I’ll be the first one to go on record as saying that I don’t give a rat’s ass about the MLB All Star game or any other All Star games for that matter. I am amused when the sporting media complains that All Star games in all shapes and sizes aren’t taken seriously. The object of these spectacles is to get people salivating over a big name athletes whose name is front and center on the marquee. Said athlete tips their caps and then retires to the safety of the nearest dugout or bench. And you, Mister And Misses Sucker, sit there and wonder how Selig duped you yet again. Can you imagine the Washington Nationals throwing Steven Strasburg, injury prone as he’s been, in an All Star game without any form of restrictions? Me neither, because it’s never going to happen. The economics of the sports we loved have changed and players are precious commodities to be invested in. With that in mind, don’t expect to go to Citi Field and see anything more than an exhibition game with just enough effort to satisfy the masses who paid to see the latest NL/AL Tussle. Do you honestly expect NFL players to smack each other around at full speed when they’re essentially on a paid holiday with nothing to lose? If you’re in Honolulu, do you really want to see guys getting stretchered off of the field? I actually think commissioner Goodell was right to tinker with the idea of taking away the NFL Pro Bowl. You’re asking NFL players worth millions of dollars to the respective teams to smack each other into oblivion for no purpose what so ever. Even if Goddell shot down an edict like Thunderbolt demanding full contact action without limits in a pro bowl, the fans in Honolulu or wherever it’s being held would ultimately get ripped off. They’d get ripped off because you can be certain that no marquee NFL’ers would risk their careers to help the NFL justify the fact that it snookered one of its broadcast partners into ponying up for the broadcast rights to a nothing game. Get used to it sports fans, you’re never going to get the likes of Pete Rose bowling over some dude to capture an All Star flag for his respective league. And you’re not going to have regular season intensity in an NFL Pro Bowl; not as long as a respective owner’s profit margin is at stake. Perhaps if Bud Selig and Roger Goodell weren’t so busy listening to the sound of their own voices, they’d understand this. All Star games are unwatchable, especially one that puts a halt to a very long MLB season. So if the A’s or the Pirates shock the world and reach the series this year, guess what? Every ounce of sweat and determination those teams put forth to gain home field advantage in the series is null and void. Why? Because Bud Selig and Fox are in business together and Fox wants eyeballs on its all star game that it’s paying rights fees for. And as long as is Selig is beholden to the his broadcast partners, he’s still going to try and put lipstick on this mutil million dollar pig known as the MLB All Star game.
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