After almost 30 years as the sun-drenched host of the Pro Bowl, Aloha stadium will no longer be the permanent home to the all star game.

Next year the NFC-AFC showdown will be played at Dolphin Stadium and for the first time ever, it will take place before the Super Bowl.

[/i]

This game is always lame anyway.

The Pro Bowl has been plagued with criticism ever since the NFL allowed fan voting. Voting by fans takes up 1/3 of the vote for Pro Bowl players. Many teams like Dallas, Washington, and other large fan bases usually win this popularity contest because fans usually vote for their own team and not necessarily the best player. In the 2008 Pro Bowl, the Dallas Cowboys had thirteen players on the NFC roster, a NFL record. ESPN writer Jemele Hill describes it like an American Idol contest. Players from small market teams like Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor and Minnesota Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield have had many deserving seasons to be in the Pro Bowl. It took Taylor twelve seasons to finally get his Pro Bowl spot after Willie Parker, running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, injured himself out of the Pro Bowl. "If you're in a small market, no one really gets to see you play," said Winfield. "If you're a quiet guy, it's hard to get the attention. You just have to work hard and play." Winfield made the Pro Bowl in 2008 after ten seasons of being shut out.

The player voting has also been subject to significant criticism. It is not uncommon for the players to pick the same players over and over again; former offensive lineman (and SI.com analyst) Ross Tucker has cited politics, incumbency, and compensation for injury in previous years as primary factors in player's choices among themselves, resulting in players such as Charles Woodson, Ruben Brown, Brett Favre and to a lesser extent Jason Peters repeatedly being selected to the game despite having subpar seasons.

In short, the game is a bit of a joke and nowhere near as highly regarded as the NBA All-Star game or the MLB version.