Let’s talk sports:

Whoever thought the Pro Bowl would be better before the Super bowl was wrong.

No. 1, the NFL left out 14 players who have made the Pro Bowl for having stellar seasons and led their teams to the Super Bowl. Dumb.

No. 2, they are not having it in Hawaii.Dumb.

No. 3, the players who did make it to the league championship games but lost are either too tired or beat up to play in it. Dumb.

The Pro bowl is supposed to honor players for having super seasons, and now it is just a, “hey, congrats, you are the second or third best fill-in player who can replace the No. 1 or 2 player because they have to play in the Super Bowl or are too tired to get to the Pro bowl. Dumb!

Let’s not forget that in the pointing of fingers at Brett Favre, the refs, Adrian Petersen, 12 men in the huddle, penalties, coaching decisions and fumbles that the Vikes had a very good year and that the NFC Championship Game was fun to watch!

Also I think the real blame is on Sports Illustrated for jinxing them with this cover.

Shame on the Baseball Hall of Fame for not putting Bert Blyleven into the hall. Oh, and while you are at it, put Jack Morris into the hall as well. Do not put Mark McGuire or any other steroid user in the Hall of Fame.

Shame on Bud Selig, commissioner of baseball, for allowing the steroid era to begin with. Looking the other way is shameful on his part and a slap in the face to all the players who played it honestly.

Go Twins! Gardy and the rest of the team will begin spring training soon. Yeah!

Thanks for visiting Albert Lea.

If you get a chance to watch the Minnesota Wild hockey team, do. They have been quite a fun team to watch play lately.

Speaking of the Twins, the weather has not been very nice this year and it makes me think of an opening day snowstorm. I hope it does not happen, but I am pretty sure it will not be 75 and sunny. Bundle up, guys!

Pray for Haiti

Please, everyone, say many prayers for all the devastation in Haiti. Watching and reading about this earthquake has been very sad.

As of Monday, the count is:

150,000: Latest estimate of the death toll, from the Haitian Health Ministry. The European Union and the Pan American Health Organization, which are coordinating the health-sector response, have estimated the quake killed 200,000 people.

194,000: Number of injured.

134: Estimated number of people rescued by international search teams since the quake.

$1.12 billion: International aid pledges.

$783 million: Funds received as of Tuesday.

$317 million: U.S. assistance as of Monday.

*These numbers are from the Haitian Health Ministry and found on CNN.com.

The number of estimated dead is approximately the combined population of Rochester and Duluth. This is devastation. Please give, pray, and do anything to help our neighbors.

Tribune Publisher Scott Schmeltzer’s column appears every Thursday.