Is it time to do away with All-Star games?

[Captain_Kirk]

NHL and NFL all-star games this weekend, NBA coming up in a couple weeks. I have less than zero interest in pretty much all of them (maybe slight interest in the NBA), and I'm not sure I'm in the minority. Have they all lived past their shelf life?

Half a century back or so, they had viewing value in that it was the only time to see an AL player against an NL player outside the World Series in MLB, and perhaps an occasion to catch a glimpse of some NBA or NHL players that rarely showed up on national TV.

Now, in baseball you have interleague play where you can see in person pretty much any team or player over the course of a couple years, and you can catch any NBA or NHL (and MLB too) game and player on TV if you're so inclined.

That's without even mentioning they are hardly 'games' at all anymore. The NHL is a bastardized version of the real game, the NBA is just an offensive skills/shooting/dunking exhibition (even the slam dunk contest seems to have run its course), and the NFL seems mostly like an opportunity for a star player to get injured and compromise their ability to play for real the following fall. Baseball at least still seems to represent a reasonable facsimile to the sport itself.

Yes, there is definitely economic value to the host community that puts on the game, and that probably trumps any thought of them ever going away. And I guess the TV ratings are better than whatever else could go in those time slots.

But, if any or all leagues were to make them a thing of the past, I'm not sure there would be any huge outcry from the general public.

 

[Octave]

I have wondered this before myself, and concluded I am just too old to enjoy them anymore.

I didn't even really enjoy them as a kid, though.

 

[DanOregon]

People sure enjoy bitchin' about the "snubs" though.

 

[TigerVols]

The NBA All-Star Game is a certifiable blast.

 

[outofplace]

I don't think it is time to get rid of all of them, but the Pro Bowl is a joke. Even football junkies like me don't bother to watch.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

The sports where hitting is an intrinsic part of the game, football and hockey, have by far the worst All-Star games. IMO that's an unsolvable problem.

 

[UPChip]

At this point, they're simply the main event of a weekend-long convention, which isn't particularly bad, particularly for the NHL. The Pro Bowl is the dumbest of them all because there's no way to insert a half-speed, half-contact exhibition into the NFL season and keep it in any way relevant, but otherwise, most of the rest of the stuff exists to support the various meetings, cocktail parties and fan-fests that make the proverbial world go 'round.

 

[heyabbott]

The NBA All-Star Game is a certifiable blast.

Wilbon says that NBA All Star week is Black Thanksgiving.

 

[HanSenSE]

The NBA All-Star Game is a certifiable blast.

Still SMDH over those who went into Twitter rage over 190 points being scored by one team a few years back. It's supposed to be fun. The Pro Bowl and NHL games are hot garbage and baseball's All-Star Game is quaint, but has been watered down by interleague play - and thank goodness it no longer determines home field in the World Series. But the NBA just lets the players play.

 

[I Should Coco]

I don't think it is time to get rid of all of them, but the Pro Bowl is a joke. Even football junkies like me don't bother to watch.

Yes.

A week or so ago Batman posted an old video clip of the 1976 College Football All-Stars vs. the Steelers in a Soldier Field downpour. That game was a joke — and it was 20 times more watchable than the modern-day Pro Bowl.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

I don't think it is time to get rid of all of them, but the Pro Bowl is a joke. Even football junkies like me don't bother to watch.

Moving the Pro Bowl to the empty Super Bowl week was supposed to generate some additional interest, but has they happened? Is viewership up?

 

[mpcincal]

The sports where hitting is an intrinsic part of the game, football and hockey, have by far the worst All-Star games. IMO that's an unsolvable problem.

A secondary reason, IMO, is that football, and hockey to a lesser degree, relies on a lot of intricate teamwork to make plays and that's tough to do when you have players who have only practiced together for a few days at most.
With baseball, the way the game is played, the player can be a individual performer and have the stage while still being for the team. In the NBA, the ASG is essentially a high-profile playground game, which is not a bad thing at all.
And I agree with UPChip's view that they're all now just the main event of a big convention/celebration. Also, in the case of baseball, basketball and hockey, it provides a welcome break in the middle of the season.