The 2011 NFL Pro Bowl will take place tonight starting at 7:00 PM ET, to be televised on FOX. The Buffalo Bills will have a participant in this game (DT Kyle Williams) for the first time since 2009, when both Marshawn Lynch and Jason Peters represented the AFC.
Typically, I avoid the Pro Bowl. Perhaps "avoid" is the wrong word; let's say that I have less than zero inclination to go out of my way to watch it. It's boring. But I'll be watching today, even if the game is ridiculous on every level.
I'll be watching because there's going to be a player wearing a Bills helmet playing football in this game, and due to the labor issues and negotiations (or lack thereof) between the NFL and NFLPA regarding a new CBA, I don't know for sure when I'll be able to do that again.
This is what the labor issue has boiled down to for me, and for the first time, I'm pissed off. It's tough enough waiting for real football for nine months. If the last fleeting memory of Bills football I have next October is Kyle Williams playing in the Pro Bowl, it'll be a travesty.
So yes - I'm watching the Pro Bowl. I'm not going to enjoy it - but it'll be a hell of a lot better than what may occur next fall.
ENJOY WITH ABSOLUT RESPONSIBILITY®