Skills competitions

Skills competitions refer to special exhibition contests that take place during all-star games or other special events in professional sports. Generally, they are held the day before the all-star games.

These events seem to serve at least two purposes: the first is to establish bragging rights between athletes for possessing a particular skill needed to succeed in a sport, and the second is to increase ticket and television revenue for the leagues that sponsor the event. Skills contests are often the only events for which tickets are available during an all-star period, because tickets for the games themselves are sold out.

All-star events

Baseball

The Home Run Derby was first held in 1985 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was won by Cal Ripken, Jr. Today, the Derby usually sells out the all-star stadium and millions watch the event live on ESPN.

Major League Baseball has no other skills event on the All-Star calendar. The other features of the period before the game, which covers Sunday and Monday, include an all-star game of Minor League Baseball players and a celebrity softball game.

Basketball

The Slam Dunk Contest, Three-point Shootout, and Skills Challenge all take place on the day before the game, which falls on a Saturday. "NBA All-Star Saturday" dates back to 1985, and the original lineup was the slam-dunk event and an old-timers game. Today, the old-timers game has been replaced by the Rookie Challenge, and that game has been held on the Friday before the game every year since 2004. TNT televises all events live in the United States; it also has the live game broadcast on Sunday night.

Hockey

The NHL SuperSkills Competition takes place the night before the National Hockey League All-Star Game. Component events include a puck-control relay, a short-track speed skating lap, shooting speed, shooting for accuracy, shootouts, and a stylistic breakaway contest. The events are shown on Versus in the U.S. and the CBC in Canada, as is the game itself.

Football

The Pro Bowl Skills Challenge is held every year in Honolulu, Hawaii, the site of the game. Among the events are a 40-yard dash, throwing for accuracy, kicking for distance, catching, and bench press. There is no live telecast, or, apparently, much publicity; [http://www.nfl.com/probowl/eventschedule the NFL Pro Bowl official event page] does not list this event at all. As of 2007, the tape delay broadcast moves from ESPN to NFL Network.

Other versions

*The College Football All-Star Challenge, shown on ESPN, has senior-class college football players participating in events similar to those contested at the Pro Bowl.
*The ADT Super Skills Challenge is an offseason event in golf which tests golfers' abilities in putting, driving distance, and the short game ("i.e." bunker shots and chip shots). Baseball superstar Mark McGwire beat out a field of professionals to win in 2003.
*The NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge includes a pit crew competition held annually at Charlotte Bobcats Arena, two days before the race. All teams participating in the main event post their best times in a simulated pit stop at different stations, and then push their car 40 yards across the arena floor. Teams then race in single-elimination bracket to determine the overall winner. Individual crew members also compete for prizes in their specialties.

External links

* [http://www.nba.com/allstar2007/ 2007 NBA All-Star Game (includes links to various events)]
* [http://www.nhl.com/allstar/2007/superskills.html 2007 NHL Superskills results]