The NFL Pro Bowl and the NBA All-Star Game: what are two things they both have in common? They both have practically no defense and are almost unwatchable. You would think that watching these talented players as part of star-studded teams would be fun and intriguing, but sadly, that’s just not the case.

Let’s start with the NFL Pro Bowl. Throughout its history, it has migrated to have little-to-no defense and evolved to a step above two-hand-touch football. Obviously, I know that this is to help prevent and avoid injuries given how much of a contact sport football is, but they could do at least something to make it more entertaining.

“I’ve always hated the Pro Bowl,” Sawyer Thompson ‘22 said. “We all know that none of the players want to get hurt, so they just don’t try at all.”

Next comes the NBA All-Star game. Hypothetically, this game should be one of the more entertaining all-star games due to the amount of skill on the court at any given time. Players like Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Ja Morant all make highlight plays on a daily basis competing, but, just like the Pro Bowl, there is no one playing defense,  and the first team to score 163 points wins, meaning that the game is also cut short. The NBA did this to incentivise winning and give players a reason to try harder, but it failed because players only try at the very end. Watching the NBA All-Star game is extremely boring because everyone is always wide open when they shoot, and no one is fighting for rebounds and getting physical.

“I’ve never liked the All-Star game,”Colin Eich ‘22 said. “It’s basically just the players lobbying up shots and playing no defense making it extremely hard to watch.” 

The MLB and NHL All-Star games are really the only two games that are watchable, which is ironic because a lot of people consider these the “boring” sports. The MLB All-Star game is fun because the fielders on both sides are actually trying to make plays on defense, while the batters are trying to make something happen on offense, all while the pitcher is trying to throw hard and precisely. The scores of the MLB All-Star games tend to be closer to an actual game of baseball as well. 

The same can be said for the story for the NHL All-Star game. Everyone is going hard, and no one is just letting their opponents skate down the ice freely for cheap and easy goals.

All Star games for the most part are terrible and don’t deserve to be aired on television because of how boring and unwatchable they are. They have to give players a reason to try and go all out when competing with the best of the best.