Quick Thoughts on the NFL Pro Bowl

This is becoming a joke. Scratch that. This has been a joke and will never be taken seriously as a true All-Star Game.

Football is a physical sport. However, the essence of playing a football game without physicality takes everything away from the game. In the first quarter, AFC DE Mario Williams was unabated to QB Aaron Rodgers, and did not hit him. In fact, he didn’t even touch him. He allowed Rodgers to make a throw in his face. What does this prove other than Mario Williams did not want to kill Rodgers who was sacked an NFL high 50 times in 2009?

It proves that the game is not the best way to feature the most talented players in the NFL. It illustrates that half the players look great due to non-tackling, non-physical play, while the other half get taken advantage of and look foolish.

A few quick suggestions on improving the Pro Bowl games and festivities:

Forget the 60-minute game. Play a 7 on 7 game, a la passing league, that can emphasize the quicker guys and passing.

While the little guys are playing their passing league, the big guys are having an eating contest (it doesn’t have to be run at exactly the same time). A hot dog eating contest would be funny, but I think hard-boiled eggs would be the best (I’m just envisioning the Japanese guy, Jumbo, from The Replacements). During the commercial breaks, emphasize childhood obesity issues in America and make sure that people don’t try this at home.

Do skills competitions. QBs do accuracy and distance. RBs do agility drills. WRs/TEs catch balls off the machines, etc.

Do an NFL combine-lite. The players have to run a 40-yard dash, do a vertical jump, bench press, etc.

And last but not least, a punt-pass-and kick competition with all players involved. How great would it be to watch the 340-pound Flozell Adams doing attempting a 30 yard field goal under the lights in Miami?

I’m not saying run every single one of these, but they are all options to make this past weekend a little more interesting. Any other suggestions that I left out?

Monta Ellis: All-Star Snub or Undeserving (Super)Star?

Was Monta Ellis snubbed from the 2010 All-Star Game in Dallas two weeks from now? Golden State Warriors guard Monta Ellis is currently sixth in the NBA in scoring at 25.8 PPG. Ranking behind Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade; you couldn’t argue that he deserves an All-Star spot ahead of any of those five superstars. But they all made the team, so that’s a non-issue. The list of All-Stars that made it ahead of him follow: Nowitzki, Bosh, Roy, J. Johnson, Stoudemire, Z. Randolph, and so on down the list. None of these players score more points per game than Monta Ellis.

Forget common-fan knowledge that states that the scoring should precede all else. Perhaps scoring isn’t the biggest indicator on which players should be on the All-Star team. It obviously wasn’t the case this season.

One of Ellis’ biggest flaws is that he is neither a 1 (point guard) nor a 2 (shooting guard/off guard). But for All-Star selections, players are only ranked as guards and there is no distinction between PGs and SGs. Regarding All-Star reserve selections, there are two spots for guards, two spots for forwards, one spot for a center, and two more spots for the last deserving players.

Ellis’ competition for those four spots was Chris Paul, Brandon Roy, Deron Williams, and Zach Randolph. No argument can be made for Ellis over Paul so we’ll leave it at that (Currently though, who knows who fills Paul’s spot on the All-Star team). Brandon Roy and Monta Ellis’ numbers are so similar that you could argue Roy was put in based on his team’s superior record; 29-21 Portland vs. 13-33 Golden State. Personally, I don’t believe that the record has anything to do with the All-Star team because it is not an MVP race. Ellis has no shot at the MVP and that is completely reasonable, but as an All-Star, the win-loss record should not be a factor.

While I will argue that point (that W-L record is not important for an All-Star team), I also will state that I’m not saying that Ellis is more deserving than Roy. Their numbers are so similar that it’s hard not to say that it was a factor in the decision making process. Best player on a winning team versus the best player on a losing team. No contest…as long as those players’ numbers are as close as Roy’s to Ellis’.

As much as I’d like to, I can’t conceivably argue that Ellis deserves a berth over stud PG Deron Williams either. He leads Monta in most of the major categories, only taking a big hit in the PPG statistic (25.8 to 19.0).

The real debate comes with Zach Randolph against Monta. Z-Bo has revived his unbelievably consistent career with a remarkable 21 PPG and 11.7 RPG. Again, the argument is the team; and with essentially the same team in Memphis from 2009 without Randolph, Zach has turned the team from a .293 Grizzlies team in ’09 to a .553 team in ’10.

I would love to say that the All-Star selection doesn’t come down to wins and losses, but it does. Sorry Monta, your team just isn’t good enough. If the Warriors are playing .500 basketball, you are undoubtedly an All-Star. Maybe you should request that trade you mentioned earlier this season…

But in all seriousness, with Chris Paul’s injury, it is hard to find a more deserving guard to replace Paul on the roster. Only time will tell.