The 2012 Pro-Bowl was played last Sunday at the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, just in case you were among the millions NOT aware that the game was even being played.

For those of you who were like me and wasted even a couple of minutes to watch that joke of a football game, I feel your pain.

You might think that a game that between the NFL’s best players in both conferences and that ends in a 59-41 decision would have been one of the most spectacular displays of American football, ever. You might think that such a game would have had great significance, as in Major League Baseball where home field advantage in the World Series is given to the winning league. Before thinking happy thoughts about this past NFL “All-Star” game, let me go ahead and stop you right there. This is me shaking you at this point. Snap out of it.

In a game played by professionals it is hard to believe that an entirely different set of rules was applied to the Pro Bowl. Teams’ offensive formations had to have a tight end, no big deal there. Offensive formations can’t have three receivers on a side, again not an issue for the audience. But here’s where things were tossed up into the proverbial fan: There couldn’t be any motion or shifting by the offense, no press coverage except inside the 5 yard line, no blitzing and no rushing punts, point-after-touchdowns, or field goal attempts.

Put it all together and what do you have? A quarterback sitting comfortably back in the pocket for what seems like days and a bunch of linemen standing in front of each other as if they were pairing up for the prom.

It was one of the oddest things to watch in a sporting event, a professional game played with a 50 percent effort from players, at best. Running plays strangely showed a half-back attempt to meander through a line of hardly-moving tackles.

There were no sacks (obviously because defensive players had to stop at the line of scrimmage), and there were a total of 6 tackles for loss, while the NFC only recorded 1.

When the camera turned up into the stands, I think I counted more empty seats than occupied. NBC Sports reported having an 8.6 overnight rating for its coverage of the game, which basically means having around the same about of viewers as the World Series or College Football bowl games. I find this incredibly hard to believe, also taking into account what else was on television last Sunday.

And incase the sight or thought of the Pro-Bowl turned you off to watching sports altogether, a “Murder She Wrote” marathon aired over on TV Land. Honestly, anything would’ve been a better alternative to watching almost three hours of that sorry excuse for a football game.

jmaheredgin@lanthorn.com