All-star game

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An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, but sometimes dividing the players by an attribute such as nationality. Selection of the players may be done by a vote of the coaches and/or news media; in professional leagues, fans may vote on some or all of the roster. An all-star game usually occurs at the midpoint of the regular season. An exception is American football's Pro Bowl, which occurs at the end of the season.

All-star games are organized like regular games, but are often played with less emphasis on victory. Competing goals are to give many players time in the game and to avoid injury. In hockey, for example, there is no serious checking, while in football no blitzing is allowed. In basketball, there is virtually no defense played until the final quarter. However, the Australian State of Origin series does involve physicality that often leads to on-field scuffles.

The term "all-star" is mainly used in North America. All-star games are rare in international sports (such as association football) where games between national teams are more popular than all-star games would be. In the United Kingdom, all-star teams are usually denoted with the Roman numeral corresponding to the number of players allowed on the field - for example, a soccer or cricket XI, a rugby league XIII and a rugby union XV.[citation needed]

Major League Baseball organized the first professional league all-star game as part of the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. It was the brainchild of Arch Ward, then sports editor for The Chicago Tribune.[1] Initially intended to be a one-time event, its great success resulted in playing the game annually. Ward's contribution was recognized by Major League Baseball in 1962 with the creation of the "Arch Ward Trophy," given to the All-Star Game's most valuable player each year.[2]

Professional all-star games

North America

Major leagues
  • Major League Baseball All-Star Game (National League vs. American League)
  • National Basketball Association All-Star Game (Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference)
  • National Hockey League All-Star Game
    • The game has had a number of formats throughout its history:
      • The original format, used from 1947 through 1968 with two exceptions, saw the previous season's Stanley Cup champions take on an "All-Star" team made up of the First and Second NHL All-Star Teams plus other star players.
      • In 1951 and 1952, the competing teams were the First NHL All-Star Team, supplemented with stars from the league's American franchises, and the Second NHL All-Star Team, supplemented with stars from Canadian franchises.
      • Beginning in 1969 and continuing through 2009, with some exceptions, the format was geographic—most recently Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference.
      • For 1979 and 1987, a single team comprising the NHL's best players faced the Soviet national ice hockey team in a two-game series.
      • From 1998 through 2002, the teams were divided by player nationality, with a "North America" team made up of Canadians and Americans and a "World" team drawn from the rest of the world.
      • In 2006, 2010 and 2014, the league did not hold an all-star game, instead releasing its players to play ice hockey at the Olympic Games. The league held an all-star game in addition to releasing its players to the Olympics in 1998 and 2002.
      • Due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout cancelling the entire season, the All-Star Game was not held in 2005. In 2013, the league did not hold an all-star game as well, as it omitted from the schedule because of the shortened season caused by the player lockout.
      • From 2011 to 2015, a fantasy draft took place that involved the selection of 42 players—six in fan voting, and the other 36 by the league. The selected players then chose two of these individuals as team captains.
      • From 2016 onward, the All-Star Game will be replaced by a mini-tournament where teams representing the league's divisions compete against each other.
  • Pro Bowl - National Football League
    • From 1938 to 1942, the NFL held an all-star game with the winner of that year's NFL Championship Game against an all-star team composed of players from the other teams (and, at least once, teams outside the NFL).
    • From 1951 to 2013, the Pro Bowl followed an interconference format (Eastern vs. Western from 1951 to 1969 and American Football Conference vs. National Football Conference since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970). It changed to a draft format, similar to the NHL All-Star Game (see above), beginning with the 2014 contest.
Note: In professional American football, the term "all-star game" can also refer to the American Football League All-Star game, played from 1961 to 1969; or the College All-Star Game, played from 1934 to 1976.
  • Major League Soccer All-Star Game
    • The game has had several formats throughout its history:
      • Originally, the game pitted Eastern Conference and Western Conference all-star teams. This format was used for all games save one from 1996 through 2001, and also in 2004.
      • The 1998 game pitted an "MLS USA" team, consisting entirely of Americans, against an "MLS World" team drawn from all other nationalities.
      • The 2002 game matched an MLS all-star team against the US national team.
      • The 2003 game was the first in which an MLS all-star team played a visiting foreign club team. This format has been used ever since, with the exception of 2004.
  • NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (Race winners from previous and current season, as well as Sprint Cup champions and All-Star Race winners from the previous 10 seasons)
  • WNBA All-Star Game (usually Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference)
    • In 2004 and 2010, the East-West format was not followed; instead, the USA national team faced a team of WNBA all-stars. These games are not considered official All-Star Games by the league.
    • In 2008, no All-Star Game was played; the league took a break for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Minor leagues

Former events

Other regions

Note: This annual game involves a publicly voted selection of the best club players from the league versus an Aboriginal team in honour of reconciliation.

College all-star games

College football

Other college sports

High school all-star games

High school basketball

  • McDonald's All-American Game — featuring the most highly recruited high school players from across the nation.
  • Jordan Brand Classic - similar game among blue chip athletes
  • Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic - the oldest continually held high school all-star game in the country. It is played annually in Louisville, KY at Freedom Hall and features top high school boys basketball players from across the country.

High school football

(Longest running football all star game in the country. EST. 1935)

High school lacrosse

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "All-Star Game History", Baseball Almanac.
  2. ↑ Newman, Mark. "All-Star MVP Awaits Your Vote", MLB.com, July 10, 2006.

External links

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