02/07/06 Update: Don't hate the Playa!

I realize that I haven't updated this blog in a few days, but Sidney Crosby had the flu and I had a bit of blogger burnout.

Catching up, we see Crosby and his mates lost again last night, 5-2 to the powerful Senators. Ho-hum!

El Sid finished with 0 pts, -1, 3 shots on goal, and 8 for 22 in the faceoff circle in 20:20 of ice time.

Now, Erin Nicks has seen fit to join the "Bash Crosby" bandwagon. Poor dear, she's 'sick' of Crosby. Ho-hum!

An open letter to Pittsburgh Penguins fans, hockey fans, and the reverent admirers of No. 87:

I don't know if you're aware of this, but ... I don't have to like Sidney Crosby.

Oh, and I know how you desire for me to see it your way -- to listen to the spin doctors pontificate on the various "legitimate" reasons why he should be defended.

Back off, Crosmaniacs. I'm not drinking your Kool-Aid.

You should know I never meant for it to be this way. I tried to like Sidney Crosby. Really, I did. I mean, no one wants to be the odd ... uh ... woman out, especially when you're talking about the new face of the NHL.

But I can't take it anymore. The constant whining and repeated excuses -- not the ones from Crosby -- I've grown to live with them. No, I'm talking about the bleating being heard from the Crosby faithful.

...then she goes on to whine and bitch about Sid getting 'preferential treatment' (Umm, which preferential treatment would this be?)

OK, so you don't like the player because of his fans? You don't like him because of the media marketing machine? It's funny how Crosby just quietly does his thing (Score goals and make great plays), yet the whole hype machine is just built around him while he just stays the hell away, for the most part. Sidney's a pretty damn humble kid in the face of intense pressure and fanboyism. You ought to be impressed that his head hasn't reached Mark Messier sized perportions.

Thankfully, Eric McErlain of OffWing comes to the rescue with some common sense.

...don't mistake hating the hype machine with hating the player. By any reasonable measure, Crosby, like a number of other rookies, is having an exceptional season. Sure, he might dive and complain about some calls, but everybody dives, even Peter Forsberg.

So let up on Sid, and think of taking a moment to just watch him play. Besides, if he had managed to score from his knees against the Rangers a few weeks back, the race for the Calder might be a whole lot closer.

Look, you don't have to like Crosby if you don't like. He's not everyone's cup of Root Beer. Still, disliking him simply because of his popularity and the NHLs desperation to market him as the great hero is simply petty jealousy.