A Sporting View: At the Pro Bowl, everyone’s a winner

With the possible exception of rugby and with all due respect to hockey, American football is the most brutal sport played on the planet.

For 16 grueling weeks, giants among men take to the gridiron in a gladiatorial exposition played before tens of thousands electrified fans who cheer every yard, every catch and every hit. Winner or loser, every combatant walks through the stadium tunnel doors shouldering the pain of every down, a persistent pain that will likely antagonize their bodies well after they retire from the sport.

Yet, for the true victors in the National Football League — those judged by their peers to have shown the best acumen on the field — the taste of success can be sweet. That’s because every season since 1980, Honolulu, Hawaii, has played host to the league’s all-star game — the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. It’s a setting the NFL rightly describes as “picture-perfect playing conditions against a backdrop of blue skies, clear water and swaying palm trees.”

This ain’t the frozen tundra, baby.

Long considered a sub-par exposition of football, the Pro Bowl has taken a low-key approach and has, understandably, garnered low television ratings. Players on both sides of the ball are laughing and pulling each other up after each play. Linemen barely throw blocks, rarely do they attempt to block field goals — instead, they mill around the line of scrimmage like it’s the line at a luau buffet. Coaches pull out all of the trick plays and when they win, the Gatorade is swapped for Trader Vic’s.

That’s not to say there’s nothing worth watching, of course. If you like high scoring contests, Pro Bowl teams averaged a combined 73.7 points in the past six games — including a 55-52 barnburner won by the NFC two years ago. And occasionally there are great plays on defense, too. In 2004, Baltimore’s Ed Reed blocked a punt and ran it back for a touchdown, the only such play in Pro Bowl history.

If that’s not enough intrigue for you, consider these riveting storylines: John Madden still won’t fly to the game and rookie Dallas punter Mat McBriar played three seasons at the University at Hawaii — surely that will win over the hearts and minds of the locals.

Aloha Stadium has sold out for each of the 27 Pro Bowls played, but as of this writing, tickets could still be had for as little as $35. Of course, if you don’t live on the island of Oahu, that $35 ticket will end up costing several thousand dollars when you factor in the travel, lodging and expenses.

The player’s expenses are, of course, covered: Winning players earn $40,000 each while losing players collect $20,000.