The Pro Bowl 2011 returns home to Honolulu tonight. However, the Pro Bowl 2011 is still in its brand new time slot, at a week before the Super Bowl. Many leagues are trying to tamper with their All Star games, as fans are getting less and less interested in them. But the NFL is in a different position, since they are the only one to hold their All Star game after the season. Yet they already failed in moving the location, and tonight’s Pro Bowl 2011 could determine if they have to move the date again.
Last year, the NFL tried to make this game into a Super Bowl undercard. They moved it a week before Super Sunday, and held it in Miami instead of Hawaii. But taking it away from Honolulu didn’t work, so they moved it back home for this year.
Still, the Pro Bowl 2011 is missing Aaron Rodgers, Troy Polamalu, and the other all stars from the Packers and Steelers. They are just about ready to start Super Bowl week, while a few other stars had to miss the game due to injury.
Nevertheless, what’s left of the NFC and AFC’s best will square off, before the conference’s best teams clash a week later. Since they put the game back in Hawaii after a year, they could decide to move it back to its original date soon as well. If they do, they will be back to square one in trying to boost the event up.
Not only is the Pro Bowl 2011 held earlier, it is not even the only All Star Game of the day. The NFL’s best will kick off just after the NHL’s All Stars wrap up in Carolina this afternoon. In addition, the contrast between the two events isn’t making football look any better.
While the NFL’s All Star Game has struggled to fix things, the NHL got a boost by choosing teams in a fantasy draft. It may still prove the same old All Star Game for the NHL, but they may have done a better job in overshadowing that than the NFL.
Of course, there isn’t that much room for the Pro Bowl 2011 to have radical changes. Their big move to shift the date has garnered mixed results, and putting it in the Super Bowl city last year didn’t take. No matter what, it seems destined to be either a Super Sunday undercard, or an anticlimactic final act for the season.
However, since the Pro Bowl 2011 returns to Hawaii, those in Honolulu are likely excited enough. In addition, there’s no guarantee they’ll even hold the game in 2012, if the worst case lockout scenario comes true. Nevertheless, this year’s battle is set for 7 pm est on FOX.
Sources
Bleacher Report- “Pro Bowl 2011: Does The NFL All Star Game Need Fixing?”
SB Nation DC- “The Pro Bowl Should Be More Like The NHL All Star Game”
