Even by Pro Bowl standards, we’re watching a dreadful game tonight.
The AFC squad has apparently decided that it doesn’t care about the $45,000 check that goes to each player on the winning side, and they’ll just collect the $22,500 losers’ checks and enjoy their Hawaiian vacations. With most of the AFC players acting like they couldn’t possibly care less, the NFC leads 42-7 at halftime.
Don’t look at that score and think the NFC guys are playing well. It’s just that the AFC guys are playing like a Pop Warner team.
Actually, scratch that: Kids on Pop Warner teams usually hustle.
I’d like to give special mention to Brian Billick, calling the game in the FOX booth, for doing his best to keep up appearances and pretend that this game actually matters. With the NFC leading 42-7 and having the ball late in the second quarter, Billick talked about the situation as if it were of life-and-death importance that the NFC manage to convert a third down.
“The NFC, they need a first down here,” Billick said. “I know it seems one-sided at 42-7, but all of a sudden you get a big return, particularly in the nature of this game, you get a shot down the field, all of a sudden it’s 42-14. That changes the complexion a little bit.”
Yes, it would be a great game if it were 42-14. But at 42-7, this game stinks.
