If you like meaningless exhibition games, then last weekend was a real treat. The 59th NHL All-Star Game and 2012 NFL Pro Bowl were both held on Sunday. Neither game was very compelling.

Offense abounded, effort did not. The AFC defeated the NFC in the Pro Bowl 59-41, and Team Chara topped Team Alfredsson 12-9 in the NHL All Star Game.

Usually, high scores equal high excitement. Not in all-star games. All-star games are played at half speed, which is understandable; it's just an exhibition, so no one wants to get hurt. Due to their inherently physical nature, the NFL and NHL versions really suffer from this lack of intensity.

In the Pro Bowl, the rules are designed to create a cupcake game. The offense must have a tight end on the field for every play and can't have any pre-snap motion. The defense must play a base 4-3 defense at all times and is not allowed to blitz. In other words, the game is only kind of, sort of "football." It's really just a glorified game of two-hand touch.

It was really upsetting to watch the defensive linemen in the Pro Bowl not even attempt to get past the offensive line. They would half-heartedly push forward for a few seconds, then lazily jump in the air as the quarterback released the ball.

Though it lacks the bone-crunching hits that earn hockey players the distinction of the toughest guys in sports, the NHL attempted to add a bit of intrigue to its all-star game by having a pair of captains like you would see on a playground. The gameplay is still largely dispirited, though watching teammates sometimes square off against each other is an interesting wrinkle, and one you don't see in any other league's all-star format. When the Rangers' Marian Gaborik beat his teammate Henrik Lundqvist early in the first period for the game's first goal, Gaborik saluted him with the rifle celebration that got Artem Anisimov (another Ranger) ejected from a game earlier this year. It was the kind of thing that makes all-star games fun, but one of only a handful of noteworthy moments from the game.

The NBA All Star Game also features the sort of matador defense you find in the NFL and NHL games. The last time a team failed to score 100 points in the NBA All Star Game was 1973. The Western Conference won last year's game by an unbelievable count of 148-143. At times, the NBA is a defense-optional league. In the All-Star Game, it appears as though the league has prohibited defense outright.

The only league whose all-star game looks similar to a normal game is Major League Baseball. The only problem with that is that baseball is already the least exciting of the four major American sports. Attempting to compensate, MLB has decided that the league which wins the All-Star Game will be granted home-field advantage in the World Series. This year, the National League won, and the St. Louis Cardinals had home-field advantage in the World Series against the Texas Rangers. The Cardinals had three players in the All Star Game; the Rangers had five. Something doesn't add up.

Even the smaller leagues have problems with their all-star games. The Major League Soccer format pits the MLS all-stars against a European club. Each of the past two years, the MLS stars were defeated by Manchester United. How depressing is that? The best players from our league aren't as good as a single English team.

All-star games need fixing. TV ratings for the MLB All-Star Game have been falling for several years now; the same goes for the Pro Bowl. While the NHL and NBA All-Star Games have seen ratings increase in recent years, the figures are still low. This year's version of the NHL game managed to match the TV ratings from last season's, despite the absence of Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, two of the league's most marketable stars. Still, the game drew a 1.0 TV rating on the new NBC Sports Network. That is the same rating as a November regular season matchup between the Bruins and Red Wings got earlier this year on NBC. The leagues need to do something to make these games more compelling.

In attempt to build interest in all-star games, I would like to see more leagues adopt the NHL's team selection format, but why stop there?

The Pro Bowl has already devolved into a contact-free game, so why not officially outlaw hitting? What I would like to see is a 4-team mini tournament of 7-on-7 flag football. Make the playing field smaller (50 yards long, from the sideline to the hash). Have a captain select his team, but make each player play offense and defense, like in the old NFL Street videogame series. I'd love to see Cam Newton at defensive end or Patrick Peterson at wide receiver, or better yet, Tom Brady at strong safety.

One suggestion for the NHL's game is to have a 3-on-3 tournament with eight or so teams. I have seen the concept mentioned on the internet. It would be a lot of fun to watch the best players in the league in a wide-open game of 3-on-3.

All-star games used to be wonderful novelties. The MLB All-Star Game was once popular enough to be played twice a year from 1959-1962 and earn the name "Midsummer Classic." Now, all-star games feel obligatory. Fans tune in to see all of the game's most talented players together in one place, only to be disappointed by a flat, uninspired game. All-star games have the potential to be really quite exciting; it's merely a matter of realizing that potential.