Send the Pro Bowl to sleep with the fishes

I despise the Pro Bowl.

This is not a new feeling, it's not something I've recently started to feel. I've never liked the Pro Bowl and I've never understood why it was even held.

For anyone reading this who may not be an expert on the Pro Bowl, I'll give you a basic summary of how it goes down. The NFL opens up the voting to fans, who may vote for a set amount of players at each position, from any team to "make" the Pro Bowl. Fans may vote as many times as they'd like for whomever they would like, and the players with the most votes (i.e the most popular players) get selected to the Pro Bowl.

Occasionally a player is picked as a form of recognition for having a career year, which would seem to be a service to the Pro Bowl. Typically, however, deserving players get snubbed in favor of popular players having a weaker season simply because of their popularity.

Due to the hype that typically surrounds teams that are leading the NFL in wins, the amount of players sent by each team is often skewed in favor of the teams with the best record. For example, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Fransisco 49ers both had eight players selected for the Pro Bowl, and both teams happen to be top tier teams in the NFL this season. Sadly, so that there was room for these two teams to send eight players, five NFL teams will have zero representation in a game that is meant to showcase individuals who perform well.

That's not the fault of the NFL, to be honest. Fan voting brought it upon us, fan voting decided that nobody from Jacksonville, New York (twice), Green Bay or Atlanta deserved individual recognition this season. Meanwhile everyone and their mother from San Fransisco and Kansas City "deserved" recognition, apparently.

Enough with the boring details of the fan voting/player selection process, let's get to the super exciting part of the Pro Bowl; the game.

Wait....why is everyone standing around? Aren't they playing a game? It looks more like a practice....are they even trying? and what the HELL are they wearing?!?

If you thought that by gathering all of these skilled professionals and asking them to play a meaningless game at full speed and risk injuring themselves during the postseason would work, then I applaud you, for you live in a fantasyland. The plain truth of the matter is, this game means nothing in the grand scope of the season. Winning the Pro Bowl is such a minor prize compared to winning the Super Bowl, so obviously players that are preparing for the Super Bowl won't risk injuring themselves, and rightfully so.

All you will see in a Pro Bowl game is about 5 passes thrown by each quarterback over a line that basically stands up once the ball is snapped and starts fraternizing with the D line before the play is even over. Defensively, players rack up more "attempted tackles" than tackles, as the game inevitably ends up in some ridiculous shootout to the tune of some 50-45 final score.

I'm tired of the Pro Bowl. I'd much prefer a coach voted "Pro Bowl" award similar to the All-American teams awarded in college football, and spare us the pain and unnecessary torture of having to watch, hear about or even thinking about a worthless Pro Bowl game. It's poorly timed, poorly organized and the play does not live up to the standard of football befitting the National Football League.

The need to change ones gym shorts

Last Sunday, the Detroit Lions were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with their loss to the New York Giants, ending a season filled with promise but mired by a lack of discipline and an inability to finish games in which they led entering the 4th quarter of play.

As is typical with fans on any team in a string of disappointing seasons, the blame is tossed around like cheap beer at a college bar. Some blame the coach, Jim Schwartz. Others blame Matt Stafford, the talented yet inconsistent quarterback.

Putting the blame on the coach is no surprise to me, especially when you consider how poorly coached this team was in the 4th quarter in the second half of this season. Additionally, the team had a knack for committing penalties at very inopportune times on their way to becoming the 9th most penalized team in the league.  A lack of discipline on the field may have hurt the Lions more than any individual aspect of their play.

I don't pretend to know the environment inside the Lion's locker room, or what type of discipline Schwartz brings to the team, but the obvious truth is that the status quo is not working. Heading into this season, the Lions were a solid pick to win the NFC North, and their chances rose astronomically as injuries piled up for the Bears and Packers. After starting off 6-3 and in firm control of the division, the Lions fumbled away their chances of postseason play by finishing at best with an 8-8 record.

Despite the inconsistent play of former No.1 pick Matthew Stafford, which has drawn the ire of many Lions fans, I feel it is not the quarterback spot that most needs changing for the Lions. Amidst his struggles with accuracy this season, people seem to have forgotten that Stafford is just two seasons removed from a 5000 yard season, and he has surpassed 4000 yards passing in each of the past three seasons. It is not the physical skills of Stafford that should be called into question, but his decision making.

When I was a young, budding tennis star earlier in my life I would watch a lot of professional players to try and gain useful tips for my own play. Through careful observation of female tennis players, I picked up the habit (briefly) of grunting while hitting the ball. Surprisingly, this didn't help my play, and somewhat less surprisingly didn't make me into a professional female tennis player (for which I'm grateful).

This sort of novelty move is what Stafford has gotten himself into trouble with, as he tends to fall into the habit of side-arming his throws, resulting in weak, wobbly passes. The ability to repeat his 2011 campaign is still there, but the lack of overall team coaching is holding the offense, and team, down.

The change the Lions need is at the coaching position, and by acquiring talent through the draft. The team has many valuable pieces as is, but need to overcome their issues with discipline, and that starts with a more authoritive coach. Jim Schwartz, or Gym Shorts, as he has become known has overstayed his welcome in Detroit and doesn't appear to be the right man for this coaching job.

If the ownership in Detroit is serious about contending for the NFC North title, then they need to overhaul the coaching staff and make changes in the right direction. Until then, the Lions won't seriously challenge for the top spot in the North.

A system of entitlement

A college education.

Whether it be an associates degree or a Ph.D, a college level education is one of the world's most sought after commodities, right after things like food, water, shelter, you know, the small things.

For many people, even in a country like America, the idea of a college education is unattainable, a very distant thought. Some are not motivated to get one, some will never have the opportunity.

The NCAA and all of the Division I and II schools it contains have given countless under-privileged or impoverished high school athletes the ability to play the sport they excel at and receive a free (or discounted) college education while they are at it.

With that sort of offer on the table, it's really no wonder that recruits seem so eager to take scholarship offers. Put yourself in their shoes and you'd probably do it too.

So why then, when so much value and potential is at stake, are some college athletes in such a rush to screw it all up?

It's hardly a new concept. Young, cocky athletes recruited from low income neighborhoods, suddenly treated like kings and queens on a big stage, and the temptations to party and live the high life seem too powerful to ignore. Every year this same situation plays out at a handful of big schools, and an even bigger number of mid-major programs. Oftentimes, it's alcohol or drug related, DUI's, underage partying, possession, etc. Sometimes it's a seemingly innocent snowball fight.

The scenarios vary slightly, the names change, the schools cycle, but the behavior hasn't changed. It's a dizzying parade of poorly disciplined ball players acting out in the stupidest of ways, and the blame lies solely with the lack of recruiting for character and a lack of adequate supervision by university staff.

In a day and age where a debate has been started on whether or not college athletes should be payed, there exists a culture in which some of these athletes are barely respecting the terms of their scholarship, much less deserving additional pay. I myself have no sympathy for scholarship athletes claiming they need to be further compensated. If the promise of a free college education (around $88,000, on average) plus other amenities is not enough to be worth your while, then you have issues beyond the ability of money to fix.

Unfortunately, change is slow in the world of sport, and as long as schools can make more money from an athlete with subpar character than one who is less skilled but with stellar character, they will do it. The tragic reality of the situation is that too many student-athletes don't take the student half of the equation seriously enough.