All Star Games are jokes

There is nothing more asinine in major professional sports than the mid-season all star game.

There...I said it.

The NFL used to have a Pro Bowl after the season which was at least something to watch for those suffering from football withdrawal after the Superbowl. Then (like  virtually anything else in the No Fans Left league) they had to ruin even that. Now they play that before the Superbowl in that weird no man's land between the NFC and AFC championships and the Commercial Fest...I mean Superbowl.

The problem with that is what plagues all all star games: no player wants to get hurt, especially before a Superbowl, and so no one really tries. It is not even as rough as a collegiate intramural flag football game. It's a beauty pageant for jocks.

The same thing plagues Major League Baseball. It is a game where the desire to win and the hustle level is somewhere between a church league softball game and two brothers playing each other in Mario Kart. In other words, millionaires loitering in a dugout and tweeting.

Baseball has tried to make the game not completely meaningless. The league that wins the all star game gets home field advantage in the World Series. That would be an interesting gimmick if either side actually played and coached to win. That, alas, never happens because there is this weird gentleman's agreement that everybody gets to play like some sort of round robin powderpuff game.

With no player actually playing more than 3 or 4 innings tops, no cohesion is ever really established, and because no one wants to get hurt, when they do play, they play like old grannies on walkers who are afraid of falling and breaking a hip. Like I said, All Star games are pointless.

If we must have all star games, I think we should up the steaks so the players at to win and coaches coach to win. I think the teams from the league that loses should forfeit roster spots in the playoff or the team that has the most all stars from the league that loses gets a significant salary cap for the remainder of the season.

If you are going to have an all star game, make them count. Make it worth watching. If I want to watch church league softball, I can walk around the corner to the community ballfield.

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