Yes, there is still one more pro football game to be played this "season." It just happens to be in Hawaii and is tomorrow evening, 6pm here on the east coast. The game is scheduled to be moved to Miami next season and be held the week between the Championship Games and the Super Bowl. This means the players in the Super Bowl certainly won't be participating and many NFL players have said they won't play if it doesn't remain in Hawaii, which is a big part of the attraction.
While I agree that the Hawaii part is a huge plus for the honor, it's still an honor and it should be treated as one by every player who is selected to play in the league's All-Star Game. Being a spoiled brat because you don't like where it's being played will not endear you to the fans for that opinion, regardless if theother players agree.
So what's going on there this week, other than the NFL Network's interview with Ray Lewis about his playing possibilities next season? The Ravens have four starters in tomorrow's game. While I bet most of you could easily name Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, and perhaps some of you could name fullback Le-Ron McClain, how many could add Special Teams ace Brendon Ayanbadejo? There are a bunch of pretty good players on the team, but I just wince whne I see the NY Jets' Kris Jenkins starting at DT when the Ravens Haloti Ngata sits on his sofa watching from wherever.
I wonder if Le'Ron McClain will get the fake handoff and be expected to block for starting RB Thomas Jones and not understand why he wasn't given the ball. Hey, he's a "feature" back, dammit!
This is the first Pro Bowl ever with two brothers playing QB in the same game. Peyton and Eli Manning earned the honor as two of the best QB's in their conferences. However, while Peyton is starting for the AFC, Arizona's Kurt Warner is doing the same for the NFC.
The game is still not sold out and the game has received an extension of time to try to do so in order to avoid an embarassing TV blackout in the area. I'd love to go see the Pro Bowl, in Hawaii of course, although I wouldn't complain if I had to go to South Beach next year!
Arizona's wideouts Larry Fitzgerald AND Anquan Boldin are BOTH starting for the NFC. Perhaps next year, they'll start for different conferences, Fitzgerald for the NFC and Boldin for the AFC's Ravens!?
Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu are the two starting safeties for the AFC. If the game was played as it truly mattered, I'd say game over right there! Can you imagine the two of them playing for real side by side?
Ray Lewis, along with the KC Chiefs' Tony Gonzalez, are here for their league leading 10th Pro Bowl. He says he's disappointed about the move to Miami next season, as his family and friends really enjoyed the trip. He states his conditioning is based ont he infomercial program that we've all switched off, called P90X. Hey, if it works for Ray, it must be good, right? Right?
Finally, ESPN has a poll asking who you think has the best chance to be the MVP of the game. Tell me what you think by making your pick. I'll add an extra category to what they list, just titled "Other."