Tough to call it a Pro Bowl this year

You could make a pretty good all-star team with Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Brett Favre and Philip Rivers at quarterback.

Trouble is you won't find any of them on the roster for the one Sunday, the NFL's Pro Bowl.

You will, however, see David Garrard, Matt Schaub and Vince Young listed.

And therein is part of the problem with playing the Pro Bowl the week before the Super Bowl, a concept the NFL is experimenting with this year.

So, if you are disappointed the NFL has taken the Pro Bowl from our shores this year for the first time in 31 years and shipped it off to south Florida, take some solace in the knowledge that this is becoming more of a junior varsity game, even as far as Pro Bowls go.

Players opting out of the Pro Bowl, citing injuries real and hyped, is nothing new, of course. It happened when Hawai'i was the host, too, though it is hard to remember a year since 1980, the year the game debuted here, when the stars have been so sparse, especially at quarterback.

As of yesterday 27 players — or about 30 percent of the players originally named to the roster — have been scratched or opted out of the game. About half of the players are from New Orleans and Indianapolis, the teams appearing in the Super Bowl. Throw in the fact the game is in a league city that most teams eventually visit anyway instead of Honolulu, is there any wonder a revolving door is spinning?

Under terms of the contract the NFL negotiated with Hawai'i, the league was able to move the game to Miami for this year to test the Super Bowl tie-in concept. Then, it has the option of playing the 2011 game, which is contracted for Aloha Stadium, at its choice of either a pre- or post-Super Bowl date. Its selection will largely depend upon a review of what happens with this week's game in Miami. Which, given the way things have been shaping up, might not make for a tough decision.

We're told the game, at 75,540-seat Sun Life Stadium, is expected to become a sellout. No surprise there if you've seen the way it has been promoted on NFL telecasts. But with the marquee names dropping out in large numbers, it may need some luck to become a critical success.

So, for the fan, mourn not the one-year hiatus from Aloha Stadium. Consider it an off-Broadway production working out the bugs before it comes back. Let the NFL come to its senses and return to a post-Super Bowl Pro Bowl for the 2011 game at Aloha Stadium.

Because at the rate things are going, the biggest name quarterback in the vicinity of Sunday's Pro Bowl might be Dan Marino. And that's only because the stadium is at 2269 Dan Marino Blvd.

The Pro Bowl is returning to Hawaii.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority board voted 9-1 on Friday to accept the NFL’s offer to return to the islands.
The board rejected two previous proposals, but under mounting pressure reconsidered its latest refusal to pay the NFL $4 million a year to host the all-star game at Aloha Stadium in 2011 and 2012.
“We are pleased to continue our partnership with the state of Hawaii, which has embraced the Pro Bowl for 30 years,” Frank Supovitz, the NFL’s senior vice president of events, said in a statement.
The 2010 Pro Bowl will be played in Miami a week before the Super Bowl after a 30-year run in Hawaii in which every game was a sellout.
Supovitz said placing the Pro Bowl in the islands on a rotational basis will maintains its ties to Hawaii while making it more accessible to fans on the mainland.
Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona testified in favor of returning the Pro Bowl, saying “Hawaii is the Pro Bowl.”
“San Francisco has the 49ers, Denver has the Broncos … Hawaii has the Pro Bowl,” Aiona said during his brief presentation.
A similar proposal was rejected a week ago by the board. The NFL then turned down the state’s offer to completely rework another deal. However, the NFL agreed to possibly return the Pro Bowl to the Sunday after the Super Bowl depending on the success, or failure, of the 2010 game in Miami.
“Now we do have the option of the Pro Bowl going back to the traditional after the Super Bowl date if 2010 isn’t successful,” board chairman Kelvin Bloom said.
Bloom said that was a key point in the board approving the bid.
The board last week expressed concerns that attendance and viewership could drop because of the NFL’s experiment to move the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl. That would essentially eliminate Super Bowl players from participating in the all-star game.
This year’s Pro Bowl MVP was Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who also starred in the Super Bowl.
The board also had expressed concern about spending millions amid the economic downturn.
But five board members switched their “no” votes from last week, when the board voted 6-4 against the proposal.
“I have made some mistakes in the past and maybe this is one of them,” said board member Stephen Yamashiro.
Yamashiro said he was lobbied “passionately” in the past week by Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who also contacted other board members.
Board member Sharon Weiner was one of the most vocal opponents last week, but also reversed her vote.
In an interview, Weiner said she realized the benefits to the community after talking with officials in the hotel and airline industry, as well as Hannemann. But she’s still concerned about devoting so much money from a budget that has been cut from to $71 million from $88 million in the past year.
“We don’t know what our budget is going to be in 2011, so we’re committing to a budget that we don’t know what will be. So there’s real risks here for us,” Weiner said. “We needed to consider, reconsider and make sure we’ve handled all of the considerations before we made this very important decision.”
Kyoko Kimura, a hotel executive from Maui, cast the only vote against the Pro Bowl proposal.
Kimura didn’t raise any objections during the brief discussion before the vote. After the meeting, she said the Pro Bowl’s economic and community benefits is not felt on the island outside Oahu.
Last month’s Pro Bowl generated $28.6 million in spending and $2.9 million in taxes. It also helped market the state, which is heavily dependent on tourism.

2010 Pro Bowl will be in Miami at Dolphins Stadium

How stupid...
Move the game before the Superbowl, so you have no one who is playing in the Superbowl playing in the all star game...and people say no one plays in the pro bowl now?

And how special is going to Miami?
or anywhere else in the continental US?
I'll take Hawaii...

Pro Bowl has best ratings since 2000

So more people watch the Pro Bowl than some NBA final games but idiot Goodell says it is a failure and wants to move it. Can we get him fired?

Favre wins fan voting for Pro Bowl

Favre received 1,140,863 votes to finish ahead of New England quarterback Tom Brady (1,037,608) and Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning 991,418.

Pro Bowl Selections made

Comment on if you agree with the selections, or anything else about the NFL...