Should the Pro Bowl be Abolished?

If you think that players voted to the Pro Bowl really want to play in the game, I have a beautiful home in Greenland I want to sell you.

NFL players want to play in the Pro Bowl about as much as I want to have a colonoscopy.

The game should be abolished, and here is why.

First of all, the voting for players is flawed. You should NEVER allow fans to vote. I know big Roger wants to market his product, and he'll do whatever it takes to "expand the game". But allowing fans to have such a major impact in voting - come on! Jeff Saturday, who had a very good NFL career, made the Pro Bowl last year for the Green Bay Packers, after a poor season, that saw him get benched! Is this what the Pro Bowl really means? I also heard Troy Aikman made it as a write-in candidate this season.

Second, and I think we can all agree on this one, is the game itself. No one playes hard. No one cares about the outcome. Is it really a vacation for players and their families to travel to Hawaii for a meaningless game? These guys make enough money to buy a freaking vacation house in Hawaii, and visit there in the offseason as many times as they please. Does a free trip to the Pro Bowl mean anything? Is it really a reward for a season of hard work, or is it more like a company retreat you have to attend with your boss, his fat wife, and annoying corporate puppets? And speaking of the game, I feel it has the potential to do more harm than good. When you get guys who are not playing hard, you have a greater risk of injury. Please don't tell me any of these guys are actually playing hard. Does the $53k to the winner and $26k to the loser really provide ANY incentive for the guys to play any harder? Some players get fined that much in a single game. This kind of money means nothing to these players.

My solution:

Have the All-Pro first and second team - that's it. No more meaningless game in Hawaii. Ballots should be sent out to a selected group of former players, coaches and members of the media - you know, people who actually know the game, and don't have quite the bias of fans. Anyone who makes the first team should receive 100k. Second team players get 75k. The players should also receive a plaque of sorts, with the year, and team name they represent - something to put into the trophy case. Another nice idea would be to have the NFL make a special football with the players name, year and team on it. Then, the NFL could market these commemorative footballs to the fans to purchase as memorabilia. Roger needs to make his money from the fans somewhere.

I have grown very tired of the Pro Bowl and all that it represents. I haven't watched a game in years, and don't plan on doing so anytime in the near future.

Let's all just move on from the embarrassment this game has become, and turn the post-season awards over to a more reputable, professional method. It's not worth the .53 cents it costs to run my television for three hours.

Sorry Roger, your corny, cliche, soap opera idea of a game has officially lost my support.