Ranking the four major American pro sports All-Star games

We’ve got a couple of Big Games coming up this weekend.

Or not-so-big-games.

The NHL All-Star Game is Saturday in St. Louis and the Pro Bowl is Sunday in Orlando.

The NBA All-Star game follows on Feb. 16.

So three of the four All-Star games will take place in a three-week span.

After that, the 2020 MLB All-Star Game will be at Dodger Stadium on July 14.

I’ve covered three of the big four All-Star games, or all but the Pro Bowl.

In ranking them, I’m only considering the actual games involving the All-Stars, not the sideshows involved in turning the proceedings into multiple-day trade shows.

No, not the skills competitions, home-run derby, or slam-dunk contests, all of which long ago mostly became repetitive and tiresome.

Here goes:

4. NFL Pro Bowl

Why is the Pro Bowl even played?

Roger Goodell was on the right track eight years ago when, embarrassed by the Pro Bowl travesty, he said he would consider axing the game if it didn’t improve.

He shouldn’t have backed off.

You know, sponsors and all that.

You know, Pro Bowl bonuses and the use of “(x-)time Pro Bowler” or “Pro Bowl selection” as a measure of career accomplishment. Players would rather be selected for the Pro Bowl than play in it.

I swear, this isn’t intended to be a roasting of the players. With all we’ve learned about the toll of the game, even if it takes decades for it to show, trying to turn the Pro Bowl into a “real” game would be even more farcical. Even the limited amount of hitting and contact involved – hey, the guy with the ball has to be tackled – is a slight element of risk. As are the four annual exhibition games, involving less playing time for veterans every year.

I’m actually surprised the Pro Bowl isn’t worse.

So why even have it?

Unless it’s turned into a flag football game.

That actually could be more fun.

3. NBA All-Star Game

The NBA game is a mess, with defense coming into play only when individuals turn it into segments of competitive challenge. That’s not often.

It teases with those flashes. Flashes from Giannis Antetokounmpo or LeBron James — again named the captains this year — or anyone else.

Otherwise, it’s the Washington Generals acting as the foils — at both ends.

2. NHL All-Star Game

I realize this cuts against the consensus. And for decades, even when I was a regular at the NHL Game, I had it at No. 3 on the list.

For a long time, it was fashionable to belittle its lack of competitive edge and physicality.

I joined in that.

Then it got worse.

The “soft” games of the ‘80s were 10 times more physical than the no-contact games that followed them in, say, the ‘90s and 2000s.

Referees made phantom penalty calls to be able to blow the whistle and get the commercials in.

There was no emotion, no edge, no hitting at all. It all proved that 5-on-5 hockey with none of that is unappealing. Yes, even with breathtaking talent on display from the best players in he world.

The other problem was trying to follow the labeling and format from 1975 on: Campbell vs. Wales Conferences, World vs. North America, East vs. West, and Team (Captain) vs. Team (Captain) with drafted rosters from 2011 through 2015.

After the 1998 Game in Vancouver, for example, a group of us asked NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman for his reaction to the first World vs. North America game. North America won 8-7. Bettman inferred that rather than considering a one-goal game a great show, we seemed to be belittling it because of the 15 goals. A frustrated Bettman said they kept trying new formats and we kept finding fault with them.

But innovation has made the NHL All-Star Game more presentable.

The current format put earrings on it.

After the NHL went to its current regular-season format for games tied at the end of regulation — up to five minutes of 3-on-3 sudden-death overtime, then a penalty-shot shootout – it drew praise from those who understood that eliminating ties that way was not spraying graffiti on a Monet painting. (Both teams are guaranteed a point; the “winner” gets two.)

The OT can be thrilling because the ice seems to have become Lake Ontario and the goalies usually have to be heroic to get it to a shootout. Watching Connor McDavid and other stars with more open ice is thrilling.

So the 3-on-3 tournament format actually highlights one of the league’s current strengths. Granted, the sharp-edged emotion and the edge-of-seat tension of 3-on-3 regular season overtime – when the game can end any instant — is absent. But it’s still fun.

Just feel bad for the goalies.

1. MLB All-Star Game

This is no news flash: The MLB All-Star Game most resembles the atmosphere and emotions of a real game.

The pitcher vs. hitter challenge and the attempt to make the play in the hole are universal, whether the pressure is on or otherwise.

It’s not perfect.

With all the emphasis on the voting for the starters, it can be a bit of a letdown to have close games come down to late-game lineups with a few players many in the TV audience are Googling to discover — or a least remind themselves — who those players are.

Mike Trout has been out of the game for three innings. Or more.

But beyond that, to even consider anything else for No. 1 is out of line.

About Terry: Terry Frei is the author of seven books. His novels are Olympic Affair and The Witch’s Season, and among his five non-fiction works are Horns, Hogs, and Nixon Coming; Third Down and a War to Go; and ’77: Denver, the Broncos, and a Coming of Age. Information is available on his web site, terryfrei.com. His woodypaige.com archive can be found here.