It's time to say aloha to lethargic Pro Bowl - Ingles

Imagine Major League Baseball playing its All-Star Game in Cancun, Mexico, with pitchers throwing softballs underhand and the bases and fences moved in 30 feet.

Envision the NHL All-Star Game played in Bermuda with wider goals and smaller pucks.

What if the NBA All-Star Game was held in Las Vegas and nobody played defense? Oh, wait.

As bad as most professional sports "All-Star Games" have become, it appears that the NFL's Pro Bowl has taken the blue ribbon in "Worst in Show."

The game, played between the AFC and NFC since 1970, always has been an exhibition, but there was a time when players at least pretended to give a hoot about their performance and final score.

Now, it's worse than watching the Hall of Fame game in July. Many star players drop out weeks before the game, Super Bowl players are excluded for obvious reasons and the players who do show up don't pack their game.

In Sunday's 59-41 victory by the AFC (was the over/under 100?), fans at Aloha Stadium rightly booed these so-called stars for not even trying.

It's obvious AFC and NFC players for years have given each other the all-knowing wink and nod before each game, meaning: "Let's put on a performance, but only to a point."

Running backs don't run hard, defenses don't tackle hard and linemen on both sides of the ball look as if they are ball-room dancing.

Players don't want to play because they don't want to risk injury, and owners don't want their players to play for the same reason. Fans don't want to see the NFL's best not give their best.

We get all that.

So why continue the charade and keep playing the game?

It's time to say aloha to the Pro Bowl.

This article was written by Victor Contreras and appeared in the Sacramento Bee.