Netiquette » composed the pairs short program song in tribute to hi

(SportsNetwork.com) - When it comes to the Pro Bowl, its time to tap out. And pulling the plug on the NFLs All-Star game wouldnt exactly be comparable to Daniel Cormier begging off to Jon Jones on the UFCs biggest stage. Ending this fruitless exercise would be more like a tree falling in the forest and its not going to spark any meaningful debate with the dozens and dozens who actually still care about it. Interestingly it was Andy Daltons Pro Bowl recognition on Tuesday that set Twitter off as if an average quarterback playing in a meaningless football game is some kind of calamity. The laughable aspect of Daltons inclusion to the detractors is the fact that he was the seventh alternate at his particular position, a development that really highlighted the ridiculousness of the process. Originally, six QBs were named to the Pro Bowl and just two remain from that pool, Andrew Luck and Tony Romo. Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning were the first to drop out due to injury and top alternate Drew Brees was tabbed to replace Big Ben. Philip Rivers was next in line to take Peytons place but the veteran Chargers star begged off due to his own injury. Third alternate Russell Wilson is busy with Super Bowl business so the fourth option, Detroits Matthew Stafford, got Mannings spot. When the Patriots won the AFC Championship Game last Sunday, that took Tom Brady, who was part of the original six, out of the equation and No. 5, Atlantas Matt Ryan, stepped up. It was only a matter of time before likely MVP Aaron Rodgers would throw his get-out-of-jail-free card into the middle of the table because of his high- profile calf injury and that domino fell Tuesday, making room for Baltimores Joe Flacco expect for the fact January Joe had no interest because his wife is expecting their third child. And thats how you end up with the seventh alternate playing quarterback in the Pro Bowl. Im expecting my invitation on Saturday. While Daltons presence magnifies the nonsense that is the actual game, the real jump-the-shark moment for the Pro Bowl came last year when the NFL pulled the plug on the traditional conference format to cater to the millennial audience with a fantasy football for real mentality. These days players are assigned to two teams through a draft and this year Pro Football Hall of Fame receivers Cris Carter and Michael Irvin are serving as alumni team captains for their Pro Bowl squads -- Team Carter and Team Irvin. Fellow Hall of Famers and former teammates John Randle (Team Carter) and Darren Woodson (Team Irvin) serve as defensive co-captains and the ex-Vikings and former Cowboys handled the draft process while being assisted by two active player captains and the winner of the NFLs Fantasy Coach of the Year program. Full disclosure forces me to admit a deep dislike for fantasy football, an activity thats lone contribution to society in my mind is FXXs laugh-out- loud sitcom The League. However, it would be disingenuous to say fantasy hasnt proven to be a cash cow for the NFL and everything from the Red Zone channel to rule changes skewed toward the offense have been put in place with an eye on picking the pocket of the short-attention-span crowd. And from a purely business perspective its a sound short-term strategy. On an average week, Ill do about a dozen radio hits across the country and the who should I play this week people now far outnumber the astute football fans, who are actually invested in the strategy of the game. Catering to the least common denominator, though, is never the long-term solution because theyre moving on quickly and not really invested in the product. Even fellow fantasy fans have no interest in watching one of their own live out his wet dream while Rich Eisen pretends its relevant. Which brings me to my biggest fantasy, halting the goofy game known as the Pro Bowl. Cheap Authentic Jordan 1 Nz . Fifth-seeded Cilic gained his fourth title in Zagreb and became the third Croat overall to win at least 10 career titles. Cilic also lifted his career record in Zagreb to 22-4, winning 20 of his last 21 matches at the event. Cheap Air Jordan 1 Nz Sale . - A pitch clock will be used this season during minor league games at Triple-A and Double-A, but it has been ruled out for the major leagues this year. http://www.cheapairjordan1nz.com/ . According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the New York Rangers winger skated with extras and goalies today. Air Jordan 1 Nz Cheap . - The Mavericks built a 12-point lead with 2:50 to play, gave away all but two points of it, and still managed to hang on. Wholesale Air Jordan 1 Nz Cheap . Nick Young scored 17 points for Los Angeles, which lost five of its last seven before trouncing the Pelicans, who beat them handily last week in New Orleans. Jodie Meeks and Xavier Henry scored 15 points apiece for the Lakers, who led by 20 points in the first half before coasting to their 12th win in their last 13 regular-season meetings with New Orleans.Russias Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov are holding a convincing lead in pairs figure skating going into Wednesdays free skate, winning the short program handily with a final score of 84.17. The clear favourite to win the gold medal in pairs on Wednesday, the duo skated a near-perfect routine in front of a wildly supportive hometown crowd. Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy from Germany, also looking strong in their short program, came in second with a score of 79.64. The duo performed a routine inspired by the Pink Panther. "We wanted to show that it was easy. We skated it for the fans," Savchenko says. "When youre having fun doing your routine and the audience goes with it, it just makes you feel good and less nervous." Szolkowy says that "we had a good feeling, indeed the most important thing was to skate clean. "Were glad that we did all our elements since we want to fight for the gold. The points dont matter for now. Lets see what comes out in the end." Third-place went to another Russian duo of Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, scoring 75.21. on their routine. All three Canadian pairs also advanced to Wednesdays free skate finale. Meagan Duhamel of St-Leonard, Que., and Eric Radford of Toronto finished their short program as the highest ranking Canadians of the night, scoring 72.21 and finishing in fifth place. The duo enjoyed a solid routine with only a minor mistake on a triple lutz spin. Duhamel says it wasnt easy for her and Radford to skate right after eventual third-place finishers Stolbova and Klimov. "It wwas very difficult to skate after the hometown team.dddddddddddd It sounds like a hockey game out there," Duhamel says. "We made some minor mistakes, but Im proud of what we were able to do in that circumstance." "We want a medal really bad, but for us skating the free skate of a lifetime would be worth more than gold, Duhamel says. Radford, who composed the pairs short program song in tribute to his late coach Paul Wirtz, says he "enjoyed every minute" of his short program experience. "Being out there, every moment is an amazing and unforgettable memory." Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catherines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto placed sixth in their short program, scoring 70.92. The couple skated a solid routine as the final performers of the evening. Moore-Towers says that she wasnt nervous heading out onto the ice. "I think the real win tonight was how comfortable we were out there." Moscovitch says that before the couple performed their short program routine, he told Moore-Towers to "leave everything we have on the floor, lets just leave it all out on the ice." "We had a lot of fun out there," Moscovitch says. Paige Lawrence of Kennedy, Sask., and Rudi Swiegers of Virden, Man., in their first Olympics, skated to a score of 58.97. The couples training has been hampered all season by injuries, with Lawrence saying she is about "80 per cent good" in her recovery from a leg injury. Lawrence touched down twice during the couples routine, which led to their 13th place finish. ' ' '