Players may be the saviors if Hawaii is to keep Pro Bowl

Is the Hawaii Tourism Authority chasing a ghost? If it didn’t seem like it before last week, it certainly does now when it comes to hosting the Pro Bowl. It’s looking like there won’t even be one, at least in 2013.

Considering that the NFL hasn’t come to a deal with a host city or announced a site for a football game (using the term loosely) that would be played nine months from now, it’s a good bet there will be no NFL all-star game following the upcoming season, anywhere.

Actually, this should be no surprise after commissioner Roger Goodell’s comments following last January’s event at Aloha Stadium — a sellout in more ways than one. This time the lack of effort of so many players was so obvious they were booed.

Interesting that the players — the same group of people who put on a half-speed show, or don’t come at all — might be the last chance for the Pro Bowl’s survival, or at least some kind of annual NFL presence in Hawaii. That’s because the players union wants a say in this.

After hearing and reading some of NFLPA president Domonique Foxworth’s thoughts, it made me wonder if the HTA is talking to the right people. Maybe it should get some kind of dialogue going with Foxworth, who says he wants to keep the game alive.

“The Pro Bowl is an important tradition we are in talks with the league to improve and preserve the game for our players and fans,” Foxworth wrote on Twitter last week.

Foxworth said the players might put forth a more genuine effort in the Pro Bowl if the league provides insurance against injuries and gives those on the winning team a bigger cut of TV proceeds.

TV ratings went up when the league moved the game to before the Super Bowl, and the Pro Bowl still makes money, or the NFL would’ve already pulled the plug on it. It is expensive to stage here, but the NFL gets $4 million a year from the HTA.

There’s always talk about hosting a preseason or even regular-season game here, but it’s hard to get teams to give up home games. The St. Louis Rams are playing regularly in England, so maybe someone needs to look at that blueprint. Oh, yeah … that’s after the little detail of blowing up Aloha Stadium and building a modern facility.

HERE’S A WILD idea: If the NFL doesn’t want the Pro Bowl but the union does, maybe the players should buy it … and even if they can’t stage a game, why not a week of celebrations and interactive events with fans? In the islands, of course.

Every player we ever ask says they want the Pro Bowl, and they want it in Hawaii. But those are the ones who bothered to come. It is also clear by the big number of no-shows that many NFL players don’t want to suit up for another game — regardless of how soft it is — after putting their bodies through the stress of the season.

Unions are rarely totally unified on issues, and this one is no exception. If the HTA and NFLPA were somehow able to come up with a workable alternative Pro Bowl concept here in the islands, and with the blessing of the NFL, does it mean there would be fewer than 20 stars opting out?

And as bad a football game as the Pro Bowl has become, it’s still an easier ad sell than 3 hours of NFL players hanging out at the beach, visiting hospitals and signing autographs.

What a strange twist the probable demise of the Pro Bowl represents. As shown in the issues of head injuries and bounties, the NFL’s biggest current dilemma is controlling chaos and punishing players and coaches who cross the line between hard-hitting football and overly dangerous violence.

But the league might lose its all-star game because the players refused to hit each other.