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		If Pro Bowl moves from Hawaii, key players won't come By Super Bowl Wayne January 28, 2012

	HONOLULU--Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie said this week that he will do everything he can to keep the Pro Bowl in Honolulu. Some players have said that some of the All-Star players that are key players in the league will not attend if the game is played anywhere else. Abercrombie said, "we would like to continue to have (the game) and we're going to do everything we can to make sure that comes about in a fashion that will make everybody very, very happy." The Pro Bowl the NFL all star game that arrived in Honolulu since 1980 has been played every year in the 50th state since 1980 but was discontinued for one season in 2010 and played in Miami. The NFL Commissioner heard it from the players who protested that the game was moved and should continue to be played in Honolulu and some players even demonstrated by taking off the 2010 game in Miami some key players didn't show up and the AFC quarterback starting squad used only replacements when the selected starters like Tom Brady and others bowed out because of "injuries". This 2012 Pro Bowl has all the key players here and it's another clear statement to the league that if the game remains here they'll show up go somewhere else like New Orleans where it is possible to host the Pro Bowl next season you might have a number of players dialing in with blue flu. The cost to the State of Hawaii to have the Pro Bowl each year is $4.5 million but what you didn't get to hear is they estimated they'd make $27 million from that $4.5 million investment. Now I asked that question of Ray Anderson the vice president of communications and corporate with the NFL. Before the Governor showed up at the press conference there were some owners who expressed to me Superbowl Wayne that they don't want to come back to this old almost 40 year old stadium that has no suites that has no corporate entities. Aloha Stadium doesn't have the amenities like they have at the Oakland Coliseum over there where the Raiders play. Aloha Stadium is known for being a bucket of bolts and I asked that question during negotiations did you hear they didn't want to come back until we have a brand new stadium. I didn't know the Governor was there and Anderson refused to answer because they're in negotiations and that could be one of the topics. Well I'm glad I said it because the Governor came in unannounced and started talking about how they wanted to have a friendly atmosphere. That's contradictory from what he said about three and half months ago when he said "well I don't think we should invest in the Pro Bowl." The people of Hawaii have spoken, two thousand military families showed up for practice on Thursday at Hickham Field Air Force base they love the Pro Bowl and I know you love being here please come over. That's the whole deal it's for the fans and that's how come you saw after the practice the players went over to all these fans and they were signing autographs from everybody. These fans just love these players and you will too I'm telling you don't let the Pro Bowl go anywhere else. Write your congressman, write the NFL, tell them to keep the Pro Bowl here because you never know when you want to come on out here and go surfing. More Pro Bowl notes: I had a chance to speak with Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rogers right from the start he got off the team bus for practice on Saturday and he came off with a big grin on his face and said "hey how you doing?" Now Rogers remembers me because two years ago we had the Pro Bowl over in Miami after the game I told him "you know your the greatest quarterback in the league, you should have been at the Super Bowl I think you should be going to the Super Bowl" and he said "so do I." Nobody else believes in him and he came in there last year and he gave me the biggest grin that I can see on your face, he remembers me, he remembers us all. So you guys got to remember no matter what keep on trying, keep on going towards your goal and look to the stars. The NFL has tried to do a few things different this week they had their first practice ever on a military base last Thursday at Hickham Field and I had a chance to talk to the Baltimore Ravens grounds keeper and he was sent over here starting in October on weekends to work on the Hickham field because they wanted this field to be tip top for this week's practice session with the NFL. What he had to deal with was with brown dirt hard a grass field and he didn't know how it was going to happen but all of a sudden this guy from USAA came up with some money. They didn't have any money to help the field and he's looking where we look right now where there's these major quadruple Air Force jets there they had the money for the hardware, you want them to have the hardware, we want our military to have the right equipment right? So somehow they found something like $500,000 to help rebuild the field for football practice and it looks great. It's green and it's a real grass field not like the one at Aloha Stadium where it's like an artificial rug but it's light and it feels light. This one is the real deal grass. Super Bowl Wayne is covering the Pro Bowl for Sportstalk Radio