Quick All Star Rant

Did anyone watch the MLB All Star Game last night?

Neither did I.

I checked the score once. The American League was losing to the National League in the 5th inning. That was all the caring I could spare. It doesn't matter what the league does to try and manufacture importance the game is just boring. It used to be a showcase for the best players in each league to play against each other. Now it is a showcase for disgustingly rich people to get some face time on network television during prime time. I really can't see it as anything beyond that.

All of the major sports all star games have become the same thing. Gimmicks. Top players routinely don't show up. Baseball, Hockey, and Basketball have events that don't have anything to do with the game itself that have become more of a draw than the actual draw (I have never paid a single second worth of attention to the NFL Pro Bowl so I don't know if they have a skills showcase of some kind or not).

Why do these events exist? So the leagues' major corporate sponsors can schmooze. That's it. They have nothing to do with the sports themselves, little to nothing to do with the players, apart from when the corporate sponsors schmooze them, and apart from the aforementioned camera time they really don't have anything to give the fans either. In fact, the only people who benefit from these events are the players who are not chosen to participate. They get a couple of days off from work out of it.

Hooray, major league baseballs' best players can hit home runs in batting practice. Hooray, the best players in the NBA can slam dunk and hit 3 point shots. Hooray, the best players in the NHL can shoot straight and hard and skate fast. Yippee. No shit, Sherlock.

Can we get back to games that mean something now?

Thanks.