Siding With Selig

Siding With Selig

Why the All Star Game Should Count

It's hard to believe it was ten years ago that Commissioner Bud Selig made the controversial decision to call the All Star Game a tie. He made the argument that since both teams had run out of pitchers, and the game was nothing more than an exhibition, there was no other way.

The next year, Selig made the move to award home field advantage in the World Series to the winning squad (American or National League). Sportswriters and fans alike widely criticized the move then and continue to do so today.

But, let me present you this...What do you get when you take away meaning to an All Star Game?

The 2012 Pro Bowl.

Simon Samano of NFL.com wrote about the game, "Players love the trip to Hawaii but don't care for the game itself. They have no desire to risk injury in a meaningless game, which is why they don't play hard, which is how you end up with 59–41 as the final score. It's that lack of effort that caused fans to boo during portions of this year's game." Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers stated on his radio show, "I was just surprised that some of the guys either didn’t want to play or when they were in there didn't put any effort into it."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, speaking a week after the game, stated that the 2012 Pro Bowl "wasn't the kind of football we want to be demonstrating to our fans, and you heard it from the fans, the fans were actively booing in the stands. ... We are going to either have to improve the quality of what we are doing in the Pro Bowl or consider other changes."

Making the game count for something is the answer to improving the game. Since the 2002 incident in the All Star Game, the quality of baseball played in the game has seemingly improved to a certain extent. If it worked for baseball, it can work for football.

You can take away the bonuses for players who don't want to play, but in the end, will athletes who make millions of dollars per year really care? The time is right to make the game count.

No matter what others say.