Sports writers like to talk about the Pro Bowl as if it's America's most useless sporting event, and maybe it is. But the people have spoken with their remote controls, and their verdict is clear: They like the Pro Bowl just fine.
Sports Media Watch reports that the Pro Bowl got a 6.9 rating, making it the most-watched sporting event of the weekend by a large margin. It beat out a pair of NBA games (Lakers-Heat got a 2.9, Celtics-Spurs got a 2.6), a bunch of college basketball games (Duke-Boston College led the NCAA hoops pack with a 1.6), the final round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am (2.6), NASCAR's Budweiser Shootout (4.5), and the NHL's Ducks-Red Wings game (0.9).
Awful Announcing reports that Pro Bowl ratings are actually going up, and this weekend's game was the highest-rated in eight years. So what does that mean? It means that there is exactly zero chance of the NFL getting rid of the Pro Bowl. The players' paychecks are relatively paltry, and the bulk of the TV revenues go into the league's coffers. People can complain about the Pro Bowl all they want, but it's here to stay.
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson put on a show for the last time of his rookie season today in Hawaii, running 16 times for 129 yards and two touchdowns in the Pro Bowl, leading the NFC to victory and receiving the game's most outstanding player award.
More importantly, Peterson showed once again that he's a bright, articulate and classy young man as well as a terrific football player. After the game, Peterson made sure to pay tribute to Sean Taylor, the Washington Redskins safety who was murdered during the 2007 season and was posthumously selected to the Pro Bowl.
"The true MVP is Sean Taylor," Peterson told Brian Baldinger of FOX after the game, via PFT. "This is also in honor of him and dedicated to him."
Taylor's Redskins teammates all wore his No. 21 in the Pro Bowl to honor him.
For a brief moment during today's Pro Bowl, a few defensive players forgot where they were and actually started to act as though they were playing in a real football game. Fortunately, referee Bill Carollo was there to set them straight.
It took place early in the third quarter, when the AFC had the ball and the NFC actually started to try on defense -- you know, pressure the quarterback, press the receivers, that kind of thing. But that kind of thing isn't allowed in the Pro Bowl, so Carollo and the other officials called three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, one on Packers cornerback Al Harris, one on Vikings safety Darren Sharper and one on 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis.
And now that the defensive players have been admonished, we're back to glorified seven-on-seven drills. The AFC leads 30-28 at the end of the fourth quarter, and I'm going to change the channel and watch 60 Minutes.
I turned on NFL Network this afternoon and saw that they were showing the AFC's Pro Bowl practice, which consisted of Chargers coach Norv Turner giving instructions to a bunch of guys who looked bored and disinterested.
With one exception: Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who was making direct eye contact with Turner, listening attentively, and then running exactly the play that Turner asked.
It's fascinating to watch the Pro Bowl -- the game that everyone from fans to media to the players themselves derides as utterly meaningless -- and see that Manning is the one guy out there who actually seems to care. That may be why Manning is the all-time Pro Bowl record holder for career passing attempts, single-game passing attempts, career completions, single-game completions, career passing yards, single-game passing yards, career yards per pass and career passing touchdowns.
And while some would scoff at a player who acts like the Pro Bowl is serious business, I think it's great. There may not be a harder-working player in NFL history than Peyton Manning, and that work ethic doesn't take any days off. Even in Hawaii.
Our pal Clark Judge of CBSSports.com would have you believe that Jack Del Rio and Jon Gruden must be great coaches, because they're taking teams without any Pro Bowl players to the playoffs. I'm pretty sure Judge is being glib here, but he does make a good point -- why aren't there any Jaguars or Buccaneers in the Pro Bowl?
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that very few casual NFL fans have actually seen these two teams play. The Buccaneers had one prime time game on their schedule this year, and NBC dumped it for a more intriguing game. Meanwhile, the Jaguars' only prime time game was that Monday night loss to the Colts -- the one where David Garrard got hurt and Quinn Gray kept throwing interceptions.
If you give the Pro Bowl vote to the fans, they will vote for players they've seen. Most fans haven't seen these two teams enough. Otherwise, Fred Taylor and Jeff Garcia might have gotten in. (They'll probably make the final roster, anyway, once all the "injured" players back out of the game.) Del Rio and Gruden deserve a lot of credit for turning their teams around after last year's debacles, but not because fans don't know who their players are.
Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney played nine games this year before he was lost for the season with a foot injury. His primary skill is rushing the passer, and his season ended with a grand total of 3.5 sacks, meaning he's tied for 73rd in the league in that category.
So it's official: I hate democracy. In theory, yeah, it's nice, give the fans a vote in the Pro Bowl. In practice, sorry, the fans are morons if they vote for a guy who's out for the year and wasn't even having a great year before he was injured.
Pro Bowl selections are made by a combination of votes from fans, players and coaches. I don't necessarily want to see the fans lose their votes, but I do want to see them at least make some pretense of knowing what they're doing before voting. Otherwise, Pro Bowl balloting is a joke.
