KL: An All-Star game found lacking.

So the MLB All Star Game is tomorrow... Did you somehow miss this too?

As a younger child, I looked forward to this game. Seeing Mattingly play with Boggs, who played with Ripkin, and McGuire, and Gywnn, and Puckett, and Strawberry, and Gooden, and Fisk, and Sandberg, and Dawson, etc... It was truly a game of All-Stars. It was meaningless, yes, and it only was an exhibition; but it was fun.... it was anticipated.

I woke up this morning and turned on the news. Oh, the game is tomorrow evening? How did I miss this fact? I will tell you how I missed it: I simply did not and do not care. I am not interested in a National League line-up (despite having a rooting interest in the NL) with the likes of Kosuke Fukudome as the Center Fielder or Geovany Soto as the Catcher. (I can honestly say I have never heard of Soto until I wrote this editorial.) Yes, it is nice to see Chipper Jones have a late-career resurgence and make an appearance as a starter, for the sake of familiarity, and Pujols is always deserving... but then I look at the AL roster. Dustin Pedroia? Cliff Lee? Kevin Youkilis? And these are the starters? I haven't even delved into the reserves yet.

No, I will not watch this game, it is simply uninspiring--just like the efforts that will be made by the participants... and the irony is that the MLB All Star Game may still be the highest profile of the four major professional sports (Pro Bowl anyone?); yet the ratings are all but non-existent. I believe in this day and age, people simply do not have the time or desire to see the half-effort displays made by these professional athletes. As they have become wealthier, their sense of humor and willing spirit has somehow diminished. We will never again experience the classic type of encounter that we did between Randy Johnson and John Kruk 15 years ago during one MLB All Star Game. Major League Baseball as a sport is slowly dying and the interest waning. Is it time for football yet?