Pro Bowl flag football game shows NFL can sell anything, and other scattered sports thoughts

BOSTON -- Did you catch The Big Game over the weekend? You know, the one where the all-world football players got together for a game of flag football?

No? You missed it?

Well, let me tell you this: It was quite boring. At least, from the 10 minutes or so that I caught, that was my impression. 

But what struck me more than anything happening on the field at Allegiant Stadium was the sheer number of fans who decided to spend hours of their Sunday IN LAS VEGAS by watching ... that.

Look:

That is A LOT of human beings.

I've done some extensive research (30-45 seconds of Googling) and I've learned that the cheapest tickets were $35. Which means most of those people paid more than that. I can't fathom it, personally.

Nevertheless! There they were. And it just goes to show that -- really and truly -- the National Football League can sell absolutely anything, and there will be a market to buy it.

Crazy.

Here are some other scattered sports thoughts on a mid-winter Monday.

--I'm not going to hate on all of the Pro Bowl skills challenges and things like that, even though they're not for me. I watched my daughter get entranced by the big fellas trying to catch punts while holding multiple footballs, and the football players golfing, and all of those best catch video vignettes. So I get it. If I was 8 years old, I'd love that stuff too.

So if the whole sideshow/skills competition events are a bit lame for adults, we can at least understand that marketing the game to kids is a worthwhile endeavor. (Bring back the Nickelodeon playoff game!)

--At the same time, if the purpose of the skills challenges and flag football game is at least partially to avoid injuries, that seems to be a stretch. For one, Myles Garrett dislocated his toe while running an obstacle course. Not great. And second, maybe I'm a worry wart, but if I'm a GM, I do not want any of my players doing this:

Feels like a great way to break an ankle (or a neck) for absolutely no reason.

--Speaking of All-Star festivities, it was also All-Star weekend for the NHL. Maybe I'm getting old, but the skills competition that used to be among the crown jewels of sports parties was ... not very good. It used to be a bit simpler: hardest shot, accuracy contest, breakaways. Nothing wrong with that. Now they've got something called the "Tendy Tandem," and they've got David Pastrnak awkwardly cosplaying as Happy Gilmore. Then the next day, it was rather difficult to remember which team was which, as the jerseys for the four divisions were all of similar design and color scheme:

And poor Fall Out Boy had to emerge from a tunnel of mascots:

And the All-Star Game itself was delayed due to accidental confetti spillage.

I don't know, man. Even keeping in mind all that was said about the NFL and marketing to children ... the NHL makes it tough. It really does.

--Making the NHL All-Star Game as a goalie feels much more like punishment than it does a reward. The 3-on-3 format is actually a very good solution to the contact-free game that the All-Star Game became over the years. Seeing the world's best players with all that open ice is dynamite. Just not for goalies. They're just sitting ducks, forced to try to not tear any muscles while bursting from post to post for their entire time on the ice.

Feel like the actual reward for making the All-Star team as a goaltender is to sit in a lounge chair sipping a cool beverage while watching some other poor sucker have to try to play net. Let the EBUGs play if you have to. Because that's a tough job.

--Steph Curry will be out for several weeks after banging knees the other night, which stinks. But I was struck by how insanely specific the Warriors got when announcing the injury:

An MRI last night confirmed that Curry suffered partial tears to his superior tibiofibular ligaments and interosseous membrane as well as a contusion to his lower leg.  

I'm going to be honest with you, Warriors. I am not familiar with the specifics of the superior tibiofibular ligaments, nor am I up to speed on the ins and outs of the interosseous membrane. WebMD does not cover this. But I do appreciate the specificity here.

--Brian Flores is one of three finalists for the Arizona Cardinals' head coaching job. That's interesting on multiple levels. Obviously, he's still got ongoing litigation against the NFL for racial discrimination, and I wouldn't assume that lawsuit will be dropped upon potentially getting a new head coaching gig. But there's also the potential head coach-quarterback dynamic at play, after the Cardinals dedicated $160 million guaranteed to Kyler Murray last offseason.

Flores seemingly never bought into the Tua Tagovailoa experience in Miami, and trying to rebuild the moderately underwhelming Murray will be responsibility number one for the next head coach. 

The other two finalists are Mike Kafka and Lou Anarumo, neither of whom have any head coaching experience.

--The Super Bowl will take place this week in Arizona, which is a good time to remember that somehow MALCOLM BUTLER INTERCEPTED RUSSELL WILSON AT THE GOAL LINE TO STEAL A SUPER BOWL FROM THE SEAHAWKS AND GIVE A NEW LIFE TO PATRIOTS DYNASTY, PART DEUX.

I've seen that play roughly 6,000 times. Never -- not once -- do I expect the man to pick off a pass. Just makes no sense. It defies logic and all spatial laws of physics.

I swear, one of these days, that pass is going to fall incomplete, and Marshawn Lynch will easily score from the 1-yard line. Still can't believe it, almost a decade later.

--The Chicago Bears are probably going to trade away the No. 1 overall pick. All teams getting in on the bidding should be cautious. For all of the success stories of trading up to draft a franchise-altering player, there are just as many disaster tales. The Bears authored one themselves, trading a third-round and fourth-round pick just to move up one single spot to select Mitchell Trubisky at No. 2 overall in 2017. Patrick Mahomes was drafted 10th.

In 2021, the 49ers traded three first-round picks plus a third-round pick to move up nine spots to select Trey Lance, who's thrown 102 total passes in two years. Washington traded three first-round picks and a second-round pick to move up four spots to select Robert Griffin III at No. 2 overall in 2012. The Rams traded two first-rounders, two second-rounders, and two third-rounders to move up from No. 15 to take ... Jared Goff at No. 1 overall in 2016. (The Rams also got a fourth-round pick and a sixth-round pick, in addition to Goff.)

There are some doozies. So to all teams salivating at the thought of paying a high price for the No. 1 pick ... sometimes the best deals are the ones you don't make.

--This may not be cool or spicy or even allowed in the world of hot takes, but I hope Kyrie Irving finds peace. I know it's easy to rag on the guy, and I've certainly made comments over the years as he's burned his way through three NBA franchises, leaving a wake of disappointment and destruction. But clearly, the guy is searching for something that he hasn't been able to find.

He was in a great spot in Cleveland, delivering an NBA championship to a city that had never before captured one. But a year later, he wanted out.

He landed in Boston, where he was immediately embraced by a city that had badly yearned for an NBA superstar to fill the void that had been missing since the Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett days. He said he wanted his No. 11 to hang in the rafters of the TD Garden one day. And then ... he quit on the team and left town at his first opportunity, signing with the Nets after planning that exit during his Celtics tenure.

And the Nets were supposed to be the final spot for him. He was returning "home." He was with Kevin Durant. He had his money. It was all lined up. And now it's over after three and a half seasons, with only one playoff series win to show for it.

There's no excuse for spreading misinformation or hate. And he's really not a sympathetic figure. But when someone clearly can't feel at peace being anywhere, something's clearly amiss. Maybe he'll find that peace in Dallas, or perhaps his next NBA stop. But he's still just 30 years old, so hopefully he does find it. Going through a career the way he's doing it is no way to live.

--Finally, an early Super Bowl prediction:

Eagles 41, Chiefs 28

We'll see how much that changes, if at all, as we endure the week of Super Bowl hype.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.