Why Do We Need A "Pro Bowl"?

Alright, settle down you "super jocks" and "football purists",
how many of you will be watching "most of the best" next
Sunday when the fans' picks take vacation in Hawaii?

Seriously now, since the chances are that your team is NOT
in the Super Bowl, are you so "committed" (or should be)
that you intend to watch the 2 or 3 players from your "fav"
team that will be "going thru the motions" in what is
affectionately called "The Pro Bowl"?

WHY, I ask, do we need a "Pro Bowl"? Just because the
NBA, NHL, and MLBA all have superstar games, does that
mean that we should play along with the sponsors and
advertisers and go through a meaningless contest at the
end of the meaningful schedule (with 1 notable exception,
of course)? Why not just name the players who have
distinguished themselves by their superior skills, talents,
efforts, and intelligence, and let them be honored thusly?
If you want to give them a trophy or some monetary
award, go for it, or even a free vacation to a location of
their choice, just please DUMP THE GAME!

WHY, I ask, do we need a "Pro Bowl"? Is it to reward those
special few with additional dollars? Don't they make
enough already? How does your income compare to theirs?
Yeh, yeh, yeh, you're not out there 16 out of 17 weeks
"putting your life and livelihood" on the line, but you are
"giving it your all", right? What is your payoff for that?
DO YOU GET AN ALL-EXPENSES PAID TRIP TO SOME
WARM, EXOTIC PLACE? Doubtful.

I'd rather watch "Heidi", or "The Sound of Music", or
"Red", or "Unstoppable" or "The Dirty Dozen" than bore
myself to sleep with The Pro Bowl.

With both men's and women's college basketball on the
air, along with pro basketball, tennis, golf, etc., haven't
we had enough football for this year? YES. Please,
Mr. Commissioner and NFL Board of "Whatevers", do
us and yourselves a favor, and change the end-of-the-
year debacle that very few care about or watch. I
certainly won't spend my Sunday afternoon in a
"mindless" fashion by watching a game that has no
significance or consequence. I'd rather watch the
neighborhood guys and girls play a game of "tag"
football - it's a lot more entertaining! Humph.
Besides, aren't these guys banged and bruised and
bothered enough from the season's battles? Yes.

SOUND OFF! Okay, you jocks and jockessess, let me
and "The Commish" know what you think. I'm curious.

AS FOR MY PICK FOR FEB. 6th - My heart is with the
men from "The Steel City", since they've been my home
team and favorite "forever", but my gut (brain) says that
the Pack and Mssr. Rodgers are canny enough and
tough enough to pull it off. Pack 26, Stillers 20.

P.S. - the NFL.com website has almost 68,ooo votes on
who may win, and 60% of them, as of today, take the
boys from "the frozen tundra" of Lambeau Field!

DID YOU PREDICT THE NFL CONFERENCE FINALS?

If you'd followed my predictions in the recent college
bowls, you'd be filing bankruptcy right now, as I went
from picking the winners to being quite adept at opting
for the losers. The wife even outdid me. OUCH!

But we're talking pros, now, and this is different, I think.

At the beginning of the season, who did you pick to wind
up in the conference finals? Saints? Pats? Falcons? Chiefs?
Colts? Surely, unless you're a "homer", you did not choose
the teams that we'll be watching this next Sunday.
Oh, there's nothing wrong with supporting your local
team, but based on the 6-game which became a 4-game
suspension of "our" quarterback, I advertised my guess
as to the final outcome of the Steelers' season - 5 wins
TOTAL! How wrong (thankfully) I was.

I DID, HOWEVER, PICK ALL FOUR OF THIS PAST
WEEKEND'S "SURVIVORS"!! Something that the wife
and Skip Bayless fell one pick short of doing. Humph!

So what are we to think? Thank God for the defense of
the "City of Champions" squad. Ben is not the Ben of old.
A times he shows glimpses of brilliance, but even the
casual observer can see that he's just not the 2-time
Super Bowl Champion signal caller that he has been.
That doesn't mean that the Steelers are weak or incapable
of "going all the way", but it makes a fan of the team a
bit queasy. Thankfully, Troy "the game-maker" is back.

As for the meat-company-named team from the frozen
North - as Gomer Pyle said, "Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!"
Who'oda guessed they wouldn't be basking in the warmth
of Hawaii or Florida this week? You? Doubt it. Give Mike
and his coaches a lot of credit, they've pulled off what
some would call a "modern-day miracle". Huh? I'm so
pleasantly surprised at the coming-of-age of Aaron Rodgers.
Having lived in the area, and going back to the days of my
yout' when Starr, Hornung, Zeller, Nagurski, Taylor & Co.
would ply their trades on the cold hard ground of Lambeau,
I've been a Packer fan for decades. But this latest surge of
success has resurrected the feelings of "Packer Fever".

Just a couple of hours southward, I've also been a resident
of a Windy City 'burb, having resided in Zion, the "Holy City",
on the North shore, just south of Kenosha and north of
Waukegan, Jack Benny's hometown. For the time I was
there I cheered for "Sweetness", Sayers & Co., who
always managed to make games interesting. As for the
current edition of "da Bears", they are surprising upstarts,
at least to we who are outsiders. Who'da believed that
Jake would lead his team to the semifinals? Not even
Skip predicted that, I believe. Anyway, when Jake's hot,
he's hot, and "da Bears" "could go all the way"!? Huh?

Finally, "make like a plane and fly". In the immortal words
of "Boomer", "Are you kidding me?". The Jets? Rex Ryan?
Mark Sanchez? Are you kidding me? The job they did
yesterday on an obviously stunned Tom Brady and Pats
was better than a carnival sideshow. I've not respected
coach "Belacheat" ever since the scandal, and was glad to
see who almost everybody thought was a shoo-in "get
the boot". Are the Jets that good? They were yesterday.
Can they be that good again? Given the incentive and
the motive (such as Welker's comments), they may once
again rise to the occasion.....Huh? Against the "Burg Boys"?

