THE WEIRS TIMES & THE COCHECO TIMES, Thursday, May 17, 2012


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first. The NHL All-Star format has evolved over the years, but the game remains a crowd-pleaser. The first NBA All-Star


by Mike Moffett Contributing Writer


Avengers, All-Stars, and the Pro Bowl


There is something com-


pelling about gathering the best of the best – the elites – and letting them col- lectively work their mag- ic. Consider the amazing box-office success of The Avengers, which set sales records earlier this month, as movie-goers flocked to see a Dream Team of Su- per Heroes in action. All-Stars, if you will. Americans love the no-


tion of All-Stars. It all goes back to Major League Baseball’s first All-Star game in Chicago in 1933. The brainchild of Chicago Tribune Sports Editor Arch Ward, the contest saw the American Leaguers beat the Nationals 4-2, with 39-year-old Babe Ruth hitting the first-ever All- Star home run. The game was a big success and it became a fixture on America’s summer sports schedule. For a few years there were even TWO sum- mer All-Star games. Fans loved how the best from each league came together to do baseball battle, and eventually the other major professional leagues devel- oped their own versions of All-Star Games. The NHL held its first-


ever All-Star game in 1934 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The event raised money for Toronto Maple Leaf Ace Bailey, whose career was cut short by a vicious hit by Boston Bruin Eddie Shore several months earlier. Bailey’s life was almost cut short as well, as a priest ad- ministered last rites to the stricken Toronto forward. Happily, Bailey survived. As part of this inaugural All-Star hockey event, Bai- ley’s #6 uniform was re- tired by the Leafs, an NHL


game was at the Boston Garden in 1951, and like the other big league ver- sions, it was successful and started a tradition. Famously, the 1964 All- Star Game, also in Boston, almost didn’t happen. Bos- ton player rep and All-Star Tom Heinsohn talked the other stars into threaten- ing to boycott the game (the first-ever to be tele- vised nationally) unless the owners recognized the Players Union. The owners caved in. As with baseball and ice


hockey, the pro-basket- ball All-Star game became a fixture on the annual sports calendar, and as with baseball and hockey, legendary performances became part of basketball lore. The NBA now has an All-Star Weekend, replete with Slam Dunk Contests, Three-Point Competitions, Rookie All-Star contests, and Legends (Old-Timers) Games. Colleges and high schools


have emulated the success of the Big League All-Star Games with their own ver- sions. The NH/Vermont Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl Football Game is but one of countless examples. So the All-Star concept is a “can’t- miss” idea, yes? No. The NFL Pro Bowl All-


Star event is a disaster that just needs to go away. Reportedly, NFL Com-


missioner Roger Goodell is unhappy over the lack of commitment the players give to the event, which is held annually in Hono- lulu. The players don’t try that hard and are mostly concerned with avoiding injuries. If the players don’t care, why should the fans? The NFL moved the game


to the weekend before the Super Bowl to try to capture some of that Su- per Energy, but it hasn’t worked.


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An ESPN source reports


that after the 2013 season the Pro Bowl is going to be “DOA (dead on arrival).” RIP.


Dan Duval It’s always sad to hear


of the passing of sports legends, but it’s especially hard to hear of the death of local legends when they pass on well before their times. Dan Duval is such a


legend. A charter member of the Manchester Sports Hall of Fame, Duval was a three-sport star at Trin- ity High School, Class of 1976. A member of sev- eral Class L title teams, he earned a scholarship to McGill University in Mon- treal. Substance abuse helped cut his college ca- reer and he returned to Manchester. During the early 1980s


I had the occasion to play basketball against him in several Manchester area men’s hoop leagues, and found that substance abuse never dampened his competitive fires. Decades later we’d laugh about how


seriously we all took those basketball battles. One of Danny’s teammates was the fiery Sean McDon- nell, who would channel his competitive energy in coaching football, later becoming the head coach at UNH. Eventually Danny licked


the substance abuse de- mons and became a moti- vational speaker, candidly acknowledging how sub- stance abuse ruined his athletic career and almost ruined his life. By all ac- counts, Duval’s message had real impact on count- less young listeners. And that will be Danny’s


greatest legacy, even more than his records, champi- onships, and numerous sports honors. RIP.


Born Today ... That is to say, sports


greats born on May 17 include San Antonio Spur Tony Parker (1982) and NFL quarterback Matt Ryan (1985).


Sportsquiz Who holds the NFL re-


cord for most touchdowns scored? (Answer follows).


Sportsquote “It’s been a long time


since anyone from my tribe roasted a white man.” – former Boston Bruin Stan Jonathan, a full blooded Tuscorura Indian, at a ce- lebrity roast for some of his old Bruin teammates.


Sportsquiz Answer Jerry Rice holds the ca-


reer touchdown record with 208 TDs. He played with the San Francisco 49ers from 1985-2000, the Oakland Raiders from 2001-03 and finished up with the Seattle Seahawks in 2004. Following Rice on the All-Time TD list are: Emmitt Smith -with 175 and Marcus Allen with 145.


Michael Moffett is a Pro-


fessor of Sports Manage- ment at NHTI, Concord’s Community College. His e-mail address is mimof- fett@comcast.net.


New Hampshire Now!


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