The Steelers found out on Tuesday that they have five Pro Bowlers. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger won the contest to be the third AFC QB behind perennial Pro Bowlers Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Alan Faneca and Troy Polamalu will head to Hawaii like they always do (and if Polamalu's case whether he deserves it in an injury-plagued year or not). And James Harrison proved that he was more than an acceptable replacement for Joey Porter with his first Pro Bowl invitation.
But the Pro Bowl announcement had to be especially sweet for Willie Parker. It's the second straight year Parker has earned a spot in Hawaii, and it's a further reminder that North Carolina coach John Bunting had no idea what he was missing when Parker was sitting on the bench in college.
Maybe it's just the Steelers fans I talk to, but it seems like plenty of true fans aren't really happy to have Parker as the team's feature back. If you listen to the complaints, you'd think that the Steelers are stuck with a overgrown scatback who is best off getting 10-15 carries a game. Parker's not 250 pounds so some Steelers fans are continually searching for the power back to take over for Fast Willie.
In the argument of which division is the worst in the NFL, we've got a pretty clear argument that the NFC South is the worst of the worst. When the Pro Bowl rosters were announced, not one player from an NFC South team was honored. Hey, the NFC West may be bad, but it did place eight players in the Pro Bowl. The NFL effectively announced today that the NFC South is devoid of stars.
It's hard to really argue that any Falcon was "snubbed." With a season this disastrous no one deserves to be honored. Alge Crumpler has been a frequent Pro Bowler in the past, but he really didn't deserve a spot this year. DeAngelo Hall's meltdown against the Panthers probably ensured that he would get the chance to stay home and Roddy White might have had a breakout season, but it's tough to make the Pro Bowl in the NFC at wide receiver.
In fact that really is one of the cool things about the Pro Bowl. While other all-star games (like baseball's) force a member of every team onto the roster, whether they deserve it or not, the Pro Bowl is all about who deserves to go--so if your team stinks, you have to wear the shame of no Pro Bowlers like a scarlett letter.
Texans middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans was named a Pro Bowl starter today after being voted in by the coaches and players. Last year's Defensive Rookie of the Year has had yet another amazing season, and apparently he has done that this year with some significant injuries.
At various times during the season, he has been bothered by an ankle sprain. The Houston Chronicle reports that during the Tampa Bay game, he tore the PCL in his knee. He refused to skip a game, and played four days later against Denver. He anticipates playing against the Colts on Sunday, despite the Texans being eliminated from playoff contention:
"You'd have to cut my legs off to pull me off the field. I've been so blessed. I can't sit out a game. I enjoy it too much. ....I haven't been able to move like I want. But, being the quarterback of the defense, I can't let it slow me down. I've got to be out there."
If we needed another example of what a turnaround the Vikings have made this season, we got it on Tuesday when the NFL announced that seven Vikings are on the NFC's Pro Bowl roster. That's second only to the Cowboys (11 Pro Bowlers) among NFC teams.
Minnesota sent only three players last year, but defensive tackle Pat Williams, rookie tailback Adrian Peterson, fullback Tony Richardson and safety Darren Sharper joined the returnees: center Matt Birk, guard Steve Hutchinson and defensive tackle Kevin Williams.
The Pro Bowl award for Richardson is especially nice. Richardson has been outstanding as a blocker opening holes for Peterson and Chester Taylor, but the reality is that a fullback blocking in front of a bad tailback isn't going to earn a spot in the Pro Bowl, so Peterson's success has helped Richardson get recognized as well. The success of Peterson probably helped nearly everyone else get noticed, as the Vikings have a much higher profile now that Peterson is running wild.
Sports writers like to talk about the Pro Bowl as if it's America's most useless sporting event, and maybe it is. But the people have spoken with their remote controls, and their verdict is clear: They like the Pro Bowl just fine.
For a brief moment during today's 
I turned on NFL Network this afternoon and saw that they were showing the AFC's 
Indianapolis Colts defensive end 
The Steelers found out on Tuesday that they have five Pro Bowlers. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger won the contest to be the third AFC QB behind perennial Pro Bowlers Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Alan Faneca and Troy Polamalu will head to Hawaii like they always do (and if Polamalu's case whether he deserves it in an injury-plagued year or not). And James Harrison proved that he was more than an acceptable replacement for Joey Porter with his first Pro Bowl invitation.
In the argument of which division is the worst in the NFL, we've got a pretty clear argument that the NFC South is the worst of the worst. When the Pro Bowl rosters were announced, not one player from an NFC South team was honored. Hey, the NFC West may be bad, but it did place eight players in the Pro Bowl. The NFL effectively announced today that the NFC South is devoid of stars.
If we needed another example of what a turnaround the Vikings have made this season, we got it on Tuesday when the NFL announced that seven Vikings are on the NFC's Pro Bowl roster. That's second only to the Cowboys (11 Pro Bowlers) among NFC teams.