CAUTION - sidenote - watch out for those "touchy" officials,
who have taken their position and power to ridiculous
actions. Come on, guys, let the boys be boys. After all,
the good Lord made us in His image, after His likeness,
with EMOTIONS! Let the players celebrate their successes!
NFL - GROW UP!! I've addressed this issue previously, but
apparently it needs to be readdressed. Fans in the stadiums
and at home deserve to be entertained by the guys who
have delivered for their teams and followers.

NOW TO MY PICKS. Careful, my recent performance may
not be a certain indication of my continued success at
prognosticating. In other words, "don't bet the farm on it".

Sunday at 3 PM - This midwest version of a "backyard rivalry"
will bring out the best and worst in the participants. After
all, all the chips are on the table. If, as I suspect, Rodgers
continues his precise passing and deft handoffs, "the Pack"
should repeat their regular-season-ending performance
with another win over the Bears. Packers 21, Bears 17.

Sunday at 6:30 PM - WOW! Emotions surge as I try to
be objective for this battle. The Jets "have it going on",
as they say, but the Steelers are always tough "down the
stretch", and when the going gets rough. I like the Jets,
especially after what they just did yesterday, and I'd
probably pick them against most other teams, BUT THESE
ARE THE STEELERS, grizzled veterans of gridiron wars,
and while these "veterans" are one of the oldest squads
in the league, they are also reminiscent of how to get
the job done. Steelers 17, Jets 13.

Please don't ask for my Superbowl prediction - I don't
like what I'm thinking and feeling.

ABOUT THOSE GAL BROADCASTERS

Alright, now chill, and hear me out before you come to
any erroneous conclusions. This is a subject that I believe
many others have thought about, talked about, and maybe
even have complained about, BUT I'M GOING PUBLIC!

Yes, I am a "closet chauvanist". When it comes to men's
sports, I am of the belief that only those who have had
some experience coaching, playing, or officiating a
sport are BEST at giving either play-by-play or color
analysis.

Recently, over the past 2 or 3 years in particular, I've
noticed an influx of females adding their talents and
skills to the coverage of athletic events, especially on
the tube. I OBJECT.

Don't get me wrong, I love women. Why, some of the
most important people in my life have been and are
women. Women have made major contributions to
our society and civilization. For example, take Madame
Currie, Helen Keller, Mother Theresa, and the list goes
on and on. "They" say "behind every successful man is
a successful woman". TRUE.

I can't, and don't want to imagine what this life would be
like without those of the "softer, gentler sex".

BUT I do take issue with Beth, Holly, Doris, and the rest
of their contigent filling the seats of more qualified men
at the football and basketball games especially. I LOVE
what the gals do during the fastpitch softball playoffs,
and the volleyball tournament, as well as women's soccer,
but I do not feel comfortable hearing a lady's voice trying
to describe the action of men's sports. Huh.

THERE, I'VE SAID IT.

You may feel differently, and you may write your own
blog or respond to this one. Fine. I said what I meant,
and I meant what I said.

No, this is not a diatribe against the abilities of those
"lovelies' who are working the microphones. No doubt
many, if not most, if not all of them have excellent
skills, complemented, of course, by the stat sheets,
programs, pre-broadcast info spreads, and the "buzzes"
they get in their headphones during the games, as the
men who are doing the same task also have "aids" to
make them interesting to listen to and to make the
contest more enjoyable to watch and listen to.

THERE'S JUST SOMETHING ABOUT A "NON-JOCK" AT
THE TABLE THAT MAKES ME FEEL QUEASY. Know
what I mean? I'm sure somebody out there gets my
point and agrees with me.

No doubt the networks are hoping that they will get
more of the distaff side to watch their shows, and I
can understand their reasoning somewhat, but would
it work if the reverse were the situation? Would you
ladies "out there in TV-land" want more men doing
the play-by-play and color analysis of women's sports?

Would I "disemploy" (is that a word?) those gals from
their jobs? Not necessarily. In fact, sometimes some of
them are easier to listen to (as well as "easier on the eye")
than some of the men. In fact, I sometimes wonder where
"they" are getting some of the new faces and voices that
have broken onto the scene, male-wise, that is.

IS THERE A "QUOTA" THAT THE NETWORKS HAVE TO FILL?
ARE THERE NOT ENOUGH "QUALIFIED" MEN?
ARE THERE THOSE WHO PREFER HEARING A WOMAN
DESCRIBE A MAN'S SPORTING EVENT? Huh.
Please explain this one.
CAN SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER PARTICIPATED IN A
PARTICULAR SPORT REALLY RELATE TO WHAT
SHE IS ASSIGNED TO REPORT ON/BROADCAST?

Okay, there I've said it. Let the barbs and arrows fly.
If you're asking what are my qualifications, I do have a
few. Played basketball as a high-schooler. Played
basketball in college. Played slow-pitch, fast-pitch and
"pumpkinball" softball. Play some football. Played
tennis and raquetball a lot. Reported on high-school
sports for a couple of years for a local weekly paper.
Officiated Little League baseball. Coached Little League
baseball. Umpired fast-pitch softball. Coached
college basketball. Was an athletic director. Refereed
basketball at many levels for years, in six states.

Add to that various athletic events that I witnessed,
broadcast, or did public address announcing for, and
I have some (however limited) qualifications.

AM I LOOKING TO REPLACE THE GALS? NO.
I just want to be able to enjoy a game by feeling an
appreciable level of confidence in the voices that
I'm hearing trying to make the event more enjoyable.

LADIES, I LOVE YOU, in your element that is. Sorry.