Pro Bowl: Stay or Go?

I almost feel obliged to chime in regarding the Pro Bowl debate -- should it stay or should it go?

For me the bottom line is that people watch it and most of the players enjoy it. For the players that suffer all year on a bad team, but they themselves have talent, this is a reward. Who doesn't want to visit Hawaii? When big name players like the Manning brothers and Adrian Peterson are coming out in favor of the game, it should say something to rest of us. And they're not the only prominent players to speak up in favor, asking Goodell to keep the game. It's truly a game for the fans to see big stars all at once, especially in Hawaii, where  live football is as distant as the mainland.

I understand the people who say that the game is sloppy and that it is too high scoring. But they need to understand this -- it is both a rest for the players and not very long to prepare for a game. Playing football isn't the same as playing baseball or hockey -- while the offense can be put together rather quickly, defense takes much longer. When you have players coming together from all different schemes, from 3-4 to 4-3 and everything in-between, a coherent defense is not going to come together in four days of practice. Sorry; it's just a fact of today's complex game.

To me, it simply boils down to if enough players and enough fans enjoy it. I believe they do. The mere fact that so many have spoken in favor of it says so. I've never really been quite sure why Rodger Goodell has been so against the Pro Bowl. The players already don't like him -- he shouldn't make it worse by taking away something they like.

Just a little food for thought.