A (Not So) New Penguin

The off season must be getting to everyone. I was listening to Jim Tatti and Phil Esposito on my drive home from work today (they host the show In The Slot on XM Radio's Home Ice channel 204), and they were talking about the difference between the salary Espo earned back in the day versus the much larger salaries players earn today. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but it morphed into this strange rant about the growing gap between the rich and the poor and how the American middle class was going to disappear. WTF?! I don't know which was more bizarre: the economics discussion on hockey talk radio or the fact that I listened to the entire thing. (Fantastic. There's an hour of my life I can't get back. I thought I was done with economics when I graduated from college last year.) Only two more days until the draft starts - maybe then Tatti and Espo will have something better to talk about...

Anyhoo, Sidney's got a new teammate. (Can I get a "WHAT WHAT" for a right handed defenseman?) Well, okay, Connor James played for the Baby Pens last season so technically he's not new to the Penguins organization, and technically this "news" happened yesterday. But I'm new here, so I have an excuse. ;)

Finally, I found this article from Halifax's The Daily News:

Funk and Wagnalls' dictionary describes dignity as "stateliness and nobility of manner," which pretty much sums up Sidney Crosby's commanding presence at the NHL Awards ceremony in Toronto on Thursday night.

Crosby may not yet be accepted as the greatest player in the world by his few remaining critics - whose most vociferous spokesman, Donald S. Cherry, was conspicuously absent from the Elgin Theatre - but few can argue that the young man from Cole Harbour isn't the classiest professional star athlete extant.

Three things:

1. Do they even print Funk and Wagnalls dictionaries anymore?
2. Geez, I'm a big fan of Sidney's, believe me, but this article made it seem like the author sees a freakin' halo hovering above Sidney's helmet. The whole thing sounded like a family Christmas letter written by Sid's doting grampa. (Do you think Connolly may be biased because Sid's a local boy?) Okay, I think the Kid is an unparalleled talent, and I agree - he absolutely is a gracious young man, but it seems like the media is putting a ridiculous amount of pressure on him to be perfect. After all, he's not even legally able to buy a beer (here in the States, anyways!), and I think it is a bit much for someone his age.
3. As an American hockey fan, I've only recently had the displeasure of meeting "Grapes" when he appeared on NBC during the Stanley Cup finals, but I simply can't imagine that Sid's losing any sleep because this guy doesn't like him.