Echoes of Effort: Rediscovering the Soul of Competition

Why has the recent success of the NHL Four Nations Faceoff been deemed revolutionary in the eyes of its viewers?  What has happened to All Star games in pro sports? How did we go from top players fist fighting and wild trash talking to a game deemed lazy, boring and unwatchable, and, in the eyes of ESPN’s Analyst Stephan A. Smith, a game in which  “Nobody tries anymore,” having “become a glorified layup line. Fans deserve better.” Why are sports leagues having this problem, given that it wasn’t always like this? 

Ever since the first All Star game in 1933, they have been an honor for pro sports players who were selected to play and a way for fans to see their favorite players showing why they belong among the league's best. If this was the standard for all major sports leagues for so many years, what has happened to this coveted event? 

          While the All Star game has been a big disappointment in all aspects in recent years with fans complaining about lack of effort, the NHL might recently have solved this problem. 

In mid-February of 2024, the NHL announced that they would have a tournament called the “4 Nations Face-Off,” which was originally supposed to be a warm up to the 2026 Winter Olympics. The nations were picked based on the four highest ranked countries in\] international hockey and possibly countries that have top players on them. In the end, Finland, Sweden, Canada, and the United States were selected, with their rosters composed exclusively of NHL players. 

Leading up to the first game on February 24th, there was lots of hype and speculation about who was there and who wasn’t. Each of the four teams had their fair share of NHL stars, with Finland having Alexander Barkov and Sebastian Aho, Sweden having Filip Forsberg and Rasmus Dahlin, team USA having Jack Hughes and Austin Matthews, and the favored Canada having NHL superstars like Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid. With all of these stars, the expectations were sky high, and the fans hoped that this experiment would be successful

In the end, it was.

The first game was a much anticipated match between Canada and the USA. Both teams had their star players and an intense rivalry going back to the early days of international hockey. With a little bit of trash talk between the players, this matchup was geared to be intense and worth every penny. 

In the first few seconds of gametime a massive fight arose with six players serving majors in the penalty box. A fight within the first few seconds of a much anticipated game between two hockey powerhouses was just what the fans wanted, because the excitement was there and the passion of the players and fans could only increase from there. 

Following the debut of the Canada-USA matchup, the rest of the games between the four respected countries made headlines on many sports news broadcasts and even drew praise from athletes from other sports like JJ. Watt, who tweeted, “It’s just incredible how much of a home run 4 nations have been for the NHL and hockey in general. Friends who have never watched a hockey game in their lives are reaching out asking what the plan is for tonight's game, what food we're ordering etc. Definition of growing the game.”

But how did we end up here? From the 1920s to the present day many of the top leagues have gone from playground games to multi million dollar businesses. Over time, the rules changed and more money was being put into the league's success, which only grew fan attendance, meaning that fans went from upper class men in suits to a full two or three-hour long event that the whole family could spend their afternoon watching. 

All the leagues have had dynasties, teams who have won titles or who remained in title contention for long periods of time. The thing about pro sports is that some of these teams have become fashion symbols, transcending the sport itself. Some examples of these are the Lakers, Yankees, and Rangers. And it didn't stop there. With many of these sports being labeled as team games, there have been players who have made a name for themselves. And, in more recent years, athletic wear with the likeness of star players has been common. And, similarly, these players are known for more than just their respective sport. Some examples of these individuals are Jackie Robinson, known also for his stand for equality in a league that at the time was whites only, and Michael Jordan, whose deal with Nike pioneered the integration between sports and culture. 

             With athletes in this day and age having their likeness more known to the fans of the world, it has come with expectations and criticism of recent performances in the All Star events. The two most recent examples of outright lack of effort come from the NBA All-Star game. In the past, the All Star games were one of the events that fans have enjoyed with the skills challenge, where players are put through an obstacle course that touches on all aspects of basketball. With the pride of the players on the line, some players like to bend the rules, which does make them win but makes the fans dislike and, in this case, boo them. When two new teammates from the San Antonio Spurs, Chris Paul and Victor Wenbanyama, played, they only wanted the fastest time, which meant that when shooting was involved they showed no effort to aim for the hoop and instead made futile attempts at the rim, angering the fans and causing the whole arena to boo them. In another case during the 2021 NBA dunk contest, where the best dunkers in the NBA are supposed to shine, the league instead had a bunch of bench players on deck instead, which resulted in over 10 missed dunks. This, just like the skills challenge, resulted in public shaming from sports analysts, current and former players, and fans.

