The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT July 7, 2012

When it comes to picking the rosters for an all-star game, it's almost a no-win situation for the coaches involved.

So it wasn't much of a surprise to me when former manager Tony La Russa - who will coach the National League - caused a slight controversy when he didn't select a few players from a rival team.

La RUSSA, WHO also managed the Chicago White Sox before winning World Series championships with the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, left Cincinnati players Brandon Phillips and Johnny Cueto off this year's roster.

What the Reds duo thought it was related to was a bench-clearing brawl with the Cardinals in 2010, in which Cueto and Phillips were heavily involved.

The fight also forced Cardinal catcher Jason LaRue to retire after being kicked in the head and suffering a severe concussion.

That was then, and this is now.

Maybe that had something to do with it, but at the same time, fans have the chance to vote their players into the game - and both were unable to get bids that way.

If you look at the American League roster, there's a large amount of Texas Rangers on the roster - no coincidence since the team's manager, Ron Washington, is coaching the American League.

Texas might be the best team in baseball and deserves to have a good number of their players in that game - but seven might be too many. Pitcher Yu Darvish was the eighth Ranger selected with the fans' selection vote.

But of the four major professional sports leagues that have all-star games, this is the only one that counts for something.

At least the winning league clinches home field advantage in the World Series - if that really matters anyway.

EVEN LOCALLY, trying to get the best local players on the same roster may become difficult to do.

With the North-South high school basketball games at North Idaho College, often times it takes a large amount of coaches and other committee members to find the 12 best senior players in the state.

And even then, some get missed.

When the District 1 all-star basketball games get played in late March in Mullan, often times the best girls players are unable to show up due to only being able to play in two all-star games a season. And even then, due to other obligations, some are still unable to play.

They haven’t had a locally based all-star football game since the Shriners All-Star football game — which featured top players from throughout the state at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow — but hopefully someone comes up with an idea to get another started again soon.

But when it comes to all-star games, all that’s important is that the fan is entertained.

In most, if not all cases — it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, because at the end of the day, it’s just an exhibition game.

A really high-intensity exhibition game.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].