All-Star games need a change

When fans vote to put their favorite player in an all-star game, it can take a spot away from a player who deserves it.

            All-star games have been a tradition in professional sports for many decades.  Fans can vote for whom they believe should be representing each sport's starting line-up.  The NBA, NFL, and NHL all have all-star games where two teams consisting of the "best" players compete.

            The NHL All-Star Game has steered away from the basic format of league versus league or conference versus conference.  This year, they tried a new format, naming NHL players Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom as captains.  The captains were allowed to pick all the players voted into the game by the fans, like school-yard dodge ball.

            This was the first year that the NHL had tried this format, mixing it up from the basic format where fans voted for the starters.  The new format led to matchups where teammates were playing against each other.  It made for interesting storylines that caught the attention of NHL fans around the league.

            The recent voting of the NBA All-Star Game has caused some controversy in the basketball community.  Many believe that Center Yao Ming, who has played a total of five games on the season, does not deserve to be the starter for the Western Conference.  His lack of games played and playing time has not made it easy for people to make a case for him starting or even being at the game.

            Last week was the NFL's All-Star Game known as the Pro Bowl.  Watching the game, you noticed that it was not quite as fast paced and hard hitting as a regular season game.  Not only did many players not play due to injuries or other conflicts, a lot of the time players were not giving their best effort when making a tackle or running a route.

            Any fan can go online and vote for which ever player they want as many times as they want.  Players make campaign videos to try and boost their numbers to get into the game.  This process can be biased and skewed numbers for players who don't necessarily deserve to be playing, like Yao Ming.

            With the adaptation of the new NHL All-Star Game, there could be bigger and better all-star game formats on the horizon for professional sports.