           This trend of disgust and hatred towards the All Star events wasn’t always criticized for a lack of entertainment. Since the first All Star games in the MLB in 1933, players always felt it was an honor to play with the league's best and always strived to one-up each other by giving it their all. And it wasn’t just the players that looked forward to playing with and against the league's best. The fans always loved seeing the talent of all the best players on display in one place, with NHL coach Rick Tocchet saying in regards to the talent at All Star weekend, “When you meet these players and you see the skill level at All Star weekend, what they can do with the puck, how personal they are, how fan friendly, there is another level that these guys can bring to the NHL.”

Along with the fun from seeing the best athletes play for the fans, the All Star games have produced a lot of signature moments over the years, from the late great Kobe Bryant’s first All Star appearance at only 19 years old, to Sean Taylor completely wrecking Bills’ quarterback Brian Noorman. These memories will forever be engraved in the minds of all sports fans alike and are an expectation of the level of play that fans hope to see once every year, especially when tickets to watch these games live can cost around two grand on average. 

         The All Star game is seen as a weekend of fun and entertainment, but the players want to make sure one thing is important: player safety. Each of the top 4 leagues in the U.S has always kept player safety uppermost in mind, which is why some players won’t go all out but instead treat it as a competitive streetball game with the action still there but without that increased risk of injury. Besides the play, another priority for the leagues are other forms of entertainment. Over the years, this has included halftime performances, cash prizes for fans, and acrobatic spectacles. The other main reason for these gimmicks is that producing these events would earn the leagues even more money. Having the guarantee of a great showing of talent by the athletes and a way to win prizes and seeing Grammy nominated performers sing their classic hits makes it a no brainer for some dedicated fans who are willing to spend large amounts of money to see this once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

          While the excitement around these events has always been high, the downfall of All Star events in U.S sports occurred in the mid to late-2010s. Unlike before, where the All Star game was a way to see top talent go their hardest and rivalries flourish, the more recent All Star games have instead made it solely about entertainment, resulting in lackluster performance, no real defense, and a game that fans just want to look away from.

Criticism from the fans comes all the time, but it’s not just fans who are seeing this revelation. Sports analysts and former players are noticing the lack of entertainment at these All Star events. One of the biggest sports broadcasters, Stephan A. Smith, said on an episode of ESPN’s First Take, “There was no effort whatsoever, what we should be able to see other than dunks, we should not be able to look at a basketball game and know that anybody could be on the court with you based on the effort you're putting on display.” In other words, Smith was noting how normal it had become for the best players to put in disappointing games.

Similarly to Stephan A’s comments on the NBA all star game, former NFL defensive end Marcellus Wiley sounds off on the Pro Bowl games in his podcast On The Rocks, saying, “The NBA all star game? It was unwatchable, and it takes away from the root of the sport, and the reason why us as fans watch it.” In his rant he also quotes former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone who said after the final score of 184-175 in the 2023 game, “It’s an honor to be here, It’s an honor to be a part of such a great weekend, great players, but that is the worst basketball game ever played.” 

In America, where sports is one of, if not the biggest, sources of entertainment, you would think the backlash towards these events shouldn’t be common, because everyone has their issues with things. But having the same criticism coming from passionate fans, staff, and former players says that everyone who loves their respective sport feels underappreciated, especially when these criticisms are leveled year after year with nothing being done and the games being deemed unwatchable by sports analysts and fans alike.            

          As a kid who grew up in a rural part of Connecticut and played hockey in the open spaces of my house and outdoors when the temperature was just right, I know what these guys are saying. Just like everyone else, I modeled my game after the skill and toughness I saw in every sports game. With this expectation that I had with all major sports, I was sad to see the decline of effort, effort that all the All Star games lacked, along with similar declines in the NBA, NFL, and MLB. 

They say hope never goes away. I never truly believed this until watching the newly revamped event during NHL All Star weekend in 2024. I really appreciated them going out on a limb and creating the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, which was a massive risk for their viewership. But for someone like myself who, in recent years, immersed myself in the 2022 World Cup and the Euro 2024, watching the best hockey players battle for their home nation was really special to see, knowing that all these star players were giving it their all for their home nation.