I'm sorry, my blog yesterday was getting way to long and I didn't get to revel in Crosby's choke nearly enough. Plus, I had to somehow squeeze into the blog this priceless picture of Crosby crying into his sippy cup. I wonder if Bettman gave him that one too. I also wanted to continue what I was saying about sportswriters, and Wilbon's column today fit perfectly into what I was talking about. Wilbon is a smart guy, a great writer, and deserves all of the accolades he receives because he is quite knowledgeable when it comes to most of the sports he covers. However, he, like most Penguins fans, knows nothing about hockey whatsoever. Exhibit A is his article on OV after the Canadian victory in the Olympics, exhibit B is his article on Lebron today after losing game 7 to the aging Celts.
In both he drinks the media's self-brewed kool-aid on their superstars. This is the sycophant reference I used, Crosby is great so criticize OV, Lebron his great so trash his teammates. I don't see the logic. Lebron "had the stuff of of Magic and Bird, of Jordan and Duncan," "this can't be only about Lebron James; an entire coaching staff and a locker room full of players payed a lot of money let this happen," and Wilbon knew he would get a triple-double. It wasn't Lebron's fault, it was the expectations heaped upon him, the looming free agency and even refers to himself and others as the "sycophants (that) had him ahead of Jordan and Kolbe."
Compare this to Ovechkin, who at the time the article was published was already done playing for a rag-tag Russian team full of KHL players that was badly out-coached by everyone according to several NHL GMs. OV is referred to as "churlish," "distraught about Crosby kicking his butt," "out of control," "guilty of a sense of entitlement," "thinks he is above the law," and headed down the road of Gilbert Arenas. What? First off, the incident referred to with a camera is alleged and led to nothing. Do you think if the Canadians could lock up OV they would not have done it a long time ago? Secondly, why is the article even about OV? Shouldn't the media be reveling in how great Crosby played? As it turns out it wasn't great at all, just another cheap goal after three straight games of no points and irrelevance, much like Crosby's entire career on the ice. The media slurps up the hype that Bettman feeds them, and any small victory for Crosby is only justified by a damning of OV. Or as Wilbon says, "Ovechkin would need a telescope to see Crosby, who's that far ahead in this race."
What race? I didn't know they were racing each other. It's not Nadal-Federer, its a team game and everyone already knows OV is a more talented player. Crosby has accomplished nothing. Well, a Junior World Championship, fine. His cup is bogus. The Pens got all the calls and no-calls throughout the playoffs, and if Malkin had been called for his interference on Boyd Gordon in the Game 3 overtime against the Caps, the Pens would have been down 3-0 in the semifinals and never seen the finals. Crosby the Choke-Artist didn't even show up for the finals, going pointless in the final 3 games of the series, missing all but 32 seconds of the Game 7 third period with a pulled groin. Malkin was the Conn Smythe winner, not Crosby, but the Princess seemed healthy enough to parade the Cup around the ice while refusing to shake Wings captain Lidstrom's hand. In the Olympics, he scored 0 points against Switzerland, Russia, Slovakia, and the USA until he got his cheap overtime goal. They name an all-Olympic team: Miller, Rafalski, Weber, Toews, Parise, and Demitra all made it. Crosby did not even sniff it. In fact, the Kid is so bad that Canada won't even buy into its own self-generated hype when it comes to an Olympic medal. Crosby's lack of production left him without an invite to the 2006 Canadian Olympic team.
It would be nice if people looked at a few of these facts before they started comparing him to the best in the game. He's not even close. And his snivelling snottiness makes him oh so hateable. Out of all the whiny quotes that I cited yesterday after the game 7 loss OT the Habs, the most annoying was the complaints of the refs daring to call a penalty against him "at that point in the game" after having the Cup handed to his team the year before. He didn't even have to put up with d-men Gill and Markov most of the series like the Caps did. Furthermore, the Pens should have been forewarned after the Caps series; the Caps had no such advantage. But Crosby's whining started in game six, with his little un-called jabs, his pouty stick smashing, his cheap shot cross-check on Plekanec at the end, culminating in his dirty hit 10 seconds into Game 7. Then more whining and sippy cups with the media. He won't even go play OV in the World Championships because it is not under the protection of Bettman and Canada. He was whining so much that Lemieux finally kicked him out of his house after five years. (Literally, I can't make that up, the Princess got kicked out of the castle and there's no Igloo to squat in.) The incessant whining and choking is all Crosby leads OV in, so leave the real superstar alone Pens fans and try to enjoy your faux cup. Good riddance to the Pens, maybe they will give it to them next year so guys like Wilbon can fawn over the Princess and his cronies. Good riddance to an over-hyped opportunistic punk who never really showed up in the first place.
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