The purpose of an all-star game is basically the same regardless of the sport: to generate interest by putting the sport’s biggest stars all on one stage. However even though there are versions of the all-star game for each sport, some seem to do a better job of creating interest than others. Of the four major North American sports (hockey, baseball, basketball and football) which All-Star weekend is the best? Below I rank the sports based on the different types of events that go on during the weekend (Intangible Event, Skills Competition and the actual game itself).
Intangible Event
NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft
The NHL fantasy draft allows the players to draft their own teams and plays out as little more than a televised fantasy hockey draft by hockey players who have probably the least amount of television presence amongst professional athletes. I applaud the NHL for trying something different but nobody cares where anybody gets picked other than who gets picked last. We all remember last year Phil Kessel being the last all-star on stage with Alex Ovechkin snapping silly cell phone pictures of him but does anybody even remember who was picked first last year? Summing up the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft in one sentence: we have a bunch of unobjectionable athletes in a draft that isn't very memorable which doesn't add up to captivating television.
Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game
Baseball is borderline watchable to almost anybody except diehards when good players are playing. The only exception to that rule is if you are a parent and your kid is on the field and even in this particular situation your focus is mainly on hoping that the ball doesn't get hit to your kid because nobody under 10-years-old can actually catch a flyball. Anyway, my point is baseball played by people who aren't good must be painful to watch and that's how I imagine the celebrity game goes. I also think that is why they have more than a handful of ex-MLBers playing in the game because eventually the ball will get him to one of them and an out will get recorded. If there were no ex-MLBers in the game then I imagine there would be a ton of errors leading to prolonged innings and although a team might be officially winning on the scoreboard, when watching the game it would feel like nobody was winning.
Whatever the NFL does leading up to the Pro Bowl
Here is a list of events that take place the day before the Pro Bowl. You tell me which event is the can't miss one...
NFL Pro Bowl 'Ohana Day Celebration
Pro Bowl Youth Football and Cheerleading Clinics
Pro Bowl All-Star Block Party Waikiki
NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game
Anytime a celebrity game has the most memorable moment of an all-star weekend, you probably should win the Intangible Event category. Last year Justin Bieber was chosen the most valuable player in the celebrity game with eight points, four assists and two rebounds but what we all will really remember Bieber for was a play not on his stat line. In the third quarter as the vertically challenged Bieber went up to take a shot much to the delight of all teenage girls squealing in the stands, Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen also jumped up and rejected the shorter Bieber's shot. Bieber's second most memorable contribution to the game was his hair as it delighted former Los Angeles Laker Rick Fox with the latter commenting that Bieber "has the softest hair."
Winner - NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game
Marquee Competition
NHL All-Star Skills Competition
I have always liked the NHL's Skills Competition more than the actual All-Star game. The events include fastest skater, hardest shot, shooting accuracy and breakaway challenge. The events in the skills competition seemed to reaffirm what fans already knew as there seemed to be certain athletes who just dominated each event every year unlike the Home Run Derby or Slam Dunk Competition which rotated winners due to various reasons. For example, Ray Bourque always had the most accurate shot and Al MacInnis always had the hardest. Watching them every season compete in those challenges was like watching The Undertaker wrestle at WrestleMania. They were invincible and you just knew they were going to win. The real disappointing part of the recent version of the skills competition is the breakaway challenge which was recently won by Alex Ovechkin using two sticks while wearing ridiculous props. I am not completely anti-prop but Ovechkin, arguably the game's biggest star, looked like a goof and made the event seem amateur.
Home Run Derby
Compared to the rest of the skill competitions in the other major sports, there is nothing simpler than the Home Run Derby. The event is simple as there are no judges or other events taking place at the same time. For one night, not only do chicks dig the long ball but everybody does as the Home Run Derby is only about who can hit the most home runs on one particular evening. There are only two ways for a participant to have a memorable at bat and that is either by hitting the ball far or hitting a lot them far. Another upside to the event is the outside chance of seeing two of the kid outfielders run into each other chasing flyballs.
Whatever the NFL does leading up to the Pro Bowl
See list above
Slam Dunk Contest, Three-Point Shootout, Skills Challenge, Shooting Stars Competition
The Slam Dunk Contest used to mean something. Somewhere after Wince's unbelievable dunk show in 2000 and because of the lack of A-list superstars willing to participate, the dunk contest lost its appeal. (side note: I kind of think Carter ruined the dunk contest because everybody knew they couldn't top his performance so no big name would try for the next few years. Heck, people are resorting to props because they can't match what Carter athletically.) My favorite moment as a Toronto Raptors fan was watching Wince's legendary performance that culminated with him busting out the "It's over" hand gesture to the camera and the multiple orgasms that Kevin Garnett was having on the sidelines after each Wince dunk. Sadly that was the most proud I have ever been to be a Raptors fan.
Winner - Home Run Derby. The derby is consistently more entertaining even though the Slam Dunk Contest has provided more "Oh Shit!" moments.
The Actual Game
NHL All-Star Game
Pro Bowl
NBA All-Star Game
All of these games suck to watch as the athletes are clearly trying at maybe 60%. Heck, the NFL players in the Pro Bowl are probably trying even less as the game has different rules to make sure players don't get injured. In a sport like football where the goal for many of the players on the field at anytime is to ram his head as hard as he can against another player's body part, there are actually rules in the Pro Bowl to make the game safer and therefore less entertaining. And it's not like the NHL or NBA are producing a better game as both of their versions of an all-star game end up being high scoring affairs with no defense or intensity. Again, the reason for the lack of intensity or body checks in hockey is because similar to the NFL, the NHL does not want their stars to get hurt in an exhibition game which makes sense but also doesn't make for a good game to watch
Midsummer Classic (Major League Baseball All-Star Game)
The clear winner and the only all-star game on this list that resembles a normal game. Sure there are restrictions like a starting pitcher only pitching two innings that remind us that we are not watching a regular baseball game but generally, when you watch the Midsummer Classic you feel like you are watching athletes competing against each other at their highest level. Among the major North American sports baseball has by far the least amount of physical contact which means the athletes do not need to worry too much about injuring each other and are able to try their hardest.
It’s absolutely a normal baseball game. It doesn’t have the intensity of a playoff game, but in terms the effort and in terms of the concentration (it’s a normal game). Baseball isn’t a sport that lends itself to a lack of concentration or a lack of effort. You can’t coast through a baseball game. --St. Louis Cardinals’ Lance Berkman
Final Verdict
For all its flaws, in my opinion, MLB has the best All-Star weekend among the top four North American sports.
