Death, taxes and sports fans complaining about All-Star games are seemingly the only constants in life. And with the Pro Bowl, NBA and NHL All-Star games taking place over the next few weeks, the aimless debate surrounding these exhibitions rages on for another year.
Look, I know what many of you are thinking at this very moment. What’s the point of bitching about people who are bitching? I have two responses to that question. One, shut up. And two, complaining about All-Star games isn’t going to accomplish anything because the events themselves are inherently meaningless.
Back in the day, All-Star games had meaning. It was a different time, though. There was more animosity amongst players because they interacted far less frequently. Meanwhile, fans would only see stars a few times a season, if that, so there was a desire to watch the best ones compete whenever possible.
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Despite this, the media and sports fans insist on complaining about All-Star games not being competitive. Baseball tried to rectify that after a tie in 2002 and look how it went. The NBA and NHL continue to tinker with their formats which has done little to quell the noise.
During a recent NBA on ESPN broadcast, Jeff Van Gundy made an interesting observation. He said today’s All-Star games are for the players and not anyone else. Now, he did backtrack a bit and say fans and even referees should be involved.
He’s absolutely right about that first part, modern All-Star games are for the players. It is more or less an accomplishment they can list on their professional resumes. When you hear a player is an “X-time All Star”, you don’t think about the game itself.
With that in mind, why not have players take full ownership of All-Star games? Let’s see what they come up with in terms of format, roster selection and everything else. They know the game better than anyone involved. It would be cool to see what they would do differently.
And, of course, if it sucked, complaining about All-Star games would finally have purpose. Until that happens, let’s just enjoy them for what they are, meaningless exhibitions that used to matter like 30 years ago.
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