"All star, no glory"

Cincinnati, OH. July 14, 1970.

Ray Fosse is catching for the American League in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. In the bottom of the 12th inning, with the game tied at four, Pete Rose was on second base and looked to score on a Jim Hickman single. Fosse was the only thing in Rose's way as the throw came to the plate. Charlie Hustle lived up to his name, plowed Fosse over, and won the game for the National League.

The game has changed. We're never going to see Albert Pujols barrel down in the bottom of the ninth to knock the ball out of Pudge Rodriguez's glove. Not for an All-Star game. Pujols is getting paid $100 million by the St. Louis Cardinals, not the National League All-Stars. There's no way he's going to risk serious injury for an exhibition. If anything, Pudge would step out of the way and try to lay a soft tag.

The players aren't going out there to win the game, they're going out there "for the fans" and making sure they don't tear an ACL while dipsy-doodling around third base.

As we're in the midst of what is essentially the All-Star season, you have to wonder what purpose these games serve today. Why bother having an All-Star Game if the biggest stars in the sport don't show up?

The decisions by athletes like Tom Brady and Randy Moss - statistically the best quarterback and wide receiver in football this past season - to skip this weekend's Pro Bowl highlight how meaningless these festivities have become. You can make the argument that it's a showcase of the game. But can you actually say that with a straight face when pitchers in baseball don't last more than three innings (or one batter in the case of Bob Wickman a few years ago), hockey players don't throw checks, football players are trying their hardest not to get hurt, and basketball players are dogging it on defense?

Sure, Major League Baseball has tried to make the exhibition "count" by putting World Series home field advantage on the line, but only two things have benefited from that. Television ratings and the American League - and the ratings still haven't been that great.

Shaquelle O'Neal said last week that he didn't deserve to be an All-Star this year. His coach, Pat Riley tried to defend him, but O'Neal is right. His numbers this year have been well-below average. The catch nowadays is that, at Shaq's price tag $20 million a year, he should be playing like an All-Star. But being named to the team isn't the standard of greatness of anymore. It's about statistics, post-season success, and popularity more than anything else nowadays.

Even in hockey the stars aren't coming out anymore. While a guy like Alex Ovechkin revels in that type of spotlight, the two goaltenders selected as starters, Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo, opted out. Why travel and go through all of that trouble for just one period of hockey, when you could rest for a weekend, recharge the batteries and stay fresh for the team that's going to need you down the stretch?

Forget the fans. The real fans are going to watch their favorite players, day in and day out, no matter when or where the games are. They'll appreciate every good game as it happens, not just the once-a-year "spectacles." Even having fans voting for starters is a cheap gimmick.

If you missed the NBA All-Star game, it doesn't mean that you missed one of only three chances to see Baron Davis play on national TV. Technology today allows you to follow the Seattle Mariners from a hotel room in Miami if you really wanted to.

One of the only real advantages of having the games, from what I can see, is that it brings players together. You know, like those old high school trips where you get to know people in your history class that you'd normally just walk past in the halls without even acknowledging. Watching the players get together and have fun is one of my favorite parts of the games, but that just isn't enough.

The entertainment is rarely there, and if it is, it only shows up in the final frame when the game is close. Then the competitive edge starts to kick in a little and guys actually start playing the game. Sorry, but at that point, it's too little too late.

Unfortunately, these games bring in lots of advertising money and that alone is enough reason for the powers that be to keep them alive. And while TV ratings may not exactly translate, the exposure each league gets is invaluable. Even if the NBA All-Star Game wasn't spectacular last year, just by holding the event in Las Vegas got the league some press - good or bad.

Major credit to the first league that officially disbands All-Star Weekend and tries harder to give their fans what the really want. Exciting match-ups that count towards the standings, not fantasy squads putting up 12 goals or 140 points in a conservatively played match.

Give me two teams duking it out for a playoff spot in late September over a half-hearted exhibition any day.