle that. I'd watch that with much more anticipation and excitement than an actual game.
What about you? What changes would you make? Log into Facebook and make a comment in the comment box below this blog. If you are reading this on whtk.com, feel free to e mail me at amerk1180@yahoo.com.
